Baby Girl: Dare to Love (3 page)

FOUR

“We had a great lesson, Kassie,” Kyle said as he helped her down off the horse.  “Next week, we’ll practice commands.” 

She nodded as she reached the ground.  She pointed to the stands and waved.   Her mother instantly waved back. 

“Time to give Nutmeg her reward for doing such a good job.  There’s a basket of apples by the barn door.  You can give her one after take her to the water barrel.” 

Again, she nodded, then she hugged him quickly and grabbed the Nutmeg’s reins.  She walked toward the gate opening toward the barn.  “I’ll be right there, Kassie.”   He headed toward Jemma before she made it to the barn.  Nervous parents, he mused. 

“I know I look silly, but there’s too many rocks,” she said, pointing down at her bare feet.  They were pretty feet from what he could tell, since they were covered with dirt.  A hot pink nail color caught his attention.  “I’m wearing flats next week,” she promised. 

“Sensible. Kassie did great today. She seems very at ease with the animals,” he told her in his most clinical voice.   “She has good form and follows direction well.”  He looked at those frightened green eyes.  “Okay, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.”

“What?”

Kyle smiled.  “She spoke.  You heard her. I heard her.  That was the only time she spoke.”

“My sister told me to get too excited.”

“Your sister is correct.  If you try to force her to speak more, it might propel her back rather than forward.”

Jemma stared at him.  “Have you had much cases like this?  I mean my sister is a medical doctor and she assured me this was temporary.”

“I’ve heard there were a few cases like this.  And, yes, it was temporary.”  He didn’t want to give her false hope.  “Please keep in mind that everyone’s brain is wired differently.  While I do believe that talking is just around the corner.  I couldn’t tell you how long it will take to get to that corner.”

She took a deep breath.  “I know. No one can.  I’m just happy she said something and she smiled.  I about screamed when I saw her hug you.”

“Me too.”  He motioned for her to start walking toward the barn.  “At Cross-Cut, we train every aspect of horse riding.  Currently, she’s giving Nutmeg some water, then a snack, then she has to brush her down.  I’ll be showing her how to do that in a few minutes.  You’re welcome to wait in the office until she’s done.  I think Chutney is still in there.”  He stopped at the entrance to the barn. Normally parents weren’t allowed while the lesson in session.  Kyle knew it was going to be hard to say no to those green eyes. 

Luckily, Jemma took the hint.  “Okay, I’ll wait for you guys in the office.”

“Thank you, Jemma.  I’ll bring her over the minute we’re finished.”   With a sigh of relief, he went to check on Kassie.

Jemma limped inside the quiet office.  No more stilettos, she promised, as she sat in a cushioned seat. She glanced around office and noticed the young girl behind the computer. 

“Hello, Mrs. Patterson.”  She stared at Jemma’s bare feet.  “Something happened to your feet?”

“No, I just choose the wrong shoes today.  Kyle said I could wait in here.  The lesson is almost done.”

Chutney nodded.  “Sure, no probs. Kyle’s awesome, isn’t he?”

Jemma didn’t doubt it for one second.  “So far, so good,” she said.  

“Aw yeah.  I’ve worked here for almost two years.  The Cosgroves are a nice family.  My dad is one of the other trainers.”

“Wow, this really is a family place?”

Chutney shrugged.  “I’ve always been on the ranch.  My dad has worked here before I was born.  My mom is the vet for the ranch.  So yeah, I guess this place is very family.” 

That seemed to relieve Jemma for some unknown reason.  Maybe that’s why Kassie was reacting to Kyle so positively.  “That’s nice to know.” 

“There’s a bathroom to your left; if you’d like to clean up.” 

Jemma looked down at her dirty feet.  Yes, she’d have to clean up before Kassie got back.  “Thank you, Chutney.” 

After she washed up, she sat back and waited.  She glanced around the office, then took out her cell phone to check her messages.  Shaking her head she listened to her mother’s message.

“Hey, baby.  Just wanted to see how the horse lesson went. Call me when you get a chance,” her mother said. 

Jemma knew her family had their doubts about the lessons being therapeutic for her daughter.  She couldn’t wait to tell her mother about it, but decided to save that conversation for tomorrow while Kassie was at school.  She listened to the second message from her sister. 

“Where are you?  It’s after six.  How long is the lesson?  Call me.”

Jemma dialed her sister’s phone number and waited to connect.  “Is everything okay?”  Janna asked in a rush.  “I thought it was only an hour lesson?”

“I think it’s running a little long.  She had to put the horse away.” 

“Well that’s good.  Did she say anything else?”

Jemma sighed.  “No, she waved when she saw me, but no more words.”

“Don’t worry.  She’s had a good first day.”

Jemma wondered if she should mentioned everything or not.  If she didn’t Janna would kill her later.  “Kassie hugged him after the lesson was over.  You know she hardly interacts with strangers.”

“You’re kidding!”  Janna shouted.  “I can’t believe it! She hugged him!”

Jemma wiped away a tear.  The small gesture was so monumental, it was hard to hold back her joy.  “I’ll call you back, Jan.”  She ended the call and ran to the bathroom to wash her face. 

When she returned to the office, Kassie and Kyle were walking inside.  Kassie ran to her mother and hugged her.  Her baby girl had a smile a mile wide.  Jemma’s heart filled with pride.  “I bet you had a good time.”  Jemma took off her daughter’s helmet.  Her curly hair bounced free. 

Kassie nodded quickly. 

Kyle stood next to Kassie.  “She did great Jemma.  A natural horsewoman.”  He patted Kassie on the shoulder.  “See you next week, Kassie.”

“Okay.”

It took everything Jemma had not to say anything.  She looked up at Kyle and he acknowledged the moment.  Two milestones in one day.  Sure it had been the grand total of two words, but Kassie was slowly getting back into communicating with the world. 

Jemma rose, grabbed her purse and took Kassie’s hand.  She cleared her throat, hoping and praying that her voice sounded normal.   “See you next week, Kyle.” 

“Goodnight,” he said.  “I’ll walk you outside.”

Jemma, not wanting to offend the man, simply said, “Okay.” 

He called over his shoulder, “I’ll be right back, Chutney.”

“Okay, Kyle.”  He opened the door and motioned for Jemma and Kassie to precede him outside.  Next to her Escalade, was one of the ranch’s trucks, and another very small car, too small for Kyle’s tall, athletic body.

“It’s very of nice of you to walk us outside,” Jemma said as they neared her vehicle.  Kassie had ran ahead of them and was waiting at the SUV.  She disarmed the alarm, so her daughter could get in. 

“It’s no problem,” he said in his deep voice.  “She did great today.  Remember no pushing.  It will come naturally.”

She agreed.  “It’s going to be hard, but I’ll do my best.   I’m so proud of her today.”

“I can tell,” he said, wiping her tears.  “I’m going to have to keep a supply of handkerchiefs with you around.”  He helped her inside her the SUV.  “Have a good evening.”  He closed the driver’s side door.  He waved at Kassie in the backseat.

She started the Escalade and let her window down.  “Thank you again.  For everything.”  She backed out of the driveway and proceeded home.

Kyle stood in the drive watching Jemma until she was out of sight.  What was he thinking? Wiping her tears away, really?  He knew he was attracted to her, but he had to consider her daughter.  Kassie was still grieving for her father, he wondered if Jemma was missing her husband. 

“So now we’re walking clients to their cars?”  His father asked as he walked up behind him.  “Why don’t you just asked that woman out? Might do you good.”

“Dad, I was just being nice.  It’s almost dark, and I didn’t want anything to happen to her or her daughter.” He walked back inside the office, his father hot on his trail.  Chutney looked up from her desk, hurriedly gathered her things and prepared to leave.

“I prepared the deposit for Tesla to do in the morning.  I’m not sure what do about Mrs. Patterson’s bill.  Should I mail it to her at the end of the month?”

It was an innocent question.  A touchy question, but one that needed to be answered.  “I’ll take care of it tomorrow with Mom.”  He glanced at his father, but said nothing. 

Chutney grinned.  “You like the mother.  I’m so happy.”  She walked toward the door.  “Goodnight, Kyle.  Goodnight, Mr. Cosgrove.”  She was gone in an instant.

Kyle looked at his father.  “Now look what you did.  You ran off Chutney.”  Okay, he knew it was a lie, but he had to get the focus off him. 

“I did not.  The office closed almost an hour ago.  The only reason she was still here was because I asked her to stay until the last client left.  Now back to you asking out that nice woman.  What’s the problem?”

“Her daughter is still grieving for her father.  I don’t know if Jemma is grieving for her husband.  I’d look like an ass.”

“True.  But since your return to the ranch, you haven’t been on a date, hadn’t even been out or anything.  You’ve been living and breathing this place for the last five years.  I know your marriage is a touchy subject, but it’s over and done with, so let’s just move on.”

“I don’t want to make another mistake.”  He’d never admitted that to anyone, especially his father.  “I look at you and Mom and you’ve been together almost fifty years.”

“It wasn’t all roses.  Your mother will tell you that.  No one is happy all the time.  The thing is you find someone that you can have a conversation with, not just sex.”

Kyle thought about his father’s words.  “Not that I’m admitting to any such thing, but how would I find out if she’s still hung up on her husband?”

“Ask her.”

***

“Pizza.”

Jemma gasped before she realized.  They were on their way home and she’d been reciting dinner choices for Kassie as she normally had when she hadn’t felt like cooking.  She ran through the usual options, when Kassie announced her choice.

“Cheese?”

Kassie shook her head.  “Pepperoni.”

Jemma smiled into her rearview mirror.  “Pepperoni, it is.”  She turned onto her street when her cell phone rang.  She engaged the talk option on the steering wheel.  Technology, she mused, what had they done before all those fancy gadgets to make life easier. 

“Hey, Janna.  We’re on our way home.”

“Great.  Hello, Kassie,” Janna said, not expecting an answer. 

“Hi.”

“Wait.  Kassie?”

No answer.

Jemma wanted to laugh, but hadn’t wanted to alert her daughter she was doing anything spectacular.  “In honor of Kassie’s excellent performance today, we’re celebrating with pizza.”  Kassie clapped. 

“Amazing,” her sister said.  “Call me later.” 

Jemma heard the catch in her sister’s voice.  It was so hard keeping her composure and not burst into tears of happiness. She wished Kassie would have said more, but she didn’t stop talking instantly.  It was gradual.  So gradual, that she hadn’t realized it until Kassie had almost completely stopped talking.

After their celebratory meal, homework and a bath, Kassie went to bed.  She hadn’t said any more words, but she had been more animated than her usual self.  It was definitely something about that horse ranch, she thought.   Maybe there was something to that nonsense about horses being good for kids. 

Jemma relaxed in front of the TV downstairs.  She had a microphone in Kassie’s room, just in case.  Secretly, she was hoping for a few more words, but so far nothing. She read her mail, checked her blog and responded to the queries from readers, and entered a happy post celebrating her daughter’s horse lesson.  Her phone rang as she closed her laptop.

“Hey Janna.”

“Sorry for losing it earlier.  She’s speaking? OMG, I can’t believe it.”

Jemma chuckled.  “Remember, it’s just been a word here and there.  So we can’t jump the gun.”

“I know, but it’s been so long since we’ve heard her say anything.  I’m a doctor, so yes, I know better.  I’ll tell Mom, so she doesn’t go nuts.  I’d say those lesson are already paying off.”

“Speaking of, I’ve yet to pay anything.  He keeps telling me he’s doing monthly billing because of her condition.”

“That place is a multi-million dollar ranch, I’m sure they’ll charge you.”

“I just don’t want Kyle to get in trouble for not charging me correctly.  I know how those places are.  Especially since his mother helps runs the office and his father works there too.”

“Stop worrying.”

“Well, there’s something else,” she said quietly. 

“What?”

“Kyle walked me out to the car tonight.  I mean it was late and everything, it seemed out of the ordinary.”  She took a deep breath.  “What do you know about him?”