Montana Secrets (12 page)

T
HE FOLLOWING MORNING
Seth wheeled himself through the house, unable to shrug off the tension between his shoulder blades. He entered the foyer as the phone rang, and since it was barely light outside and Jake and Maura hadn't ventured downstairs yet, he swung himself around and headed to the kitchen.

It took two tries to reach the phone, but he grabbed it off the base on the third ring, nearly tossing himself out of his wheelchair in the process. His foot slipped off the rest but got caught between the two metal flaps, and a dull stab of pain shot up his leg.

He faltered, stunned. Pain?

Seth stared down at his foot until the voice on the other end of the phone line registered. “Anybody there? Hello?”

“Rowland Ranch,” he murmured distractedly into the receiver.

Silence filled the air for a moment. “Hi, uh, yeah, is Grace Korbit there? This is Brent, her brother. Is this Jake?”

Seth settled back into his chair, stuck the hand-set between his shoulder and head to hold it and readjusted his foot onto the rest.

No pain, no feeling. Nothing. But had it been something? He remembered the feel of Lexi's boot on top of his foot and hope shot through him. Maybe it was progress, but maybe it was his imagination playing one heck of a trick.

Please, God?

“Hello? If this is a bad time—”

“No, this is Seth. It's fine, sorry, I was distracted.”

“Oh, okay. So how's it going? Sorry to hear about your accident. Grace isn't working you too hard, is she?”

“Not too bad. She's still asleep, though.” And he wasn't going to wake her up, not after the emotional night she'd had.

“Oh, man, I forgot the time difference. I didn't wake
you,
did I?”

“No, I've been up awhile.”

“Good. Hey, sorry for the mistake. I was hoping I could tell her some good news, but it'll wait.” Brent's excitement was tangible. The guy sounded as if he was bouncing off the walls.

“I could use some of that myself right now.”

“Ah, you
will
appreciate this! Grace might not have mentioned it, but I'm an engineering student at Duke and I've been working on some designs to
help Grace's patients. Anyway, I sold one of my inventions,” he said, followed by a whoop of laughter. “The company wants to look at a couple of others, too. I got enough of an advance to fly Grace home for Christmas. If it's okay with you,” he added abruptly.

Seth smiled at Brent's enthusiasm. “Congratulations. But I have a better idea. Why don't you surprise Grace and come here? You can stay with us. There's plenty of room.”

“Cool, man, thanks. I'd love to see Montana again. I appreciate the invitation. It's been three years since Grace and I've spent Christmas together. She's always somewhere working and money's been a problem with me in school and having to buy my equipment, you know?”

“Money problems are something I can identify with,” Seth said.

“Listen, a buddy just walked in to study. We've got finals coming up, one's two days before Thanks giving, can you believe it?”

“Good luck. Call back when you get your flight information and I'll make sure someone's at the airport to pick you up.”

“Thanks again. It'll be really cool to surprise her. I'll probably fly in the week before Christmas. If that's okay?”

Seth chuckled. “That's fine. Maybe when you get here you can tell me more about your inventions.”

“Sure thing. Hey—anything in particular you'd like to be able to do but can't?” Brent questioned suddenly. “My best ideas come from her patients.”

Next to walking again there was only one thing he wanted to do. “Got an idea of how to get me back on a horse?”

“Huh,” Brent murmured, surprise lacing his voice, “that's a new one. I'll give it a shot and see what I come up with.” Brent tossed out a goodbye and hung up.

Seth replaced the receiver and waited, wondering if he'd feel something again. He closed his eyes and smacked his leg, but when nothing happened, he fought his disappointment and turned himself around. Time, the docs said. He'd heal in time. So if their words were about to prove true, he had to be ready. And what better way than to toss himself into physical therapy with Grace, dig Jake out of the paperwork and do something productive?

“Seth?”

Maura stood behind him dressed in a bathrobe and slippers, her hair fuzzy, her expression priceless.

“You know, Maura, I've been thinking,” he said, smiling when her eyebrows arched in response to his tone. “You and Jake were ready to move out before my accident. You must've been disappointed when that didn't happen.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, confusion etched on her features. “A—A little.”

“What about now?”

“What about it?”

“Would you like to move into the studio? It's small, but—”

“The studio? You mean it?”

Seth wheeled himself close to her. “I know it's been hard, and all I can say is that I'm sorry. I've behaved like an idiot. You've given up a lot for me and I appreciate it. I thought maybe you might want a place of your own, you and Jake and the kids.”

Maura's hand trembled when she lifted it to cover her mouth. “I can't believe—Jake said you'd never offer the studio because it was Arie's.”

Seth frowned at her choice of words but didn't question her. “Yeah, well, I'm offering. You want it?”

“Yes! Oh, yes, I do!” She leapt toward him as fast as a pregnant woman could move and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Seth, thank you. You've helped us out so much already and I know it's selfish of me to want more, but thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Seth returned her hug, grinning. “No problem. I should've said something sooner.”

Maura squeezed him before pulling away. “Seth, about Arie…and what I said when I brought Lexi to
see you—I'm sorry. I should never have said what I did, implying that you upset her so badly and let her drive. I have no business butting in on your marriage, and her accident wasn't your fault.”

He acknowledged her words with a nod. “It was true, Maura. We did have an argument before she left, and I didn't stop her. I didn't even try.”

“But
she
was the one at the wheel, not you. I know how Arie could be. Here I was practically accusing—”

“It's fine, Maura. It's all in the past,” he murmured, uncomfortable. Her expression softened at his words, then quickly changed to one of worry. “What, you don't believe me? What's wrong?”

“Nothing. But you've made this wonderful offer and I don't think Jake will agree to move. He always says there's no need.”

Seth patted her arm, then gripped his wheels and turned his chair toward the foyer. “So change his mind,” he said with a wink before leaving the kitchen and Maura behind.

 

G
RACE WAS IN THE GYM
finishing up some notes in Seth's file when he wheeled himself into the room. After last night's conversation she'd wondered how she'd face the awkwardness of the day, and this was it.

“'Mornin', honey.”

Her head jerked up and she met his gaze, stiffening in her seat. “Don't call me that.”

“'Mornin'?”

She closed the file with a snap.

He chuckled softly. “You're prickly this morning. Mad because I kept you waiting on breakfast?”

Prickly? Grace frowned. Her anger surprised her, and the rational side of her brain wondered why. Seth had been kind and gentle and tender last night. Everything she could've asked for as she'd revealed her soul. So why was she angry?

“Something wrong?”

She rubbed a hand across her forehead. “Headache,” she muttered, knowing before she said it that the excuse was a lame one.

“That's understandable. You had a late night.”

“So did you.”

“Yeah, but I've spent most of the past few months sleeping. I can lose a few hours. You, on the other hand, needed to sleep in.”

He rolled closer, and she studied him from beneath her lashes, angry with herself for being so weird. He acted fine, normal. Actually, he behaved better than normal considering he'd ventured out of his room without coercion not only last night, but this morning as well. She'd gone to his room to wake him, but he wasn't inside.

“Where have you been?” Seth looked ready to
burst with energy, edgy to get started on his therapy like they'd discussed.

One side of Seth's mouth lifted in a sexy grin. “Around. And it's okay, Grace. Relax.”

“What's okay?” Maura asked from the doorway, a heavily laden tray in her hands.

Grace jumped up and practically ran across the room to take the tray from the pregnant woman, ignoring Maura's protest. “You shouldn't be carrying these trays. I told you I'd come get it after you kicked me out of the kitchen.”

Maura's laughter filled the air. “It's not that heavy. And besides, I had to come see Seth again since I'm still having trouble taking it in. Thought I was seeing things when I saw him working in the den. Have you been in there? He made it through nearly all the paperwork. Everything's in neat little stacks like it was before Jake got hold of it and scattered it to kingdom come. I didn't go in because I was too afraid of scaring him off.” Maura shook her head, grinning all the while.

“Watch it or I might change my mind about the studio,” Seth warned, the twinkle in his eyes belying his tone of voice.

“Studio?” Grace repeated numbly, feeling much like an observer at a tennis match as she glanced back and forth between the two of them.

“I, uh, figured Jake and Maura must be getting
tired of not having their own place,” Seth explained, rubbing his palms over the rounded arms of his wheelchair. “So I told Maura this morning she and Jake could move in there if they wanted.”

Maura nodded vigorously, tears in her eyes. “I still can't believe it. Seth, thank you again. I know how much Arie loved the studio you built her—”

“It's yours,” Seth interrupted. “So did you convince Jake?”

Maura blushed, her freckles standing out with prominent detail. “Not yet. But I'm working on it,” she said with a playful smile.

“Jake doesn't stand a chance, you'll be moved in in no time.”

“I hope so. And Grace,” she murmured. “I don't know how to thank
you.
”

“I didn't do anything.”

“Oh, yes, you did,” she countered, a definite bounce in her step as she left the gym.

Suspicion filled her as she faced Seth. “How did you know Maura wanted the studio for her and Jake?” She carried the tray the rest of the way to the table.

“I guessed?”

“Try again.”

This time she noted he didn't bother to pretend. “I overheard you talking one day when I had my windows open.” He raised a brow. “You were try
ing to come up with a scheme for getting me to agree but weren't sure what to do. Don't know why you didn't simply ask.”

A rush of heat filled her cheeks. “Maybe because you'd been behaving worse than a hibernating bear? I can't believe you listened in on a private conversation.”

He chuckled. “A man has to do whatever it takes to stay ahead of the females in his house. Especially when we're outnumbered.”

“Here's the other tray.” Maura scurried into the room, left the tray on the table and hurried back out again with only a pleased grin and a thumbs-up.

Seth's rich laughter filled the air. “Eat up, Grace. You'll need the energy for our therapy session.”

 

A
WEEK LATER
S
ETH CAME
upon Grace rocking back and forth in one of the chairs on the front porch, her hands shoved deep into her pockets.

“I've been looking for you,” he said from behind her.

She started and turned, and he watched as she took in his appearance. Unlike the pajama pants he'd worn since his accident, today he'd dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt, coat and athletic shoes.

“What do you think?”

A smile hovered at the corners of her mouth. “It's okay.”

He laughed and continued to watch Grace as she tried to rock her way to Texas, amused that for a woman who knew him so well, she was extremely nervous around him.

Grace looked pretty sitting there, her hair loose and flowing over her shoulders, a sleepy look on her face. Dressed in worn jeans, a thick cream sweater, black coat and boots, she looked a lot different from the woman he saw in the gym every morning and afternoon.

“Pretty day,” he murmured, finally breaking the silence. “You, uh, wanna go for a walk?” He waited until she glanced over at him, then performed a quick wheelie, one of the new moves he'd conquered during the past week. “I've got wheels and can travel.”

She smiled at his joke and even released a soft, husky laugh, and he knew he'd made progress. Definite progress.

“Sure you're old enough to drive that thing?”

He winked at her and watched as she blushed. “Just watch me. Come on, walk with me.” Strangely nervous, he waited for her answer, which came in the form of a nod and her standing up.

Seth hid his pleasure as he took the ramp off the porch and Grace walked down the steps. By silent agreement they passed up the barn and the memories it contained, and simply toured the grounds around the house.

In back, Grace braved the spiders down in the cellar to retrieve a couple of apples for them to eat while they made their way to the creek. They strolled through the clearing to the water's edge. Grace sat on a rock and watched the rippling current while he sat in his chair and watched her, unable to take his eyes off the sweet beauty of her face and the fragile woman he glimpsed beneath the tough exterior.

Emotions rolled inside him. Some good. Some really bad.