Chapter Twelve
Lilly
The page crinkled as she turned it, the old paper fragile and ready to tear if she pulled on it wrong. She knew several of the earlier pages in the book already bore tears from her over-eager pulling. The book had to be forty or fifty years old, and it hadn’t been well kept before she’d found it in the back of one of the nightstands in a random room.
“What are you reading?”
Startled, she slammed the cover closed so quickly that another page in the well-worn paperback tore. “Great. Look at what you made me do.”
“You’re the one jumpy over an old trashy romance book.”
Lilly stared at Torran in horror. “You know what it is?”
“There’s a man with no shirt and a kilt on the front cover. It’s titled—”
“Okay!” she cried. “Fine, yes, I’m reading it. So what?”
“Nothing.”
She groaned. “All that and you don’t care?”
“Nope, not one bit. Though, if you want to be done reading about cheesy romance and experience something a little more real, come with me.”
“Is this one of those come with me if you want to live situations?”
“I don’t think so. But close. More like, come with me if you want to have a really fun time.”
“Do I have to go far?” she asked, climbing to her feet.
“Can you make it to the truck? Or would you prefer I carry you?” he teased.
Lilly wasn’t sure what was spurring on the sudden banter between them. It was the first since his breakdown over her pregnancy. She smiled, glad that things were getting back to…well, not normal. Things between them had never been normal. At least they weren’t frosty anymore. That was something she supposed.
“I’m good to walk.” Putting action to word she stood and headed to the door, grabbing jacket and boots. “Is it a long drive?”
“No. Not long at all.” He was being very mysterious and cryptic.
“Where are you taking me then?”
“The whole point of a surprise is to not give it away.”
“So you’re not telling me.”
“No, I’m not telling you. Now get in the truck and enjoy the suspense.”
“I hate suspense.” But she got in the truck as requested. Ordered? Whatever, he was in a good mood, so whatever it was he had planned would hopefully be fun.
Torran got in and went to turn the key.
“Something wrong?” she asked when he paused, his face turning thoughtful.
“Um, I don’t know. Maybe. I hope not.”
“What is it?”
“Pregnancy.”
“I’m pregnant. Yes. We’ve been over this. Are you still having issues with it?” Her mood soured.
“What? No. Not that at all.” He seemed irritated by her bringing it up. “I just…are you able to do things?” Torran held up a hand. “Like. Physical activities? Nothing strenuous. Um. Bouncing. Oh crap. Like. If you went up and down. But not like…not like that.”
“Enough!” she cried, putting him out of his misery. “I get it, you don’t mean sex.”
“Thank you.” He sagged. “Exactly.”
“I’m fine with that, yes. Extreme sports, no. A bit of bouncing? Yes. Though I’m not sure I want to go off-roading, if that’s what you’re referring to.”
“No. Not that at all. Gentler.” He grinned and the truck rumbled down the lane toward the road.
“Did you thank Palin for giving us a truck to use?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, good.” She sat back in the seat and let Torran drive her around. Not long after getting on the road they made a left, and then a right into a driveway. “You weren’t kidding when you said we weren’t going far.”
“I know.” He pulled the truck into a parking spot and hopped out. “Come on. Let’s go! It’s all ready.”
Lilly smiled at his eagerness. It was cute, and more than a little contagious. “I’m coming!” she said, following.
He waited for her, then reached for her hand and pulled her along hurriedly.
“Are we in a rush?”
“No no. We’re fine. But we’re almost there. It’s right up here.”
Conscious of the fact that he still hadn’t dropped her hand—and she hadn’t pulled it away from him—Lilly allowed herself to be shown around the back of a ranch house toward a large barn.
“We have barns on our property, you know. Three of them in fact. Why did you drag me out here to another one?”
Torran laughed. “Those barns don’t contain what this one does!”
Did he just chortle? He just chortled. What the hell was going on here? She had never seen Torran this excited before. Excited and maybe a little nervous.
Aww, he thinks I won’t be happy with whatever he has planned.
That was cute, in an unexplainable way. But it was.
He pushed open a door and used his free hand to indicate what awaited. “Ta-da.”
Lilly stared. “Horses. You brought me here to see horses?” That was fun…but certainly didn’t warrant the excitement he seemed to be exuding.
The barn was a horse barn. Stalls stretched out in front of them on either side, some of which had horse heads sticking out from them, eyeing the pair curiously.
“To see them? No, of course not, my—” He cut himself off. “No, we’re going riding! The owner has a large lot of land, much of which is still wild. Apparently it connects to a nearby forest. Perfect for an afternoon of exploration.”
“We’re going horseback riding?” she exclaimed, her enthusiasm rising exponentially. “Are you frickin’ serious right now? I’ve never been horseback riding!”
“So this is a good thing? You’re excited?” She could feel his need for reassurance.
“I’m beyond excited!” She flung her arms around him without thinking and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Torran! I’ve always wanted to do this.”
Footsteps inside the barn drew her attention away. A middle-aged man in decent shape came toward them.
“Afternoon, Lyle,” Torran said politely, stepping forward and shaking the other man’s hand. He looked back at her. “This is Lyle, he owns the farm and is going to be our tour guide today.”
“Thank you, Lyle,” she said, coming forward and also shaking his hand. “I’m really excited.”
“Well I’m glad. Let’s get going then. Time’s a-wastin’!”
She grinned at his twangy voice. “You bet!”
Together they picked out their horses, a huge coal-black type called a Percheron for Torran. When Lilly saw the size of it she nearly bugged out. “You sure you can handle that?” she asked him.
Torran grinned. “I’ll be fine. It’s not my first rodeo. What about you, what one do you want?”
“I have no idea. Pick one for me? I don’t know horses very well. I could pick the prettiest one, but that might not matter, really.”
“I think we should put her on Nelly,” Lyle said, pointing at a medium-sized horse.
At least she thought it was medium-sized. It was smaller than the huge beast Torran was currently saddling up. She eyed the way his fingers moved over the tack. He knew what he was doing. The sly jerk had set this up so he could show off to her as well!
“What kind is Nelly?” she asked, walking up to the chestnut horse. She hoped it was a female.
“She’s a Tennessee Walking Horse, fourteen and a half hands. It’s a good fit for you. She’s not got a temper at all, will follow myself and Torran here without problem, and hopefully give you a smooth ride.”
“Hopefully?”
“Well,” Lyle said, a twinkle in his eye. “Part of that is on you as well.”
After Lyle and an assistant of his got them ready, the trio headed out.
“I am not a natural at this,” she muttered more to herself than anyone in particular as she tried to move with the horse. “Ow.” With the horse. Not opposite it.
Torran meanwhile handled his ride like a practiced master.
“How are you doing that?” she complained. “You look like you know exactly what you’re doing.”
“Could it be because I do know exactly what I’m doing?” he quipped.
“That wasn’t funny.”
Torran meanwhile was chuckling happily to himself. “I think it was. You’re just not feeling the flow of things right now.”
She glared at him darkly. “Also not funny.”
He fell silent while she figured things out. Eventually, and hopefully before her tailbone was bruised, she figured it out and the ride started to go much smoother. They meandered out through some farmed land, and then across a gently undulating meadow before entering a forest.
The trees were mostly evergreens, giving it color and life even this late in the season. Lilly let her horse take the lead for the time being and just enjoyed being out amongst nature.
“This was a really great idea,” she said softly. “Thank you.”
Torran turned back in his saddle and flashed a grin. Thankfully she was already seated, because with her current happiness that look would probably have flattened her. She felt it in her heart and between her legs.
Wait, no, that was just the saddle.
He winked at her and turned back.
Okay, that time she felt it between her legs. Dammit, she was supposed to be keeping him at a distance, not falling for him even harder!
Why did everything have to be so dang complicated?
The pathway they were on widened, and Lyle rode ahead, allowing the pair of them to ride side by side. She stole glances at him frequently, despite everything she’d told herself. She was breaking literally every rule she’d tried to establish.
At one point Torran caught her staring, grabbing her gaze and meeting it for a second. Then he gave her one of the cockiest, most surefooted winks she’d ever seen.
“You do remember what happened the last time you looked at me like that, don’t you?”
Yes. Yes she did. In fact it had been on her mind ever since he took her hand earlier.