After the Rain (The Callahans) (6 page)

“Creep, huh?”

She shrugged, knowing that she and Paul’s problems hadn’t all been his fault. She’d let him down just as much as he’d let her down. “We just didn’t work out.”

“I know how that is. I was married once.”

“The one who burned you?” she assumed, aloud.

“Bingo,” was all he said.

“What happened?” She was being nosey but she couldn’t help herself. He interested her, though she wasn’t completely sure why yet. There was something about him that drew her in on more than one level.

“Long story,” he answered, hesitantly. “A long,
ugly
story. Now’s not really the time. Let’s just say she was the reason I was in LA and she was the reason I came back here.” He stared out at the sky along with her for several quiet seconds. “I should get back to my rounds.” He spoke but he didn’t move.

“I guess I should check in with the garage and see what’s going on with my jeep.” She didn’t move either.

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Eventually, he broke it. “So are you sticking around for a while?”

“I’m not sure exactly,” she admitted. “Faye wants me here for the wedding, but I may go home and come back.” She’d told her mother she was staying and she did want to, she discovered. She liked it here. She liked Callahan and she liked Faye’s new family. But staying around? She just didn’t know if that was something she was going to be able to do yet—especially after what had happened the night before. Another nightmare like that one and she was definitely heading home.

He stood up, the swing he’d vacated moving back and forth slowly. He started to walk toward the house, but at the last minute turned. “You want to go riding sometime?”

Surprised, she raised a brow. “Like on a horse?”

“Yeah. I can teach you if you don’t already know how to ride.”

“I’ve never been on a horse.”

“Like I said, I can teach you. I have a day off tomorrow. I’ll come up to the house after I get up. If you want to go, that’s cool. If not, that’s cool too. I go on Sundays anyway.” He turned and started to walk away.

“Where do you ride?” she surprised herself by asking. “I mean how far?”

“Just up on the hill—not far. There’s a stream there and an area to have a picnic. You’ll still be able to see the house.”

“Okay then,” she relented, the possibility of spending a little time with him appealing to her, in spite of her uneasiness around him.

He looked surprised, himself. “Okay then, tomorrow.” He turned again to leave.

“Trey?”

He met her gaze.

“Are you sure you don’t mind me borrowing your swing now and then?”

“Knock yourself out, Montana.” He pivoted and disappeared into the house.

7

The next morning, when Trey got up, he thought about the fact that Kylie had agreed to go riding with him. The idea that she hadn’t turned him down shocked him. He’d figured she’d run scared, as far away from him as she could. But she hadn’t. She’d actually appeared to open up to him a little about her ex. That was a start, he supposed. He’d found himself talking to her a little about Shayna too. His ex-wife was not a subject he talked about often. Their relationship had been stormy at best. The end of his marriage had been one of the hardest times in his life. He rarely talked about it to anyone. Except Kylie. What was it about her that made him feel so comfortable? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to like her. She had far too much baggage. He knew for sure that someone had hurt her, badly. The cop in him could sense some kind of physical assault, possibly sexual. He’d seen more than his share of rapes and molestations during his stint in LA. Kylie had that look in her eyes. The night she’d had her nightmare, he’d read it clearly. He just wasn’t sure what had happened to her and since Faye wasn’t about to tell him, he would just have to wait until Kylie told him herself.

There was no reason they couldn’t be friends, he decided, pouring a cup of coffee and heading toward the main house. After all, it wasn’t often he clicked with someone so well on a mental level. What could it hurt to get to know her a little better?

Upon reaching the front door, he heard voices in the kitchen. Breakfast was already on the table and Faye was relaxing with the morning paper, while Dusty stood behind the stove flipping omelets.

Faye looked surprised to see Trey. “It’s early and it’s your day off. Why are you up?”

“Going riding,” was all he said, not really wanting to share any details with her.

“Did you talk to Kylie about the incident yesterday morning? I think you really hurt her feelings.” Faye frowned her
angry mother
frown. “I can’t believe you and Joey and your big mouths.”

“I talked to her, it’s cool.” He sat down in front of a plate of eggs and dug in, hoping to avoid any lengthy conversation with his future sister-in-law. No such luck.

“What do you mean,
it’s cool
?”

Trey shrugged. “I mean I apologized—told her I was just pissed at Joe and that was the end of it. She’s fine, Faye.”

Faye started to open her mouth but was cut off when Kylie walked into the room. Pretending to be oblivious, Trey grabbed a chunk of the paper and appeared engrossed.

“You’re up early,” Faye directed to her friend.

Kylie took the liberty of pouring herself some coffee, before turning to her. “I like getting up and watching the sun rise.”

“It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?” Dusty agreed. “You should take a ride up on the hill and watch it set sometime too.”

“I’d like to do that,” Kylie said, leaning against the counter.

The room grew quiet and Trey could feel Faye’s eyes boring into his head. He ignored her and turned to Kylie, standing up. “You ready to go?”

“Just let me throw my shoes on.” Kylie walked out of the room and Trey went for the fridge, deciding to make up some sandwiches for the ride. It was a nice day for lunch outside.

“Excuse me?” Faye’s voice said, clearly surprised. “Where are you going?”

“Faye—” Dusty began. She cut him off.

“What’s going on? Are you into Kylie?”

Trey set the cold cuts next to the bread on the counter and rolled his eyes. “Give me a break, Faye. I thought we discussed this yesterday, in detail.”

“You’re taking her somewhere.”

“I’m teaching her to ride.” He avoided Faye’s gaze, quickly slapping some sandwiches together and grabbing some water bottles.

“A horse?”

“Yes, a horse.” He finally looked at her. “I thought you would be happy that I’m getting her out of the house. You were bugging me a couple of days ago about getting her involved in things around here, weren’t you?”

“I was,” Faye admitted. She smiled halfway. “You are into her, aren’t you?”

“Knock it off,” he snapped. He wasn’t
into
anyone. “She’s a nice girl. We talk okay together. That’s it.”

“Uh huh.”

“Don’t, Faye. Don’t read more into this than there is.” He shook his head at her. “She’s not my type.”

“So you said before.”

“I meant it—and I’m not hers.” He folded the sandwiches in cellophane and shoved them into a paper sack. Then he reached for his coffee, just as Kylie walked into the room, now holding a sweatshirt in her hand.

“You won’t need that. Bring a swimsuit though. There’s a lake near the stream that’s great for swimming.”

“Swimming?” Faye said, smiling as she raised a brow.

Kylie looked from Trey to Faye.

“I’ll be outside,” Trey said, quickly making an exit. Kylie joined him a few minutes later.

“I’ve got my suit.”

It took him only a few minutes to set the horses up and help her on. The animals were large and intimidating, she discovered. Trey’s horse was the larger of the two. Thunderbolt was his name and he was big, with a black mane and raven black fur. Elle’s horse—the horse Kylie sat on—was named Wildflower. She was smaller and white, with a few brown spots. The mare was very docile and calm. It didn’t take Kylie long to get the hang of riding. The horse did all the work. Trey stuck fairly close to her, so she felt confident enough to work the reigns. Several hours went by before she knew it and she realized that she was having a great time.

The afternoon sun was scorching. When they reached the lake, Trey brought Thunderbolt to a stop and jumped down with the ease of someone who was very comfortable riding a horse. He turned and steadied her horse, patting his mane gently. Then he reached up and offered her a hand getting down.

Once on solid ground again, she missed the freedom of being on the horse. It seemed odd, her being a city girl like she was. She was really beginning to get used to the country.

“They’ll drink a while,” he said, taking the paper sack he’d brought out and handing her a sandwich and a bottle of water.

They sat down with their lunch, just on the edge of the lake, and ate quietly, both just watching nature at its best. He was right; the area was breathtaking.

“It’s probably a hundred today. Not as hot as yesterday,” he mused, reaching up and dumping some water over his face. “It can get really scorching out here. I like to give the horses some time to cool off.” He ate his sandwich while he watched the horses slurp up water. “So what do you think? You like riding?”

“I was kind of nervous at first but not anymore. She’s a great horse.”

“She’s gentle. Elle’s had her for a long time. She and my dad trained her. I think that’s why Elle loves her so much.”

“Your dad was into horses, huh?”

“That’s why we have this place. My mother would have rather lived on the res. She and my dad fell in love and she would have followed him anywhere.”

Kylie nibbled on her turkey sandwich as she listened to him.

“It devastated my mom when my dad died. They were the kind of soul mates you read about in romance novels.”

“How did he die?”

“It was a heart attack—no warning. He was here one day, gone the next. I was in the academy back then. I got the call and by the time I got here, he was already gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “Yeah. It sucked. So what about you? You close to your parents?”

Not really something she wanted to answer, she decided. “Enough,” she supposed aloud.

“Got any brothers or sisters?”

“One brother. He lives in New York though. He’s a lawyer. I don’t see him too much.”

“Were you close when you were younger?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She thought that over. He’s six years older than me so we didn’t have a whole lot in common.”

“There’s a big gap between Dusty and Joe—all of us and Joe, really.” He chuckled. “I think he was an after-thought.” He took a long swallow of water. She found herself watching with interest.
What was she doing?

“Dusty, Beau and I are about two years apart a piece. I turn thirty-two in a few months. Beau will be thirty. Dusty’s thirty-four. Elle is twenty-eight. Joe is twenty-two.”

“At least you guys kept each other company.”

“Yeah, it was never lonely around here, that’s for sure.” He tossed the empty cellophane from his sandwich back into the paper bag he’d gotten it from and sat up straight. “So you ready to cool off?”

Before she had time to even blink, he’d pulled his white T-shirt over his head. She felt immediate unease at first. She wasn’t really comfortable with any man partially dressed. He didn’t seem to notice. He reached for the buckle on his belt and the next thing she knew he’d tossed his jeans aside and strode down to the lake in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t feel a sense of fear. She found herself staring at his backside, with interest. She was surprised to find that she liked the way he looked in his underwear. His body was tight in all the right places, from his feet to the top of his head. She didn’t remember ever noticing a man that way before, without feeling a sense of terror right along with it. She certainly hadn’t admired Paul that way.

“Come on, the water’s great!” he called from the middle of the lake. She hadn’t realized he’d already swam in.

Part of her felt uneasy. She wasn’t sure she wanted to wear nothing but a skimpy bathing suit in front of him. Not only was she worried about wearing so little, but also she was a little worried about what he might think of her in the suit. It was a tasteful two-piece—something she’d bought on impulse back in Montana during a one-day sale at Macy’s. She wasn’t all that sure it looked great on her. She knew she certainly wasn’t fat, but on the other hand she had no curves either. Her legs were somewhat bony and she didn’t like her knees.

“You coming or not?” he called again.

Standing up, she reached for the snap on her cut-offs. She’d just wear a T-shirt over the suit. At least then she’d be primarily covered. She discarded her shorts, quickly pulling her T-shirt down over her bottom as she walked toward the lake. Trey was out in the middle, treading water as he waited for her.

“It feels great in here. Trust me, you’ll like cooling off.”

She stuck her toe into the water and found out it was a refreshingly cool temperature, but not cold. The further in she got, the more uneasy she got. What if he tried to touch her? He hadn’t been giving her any signals that he was interested in touching her, but the idea of it was both scary and interesting to her. Could she be attracted to him? Probably, she thought to herself, as she watched him dunk under the water and come back up. He shook his black hair out, and then met her gaze.

“You know how to swim, right?”

“I know how to swim.”

“Then come on.”

She went in further, finally reaching the water up around her neck. They were still several yards apart. “Are there fish in here?” She wasn’t crazy about anything swiveling around her ankles and biting her.

He grinned at her. “You mean like Nessie?”

She rolled her eyes. “I was thinking more like little fish swimming around.”

“I could check for you. I’ve never seen anything in here before, but you never know.”

He was mocking her, and for good reason. She was acting ridiculous. “I’ll take your word for it.”

He stared at her a moment. “Are you one of those girls that refuses to get your hair wet?”

“I get my hair wet every day in the shower,” she said, leaning her head back and enjoying the feeling of the cool water washing over her neck. Before she could react, a huge splash of water landed on her face, causing her to sputter. She straightened and looked at him, surprised. He was laughing as though he were the funniest person in the world. She didn’t even think about it, she reached her hand forward and splashed him back, successfully covering his already soaking wet face.