Once and Always (Women of Character) (22 page)

Anna twirled on her high heels,
feeling giddy as she almost lost her balance and laughed aloud when Sara
steadied her. "I guess I'm more at home in a pair of riding boots than
heels, but I'm ready!" she exclaimed, reaching forward to hug her friend.
"Sara, thanks for making this possible. I couldn't have pulled off this
shopping thing without you."

"That's where you're
wrong," Sara said dismissively. "I only took you around town, the
rest was up to you. You're like a whirlwind when you get going."

Anna gave her friend a quick hug.
"You must have released all that repressed shopping energy. I haven't
shopped in years."

"Well, it's worth it. You
look great and this emerald two-piece looks better on you than it ever did on
that store dummy." She plucked at the narrow waistline. "Fits like a
glove in all the right places. Sexy but business-like."

"Uh-huh."

"Honestly." Sara looked
at her watch. "I have to get back, it's getting late. Listen, give me a
call tonight to let me know how things went." She lifted a brow. "And
tell Tyler I said hello, will you?"

There was a knock on the door and
Anna turned from the hallway mirror to see Tyler standing outside. "Tell
him yourself," she said over her shoulder. "Come in!" she
called.

Tyler stepped inside.
"Ready?" he asked, stopping just inside the threshold.

Anna moved toward him, wondering
what he would think of her suit and her temporary new look. She felt very
feminine. "What do you think?" she asked anxiously, stopping in front
of him and holding her arms out.

"You're beautiful," he
said, his voice husky. His blue eyes sent an electric current straight to her
heart.

"Tyler―" she
began, then stopped, deciding to take him at his word. "Thank you,"
she murmured softly, looking down at her dress.

"Well, I'm outta here,"
Sara said cheerfully. "Nothing like being odd man out. Have fun, you
two."

"Wait Sara," Tyler said.
He walked over to her. "I wanted to thank you for sending Mario
around."

Sara looked pleased. "When I
found out he's worked with horses his entire life, I thought of you. I'm glad
to hear it's working out, but now I have to go." Sara threw Anna a kiss
and closed the door behind her.

Anna looked up at Tyler in his
dark pressed slacks and suit jacket. "You look very nice yourself,"
she said breathlessly. He looked incredibly handsome. She touched her skirt.
"I hope this is okay."

"Perfect." He touched
her wrist and Anna turned her hand and gripped his fingers. "Don't be
nervous, you'll be great."

"I'm not nervous," she
said defensively, clenching her empty hand in the hope it would stop shaking.

Tyler dropped a slow, hot kiss on
her mouth. Anna followed him with a murmur of protest when he pulled back.

"If you're ready, we'll
leave," he said softly. "Unless you want me to cancel lunch."

Anna looked at him quickly. All
she had to do was say the word and they could go into her room.

She groaned aloud. "Let's go
before all this getting ready is a waste of time."

As they walked out of the
guesthouse and toward the driveway where his car was parked, Anna held Tyler's
hand tightly. "Just be yourself, Annie." He opened her door. When she
was settled in the car he leaned down and kissed her. "You'll do fine.
This meeting is not a live-or-die situation."

The words helped to put a bit of
perspective on the luncheon. "Now you've smudged my lipstick," she
complained. "I'll have to reapply it."

He merely grinned and went around
to the driver's side.

When he was settled in the car
Anna motioned him closer. "Since it's already smudged, you might as well
kiss me properly before I reapply it."

"Always glad to help a lady
in need," he murmured, his strong arms enfolding her.

Ω

The restaurant Tyler had chosen
was the same one they'd eaten at once before. Anna hesitated just a moment, and
then entered the imposing entrance. Realizing she held Tyler's arm in a death
grip and had probably creased his jacket sleeve, she released him.

A tall, dark-haired man approached
them in the foyer. "Tyler Stanton?" he asked.

Tyler reached out a hand to the
man who appeared to be in his early thirties. "Yes, and you must be
Harris. Call me Tyler please, and this is Anna Barlow." Tyler looked
behind him. "Did you bring your wife?"

The other man nodded. "Of
course. She's waiting at our table."

"Let's go sit down,
then." Tyler indicated she should precede him so she followed Harris into
the nearly full dining room. Anna saw Martin, the headwaiter she'd met on her
previous visit.

"Hello, Ms. Barlow, nice to
see you again," he said with a smile.

Anna returned his greeting, hardly
able to believe she was pulling this off. She suddenly felt so free, suffering
from barely any self-consciousness.

They moved from the main dining
room to the outside balcony. Anna looked with surprise at Tyler and when his
eyes met hers, she knew instinctively he had deliberately chosen the balcony,
which afforded more privacy. Harris stopped beside the same table where she and
Tyler had sat the last time, and she saw a woman was already seated there.

Harris bent over the woman and
lifted her hand from the table. Petite in stature with jet black hair and big
brown eyes, the woman radiated beauty, yet there was a definite sulk to her
mouth which took away from her looks.

"Regina," Harris said,
"this is Tyler Stanton and Anna Barlow." He pulled a chair out from beside
the table. "This is my wife Regina." Anna wondered at the intent
glance he gave his wife. Regina, however, did not glance at her husband. Her
smile seemed a bit strained, but she said hello pleasantly enough as they all
moved to take seats. Anna sat on Regina's left, and that's when she noticed her
chair was a wheelchair. Her startled gaze met the other woman's and at that
moment Regina's hand knocked against her wine glass, toppling it over.

In a flurry of activity, a waiter
removed the shattered glass, another replaced the wet tablecloth and a third
appeared with new utensils and glasses. Regina sat miserably silent and
suddenly Anna felt her own heart pounding in her throat.

Feeling paralyzed, Anna stared at
Tyler, then at Harris, whose attention was centered on his wife. She swallowed
several times, ran her tongue over her dry lips, painfully conscious of
Regina's obvious distress. Although Regina's lips remained tightly closed, she
looked on the verge of tears.

Impulsively, Anna leaned forward
and covered Regina's clenched fists where they rested in her lap. "I'm
glad to see I'm not the only one who knocks things over," she said
lightly. Slowly, the other woman looked up and Anna saw the sheen of moisture
in Regina's brown eyes.

"My dress will probably be
ruined!" she blurted.

"Would you like to go to the
ladies room? Perhaps they have something to take the stains out."

"I can help you,
darling," Harris said quickly, rising to his feet.

"You two can talk
business," Anna said to the men. "I'd be happy to help you,
Regina." She moved to stand beside Regina. "That is, if you want my
help."

The other woman looked
disconcerted by the offer, but then suddenly she nodded. "Yes, I would
appreciate your help, Anna." She looked up at her husband. "I'll be
fine. We'll clean this up as best we can."

Anna tucked her purse under her
arm and wheeled Regina through the main dining room and then to the ladies
room. She smiled at several people she recognized, but did not stop. Opening
the door to the ladies room, she pushed Regina's chair inside.

"I'll bet they have something
in this basket for stains." She sorted through an assortment of items
located on the outer room's counter. "Here's a stain stick. Let's put this
on and see what happens." Regina remained silent while Anna rubbed at the
wine spots near the hem of the long skirt. "Luckily, you only got hit by
splatters."

"I appreciate your help,
Anna." The sulk had returned to Regina's mouth. "I never used to be
clumsy. Not until I was in this thing," she confessed, slapping the arm of
the wheelchair. "I hate it―hate it!" she said passionately,
then put her hands to her cheeks. "Forgive me, you don't want to hear
this."

"Sometimes strangers are the
best sounding boards." Anna hesitated a moment, then she pressed on, her
words deliberate. "When I was in the hospital two years ago, if it hadn't
been for the kindness of strangers, I'd have gone stir crazy." She
straightened. "That seems to have taken care of most of the stains. You
might want to soak it when you get home."

 Regina didn't even look down at
the material. "Why were you in the hospital?"

"I was badly burned."

Regina looked at her with
bewilderment. "You were lucky. I see no scarring."

"My hands were burned, but
they healed remarkably well. Luckily for me, it never affected my riding."
Hesitating only for a moment, Anna turned toward the sink. Pulling a paper
towel from the dispenser, she ran it under warm water, then slowly wiped the
camouflage makeup from her cheek. She turned to face Regina.

The other woman's eyes widened as
she looked at the scarring. "Oh Anna, I had no idea. That must have hurt
terribly and here I am complaining of this wheelchair."

Anna smiled. "I think we're
both allowed some whining. I did it for two years, but I'm finally taking my
life back."

Regina's eyes held an incredible
sadness. "My horse fell with me six months ago. The doctors don't know if
I'll ever walk. Some days I can't stand to be alive. I'm afraid I'll lose
Harris, but I can't bear to have him touch me," she ended in a tortured
whisper. "I'm not the same woman he married."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No, of course not. He's been
understanding, putting up with my rotten moods. I used to be so full of life,
but now I feel as if all the life has been sucked out of me. My Harris swears
he still loves me."

"Maybe you should believe
him."

Regina regarded her uncertainly.

"I care a great deal about
Tyler," Anna confessed, "but because of my scarring, I didn't think
any man could really care for me in turn. What makes it doubly hard is that
he's so―so―"

"Good looking?" Regina
supplied.

"Yes. But what I discovered
is, a good man doesn't care what you look like or how well your legs
work." Anna shook her head, and could feel the silly grin splitting her
face. She felt like she'd just learned a momentous truth. "I sound like a
Sunday school lesson, but I saw the way Harris looked at you. That man loves
you. Don't push him away because of your own fears."

Regina clasped her hands together.
"I can't believe I've been so selfish," she wailed.

"Regina."

Anna looked up and saw Harris
standing in the doorway.

"Are you okay?" he asked
with obvious concern.

Regina smiled radiantly at her
husband and Harris returned her smile, but Anna could see he was clearly
puzzled by her transition from tears to smiles.

"Harris, I'm fine,"
Regina called out. "We'll be along in a minute."

After Anna reapplied her makeup,
she and Regina returned to their table, Tyler lifted a brow in surprise as she
took her seat. Anna placed her napkin in her lap and calmly met his gaze.
"I'm ready to order."

Regina nodded vigorously as she
threw an all-encompassing smile around the table. "I'll second that. I'm
famished."

Ω

Several hours later Anna relaxed
in the car seat and opened her side window to let the breeze rush past her
face. She looked over at Tyler, admiring his dark good looks, studying the
sturdy hands on the wheel as he guided the car onto the main street.

She put her head back against the
seat with a sigh. "This afternoon was really enjoyable," she said.
"What do you think?"

He tossed her a grin. "Since
Harris's promised three horses next month for training and full board, I'll say
it was pretty successful. I'll have to put the construction of the new stalls
on high priority. Whatever you said to Regina really turned everything around.
After you came back, things took off like wildfire."

Anna pushed her hair away from her
face. "She was feeling a bit down so we talked. I have to admit I was
comfortable all during the luncheon. I even stopped and said hello to a few
people I haven't seen in years. All this time I've been worrying about my face,
people's reactions," she murmured, half to herself. "It feels
anticlimactic that nothing terrible happened."

"You almost sound
disappointed," he said, his voice teasing. "You're quite a woman,
Annie. I'll bet you can achieve anything you set your mind to."

Anna laughed softly. "When
you say it like that, with such confidence, I'm ready to believe you. Thank you
for today."

"Thank you. I know how hard
it was to go in there, but no one would know you were nervous." He
stopped, one brow lifted. "Maybe I'm assuming too much. Maybe you weren't
nervous after all."

"Oh, I was nervous. My
stomach was doing flips and turns."

"You handled everything
well."

She gave him a big smile and settled
deeper into her seat. "Yes, I did, didn't I?" However small, it still
felt like a victory.

Ω

Early the next morning Anna
cross-tied Carol's horse Lady in the barn's center aisle, speaking to her
softly as she brushed her down. She'd lunged her in the ring earlier on a short
line so she could see how she moved and responded to basic commands. She had a
nice, easy gait and seemed willing. The next step would be to ride her so she
could get a feel for her manners and skill level under saddle.

Anna had been keeping on the
lookout for Danny and it wasn't long before she saw him step from the edge of
the woods. She glanced at her watch. Eight o'clock, right on time as always,
and no doubt he'd walked from town as he'd done countless times through the
years. She hadn't been able to stop thinking that he might know something about
what had happened six years ago. She knew she'd have to tread carefully. Danny
got skittish if he felt he might be in trouble about something. She'd seen it a
few times through the years when Martin had taken him to task for something.