9781631053566SpringsDelightBallNC (5 page)

Spring stepped back, her eyes
wide. “Mr. McCoy brought it over.”

“McCoy?
McCoy was in my house? Tell me that I heard you wrong!”

Spring froze in place. She
uttered not a word as she stared at him.

Quickly, he jumped out of the
chair and grabbed the doll. He opened the door and flung the doll outside. It
made a big thudding noise as it punched through the snow, but it didn’t make
him any happier. He slammed the door shut and turned toward a horrified
Spring
. It tugged at his conscience a bit that she appeared
so shaken up, but it was his house.

Breathing hard, he stomped
back to the chair, grabbed his coffee and stared into the fire. Spring’s
frightened face gave him pause, but he decided what was done was done. She had
no business accepting anything from McCoy. He watched her slowly walk to the
stove. Her back was to him, but he could tell by the shaking of her shoulders
she was upset.

Distress got to him every
time. He was a sucker. Colt got up and walked toward
Spring
.
The pot she stirred smelled delicious, and his stomach rumbled. Silently, he
grabbed her hand, intending to lead her to the couch, but she wacked his arm
with the wooden spoon she’d been using. “Whoa. That hurts.” He instantly let go
of her and went to the sink. Whatever she had in that pot of hers was hot.

“Here.” She grabbed a towel,
and turned the faucet on, wetting the towel. She threw the towel at him,
shaking her head the whole while. “It looks worse than it probably feels.”

“Now, why would you think
that? It burns, and to my way of thinking it hurts as bad as it looks.” He
pulled his arm out of her grip.

Crossing her arms in front of
her, she stared at him. “I always thought my injuries hurt as bad as it looked,
worse even, but growing up I was always told to suck it up.”

“Walk it off. I heard it often
from my father.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry I hit
you, but you can’t sneak up on a person and not expect consequences.”

He blinked and cocked his head
trying to figure out if she was apologizing or scolding. His lips twitched as
he held out his hand. “This time I’ll ask. Spring, would you like to sit down?”

She kept her arms folded. “No,
I’m good. You still look a bit frozen, and you should go sit in front of the
fire.”

“I’m trying to apologize for
upsetting you. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“Don’t give it a second
thought.” Her cool demeanor irritated him.

The oven timer buzzed, and she
grabbed hot pads and opened the oven. She bent over, took the rolls out of the
oven and put them on the counter. Glancing over her shoulder at him, her
eyebrows knitted. “What’s wrong?”

Her shirt had ridden up when
she bent over, exposing her back. His eyes narrowed. “What happened to your
back?” He walked to her side.

She stared at the rolls as if
they fascinated her. After a bit, she sighed. “I’m fine.” She turned and gave
him a quick smile. “Let’s get you back to that fire.”

“Show me your back.” He
touched her hand.

She slowly took her hand from
his. “This is one case where it looks worse than it hurts.” Peering into his
eyes, she shrugged. “You’re not going to let this go are ya?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“That’s what I thought. One
quick look and back to getting you dry.”

He couldn’t promise one quick
look, and to hell with the fire. She lifted the back of her shirt, and he
gasped seeing the fading bruises all up and down her back. Even her sides were
bruised. Her skin was an ugly, painful mass of purple, green and brown.

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

The front door opened, Shady
and Bibbs entered laughing. One look across the room at
Spring
and Colt, and they both grew silent, their expressions morphing into shock and
anger.

Bibbs
was
by her side before she could pull her shirt back
down. “Someone kicked the tar out of you. It must hurt like the dickens, but
you never let us know.”

“I told Colt my shoulder
hurt.” Her voice was barely audible. “It’s no big deal.”

“Spring—” Colt started.

Before he could say another
word, she ran to her room and closed the door behind her.

“Someone beat that poor little
gal.” Shady’s fists clenched and unclenched.

Colt nodded. “That’s probably
why Caleb sent her out here. He wanted her safe.”

“He sure did have a big
heart.”

“No big deal? Hell, if I had
bruises like that it’d be a big deal.” Colt stared at her closed door wondering
how long she’d been with her ex.

* * * *

She felt, utterly mortified.
The frightening way Colt dealt with the doll hardly registered. The shocked and
sympathetic expressions on Shady and Bibb’s faces became foremost in her mind.

It’d been embarrassing enough
that Colt knew about her shoulder, but now he’d seen her disgusting body. She
was never going to be any man’s dream; she’d known that for a very long time.
They would treat her differently now. They’d be careful of what they said and
did. Everyone would be walking on eggshells around her.

Her heart beat faster,
thinking about the expression on Colt’s face. All her synapses were firing at
once, and she’d become overloaded with emotion. When he said he didn’t look at
her when her towel flew off, he must have told the truth.

If she’d had a proper coat and
boots, she’d be out the door so fast. She wanted to go to the barn and see the
horses. Bibbs mentioned something about abused horses, and she wondered if they
felt the same way she did, skittish one minute and ready to fight the next.

Her bedroom door began to
open, and
Spring
felt a huge lump form in her throat.
She had to look calm no matter how much she screamed inside. Swallowing hard,
she clasped her hands on her lap, and sat on the bed, ever mindful of being
still.

She’d been prepared for anger.
Instead, Colt gave her a sheepish look. She didn’t know what to think.

He closed the door behind him,
causing her to stiffen.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have
pried but those bruises would have kept anyone else in bed. They took me by
surprise, and I sure didn’t expect Shady and Bibbs to walk in. I’m pretty much
known as a nice guy, but I haven’t given you any reason to think that.” He
sighed heavily.

His stare bore holes into her,
and she wasn’t sure what to say. “It’s not you. I’m not good with people. I try
but… I like to keep my life private is
all.
”

Colt shuffled his feet a bit.
“I don’t know how to be around women. I mean I’ve never really lived with one
and with you being hurt and all.”

“I hear you take in rescue
horses.”

“Yes I do. Most of them have
been abused. I guess I need to take a page out of my own book, and treat you
with gentleness. I mean, I know you’re not a horse or anything.” His face turned
red, and he jammed his hands in his jeans pockets.

Spring gave him a brief smile.
“I’m just jumpy is
all.
I’m fine.”

Colt’s eyes widened a bit, and
she could tell he wasn’t buying it. “You have reason to be jumpy. I know you’re
embarrassed Bibbs and Shady found out, but I find it’s best to be aware of what
we’re dealing with, how to handle things.”

“Handle things?”

Colt shuffled his feet again.
“There I go treating you like a scared filly. Dang, I’m no good at talking to
women anymore. Anyway, I’ll go bring the doll back in.”

“Her name is Faith.”

Colt sighed. “I know Caleb
gave it to Rachael. That pie, you didn’t make it did you?”

“No.”

Colt nodded and grabbed the
doorknob. “Can you make cookies?”

Spring nodded.

“There then that’s all that’s
needed. I don’t want any pie.” Colt left the room leaving the door open.

Spring sighed. Maybe it would
be all right after all. She could hope.

Chapter Four

After breakfast the next
morning,
Spring
busied herself making fudge. The smell
of chocolate permeated the air. Smiling, she looked down at the new red sweater
and turtleneck she found waiting for her this morning. Somehow, the drafty
house didn’t seem as cold anymore.

Colt was certainly a mystery.
He didn’t know it was her birthday, and he waved her “thank you” away. She
could tell he was embarrassed, so she left him alone but she wanted to tell him
they were the best birthday gifts she ever had.

Bibbs and Shady were a
completely different story. They treated her like a china doll until she had to
yell at them. All morning it was “thank you, ma’am”, “can I help you, ma’am”.
Finally, she had to tell them that too much niceness could get on one’s nerves.

Shaking her head, she
remembered their surprised and puzzled expressions. She’d been ready for a few
stares this morning but a total change had been too much. She thought of Caleb,
and how he never treated her differently after he knew about the fights she and
Billy had. She missed him. Colt must be going through hell. She knew all about
loss and heartbreak, and her heart squeezed. She needed to be more aware of his
feelings.

The last batch of fudge was
ready and cornbread was in the oven. She gave the chili a quick stir and put
the coffee on. Almost lunch time. Those three could sure put back a lot of
food, but she didn’t mind. She was starting to like having the company, and she
hoped things would go back to the way they were.

The sound of heavy boots
stomping on the front porch alerted her to their arrival. Quickly, she poured
the coffee and put the mugs on the old wooden table.

“Smells
good in here.”
Colt grabbed a piece of fudge from a plate and
popped it into his mouth.

Spring turned and slapped his
hand. She instantly realized her mistake. It was one thing to fight back but
starting the fight never boded well. The last time she slapped Billy, he
slapped her in return, so hard that her ears rang.

“Can’t decide which smells
better, the fudge or the chili.” His chocolate eyes gentled.

Spring’s heartbeat started to
slow from pounding painfully against her ribcage. How long and what would it
take her to react like a normal person? “Maybe it’s the cornbread.” Her voice
squeaked, reminding her of a frog.

Shady sat down at the table
and drank his coffee, smiling at her.

“What are you smiling at?”
Colt sat down and raised his eyebrows at Shady.

“Cornbread
of course.”
Shady grinned at Colt. “I would smile at the
pretty lady, but I have a feeling I’d get my butt kicked if I did.”

Bibbs laughed. “I like
cornbread too.”

Spring didn’t know what was
going on between the men and didn’t care to know. She grabbed the cornbread out
of the oven and cut it into pieces. Grabbing three heavy, chipped bowls, she
ladled chili into each, setting them out on the table with a couple hunks of
cornbread apiece. Sitting at the table with her own bowl, she looked at each
man in turn. Shady and Bibbs kept shifting their gaze from her to Colt and back
again. Did they think she was sweet on Colt? She wasn’t sure if they even had
one brain between them.

“Good chili, Miss Spring.”
Bibbs nodded at her.

“Thank you. I kept it to a
medium.”

“It’s a far sight better than
what we make. Ain’t it, Colt?”

Colt nodded. “Bibbs
is
right. We usually just eat canned stuff.”

Spring felt a glow at his
praise.

“Glad ole Caleb sent her to
us.”

Both
Spring
and Colt stopped eating. Shady kept eating not realizing that he had touched a
sore spot. Spring looked into Colt’s eyes and saw his misery, and she wished
she could take his anguish away. Maybe she made it worse by being there. Biting
her bottom lip, she glanced away. There wasn’t any help for it. Until the snow
stopped, she was stuck. Biting her lip harder, she reminded herself that it
wasn’t the snow, she was just plain stuck.

Shady and Bibbs got up,
thanked her and left. Colt lingered at the table watching her clean up. His
stare made her so aware of him in such a different way than she’d been aware of
any other man. She felt nervous and tingly all at once.

Drying her hands, she walked
toward the table. “I shouldn’t have accepted the pie and doll. I can see it
makes you sad, and I don’t want to be the cause of your misery.”

“Oh, sugar, you’re not.” Colt
took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know how I’d get through
this if not for you.
Your being here helps more than you
could ever know.”

Gladness flowed into her
heart. It really was a sad time, but his presence helped her too. Her soul felt
less troubled, and some of the weight had left her shoulders.

Colt let go of her hand and
stood up. He gazed at her with his big, brown eyes, smiling at her, and this
time his smile reached his eyes. He didn’t move, just stared until finally he
winked at her and walked toward the door. Grabbing his outdoor clothing, he
left.

Spring stood there for a long
while, cherishing the moment they just shared. She couldn’t remember the last
time someone winked at her. What was it supposed to mean?

Shaking her head, she
continued with her baking until there was a knock on the door. Who’d be out in
this weather she couldn’t imagine. She hurried to the door and opened it, shocked
to see Stone McCoy standing on the other side.

“Winter and Rachael wanted to
talk to Colt.” Stone’s eyes were wretched.

Spring quickly opened the door
wider to let in all of them. They all looked upset and cold.

“This is my wife,
Winter
and our daughter Rachael.”

Spring nodded at each. She
felt immediately drawn to the little girl wearing a green hat with little brown
curls escaping from it. Misery emanated from her.

“Nice to meet you, I’m
Spring
. Come in and get warm.” Spring ushered them in toward
the big fireplace. “Have a seat, I’ll get you something warm to drink, and for
heaven’s sake take off those wet clothes.”

She didn’t know what to think.
How was Colt going to react to them being here?
Badly for
sure.
She quickly poured some coffee and made some hot chocolate. The
house was silent. No one spoke.

“Here we go.
Coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for Rachael.”
Spring
handed out the drinks and brought over milk and sugar. Sitting down, she
wondered how long it would be until Colt got back.

Winter started to cry then
Rachael joined in. Startled,
Spring
jumped up and
grabbed a box of tissues for the two. Not knowing how to deal with all the
sudden emotion, she just numbly sat back down.

“I’m sorry.” Winter tried to
give her a brief smile as her tears subsided. “Stone told me that you were a
friend of Caleb’s.”

“I met him not too long ago.
He’d come into the diner where I worked almost every night. He’d study, and I’d
bring him coffee. I was having some trouble, and he offered me a job here. I
guess we all cared about him.”

“Look, Mama, the house looks
really clean.”

“It surely shines in here.”
Winter turned toward
Spring
. “Rachael insisted that
her daddy bring over her doll.”

Spring was getting ready to
say something nice when the door swung open.

“What the hell? I couldn’t
believe it when I saw your truck outside.” Colt didn’t acknowledge the women he
just stomped toward Stone.

His fists were clenched, and
his face was full of pain. She was afraid that he’d take a swing at Stone.

Rachael got up and ran to
Colt. Wrapping her arms around his legs, she began to sob, heart-breaking sobs.
His anger dissolving, Colt reached down and lifted her into his big arms. He
pulled her close and whispered to her.

Spring felt a tear trail down
her face. Hastily she grabbed a tissue and wiped it away.

“It’s
all my
fault! I kilted Caleb!” Rachael wrapped her tiny arms around Colt’s neck and
held on tight.

Colt’s eyes closed, and his
face grew grim. When he opened his eyes, he sought her out. The pain there was
almost too much to bear. His eyes began to soften as Rachael kissed his cheek.
He walked to the couch and sat with the little girl in his lap.

“Colt, I’m so sorry. I didn’t
know... When Snoopy came up missing, I told Rachael it was too dangerous to go
looking for him in the storm.”

Colt swallowed hard and gave
her a curt nod. “It was an accident, and Rachel’s not to blame. I’m just
surprised she had use of a phone.”

Winter’s face grew red. “I’m
so sorry, Colt. I…I wasn’t aware she’d called Caleb until he showed up with
Snoopy. Stone was out of town, and I couldn’t bring myself to face you. We
missed Caleb’s funeral, and I’m deeply sorry.”

“I’ll send Snoopy away if you
want,” Rachael bravely told him. Her chin wobbled while she waited for Colt’s answer.

“No, Snoopy isn’t at fault
either.
Now Caleb’s in heaven with God.”

“Like an angel?”

Colt smiled a real smile,
albeit a sad one. “Like an angel.”

Stone shot Colt a thankful
look. “You’ve been family to us and...”

Colt took a deep breath and
pressed his lips together. “Still am and…” He looked around as though he was
searching for something to say until his gaze met
Spring’s
.
“Spring was a friend of Caleb’s.”

Winter stood and sat next to
Spring
, hugging her. She couldn’t remember the last time she
had a female friend. Billy had always warned her friends away; in fact, Billy
had warned everyone away.

Her spirit lightened as an
understanding flowed between Colt and the
McCoys
.
Colt still looked haunted but he didn’t look as old. Perhaps some of his burden
lightened.

After a great deal of tears
and hugs, Rachael got her doll back, and the
McCoys
left. The house became silent, too silent.

“I’ll start some dinner. I’m
sure that Bibbs and Shady will be hungry. It’s starting to get dark.” Walking
away from him, she felt like a blithering idiot, but the silence needed to be
filled. “Tomorrow is Sunday. Are we still snowed in? Do you go to church? I
never had much opportunity for church going.”

“I have something to show you
outside.”

“It’s too cold.”

“Not if you wear boots and a
coat.”

Spring turned toward him.
“But—”

“Look over at the coat rack.”

Spring didn’t want to look
away from his eyes. It wasn’t often he looked happy, and she didn’t want to see
it disappear, but she did what he asked and ran over to the pegged coat rack. A
new, midnight blue winter coat hung from one of the pegs. She touched it,
running her hands over the faux fur around the hood. Looking down she saw a tan
pair of boots that looked like those beautiful boots from Australia that
everyone else seemed to have. The sweater she’d received earlier in the day had
touched her but this; it was the nicest gift she’d ever received.

Turning, she looked at Colt.
He looked pleased. “They’re new.”

“Yes, they are, and they’re
yours.”

Spring took the coat down and
ran her hands over the soft fleece lining. Brushing the faux black fur against
her face made her sigh. She laid it carefully on the worn wooden bench beneath
the pegs, reached down and picked up the boots. Sitting on the bench, she
examined every aspect of them right down to the stitching. Looking up, she
smiled at Colt. “They’re in my size.”

“Of course they are.
Bibbs is
a fine detective when he wants to be. He looked at
the label in your jacket and checked your shoes for the size. Hurry put them on
we don’t want to miss it.”

The urgency in his voice
spurred her on. She wanted to look in the mirror but Colt started tapping his
foot to spur her on. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out the door and led her
to a path in the snow.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see. We’ll be there in
a minute.”

The walk was mostly uphill but
Spring
had a suspicion the strain on her legs would be
worth it. She was warm and grateful for it. Darkness began to fall just as they
reached the top. Spring gasped. The colors of the magnificent, heaven-sent
sunset left her speechless. Rich hues of pink and purples mixed with orange and
blue stopped her in her tracks.

“Worth
the walk?”

“Oh yes. Thank you for sharing
this with me.” A wide smile spread across her face.