North Dakota Weddings (34 page)

The next morning Amber awoke feeling grateful she had a day off. She stretched and rubbed her eyes then rolled to her side. Another half hour of sleep would be nice, especially if it kept her from thinking about all that had gone wrong. About her brother.

If she got out of bed now, she could go for her morning run, something she hadn’t done in a couple of weeks. Funny how painful it could be to run, yet it made her feel great. All that oxygen pumping through her body energized her and lifted her mood. An image of colliding with Dr. Selman on her first run in Harrington came to mind. She groaned. Nope. Running would definitely not clear her mind today.

“Knock, knock,” Muriel said, in a singsong voice. “Who’s hungry this morning?” She waltzed into Amber’s bedroom with a plate of pancakes and orange juice on a tray.

Amber pushed up on her elbows. “What are you doing?”

“I made breakfast. What does it look like?” Muriel set the tray next to Amber on the bed.

The pancakes smelled great. “Don’t you have to work today?”

“No. We’re off on the same day for once. It occurred to me this morning that we should do something together for fun. You seem like you could use some fun in your life.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Don’t thank me until you’ve heard what I have planned.”

“Uh-oh. Better tell me now before I’m fully awake.”

“Horseback riding.”

Amber sat straight up. “What? You’re crazy. I can’t—”

“In the Badlands, Amber. You’ll love it.”

“I’m…afraid of horses.”

“Have you ever ridden one?”

“Nope. And don’t plan to.”

“These are trained trail horses.” Muriel sank to the bed next to the tray, careful not to tip the juice. “Look, Amber. You need to get out more. Please, do this with me?”

Why did Muriel care so much? Truth was, Amber could use a distraction. “Oh, all right.” She grabbed the orange juice and jumped from the bed, taking a pancake with her as she headed to the bathroom for a shower.

Muriel laughed, following her down the hall. “We leave in an hour.”

“You sure you can handle this?” Jim asked, skimming the list of artifacts due to arrive next week. “I can reschedule my vacation if I need to.”

“Come on. I don’t need you to reschedule.”

“It’s not as if you have enough help. I wish we could hire more. At least we could bring in more volunteers.”

Like Amber
. Brandon frowned at the thought of her. He’d not been able to get her off his mind, or rid himself of concern for her, even after she’d drawn the strictest of lines. But she was a volunteer for the museum, a sister in Christ—shouldn’t he be concerned? Nevertheless, he’d avoided her, telling the Lord that He’d have to give a sign if He wanted Brandon involved.

“I can handle it, Jim.” Brandon toyed with a paperweight on Jim’s desk. “Sounds more like you don’t trust me to cover for you while you’re gone.”

“You know that’s not true.” Jim took the paperweight from Brandon and moved it to the credenza behind him.

Brandon laughed.

“You’ve been distracted lately. Might I suggest you have Miss McKinsey help you? Working under you is the main reason she signed on for the intern program. You’ve had her doing grunt work, nothing serious.”

Earlier Jim had suggested Brandon dismiss Amber entirely. Brandon cocked his head. Could that be sign number one? No, he’d need more. “She’s gaining experience in all aspects of the museum.”

“Cataloging relics is part of that as well. I’d planned to have her help with that.” Jim eyed him, arching his left brow. “Look, we’ve known each other a long time. What’s really going on here? You kept her on and had me let Jason go instead, and now you don’t want to use her where she’s needed.”

Brandon turned his back and walked to the door, then faced Jim again. “Yes, we
have
known each other for a while. Which is why I don’t understand your concern over who assists me, if anyone, in your absence.”

With that, Brandon left. He tugged on his shirt collar, feeling a little guilty for his brusque response. Jim was only trying to help and yet Brandon had snapped at him simply because he didn’t want to explain the odd rapport he had with Amber.

Today was supposed to be Brandon’s day off, but Jim had called him in to discuss the arrival of the artifacts next week. Brandon hadn’t exactly said that he
wouldn’t
bring Amber in to help him, but after how she acted at dinner last week, Brandon wasn’t sure working with her would be the best thing. He kept telling himself his concern was appropriate, but his feelings were anything but brotherly toward her.

Not good. Once in his office, he sank into his chair, put his feet on his desk, and leaned back. At least he admitted he
had
feelings. Still, he wasn’t a professional if he denied her the opportunity because of his own weakness. He looked up the number at the cabin. He’d ask if she was willing to work with him on the Hamlin Exhibit, starting Monday.

Let
her
decide. If she didn’t want the task, then he could work alone. Jim couldn’t accuse him of avoiding Amber. And if she agreed, would that be sign number two? Brandon rubbed his chin. A simple phone call would give him the opportunity to ask her if she was all right. How she was doing. Never mind that he wanted to hear her voice.

He dialed the number. The phone rang twice. “Muriel here.”

“This is Dr. Selman.”

Quiet lingered on the line, then, “Hi. They need my help in the digs today?”

Now it was his turn to give pause. “Actually, I wonder if I could speak with Amber…er…Miss McKinsey.”

“Amber isn’t available.”

A bad sign. “Please have her call me when she can.”

“Okay. Are you working at the museum today?”

Brandon hadn’t thought of that. “As a matter of fact, no. Have her call me on my cell.” He relayed his number, cringing at the possible gossip that could arise. “I need to discuss a new assignment I have for her starting Monday.”

“Got it. Would you mind if she calls back later today? We’re going horseback riding in the Badlands, and we’re running late. Hey, if you don’t have plans, maybe you could join us. It’s called Badland Adventures or something.”

Could Muriel’s invitation be sign number two?

“Thanks for the invitation, but I can’t.” Considering Amber wanted her personal and business life separate, he’d need more than Muriel’s invitation.

“That’s too bad. Because…,” Muriel fairly whispered, “I think she could use more friends.”

At her words, his pulse pounded in his ears. Still, Brandon sighed at the news. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He ended the call. Ridiculous. No way would he show up at their outing.

Why had Muriel thrown a rock hammer into his thoughts? What had she meant? Most likely, nothing more than she said. Amber needed more friends. Except at Gladys’s house, he’d had the funny idea that Muriel had attempted to pair him with Amber.

He rubbed his temples. He should have invited Amber to Bible study when he had the chance.

He considered himself an intelligent person and had the degrees to prove it. Yet even with all his education, he couldn’t seem to figure out the right thing. He was attracted to this woman on many levels, and it was that attraction that kept him from thinking straight.

Her frazzled reaction after that one phone call had worried Brandon. Apparently Muriel was concerned as well….

Okay, Lord, I’m taking that as the third sign. I need to get involved in her life
.
Personally
.

“Whether she likes it or not.”

A
mber took a deep breath and smiled up at the clear, blue sky. She loved North Dakota weather in the summer. An hour ride into the Badlands would bring breathless views as well, so the guide had said.

“All right.” Tom Snickett pointed at her as he led a large brown beast around. “You can have Blue.”

But the horse is brown
. And it looked to be twice as tall as Amber. “You want me to get on
that?”

Another man brought a stool over and set it next to Blue while Tom held on to the reins. “Blue is one of our calmest. She won’t do you wrong.”

After a quick glare at Muriel who already sat astride a white horse called Black, Amber took a step. Despite her shaking knees, she forced herself to walk toward the horse. Tom lifted his hand, signaling Amber to stop.

“Try not to be afraid. Horses can sense fear.”

Fantastic
. If he wanted her to feel confident and douse the fear, he’d said the wrong thing.

“Chin up, chickadee.” Muriel waved. “You can do this.”

Amber tried to think of something else besides riding, and her thoughts landed smack on Dr. Selman. Not good. Her pulse hit high gear as she thought about his phone call. Muriel had said he wanted to speak to her. On the drive over, she dialed his cell. Getting no answer, she left a message.

Tom still stood waiting, so Amber shifted her focus to the horse.

“Okay.” Tom held the reins at Blue’s head. “Grab hold of the saddle horn with your left hand.”

Amber stood on the stool, grateful she didn’t have to figure out a way to haul herself up the side of the living mountain and somehow sling her right leg over the beast’s back. She grabbed the saddle horn and stuck her left foot in the stirrup. So far so good.

“Now grab the back of the saddle with your right hand, put your weight on the ball of your left foot, then sling your right leg over the horse.”

She could do this. Amber bit her lip. Hands on the saddle. Push on the left foot. Right leg over, swivel.

Once her right foot found the other stirrup, she released a sigh.

Tom lifted his hat and handed her the reins.

“Nothing to it,” she said.

“Hold the reins in one hand. When you’re going left, pull the reins a little toward the left side of Blue’s neck. Going right, pull to the right. Not too hard, though. Blue knows the drill.”

“Got it.” Piece of cake.

Amber drew a long, shaky breath, keenly aware of every little movement and twitch of the horse beneath her. She wasn’t sure how many riders were ahead of her in the line, or behind her for that matter, but she counted seven that she could see before the rest disappeared into the tree-shrouded trail. When the line began moving, her horse fell into step by rote, and Amber rocked with the rhythmic movement that was Blue. After a while, Amber began to relax. This wasn’t bad. Not bad at all.

Though she’d mastered her anxiety over the horse, for now at least, her emotions were anything but calm as she considered Dr. Selman. He’d never called her about work before.

Again, her last words to him played over in her mind, torturing her.
“I need to keep my personal life…personal.”
Oh, how she wished the words weren’t true. That she’d never said them. How she wished she didn’t have to keep to herself—especially where Dr. Selman was concerned—for fear someone would find out the awful truth.

Muriel rode Black directly in front of her and turned her head to peer at Amber. “How you doing?” she asked, while smacking her lips.

“Hey, no fair, where’d you get the gum?”

“I’d toss you a piece but you might fall off trying to catch it.” Muriel’s eyes grew wide as she peered past Amber. “Oh, my…”

Fear squeezed her chest. She took a glimpse behind her, seeing nothing unusual. “What is it?”

Muriel turned her back to Amber once again, her shoulders bouncing up and down in laughter.

“You’d better tell me right now before I spear this horse forward right next to you.”

“You mean spur? Considering you’re not wearing spurs, maybe a gentle nudge would be better,” Muriel called over her shoulder.

“Whatever. Now, please, what did you see?” The trail began to incline and Amber leaned into Blue in order to keep her balance.

“Remember who called earlier? Did I mention I invited him to go riding today?”

“Uh…no.” What did that have to do with what Muriel had seen?

Amber gave a quick glance behind her but couldn’t see beyond the few riders following her. She had a difficult time believing Dr. Selman would spend his morning on a horseback ride. Then again,
she
was. To Amber, he seemed like the sort of person who had important things to do. Far more important than this.

Muriel’s words came back to her.
“I think Dr. Selman might have a thing for you.”
Amber’s palms grew sweaty. Could it be true? She stroked the horse’s mane absently. She couldn’t believe he was interested. Not really. Any interest he expressed was purely out of concern for her as an intern at the museum, and she’d already squashed his intervention into her personal life.

No, Dr. Selman wasn’t interested in Amber. And even if he were it would all blow away like the dust once he found out about her brother.