Lost Memories (Honky Tonk Hearts) (7 page)

She smiled, but wasn’t sure if it was because of the notion of her memory coming back, or because of his approval.

He attached the lines to the rings on the wall and gave a tug. “That should do. I have a few things to check on while you get started.” He handed her a container filled with the equipment. “He’s all yours.”

She turned toward the horse. Her hand closed around the comb in the caddy. Bringing the teeth to T.J.’s mane, she struggled with the knots. Another sense of familiarity washed through her and she swayed backward, shaking her head. Tentatively, she stepped back to the horse, touching his face with the bristles.

The palomino lowered his head and angled toward her, pushing into her hand.

The brush fell from her fingers as a sudden mental picture of combing another horse at another time filtered in from the cobwebs of her mind. Trembling, she reached up and scratched behind his ears.

“Look at this patch of hair you have tangled.” Afraid if she stopped moving she might think too hard, Darcy picked up the brush at her feet and used the teeth on the strands hanging down his face.

Her fingers worked through the mass until they slid through with ease. “One more side.”

The instrument traveled from his withers to his rump, from his back to each leg. She brushed his back, sides, and belly. Dust filled the air, making her cough. She came around to his face. Brown orbs regarded her and...

“Look how clean he is. You did a good job, kiddo.” A dark-haired man smiled down at her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re going to take real good care of him, I’m sure of it. You wanna start working with him now?”

“I’d love to, if you have the time.”

“For you, of course.”

“Darcy?”

She jumped and put her hand to her chest as Nick came into her visual. “Y-you scared me.”

A worried frown marked his face. “I called your name, twice.”

“I wasn’t paying attention.” With a grimace, she veered away.

“Uh-huh.” A tan hand smoothed over the gelding’s rump. “Hand me the pick. I’ll get his hooves clean while you get the black saddle and pad off the rack in the tack room.”

Darcy scurried away to retrieve the equipment and embrace the mental images circling her head.

All this time she waited and waited for something, anything. Why now? Her body shook with mixed emotions. Who was the man? And why did she get a warm feeling at the memory? What did it all mean?

Funny how months ago she longed to recall her life, now the idea of remembering caused an emotional uproar. The notion of recalling her past both delighted and scared the daylights out of her. What if her past took her from the present, the life she worked hard to create?

The terror over Nick discovering her amnesia bore too much for her to concentrate. Would he fire her on the spot? She closed her eyes and pulled oxygen deep into her lungs before rejoining him.

“I’m going to assume you don’t know how to saddle him and show you.” The cowboy relieved her of the heavy gear. “Unless you’re sure you can.”

“You go ahead. I’ll watch.” She breathed in and out.

“No. You’re going to help me.” He placed the saddle on the stall wall. “Here. Put the pad up on his withers.”

She snatched the cushion from his fingers and placed the cushion across T.J.’s back. The horse shifted, his belly pushing her backward into the solid wall of Nick’s chest.

Her teeth bit into her tongue to keep from moaning at the impact.

“Don’t let him crowd you.” A large hand reached around her and put pressure on the gelding’s side until he moved out of her space.

“Leave the pad up in the air.” He adjusted the material. “When you tighten the girth, it compresses down.”

A saddle appeared in front of her. Lost in her own turmoil, she mechanically moved, taking the seat from him to heave up over the gelding’s back.

Her arm bumped into solid muscles on her right. Fingers closed around her bicep.

“Sorry.”

His lips lifted a fraction as he rotated the stirrups. “This is the cinch.” He grabbed the strap under the horse’s belly. “Make sure it’s straight, nothing’s bunched, or twisted. This rope—” He took hold of another strap and motioned with his hands. “Put it through the metal loop of the cinch, up through this ring twice.”

Grasping the end, she concentrated on the instructions.

“Now, loop it.” Strong fingers covered hers. His chest pressed to her back. “Go around the metal and down through.”

The deep voice vibrated down to her toes. Hot breath ruffled her hair, and her stomach tightened. The urge to close her lids and rest her head on him surged hard.

“Let’s walk him out of the barn. He’ll be ready to tighten by the time we get him to the corral.”

Missing the closeness of his body, Darcy followed his sinful form out into the warm sun. A light wind tousled the strands of hair escaping her short ponytail, and she shoved the stubborn locks back.

“This is how you tighten the strap.” Sure fingers pulled up on the line. “Make sure you secure the end before you mount up. Otherwise your saddle may slip to the side.”

“Tighten before you ride. Got it.”

“I’m going to help you work him. I wanna see how you do with lunging.”

“Okay.” Her tummy rolled.

“I wanted to show you the trails tomorrow, but the cabins need finished and—”

“They shouldn’t take me long. There are only two left to clean.”

“...and I have to go out of town for a couple of weeks.”

“You’re leaving?” she asked in a small voice when she realized they’d spoken over each other.

He paused and gave a slight tilt of his head. “I have meetings with some advertising companies to help bring more business.”

Not sure if she was relieved or upset over his departure, she focused out in the distance.

“I should only be gone for a couple of weeks. When the next big group arrives, I want you to go on the overnighter. We take the vacationers to a designated area in the woods where we camp and cook out. These people have been here before and want to head out right away.

“When are they due in?”

“Not for another three weeks. That should give you enough time to get your bearings. There’re smaller gatherings scheduled between now and then, but not for the camping experience.” His lips set in a grim line. “I’m not sure if I’ll be here or not, but one of my brothers will be with you.”

Not sure what to make of the information he divulged, she nodded.

“This will be the saddle you use whenever you ride.”

Her horse. Her saddle. Her home.
She was finally making a new life with new memories. She straightened her spine.

Nick handed the lunge line to her and led the way to the corral. Opening the gate, he motioned her to precede him. He shut the entry and leaned his tall muscular form on the fence.

“Walk him around a bit.”

With the horse building her confidence with each step, Darcy gave her lungs the right to oxygen in slow steady breaths, letting the calming effect wash over her.

“Stand in the center.”

Nick’s baritone voice tingled down her back as he followed her to the sanded area. The heat from his body absorbed into her as he stood close behind. A calloused hand closed over hers, dissolving her strength into a puddle.

“Twirl this end. It will help to get him moving. Then take this hand—” His fingers slid down her arm causing her legs to turn to jelly. “And point the way you want him to go.”

T.J. started off, and Nick let go.

Caught off guard at his sudden absence, she stepped back and collided with Nick’s chest.

His hands went to her waist steadying her.

Her heart fluttered with the contact, but she set the feeling aside to step forward and point with the rope.

The animal started one way then reared to turn the other way.

“You’re confusing him. Point with the hand
not
holding the line.” Tepid fingers closed around her wrist. “Step out and look to his butt.” He pulled her arms to her belly.

Darcy did as instructed. With his body guiding her movements, her nerve endings shorted out, zapping her senses to full capacity.

The horse stopped, more from Nick’s body language than hers. Her mind, too busy absorbing the strength of the body wrapped around her, refused to focus on the exercise.

He raised her right arm, stuck her forefinger out and twirled the lead in her left, her arms performing as an extension of his own.

T.J. jumped and moved right.

“There ya go. Now stop him and turn him the other way.” The cowboy let go and stepped back.

She missed the connection in an instant. Not having time to dwell, she focused on the horse, and soon had him moving in the direction she indicated.

“Good. Keep him going.”

The relentless instructor guided her through for an hour before he called a halt.

“That’s enough for today. You did real good and catch on quick.” He smiled.

Her head tilted as she embraced the praise and tried to pull the vague memory to the surface.

“You can take him in the back and hose him down.” He went on to instruct her on how to cool the horse. “Then put him out to pasture.”

Needing time to think, to get her hormones under control, she sauntered to the barn.

Chapter Five

The day after Nick left, Darcy finished work later than usual and longed for a soak in the tub. She had just submerged her aching muscles into the hot bath when her cell phone rang.

Drying her hand, she placed the device to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Nick.”

Goose pimples rose on her skin despite the warm water and her eyes closed. He didn’t need to tell her; she recognized his voice the second he spoke.
But why is he calling me?
“Is something wrong?”

“Not that I know of.” A deep chuckle filled her ear. “Unless my brothers left you on your own?”

Funny how without him glaring down at her the comment made light of her mishaps. “Should I be insulted?” she chided back.

“No,” he sighed. “I told Sam I’d check in on things, but no one answered.”

“Trent and Chris went into town. I think Sam was headed for the shower.” She raised her knees causing water to slosh over the side of the tub.

“What’s that?”

“I’m...ah...water.”

“It’s kind of late to be watering the animals. They should have been fed and watered hours ago.” Irritation lined his tone.

“Um, I’m not. I mean, they were.”

“Are you doing dishes?”

“No.”

“Well, the only other place you’d have water would be in the bath.”

She sank deeper in the tub as if he could see her.

“Darc, are you in the—are you naked?” His voice choked.

“Yes.” How else did one wash?

He let out what sounded like a groan. “I have to go.”

The phone went silent. Tossing her cell onto the towel, she stuck her tongue out at the device. “If you didn’t want to know, you shouldn’t have asked.”

She finished her bath in record time with the sound of Nick’s groan circling her head.

He called two more times during the first week of his travels, short conversations, but on the third call, she ventured to ask his advice on how to deal with a couple of the animals.

“For the more stubborn ones, make sure you have a treat. It’ll make for a lot less headaches in the end.”

She sat up in her bed, adjusting the pillows behind her back. “What if I give the animal the wrong treat?”

He chuckled. “There’s a possibility.”

“Hey!” She laughed, then sobered when he remained silent.

“I like hearing you laugh.” His hoarse voice deepened.

Playing with a loose string on the bed spread, she admitted, “It’s easier to talk to you on the phone.”

“I apologize if I haven’t made things easy for you. I’m glad you’re more at ease with me now.”

“It’s a lot less painful when you’re not staring at me with your brows bent over your eyes.”

He chuckled, a deep rich sound.

She snuggled down into the bed. “I like hearing you laugh too.”

Nick cleared his throat. “There are, ah, peppermints for the horses in the tack room,” he said, picking up the previous conversation. “Roughage is in the refrigerator in the pig barn. For the others, grab a handful of feed from the bins.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

“Sleep well, Darc,” he murmured.

The conversations with Nick helped her grow more secure in her decision to remain on the ranch. No other visions of her past surfaced. No other incidents occurred. No more feelings of someone watching her.

During the day, she stayed busy learning the ways of the ranch. She educated the guests’ children on the care of the ranch animals and, with Sam’s assistance, she rode T.J. a handful of times in the arena.

The stocky cowboy glued himself to her side, babysitting her every move those first days, but inch by inch, day by day, he gave her space.

Yet, it was strange. From the minute she swung up into the saddle, her body took over, knowing instinctively what to do. With each passing jolt of the horse’s stride, she became more confident in her job. She may not have been able to remember riding, but her limbs moved in rhythm with the horse at every turn.

Nighttime consisted of another matter altogether—lying awake, waiting for Nick’s call. When he didn’t phone, she’d toss and turn with disappointment over not hearing his voice. When he did, she’d dream of him.

Gradually though, his calls increased to every night. He claimed to check on her progress, to see if she enjoyed working on the ranch, while she asked about his trip.

“Do you miss the ranch when you’re gone?” Pouring herself a glass of red wine, she went to the living room window.

“More than you know.”

“When will you be back?” Staring out into the darkness she envisioned his truck pulling in.

“Late tomorrow night, but only for a couple of days. I figured it might help my sanity to check in.”

“You mean to check on me?” Once or twice now, he let comments slip about her catastrophes on the ranch.

“Everything, Darc.”

She shut her eyes and embraced the warmth flowing through her with the sound of her name on his lips.