If We Dare to Dream (26 page)

“Well… how did it go?”

“It was long and hot, but it was fun.”

“Where did you ride? Was it a trail?”

Jamie shrugged. “Part of it was. We had to plow our own, too.”

Melissa fell silent and watched Jamie carefully while she spread jelly on half a wheat bagel with her head down. Unfortunately, she had swept her hair into a messy bun that morning, so she was finding it difficult to hide from the watchful gaze. After what seemed an eternity, the young woman pushed away from the counter and put her lunch pack in the fridge before spinning on her heel and placing her hands on her hips.

“All right, what happened?”

Jamie feigned innocence. “What do you mean?”

“For someone who was so excited, you seem… let down today.”

“It was fine. Both horses behaved magnificently.”

“Did he?”

“Who?”

“Your friend.”

The color in her cheeks belied her answer. “Of course he did.”

“Then what happened? Did you have a fight?”

“No, not a fight, just a…miscommunication.”

Melissa’s face fell. “Oh no. Have you spoken to him since?”

“No, he hasn’t called.”

“Why haven’t you called him?”

Melissa had started a relationship in the spring with a nice boy she met at school. He was studying to be a firefighter and found the time to help Melissa and Zoe get by. Initially Jamie had felt a motherly overprotectiveness when Melissa first mentioned her infatuation with Kip, but it eased right after she met the man in the flesh. He was as ambitious and caring as Melissa, and Jamie hoped their relationship would grow even deeper. In her opinion Zoe needed a father figure, and Kip had the patience to deliver. However, Melissa’s idealism clashed with Jamie’s bitterness. She had already worked her way through one failed relationship, and her obvious loneliness may have just cost her another one.

She shrugged. “I just haven’t.”

“Why not?” Melissa pressed. “You know how important it is to communicate in a relationship.”

Fortunately the coffee had finished brewing, so Jamie steered Melissa away from the awkward conversation. “Do you want some?”

“Please. Black.”

As she prepared their coffee, Jamie carefully considered Melissa’s wise words. For just barely being over drinking age, Melissa had a level of maturity beyond her young years. “You’re absolutely right, Mel, but it’s complicated.”

Melissa raised her chin and huffed. “Nothing is more complicated than losing a potentially fulfilling relationship.”

With that she turned on her heel and carried her mug over to her desk, placing it down on the blotter and then pulling her chair out to get to work. Jamie shook her head in amazement. The girl was absolutely right.

By the time she had returned her voice mails and emails, she had her hand on the phone and was dialing Andrew’s mobile. To her dismay and increasing insecurity, it went straight to voice mail. Fearing he was busy, she hastily hung up with the hopes that he would see the missed call and ring her back. By lunch, she still had not heard anything. She dialed again, aware that she had to respond to his grandmother’s invitation soon or risk being seen as rude.

The second time it went straight to voice mail, Jamie got nervous. This time she left a message, but she also grew worried. Her next call was to Arlene, who cheerfully answered on the first ring. “Hi Jamie.”

“Hello Arlene,” she replied.

“We were just talking about you. Did you have a chance to take a look at your schedule?”

Hearing Linda’s cheerful voice in the background asking Arlene to find out if she liked pot roast made Jamie feel a twinge of guilt for her well-planned answer. “Actually, I have. I have a meeting at six this evening. It would run an hour or two, so I’m afraid I can’t make it to dinner.”

“Oh no.” Her disappointment was evident in the tone of her voice, perhaps overly so. “Linda already has the roast in the oven. We felt sure you’d be able to come.”

Jamie cringed. She had really done it now. “I’m sorry. Is it a problem to take a rain check?”

Arlene continued on as though Jamie had not spoken. “Andrew told me that you sometimes work in the evenings, but I felt certain that you’d be able to clear your schedule this one time. We had a surprise and wanted to share it with you.”

Jamie’s head dropped to her desk, though she still cradled the phone next to her ear. Feeling like a recalcitrant child, she struggled to find a way to redeem herself. Think, think, think, she told herself, and then she sighed in resignation.

“I’ll see if my receptionist can get a hold of my client and reschedule. Can I give you a call back?”

“You sure can, honey.”

The satisfied tone to Arlene’s voice sounded suspiciously like manipulation to Jamie, but she accepted it reluctantly. “I’ll let you know.”

“Wonderful. We’re all so excited to see you tonight.”

Jamie replaced the phone on the handset and rubbed her temples absentmindedly. She was trapped and she knew it. Melissa appeared at her desk though Jamie did not look up.

“Did you call him?”

“Left him a message.”

“So you’re not going to be a coward and avoid him are you?”

Raising her head, Jamie pursed her lips and considered Melissa’s question. Whether she wanted to or not, she was going to have to see him at dinner. Would she be a coward and avoid him? No, she was not a coward.

“Of course not.”

Melissa smiled. “Good.”

The ringing phone drew their attention. Melissa returned to her desk and sat down, answering with a chipper greeting. Though not exactly feeling chipper herself, Jamie managed to make it through the remainder of the day with focused attention on her work. Even when she called Arlene back and replied in the affirmative, she kept her voice light and even. However, as she was walking out to her car she did check her mobile phone again to see if Andrew had answered.

Still no response.

His truck was in the driveway when she pulled in. Shutting down the car, Jamie sat for a minute and wondered what her next move should be. It could go one of two ways. Either she could stride up to the front door and enter as a guest, or she could act as though she and Andrew had not broken a string in their tenuous friendship. In her opinion, nothing had been done that could not be undone. It was not his fault, and she needed to be a little more sympathetic to his moods. After all, the man had been through a lot. Growing uncomfortably warm in the car, Jamie came to a quick conclusion. She would go to the door as Andrew’s friend and put the whole kiss behind her, and hopefully he could do the same.

Luckily, when she opened her car door another option was presented. The unmistakable sound of activity was coming from the barn like the lids being removed from the feed tins. She paused and glanced that way… Or she could make amends with him now before joining his family in the house.

Pushing away from the car, she picked her way across the gravel. Her sandals were not ideal for parading around the barn, but she could manage. Though the barn was dim after the bright sunlight of the Arizona afternoon, Jamie caught sight of Andrew leaning over a feed tin in the tack room. But Andrew was not filling their pails; it appeared as though he was reaching for something behind the bins. She wondered if he had dropped something and stepped in to offer some help.

“Need some help?”

There was no indication that he heard her, so she stepped further inside. Aware that her sandals were getting dirty, she picked a path in the semi-darkness as carefully as she could. He still had not moved when she came up behind him.

“I left you a message earlier. Did you get it?”

Still no response. She frowned, but as her eyes adjusted to the dim interior she realized that there was a cord dangling by Andrew’s ear. When did he get an iPod?

Taking another step forward, she reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Andrew?”

What followed was completely unexpected.

With the speed of a rattlesnake, his arm whipped out and grabbed her by the throat, pushing her back against the wall of the tack room with his elbow holding her shoulders tightly against the wall. Thrown back painfully, a strangled cry escaped her lips, and her hands came up immediately to claw at the force squeezing her tightly and cutting off her air supply. The clip holding her hair in place dug into her skull, but it was nothing compared to the sharp rise in panic she felt that someone so strong held her completely immobile. She could not move.

Then a sharp voice rose from the doorway.

“Adam!”

As quickly as she was seized, she was released and collapsed in a fit of coughing. Sagging against the wall, eyes wide and stunned while she struggled to stand on her wobbly legs, Jamie realized with a mixture of fear and relief that the man standing before her was not Andrew. He was actually a much younger version of him, perhaps an inch or two shorter and slightly smaller in build. There were similarities though. He had the same short, dark brown hair and classic features that had initially made Jamie’s breath catch. Jamie realized that this had to be the brother that had abandoned Andrew for his career in the military.

At the moment she was granted a view of his profile while he watched Andrew advance from the doorway. Heart racing in surprise and fear, Jamie resisted the urge to run to him. She had not seen Andrew dressed formally since his trial, and though she thought he appeared incredibly handsome his jaw was clenched so tight that his face was white. He was so furious that she felt slightly intimidated, despite the classy black slacks and button down blue shirt.

“Are you crazy?” Andrew asked Adam in a tight voice. “What in the hell were you thinking?”

Adam took another step away from Jamie and held his hands up soothingly. “Sorry about that,” he said when he finally looked at her. “You startled me.”

“You shouldn’t have your headphones in. Not in the barn with the horses,” Andrew snapped.

He was concerned about the headphones? What about her? But as he spoke, he came to stand in front of her defensively. Though he seemed to do it unconsciously, the protective positioning was not lost on Adam. She watched him flush in embarrassment and then glance between the two of them with interest. Assuming it would be up to her to calm the tense situation she laid a hand on Andrew’s arm and stepped out from behind him.

“I’m sorry I caught you off guard,” she said in a strangled voice, which Andrew noticed. She felt the muscles of his arm go rigid under her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Though her throat was sore, she knew that she would be fine.

Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the interaction. Eyes sparking with an unidentifiable emotion, he gave her a slow and careful once over, but the measuring assessment felt lewd to her already hypersensitive opinion. Brother or not, she was distinctly uncomfortable.

Once again Andrew came to the rescue. His voice was sharp and commanding, the authoritative tone taking Jamie by surprise. She was not used to seeing Andrew so assertive. “Adam,” he barked.

The younger man forced his attention back to his brother. “Completely my fault. I guess I’m a little high strung,” he said holding out his hand with a short laugh. “I’m Adam.”

“Jamie.” Her hand trembled slightly when she accepted his grip. As firm in greeting as it was against her throat, his hand was slow to release hers. She shifted uncomfortably and again resisted the urge to hide behind Andrew.

With a cool smile that did not reach his eyes, he gave her yet another once over. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Jamie… It’s nice to meet you.” Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and brushed past them both. “I’ll see you inside.”

Andrew only waited to make sure he did not turn back before he turned to face her. “Are you okay?”

When she raised her gaze to meet his worried stare, she was surprised at the extent of emotion on his face. Though she had learned that he was a gentle and empathetic man, he was no longer one to reveal what he was thinking. After all, she had only seen him laugh on one occasion. So when she saw the fear and anger on his face mingled with concern and panic in his pale eyes, she attempted to smile. The mollifying parting of her lips did not register with him, for her upturned face revealed her neck fully to him.

“He hurt you,” he snapped.

Despite his obvious fury, he reached out and gently tilted her chin to fully inspect the marks on her neck. Though she could not see them herself, the tightening of his lips told her everything she needed to know.

“I’m fine,” she said hoarsely.

His voice was cold. “I’ll take care of this.”

“No, Andrew, it’s okay. I’m fine.”

She shook her head to emphasize her point, only to stop when the clip holding her hair tumbled to the floor in pieces. Andrew watched as her hair tumbled free in a tangled, curling mass around her shoulders. Her hand shot out to catch it, but Andrew reached out and captured her wrist.

“Leave it… It’s nice.”

Drawing her hand away from her hair in a gentle grip, he reached out with his other hand and loosened the remaining strands caught in the twist, de-tangling the wavy curls around her shoulders with his unskilled fingers. Jamie was frozen to the spot, so taken aback by his action that she was afraid to move. Though his movements were inexperienced and bordered on clumsy, the look of awe and appreciation in his anxious eyes made everything else seem to fade away, and that warm feeling she had in her belly after their kiss returned. When he was satisfied with his work, he bent and retrieved the broken plastic clip, grasping the two pieces and handing them to her apologetically.