Here to Stay (34 page)

Mandy gazed after their hostess as she led the mare across the arena. To Zach, she said, “Isn’t she amazing?”

Zach nodded. “You gotta admire her attitude. She’s in love with life and tries to enjoy every second of it.”

“Hey, Mandy, look at me!” Luke cried. “I’m on a horse!”

A burn of tears washed over Mandy’s eyes as she took in her brother’s incredulous expression. “You sure are. How does it feel?”

“Great! Sly helped me up. It was easier than I thought.” Luke extended his cane. “Can you hold this for me?”

Mandy hurried over to her brother’s side, collected the cane, and then returned to where Zach stood.

Sly patted Wink’s rump as he circled behind her to fasten Luke’s leg straps on the other side. “You’ve got a knack for this, son. Some people do; some don’t. We’ll make a horseman out of you, lickety-split.”

Bethany rode into the arena just then. Her saddle was similar to Luke’s, sporting straps that anchored her to the seat. “Hey, Luke, you ready for our adventure?”

Luke grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “I think so.”

Zach grasped Mandy’s elbow and led her to Wink’s unoccupied stall. With the ease and grace of a man who did hard physical labor, he swung up to sit on the top rung.

“Hop up,” he said. “It’s better than standing.”

Mandy climbed the rungs to sit beside him. In silence, they watched Bethany and Luke make loops around the arena. Luke sat straight in the saddle. If Mandy hadn’t known better, she would have thought he’d been riding for years. As Bethany had promised, Wink followed the other horse as if she were attached by an invisible lead rope. All Luke had to do was loosely hold the reins and enjoy the ride.

After about ten minutes, Bethany drew Margarita to a stop in front of Wink’s stall. Twisting at the waist, she asked Luke, “Do you think you’re ready for a real ride now? I thought we might go along the lakeshore for a while. We have some nice trails there.”

“I’d love it!” Luke angled his head. “Do you care if I go, Mands?”

Over the course of the visit, Mandy had come to trust Bethany Kendrick and felt certain her brother should be safe. “You’re nineteen, Luke. It’s your decision to make.”

Luke’s smiled broadened. “Then let’s do it, Bethany.”

A tight knot formed in Mandy’s throat as she watched her brother ride away.

“He’ll be fine,” Zach said. “Accidents happen, but Bethany takes every precaution.”

“I know.” Mandy drew in a bracing breath. “I’ve been meaning to call you, Zach.” She forced herself to look at him. “I don’t know what you said to Luke during that visit to the park, but he came home a changed young man. Thank you so much for that.”

Zach took off his hat and thrust his fingers through his hair. “All I did was give him some straight talk. If he went home with a different attitude, it’s his doing, not mine.” He fell silent for a moment. “He’s a good kid. He’s just been a little confused, I think, and acting out in inappropriate ways.”

“I’m still grateful. Whatever you said had a huge impact on my brother.”

Zach settled the Stetson back on his head, tugging on the brim to adjust the angle. “I’ve been meaning to call you, too.”

“You have?”

He nodded. “I stepped over the line that afternoon, saying all that crap to you. I’ve done a lot of thinking about it, and I owe you an apology. I butted my nose in where it didn’t belong.”

Mandy wanted to let it go at that, to simply accept his apology and say nothing more. But her sense of fairness wouldn’t allow it. “Maybe I needed you to butt in.”

He cast her a wondering look that eased the tension from her body and made her smile. “Raising a teenage boy isn’t easy, especially for a single woman, and Luke’s blindness has made it particularly difficult. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but sometimes it’s hard to see them until someone else points them out.” Growing tense again, Mandy began swinging her feet back and forth, her gaze fixed on the toes of her sneakers. “I’ve done a lot of thinking, too. Much of what you said to me was true. I didn’t want to believe it then. Truth is, I still don’t. But lying to myself about it ... well, that won’t help Luke, and it won’t help me. I have a lot of changing to do.”

Zach was impressed by her candor. It was never easy to step back and take a long, hard look at yourself. “You’re quite a lady. You know it?”

She gave him a startled look.

Zach chuckled. “Don’t look so surprised. You’re really something. I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes. It took me a while to admit that, even to myself, and I still have a hard time admitting it to anyone else. It takes a lot of guts.”

Her lips tipped up at the corners in a slight smile. “I’ve never thought of myself as being particularly courageous, but thank you for the compliment.”

“It’s well deserved.” Zach searched her beautiful eyes. Then he dropped his gaze to her slender hands, which bore signs of ingrained dirt around the fingertips that he’d never noticed before. “Been gardening?” he asked.

Her cheeks went pink. She hid her fingers between her denim-clad legs. “It’s way too early for that yet. I’ve just been working with starts.”

“Starts?”

Her cheek dimpled with a suppressed smile. “Yes, starts, a term used by gardeners when they plant spring seeds in tiny pots to give the plants some indoor growing time before they’re transplanted outdoors in the summer.”

“Ah.” Zach hadn’t pegged her as a gardening type, but recalling her tidy, manicured yard, he guessed he should have. “What kind of plants are you starting?”

“Various flowers.” She shrugged her elegant shoulders. “I like lots of color in my beds, so I grow a little of everything. It’s fun to create a flowery blanket to complement my bulb plants when they begin to bloom.”

What Zach knew about gardening would have fit in a thimble, but he found the subject fascinating because Mandy was obviously so interested in it. The conversation moved from flowers to weed varieties in the area, which she transplanted into her yard for a touch of the natural and wild. She especially liked mullein and wild blue phlox.

“Come out to my place,” Zach said. “You can have a heyday. Mullein and phlox grow everywhere out there. You can even steal heaps of my clump grass.”

She passed him a wondering look. “I get the feeling you aren’t into flowers.”

Zach suppressed a grin. “I’m into seeing them, just not into growing them. The only time you’ll catch me weeding is when a poisonous species gets a foothold on my land.”

She laughed, her expression laced with understanding. “It takes all different kinds to make the world go’round.”

Zach agreed with a sheepish smile. “I reckon so.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “Are we okay now, Mandy?”

She hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Yes, I think we are.”

“Wow!” Luke cried as he and Bethany rode back into the arena. “That was so much fun! I can’t believe what a blast it was.”

Mandy gazed fondly at her brother, trying to recall the last time she’d seen him so happy. Hair ruffled by the wind, he looked like a normal teenager, young, vigorous, and in love with life.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Bethany told him. “I’d love it if you’d come out often, Luke. No charge. You can ride for free.”

“Can I, Mandy?” Luke asked.

Taken off guard, Mandy had to consider before answering. “I see no reason why you can’t come out to ride again, Luke.” She shifted her gaze to Bethany. “But we’ll want to pay the usual fee. It wouldn’t be right otherwise.”

Bethany flapped a hand. “Now that I have kids, I don’t hold as many events, and as a result, I don’t ride as much as I should. Ryan is constantly offering to watch the children, but—” She broke off and shrugged. “It’s just not as much fun to go riding alone. Luke would be doing me a favor. I need the exercise, and so do my horses.”

Mandy glanced at her brother’s beaming countenance and hated to protest any further. “I have my work, Luke. Coming here a few times a week would put me way behind. It’s a long drive out this way.”

“Couldn’t you work out here on your laptop?” Luke suggested.

“I need the Internet to communicate with the—”

Bethany interrupted with, “We have high-speed wireless, Mandy. You could log in and use the stable office to work while Luke and I are riding. Would that help?”

Mandy could scarcely believe Bethany Kendrick’s generosity. “Yes, that’d be ... well, fabulous. But only if you’re sure that—”

“I’m
positive.
” Bethany maneuvered Margarita close to Wink and leaned sideways to take Luke’s hand. “It’s been a pleasure, Luke. I hope we can do it again really soon.”

“Me, too. It was incredible.”

Sly appeared just then. He commandeered Wink’s reins. Bethany smiled at Mandy and Zach. “I’ve got to go dismount. If you don’t mind waiting, I’d love to have you come over to the house. Ryan would enjoy a visit, I know. He and Zach are good buds.”

Zach looked questioningly at Mandy. She laughed and said, “I’m in no rush. For once, I’m actually caught up with my office work.”

“It’s settled, then,” Bethany said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Those are two of the nicest people I think I’ve ever met,” Mandy commented an hour later as they began the long drive home. “Talking with Ryan, you’d never guess that he’s wealthy. He acts like an ordinary guy.”

Zach grinned at Mandy in the rearview mirror. “All the Kendricks are like that. Maybe it comes from not always having been rich. They’re pretty down-to-earth.”

“Their children are darling and so well behaved.”

“I really liked Little Sly,” Luke observed. “He’s not quite eight, but he sounds a lot older.”

Mandy had fallen in love with Chastity, who would celebrate her fifth birthday in only a few days. She was a beautiful little girl with a wealth of sable curls and her mother’s vivacious personality.

“I can’t wait to come out again,” Luke said. “It was so much fun, riding along the lakeshore! Bethany let the horses run. Except for in a car, I’ve never gone that fast. I loved feeling the wind in my face. The smells out there were indescribable!”

Smiling, Mandy settled back to listen as Luke went on and on about how much fun the ride had been. She definitely needed to bring him out again soon. She sneaked a glance at Zach, grateful to him for coming up with the idea. It was wonderful to hear Luke laugh and see his cheeks flushed with excitement. Zach truly was good for him, able to relate with him in a way Mandy could not.

True to his promise, Zach had turned down the beer Ryan offered him, drinking coffee instead. Mandy appreciated that more than he could know. Being a good host, Ryan had taken his cue from his guest, stashing the beer back in the fridge and pouring himself a cup of coffee, too. She wasn’t sure how she would have handled it if Ryan had decided to drink in front of her. Just thinking about it made it difficult to breathe.

Crazy, so crazy.
Staring at the back of her brother’s head, she recalled his words to her the other evening. Alcohol wasn’t evil, and her abhorrence of it was irrational. Maybe she should follow Luke’s example and face her fears instead of running from them. Easier said than done. Luke was doing it, though.

Lost in the mire of her thoughts, Mandy jerked back to the present when Zach parked in front of her house. Still riding high on excitement, Luke was first to exit the vehicle. He tapped the ground in front of him with the cane until he found the sidewalk.

Zach, who’d just gotten out of the car and hadn’t shut the door yet, called over the roof, “The walkway is over to your—”

“Don’t tell me,” Luke said, cutting him off. “I need to find it by myself.”

Mandy collected her purse and got out to stand on the grass median, her gaze fixed on her brother. Zach circled the SUV and joined her.

“No hints,” Luke called over his shoulder. “I want to get inside without help. Okay?”

Mandy eyed the steps with trepidation but gave her brother the keys and stayed put, favoring him with a feeble, “Okay.”

As though Zach sensed how difficult this was for her, he settled a hand on her shoulder. At his touch, she jumped. He grinned when she looked up at him. “Even if he falls, he’s young and resilient. He’ll survive a few bumps and bruises.”

“I know. It’s just difficult for me to stand aside and only watch when I’ve done just the opposite for so many years.”

Luke whooped in triumph. “Found it!”

Mandy knew she should turn to watch her brother go up the walk, but Zach’s gaze held hers, and she couldn’t look away. With a sinking sensation deep in her belly, she realized she was starting to feel attracted to him again.
He drinks
, she reminded herself. But that knowledge no longer disturbed her as much as it had. Zach’s fingertips shifted, and she felt the burn of his touch through her sweatshirt.
Oh, man
. She was in trouble. There was something about him that addled her senses.

She shifted the jackets they hadn’t used to her left arm, putting the bulk between their bodies. “You don’t happen to have a bridge you want to sell, do you?”

A bewildered frown drew his thick black brows together. “Bridge?”

Mandy laughed and shook her head. “Nothing. Just a silly thought that popped into my mind.”