“I’ve driven ATVs before. I can figure it out. You’re the one I’m worried about. Are you sure you’re okay?”
He nodded. “I’m fine, Ava. Stop fussing.”
She grinned big. “I feel like I’m right back in high school.”
“Well, except this time you’re not wearing a hot little cheerleader uniform.”
“I still own it.” She winked. “Just saying.”
Then before he could come up with an appropriate rejoinder, Ava went up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Chapter 5
Had she lost her mind? Why on God’s green earth had she kissed Caleb?
Maybe it was thinking back to the high school football game, or maybe it was watching him be such a good guy helping to round up her parents’ unruly dogs.
Or maybe, if she were really honest with herself, it was because she simply wanted to kiss him. Had, in fact, wanted to kiss him ever since he’d held Buttons for Trudy Manfred at the photoshoot.
Caleb had always gotten under her skin, and not a thing had changed in that regard.
Frankly, she’d kissed him without thinking about it, not knowing if he would kiss her back. She’d shocked herself and assumed he’d pull away.
But he’d returned her kiss, had really kissed her. A deep kiss that made all the old feelings come flooding back.
She wasn’t sure how long they’d stood next to his truck kissing, but eventually, the barking dogs inside the cab ended things.
Laughing, Caleb had glanced over at the dogs. Minnie Pearl, Oscar, Felix, and Cinderella had their faces pressed against the window, tongues lolling.
“We’ve put on quite a show,” Caleb murmured, his arm draped loosely at her waist.
Ava laughed too, feeling thrilled. “Little snoops.”
Caleb stepped back and nodded toward the truck. “Guess we’d better get these hooligans home.”
He opened the passenger door for Ava, and once she settled inside, he circled around to the driver’s side and climbed into the truck.
Silence rode with them.
She darted a glance at his handsome profile. What was he thinking? She fiddled with a button on the sleeve of her jacket and touched the tip of her tongue to her upper lip. “Are we going to talk about what just happened?”
He canted his head, slanted her a look, and shook his head. “Nope. I don’t think we should.”
“I see.” She didn’t see at all. She was desperate to know what was on his mind. “Why not?”
“Nothing to talk about. We hunted for dogs. We found dogs. We kissed. Now we’re taking the dogs home. The end.”
He didn’t want to talk about it. Fine. She could shut down too.
“Okay.” Pretending she was cool with that, Ava settled back in her seat and pretended she didn’t give two hoots if he talked or not. What good would talking do, anyway? They were so different. It’s not like they could ever be a couple again.
Right?
It was her fault. She shouldn’t have kissed him. But, hey, at least he had kissed her back. That had been fun for a few minutes. Her mind conjured up a friends-with-benefits scenario, but she quickly shut those thoughts down.
Too scary.
Caleb pulled into the driveway and her parents came running out with Stephen King. Her mother opened the back of his pickup truck and released Minnie Pearl from her harness. “You found them all safe and sound. Thank heavens!”
“I’m sorry I forgot to lock the gate,” her dad mumbled.
His mother leaned over to kiss his cheek. “It wasn’t intentional. The dogs are safe. No harm, no foul.”
“I’ve turned into a fumbling old fart.” Dad jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and seemed lost.
Her dad looked so vulnerable it broke Ava’s heart. She slung an arm around his shoulders. “You are no such thing. You’ve simply had too much on your plate. Anyone of any age could have forgotten to lock the gate.”
“Want me to tell you some of the mistakes I’ve made over the years?” Caleb asked her father, but his eyes trained on Ava.
The heat of his gaze warmed her skin and Ava’s heart fluttered. Oh dear, what was going on?
“Maybe sometime over a beer,” her father said, grateful for Caleb’s kindness. Ava was grateful as well. “I bet you’ve made a few doozies too.”
Caleb nodded; his gaze locked on Ava. “Yep. Some pretty monumental ones.”
“Thank you so much,” her mother said. “We owe you big-time.”
Caleb took off his Stetson and held it in his hands. “You don’t owe me a thing. That’s what friends and neighbors are for.”
Friends.
He wasn’t talking about her. He meant her parents and yet Ava had this crazy, wild hope that maybe, somehow, they could find their way back to each other.
Yeah? How’s that going to happen when you’re hardly ever here?
His head wasn’t on his work and the horse knew it.
“Sorry, boy,” he mumbled to one of the new horses he’d recently rescued as he brushed out his coat with a currycomb. “My mind’s on a woman.”
The horse, an aging gelding sorrel named Charger, had come to him missing his right eye and battling an infection from a barbed wire injury, but he was on the mend now. They had found Charger along with three other horses on an abandoned ranch in southwest Texas. Caleb had taken them all. Poor things. They deserved to live out the rest of their lives in safety and comfort with someone who loved them, and Caleb intended on supplying their needs to the end of their days.
“That’s an enormous responsibility,” said a voice behind him, almost as if reading his thoughts. “You do know horses live twenty-five to thirty years.”
Straightening, Caleb glanced up to see his rancher friend Zach Delaney standing in the stall's doorway. “I’m not going anywhere, and the new horses aren’t colts.”
Zach was grinning. “I’ve met no one less afraid of a commitment than you, Sutton, and I’m a third-generation rancher.”
Caleb shrugged. “I know who I am. Why fight it? What’s up, man?”
“I’m shopping for a horse for Abby Owens.”
“Oh?” Caleb arched an eyebrow.
A telltale flush stained Zach’s cheeks and his grin widened. “Suzannah and I are getting closer and—”
“Just how close?” Caleb wriggled his eyebrows.
“Get your mind out of the gutter. We’re just great friends.” Zach paused and then added with a wink. “For now.”
“Hey, man, that’s great. I’ve always thought you and Suzannah were good together.”
“Speaking of getting closer,” Zach said, jamming his hands into his pockets and kicking at the sawdust in Charger’s stall. “How are things with you and Ava?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ava’s back home since she’s out of a job, and everyone’s wondering if she’s finally staying put for good.”
“Ava’s out of a job?”
“The company she was working for went out of business.”
A strange and dangerous hope yanked on Caleb’s heartstrings. Why should that excite him? Being jobless didn’t scare Ava. She’d just find a new one. The woman had contacts all over the world. But yet, losing a job was a time for reflection, to reevaluate your life and see if…