TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) (14 page)

“More your field than ours,” Dulcie responded, giving him a little shove toward Allie.

“I’m Dr. Gallegos,” the stranger said quietly, his full attention on Allie as if she were the only person in the room. “I’m going to take this glove off now, Allie, and I want you to give your free hand to…” He turned to Logan. “What’s your name?”

“Logan,” he answered, moving closer.

“Okay, Allie. Now, I want you to hold on to Logan’s hand and squeeze it as tightly as you need to.” Dr. Gallegos placed Allie’s free hand into Logan’s. “You might want to give her some support there,” the doctor said.

Logan braced an arm around Allie, realizing that the perspiration speckling her pale skin could be a warning sign that she was close to fainting. He should have recognized that on his own.

He would have if it had been happening to anyone other than Allie. For some reason, he was having difficulty maintaining the emotional detachment he needed to do his job.

“Squeeze it tightly.” She murmured the doctor’s words back to him, her gaze still fixed on her injury.

“I’m just going to have a look at this, Allie,” the doctor said, his head bent to study her wound.

Her breathing quickened and, if possible, she appeared even paler than a second before.

“Distract her,” the doctor ordered quietly as he allowed the water to wash over the injury.

Distract her? How was Logan supposed to do that? Though he held her free hand, he wasn’t sure she even knew he was in the room.

“Distraction, Logan,” the doctor said again, more firmly than before.

Distraction. Right.

“Allie? Allie! I’m here to collect from you. You owe me a coffee and your debt is past due.”

Like a woman emerging from under water, she blinked several times and slowly turned her gaze in his direction.

“What?”

“You owe me a coffee.” It was the only thing he could think to say to get her attention, and she seemed to be responding. “For all the work I did to help you. And if I can’t have my coffee right now, I’m afraid I’ll have to insist that you go out with me to pay me back.”

“You’re asking me out?”

So it seemed. Even if he hadn’t consciously made the decision to take that step yet, he was committed now.

“I don’t think you’ll actually need stitches,” the doctor interrupted. “It wouldn’t be a bad thing to have them, and definitely your doctor should be the one to make that call, but, if it were me, I’d say a good butterfly bandage or tight adhesive strip could do the job just as well. All the same, you should see your regular doctor.”

“We have some of those,” Tanner offered, setting the first-aid kit on the counter and popping open the lid.

“There isn’t a doctor in Chance,” Logan said. “So, if Allie were one of your regular patients, what would you do next for her?”

“If she were one of my regular patients?” Dr. Gallegos chuckled. “I’d likely prescribe an e-collar and give her a treat for being so brave.”

“An e-collar?” That was what his mom had called that lampshade thing her dog had worn after surgery. “What kind of doctor are you, anyway? A vet?”

“I did warn you this wasn’t exactly my field.”

Logan would have said more, but Allie chose that moment to pull her free hand from his grasp and lay her palm on the doctor’s arm.

“Thank you so much, doctor.”

“Rafe,” he corrected. “No need to stand on formality.”

“Rafe,” Allie repeated, the pink returning to her cheeks as she smiled up at the doctor. “I just want you to know how much I appreciate your help. I like to think of myself as a pretty together person, but I’ve always had an issue with blood and needles. You should see the problems I have when I go in for physicals.”

“I can imagine them well enough. My mother struggled with the same fear.”

Logan backed away from the chatting couple. The vet’s total focus on Allie — which had been reassuring when he’d been treating her — irritated Logan now more than he wanted to acknowledge.

Since Allie seemed oblivious to him and anything he’d said, it would appear that fate had decided to step in and rescue him from his hasty offer.

It was as good a time as any for him to make an unnoticed exit.

“Logan!”

He’d made it all the way to the parking lot before he heard her call his name. For a split second he considered getting in his truck as if he hadn’t heard her, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do that.

Allie hurried toward him, a long strip of gauze trailing down from her hand as if she’d pulled away before Tanner had finished with the bandage. Her cheeks were a bright pink when she reached his side, evidence that she’d recovered.

“Didn’t you forget something?” she asked.

“I can’t think of anything.”

“Really?” A dazzling smile lit her face, crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Well, your memory might be awful, but mine isn’t. When you asked me out, you forgot to add when and where.”

So much for fate coming to his rescue.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“That’s where we’re headed.”

Logan pointed down the slope toward a little lake nestled in the most beautiful valley Allie could remember having seen in her whole life. With only the gentlest of urging from her, the big horse she rode followed Logan’s mount down the trail.

Though she’d love to give herself a major pat on the back for making this moment happen, she knew it all had to be the work of chance. Had she not been high on whatever endorphins flooded her system after her freak-out, she’d never have been brave enough to follow Logan when he left the coffee shop and insist he make good on his offer.

It was as if this day were meant to be.

No matter. She was thankful that she had taken the risk. Maybe this wonderful day was a sign that she should try being assertive more often.

Logan’s invitation turned out to be for a picnic, and he’d promised to take her someplace very special. He certainly had delivered on that promise.

“Not a bad spot for a first date, right?” he asked as her horse pulled even with his.

“It is gorgeous here, but do you really think this still counts as a first date?”

He’d taken her to coffee twice since that eventful day at the Hand, and they’d even shared a table at the Main Street Café for lunch yesterday.

“Sure it does. First official date, anyway,” he assured her before allowing his horse to amble into the valley at a slow walk.

They rode in a comfortable silence, which allowed Allie time to appreciate the beauty of their destination. The only structure she saw in the entire valley was a good-sized lean-to at the edge of a stand of trees, and that was where they appeared to be heading now.

Logan drew his mount to a stop next to the shed and dismounted. When he lifted his arms to help Allie down from the horse she rode, her heart thudded in her chest. She placed her hands on his shoulders and he lowered her to the ground; though his grasp remained on her waist after her feet touched the earth, their eyes locked on one another.

For a split second, Allie was transported back to that night in the Hand, when they’d stood like this, face to face, just before Logan had dipped his head as if to claim her lips, their hearts racing together, beating as one in a moment of sheer—

“I’d better see to the horses,” he murmured, crashing her imagination back to reality as he stepped away from her.

She accepted the blanket he handed her and hurried toward the water, anxious to put some distance between them. Anxious to give herself a moment to straighten out her thoughts.

How stupid of her. How utterly, ridiculously stupid of her to think he was going to try to kiss her. To actually expect it! The last time they’d been that close to a kiss had obviously been a total fluke. The two of them, alone in the dark, late at night, their emotions already off kilter. She was just an idiot for letting herself think that almost-kiss was any more than a one-time thing.

Still, it wasn’t all her fault. She couldn’t very well control the fact that Logan had always had the ability to set her hormones raging with nothing more than a simple look. Of course, that wasn’t his fault either. He hardly knew her. Just because she’d been fantasizing about him for half her life didn’t mean he had any similar feelings about her. In fact, he’d said himself, not ten minutes ago, that he considered this their first date.

She shook out the blanket before spreading it over the ground, under a big shade tree, close to the water. With several deep breaths in and out, she concentrated on relaxing. It would be so nice to be able to turn off her inner critic, even if only for one day. She wanted to simply enjoy this wonderful scenery, the comforting noises of nature all around her, the beauty of this moment, all without analyzing and second-guessing every single move either of them made.

Logan had chosen a perfect spot for their picnic. The water babbled next to them and a few puffy clouds gathered on the horizon. This was the sort of place an artist would give anything to find.

By the time Logan joined her, she’d managed to get her frazzled emotions back under control. He placed the large wicker basket he’d brought in the center of the blanket and sat down next to her.

“It appears that my location for the picnic is a winner. Let’s see how much I can impress you with the food I brought.”

The first thing Logan pulled out of the basket was a bottle of wine, followed by two crystal glasses.

“Wow.”

Allie leaned forward, curious to see what he’d pull out next. A loaf of bread wrapped in two lacy napkins. She looked up at him and back to the basket. The contents so far seemed… not at all what she would have expected a guy like Logan to pack for a picnic.

When he opened a plastic container to reveal crustless cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches cut in little diamond shapes, her suspicions doubled.

Logan simply stared down at the contents of the plastic container, shaking his head. “You have to give my sister credit. Kat doesn’t do anything halfway.”

“Ah ha!” Allie accused, laughing as she tapped a finger to Logan’s chest. “I knew it. I knew you wouldn’t have packed food like that for lunch.”

He favored her with one of those smiles that sent shivers down her whole body. “Remember now, in my defense, I never actually claimed to have made any of this myself. I only said I brought it.”

He could have claimed anything he wanted as long as he continued to smile at her that way. She wouldn’t mind at all.

“Thank God,” he muttered, setting another container out on the blanket and gifting her with another grin. “Fried chicken. I was starting to worry that we might have to cut the picnic short to go find some real food.”

By the time he’d emptied the basket, it was more than apparent that food wouldn’t be an issue. Katie had prepared for them a feast that could easily feed several people.

After eating, Allie sipped her wine and leaned back on one elbow. The whole day had been picture perfect, from the moment Logan had picked her up, to the horses saddled and waiting for them when they arrived at his family’s ranch, right down to the food and the location of their picnic. She couldn’t have found a better setting in any book she’d ever read.

“It’s so peaceful here,” she said, turning to find Logan watching her. “It’s like a whole different world.”

“It is,” he agreed. “I think it might be my favorite place on the whole ranch. My grandpa’s favorite, too. He loved it so much, he brought my Nana Dot down here to this very spot to propose to her.”

“How perfect,” Allie whispered.

Sitting in the shade of the big stand of trees, with the mountains all around them and the clear stream bubbling down to fill the lake in front of them, it just might be the most romantic place she could imagine.

“As a matter of fact,” Logan continued, “he planted every single one of those trees to represent their lives together. He started with one to celebrate her saying yes, and then kept adding trees for each anniversary and every kid and grandkid they had.”

“Considering how your grandparents felt about this area, I’m surprised they didn’t build their home down here.”

“He actually tried early on.” Logan stood and held out a hand to her. “Come on, I’ll show you where.”

Allie accepted his hand, and somehow, as they made their way through the stand of trees, past stone tables and benches, and out into the grassy valley beyond, she simply continued to hold on.

His palm felt warm against hers, the pads of his fingers rough from working. For one silly moment she even allowed herself to imagine that their hands fit together as if they’d been sculpted to be together.

Her imagination was back in overdrive. She’d definitely read one too many love stories.

“Here.” He pointed to the ground with his free hand, making no attempt to pull his other hand away from hers. “If you look closely, you can see the outline of the stones where he started the foundation.”

Still holding Logan’s hand, Allie led him to the center of the small, faint square and allowed her eyes to wander out over the landscape. What a view! No wonder J. J. O’Connor had chosen this setting for his home.