He turned toward Evie and gratitude filled his thundering heart. “Thank you.”
Evie studied him, noticing the paleness of his face, the slight shaking of his body. Fear could do that to a person. Her own hands were trembling, though she gripped both his reins and hers. Clementine’s behavior could have seriously injured him. He could have fallen and hit his head on the boulders beneath the surface of the water—some as big as Clementine herself—and wound up with a concussion. He could have broken bones. Hell, he could have broken his neck.
He could have died.
She sucked in her breath as the truth hit home, making her swallow hard over the sudden lump in her throat.
I’m in love with him.
When it happened or how, she didn’t know, but she had. “Are you all right?”
Jake gulped in air and let it out in a huff. “I am now. What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know, Jake.”
His face reddened, his amber eyes almost bronze with fear. “I almost broke my fool neck!”
“But you didn’t.” Her heart slowed to a steady beat and the constriction in her throat eased. “You didn’t fall, either. You managed to stay in the saddle.”
“That’s only because you grabbed the reins and stopped this four-legged freight train from drowning me.”
She laughed. She couldn’t help it. Not only was she relieved Jake wasn’t hurt, but the expression on his face was amusing—a mix between embarrassment, fear, and gratitude.
“I don’t know why she did that. Never saw Clementine act like that before. Almost like she was spooked.” She guided Spitfire around Clementine, looking for anything obvious to explain her behavior. She saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Still, you did well, considering you don’t have much experience.”
“You all right?” The voice came from the riverbank. Evie turned to see Esteban, his face shadowed with concern. Beside him on his big black stallion was Oscar, but there was no concern on the man’s face. No, it was more a smirk of arrogance. It was in the way he sat in his saddle, too—shoulders back, chest puffed out. And there was something wrong with his nose. She didn’t remember it being so…crooked, like it had been broken and not set right.
“We’re fine,” she called out as she handed Jake Clementine’s reins. “Jake and I are heading back to the house.”
Esteban tugged on the Fuego’s reins, moving his horse a little closer. “Never saw Clementine act like that.”
“Me either, but she seems to be fine now.”
“Can we walk?” Jake asked, hope filling his voice.
“It’s too far to walk, Jake. Besides, Clementine is calm now. Whatever happened is over, at least in her book.” But even as she said the words, she still wasn’t sure whatdidhappen. What made Clementine act like that? Had a horse fly bitten her? The pain would be enough to make any horse, no matter how serene and well-trained, rear up and gallop off like that.
Had it been something else?
She glanced at Oscar again. His expression hadn’t changed. It was still smug. He tapped the brim of his hat with his fingers and rode off.
She watched him go then returned her attention to Jake. “You sure you’re all right?”
“Yes. I think so.” Jake gave an embarrassed laugh. “Nothing appears to be broken except my pride.”
“I don’t think your pride is broken. Not in the least. You should be proud you stayed in the saddle. I’m not sure I could have.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” She smiled at him, then reached up to settle her hat more firmly on her head, only to find it was gone. “Where’s my hat?”
“Is that it?” He pointed further down the river, where something brown bobbed in the near distance. She rode that way, splashing through the water, then bent low and scooped it up. It was saturated, but she plopped it on her head anyway and rode back toward him because he hadn’t budged.
“Let’s go home.”
Jake gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m not sure I can move.”
“Sure you can,” she encouraged him, though she knew exactly how he felt. She’d been on a runaway horse once or twice in her life. It was frightening to say the least. And she hadn’t managed to keep her seat, opting to jump from the horse’s back at the risk to her own mortality. “One step at a time. I have faith.”
