Lone Tree (31 page)

Then the smile disappeared. That was all she’d won.
She’d thought he’d ease up after that, but he hadn’t. Disregarding his
objections, she’d returned to the office, and when he saw her there he’d headed
toward her from the patio doors as if ready to pick her up and carry her out of
there. She opened her mouth to warn him away and was ready to sock him a good
one if he so much as tried.

But Miles knocked his mug of coffee off his desk,
splattering Reed’s jeans and boots, and that stopped him. He looked at his
feet, then at his boss.

“Sorry.” Miles reached for the intercom, shaking his
head at himself. “Rosalie, need something to mop up a mess.”

Crisis avoided, Lainie returned to the payroll
ledgers. Reed wiped off his boots with a kerchief from his back pocket, came to
stand next to her desk, and she tilted her head to direct a steady look up at
him.

“Half days,” he said, grudging note in his voice.

She pursed her lips. Her knee was just as safe when
she sat in her desk chair as when she sat in the armchair in front of the TV.

“Good idea,” Miles said. “Don’t want to push it
first couple days back.”

After a brief moment, Lainie waggled her hand and
then went back to work, conceding the point and dismissing them both with the
same gesture.

Soon after that, she started hobbling out to the
stable each day—Reed didn’t like that either—and taking treats to Glory. As
weather permitted, she resumed eating lunch with Nelly.

Some days she felt like she’d never heal, never be
able to ride again, not even be able to get up and walk without having to
concentrate on each step. Faithfully she followed the exercise regimen, neither
slacking nor overdoing it. Improvement was so slow she feared there might be
permanent damage. And having to fight Reed every time she turned around didn’t
help.

Although she never voiced her fears to Nelly, he
calmly reassured her. “You healing just fine, little missy. Don’t worry. You
better already. In no time at all, you be up there on Glory again.”

He gave her a toothless grin. “And don’t worry ’bout
Mr. Reed. He’s not right all times, just most times, and this not one of those
times. When the time’s right, I see to it you get in that saddle. If need be, I
explain things to Mr. Reed.”

She felt as much relief as gratitude. She wasn’t the
crazy one.

Because the bum knee was her right one, she was
unable to drive so remained a virtual shut-in. Jackie had returned to work and
was looking for her own place. She’d joined a support group, was talking out
her fear and anger and was growing stronger, physically and emotionally.

Jackie had learned that Willis had also been
targeted by Carl Henry. She was having a difficult time with that, knowing that
so easily he could be dead because of her.

Lainie listened, but didn’t push. If Jackie and
Willis were suited for each other, it would happen for them. Right now, Jackie
needed time, and Lainie’s impression was that Willis understood that.

The women were healing by leaning on each other, and
Lainie’s only contact with the outside world was through Jackie. When invited
to spend a couple days at the Cooper house, she jumped at the chance. But she
ran into a stumbling block.

“No,” Reed said.

“Huh?” She felt her eyes widen.

“You’re better,” he admitted. “But think about it.
You still can’t straighten your leg out or put all your weight on it.
Everything here is familiar. You go somewhere else, you run the risk of moving
wrong, maybe even taking a fall and hurting yourself all over again. Give it a
while longer, then I’ll drive you over there.”

“But...” At first she was more floored than angry.
Then she jerked straight up in the chair. “That’s ridiculous. I’m fine. I
already packed and I’m going today.”

He shook his head. “You’re not ready. And I can’t
stay here and argue about it. Got cows to move.”

He left. Lainie stared at the door, glared at it,
then threw her book at it. This was worse than ridiculous. She was going, one
way or another, and when she returned from the Coopers’, she was moving back
into her own house.

Instead of calling Jackie to come pick her up, she
went first to Miles, and found him in his office frowning at a Freecell game.

“Stumped me again,” he muttered as she approached.

Wasting neither time nor words, she got right to the
point. “I want to go to Jackie’s. Reed said no. Will you drive me?” She’d said
drive
instead of
carry
, which was the term southerners used to signify
transporting a person from one place to another in a car. Though she wasn’t
using the lingo, she was learning it.

He clicked out of the game and swiveled around to
face her. “ ’Course I will, little girl.”

Oh. That was so easy that she lost some huffiness.
“Thank you,” she said formally. “I’m obliged.”

With a grin, he settled back in his chair with
elbows on the armrests and hands hanging loosely in his lap. “Can’t help but
notice Reed’s been a mite overprotective of late. Was wondering how long you’d
put up with it.”

Then his expression sobered, and he added, “But it’s
because he cares so much, Lainie. And I suspect he’s reacting to the way it
happened even more than to the injury itself. Since he was helpless to protect
you then, see, he’s working overtime at it now.”

She didn’t respond.

“If he didn’t care so much, he’d leave you alone and
let you heal on your own.”

“I’d get a whole lot better a whole lot faster if he
would,” she grumbled. She didn’t know if Miles was right, wrong, or a busybody,
and she wasn’t inclined to figure it out now. She returned to the issue at
hand. “Hope you don’t mind driving my car. It handles well.”

“No way. Would never be comfortable in that little
thing.”

“But...I can’t—”

“Climb up into the truck? Don’t worry about it. I’ll
get you up there.”

She met him in the parking shed with her suitcase.
He took the bag, put it in the back, opened the passenger door and motioned for
her to come on.

“Uh, Miles—”

“You want to get over there sometime today, we’d
best get started.” He waited patiently.

Well, he was big enough, but she was still worried
about her knee, his back. Gamely, she walked forward. He stooped, put his hands
at either side of her waist, lifted and she was up there.

She blinked. “Oh. Okay. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Amusement showing in his eyes, he
waited for her to get her legs in and then he closed the door.

Getting out of the SUV was as easy as getting into
it. Raymond and Jackie came out to greet them. Ray was in the market for a new
truck, and the men fell into an avid discussion of one make versus another.

Lainie gave Jackie what she thought was a casual
look, and Jackie motioned her aside. “I’m fine, girl, and thank you for
asking.”

Lainie winced. “Oh. I was that obvious.”

Jackie’s smile was small but genuine. “You care. And
knowing that so many people do care helps me along. I won’t deny it’s hard, but
I’m gettin’ there. One step at a time, one day at a time.”

That afternoon, Lainie discovered that no matter how
many players sat at the table, Jackie was close to unbeatable at dominoes. The
phone rang at the end of the second game and Bobbie grabbed it, a sparkle in
her eyes erasing the frown that had formed at her sister’s second win. Ray, who
was in the recliner reading the newspaper, must’ve caught Bobbie’s enthusiasm.
Drawing his glasses down onto the bridge of his nose, he smilingly eyed her
over the rims.

“Oh, hi, Reed.” Apparently that wasn’t the voice
she’d expected, but she said brightly, “Sure, she’s right here.” She pushed the
portable phone receiver across the table, and Lainie pushed it back.

Bobbie’s forehead furrowed. “Uh...” she said.

“I just got out of jail today,” Lainie explained.
She pointed at the phone receiver. “And that’s my jailer.”

“Oh,” Bobbie said. “In that case, uh, well...”

Jackie picked up the phone. “Howdy, Reed. Lainie
doesn’t want to talk right—”

A pause, then, “Oh, no, nothing like that. We’re
being careful, just sitting here playing dominoes. Her knee—”

Lainie pushed the blocks around on the tabletop. Not
even four o’clock yet; he’d come home early, missed her, checked with Miles and
was probably calling from her phone in the office.

“Well, no, Reed, I really don’t think—” Jackie
listened, then, “No, that wouldn’t be—”

Lainie pulled seven blocks, decided it wasn’t a
legal shuffle so pushed them back.

Her voice louder and firmer, Jackie finished a whole
sentence. “Believe me, that would
not
be a good idea. She doesn’t want
to go home tonight. Give her until tomorrow—”

Emphatically, Lainie shook her head.

“—or the next day.”

Jackie’s gaze shot toward her guest. Then slowly she
turned, showing Lainie her back and lowering her voice. “Did I hear you right?
You want to talk to my
parents
?”

A giggle burst out of Bobbie Ann. Ray pushed his
glasses down on his nose and eyed the women at the table. Lainie leaned her
head back and stared at the ceiling.

“Well, Daddy’s right here, but...” Another pause.
“Well, good. I don’t think so either.” She sounded both relieved and
embarrassed. “And I promise we’ll take good care of her...all of us. We won’t
let her, er, hurt herself.”

Again she was silent, listening, then said, “That
sounds better. Okay, Reed, bye now, and you take care, too.” She thumbed the
off
button and put the phone down.

Ray got to his feet. “Excuse me, girls. I’m gonna go
find somebody to annoy so you can talk about whatever you wanta talk about.”

“Me, too,” Bobbie said. She stood, grabbed the phone
and left.

Jackie looked at the jumble of dominoes instead of
Lainie. “I’m beginning to understand.”

“Jackie, he’s driving me crazy.”

“I can see how.”

“So my knee’s a little sore, but he acts like, like...Jackie,
what can I do?”

“He’s a reasonable man.” Jackie’s gaze flicked back.
“At least he used to be. He should listen if—”

“I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face. I even
yelled at him, and he looked at me like I was the crazy one.”

Jackie rubbed her forehead. “I’ve heard when one
person in a relationship is injured or in pain, it can be even more traumatic
on the one who’s not hurting. Now I believe it.”

Lainie slumped back in her chair. “Two days won’t be
enough. How long do you think your folks will put up with me?”

Jackie laughed. “My folks aren’t the problem. Reed’s
going to be here at eight sharp come Wednesday morning.
That’s
your
problem.”

But Lainie barely caught Jackie’s speech. Miles’s observations
from earlier that day had recurred to her, and Reed’s actions suddenly were
making sense. Lainie stared into space, tuning out Jackie, the Cooper house,
everything.

Reed was being overprotective because he cared.

If he didn’t care so much, he’d leave her alone.

Reed loved her.

And she loved him back.

At some point, the comfortable relationship had
developed into a deep and abiding love. It was right there in front of her, in
front of both of them, and had been for quite some time. Had he seen it, too?

But instead of experiencing joy at the revelation,
her heart was heavy. She felt guilty, scared, and worried. What was she going
to do now? About Reed. Miles. Everything.

At 7:50 a.m. Wednesday morning, Lainie watched the
red truck drive up to the Cooper house. She opened the front door and stepped
onto the porch. Reed sat in the cab for a moment, looking at her, as if unsure
of his welcome. She’d never before seen him unsure about anything.

It was a long way up to the seat of his pickup also,
but she wasn’t worried about his back. He’d carried her in his arms before.
Suddenly she wanted his arms around her, for any purpose, wanted to feel his
touch. How she’d missed the bond of love developing, she didn’t know.

If nothing else, the camping trip should’ve clued
her in. She’d felt like a bride on her wedding night because of the man she was
with, who was making her dreams come true. There was so much depth between them
that she hadn’t been fully aware of it all—a love that was complex, intense,
but so gradual and right that she hadn’t seen it happening. As Jackie might put
it, it’d sneaked up and bit her on the butt.

And now there was so much more at stake than before.
She could confront Miles and lose Reed. At the very least, she’d turn his life
upside down. Or she could go home to California and lose Reed. The only thing
she couldn’t do was let the deception go on any longer. She had to be free of
it before she could be free to love Reed.