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“Not what I meant. I don’t want to hear about Ron, and I’m sure you don’t want to hear about Sherry. But these are the conversations people who are interested in each other need to have. You can’t have true Intimacy if you don’t know your partner. I want to know how you became the person you are today, and you need to know the same about me.”
Discomfort flickered across Brody’s face. Disappeared so quickly she wondered if she’d imagined it. Who wanted to talk about their failures? Especially to someone they were interested in.
After a too-long moment, Brody said, “Money is an important part of that information. How we spend it and save it.” He shook his head. “Now we both know that money problems contributed to the ends of our marriages.”
Lainey stared at him for a long time, trying to let go of her irritation at their fight about money for Phoebe. Finally she forced a smile. “Nice recovery, Jones. You pulled us both out of that morass. And made it sound like we needed to have that conversation.”
“We did, Lainey. Don’t you feel better, knowing I’m not a spendthrift? That I save my money and plan my budget?”
“Are you saying that I won’t have to support you in your old age?” she retorted, finally allowing a smile to reach her eyes.
His mouth curled up on one side, and she wondered what he was thinking. Finally, he said, “It’s nice knowing you could, though. Right? Just like it’s nice knowing I could support you in our old age.”
“Fine, Brody. You win,” she sighed as she pushed away from the table. “It wasn’t a conversation I would have chosen to have today, but you’re right. We exchanged important information.”
“Exactly.” He stood up and grabbed both their plates, then tilted his head as he studied her. “You’re still irritated.”
She stilled and studied him. “How did you know that? I thought I’d hidden it pretty well.”
“I’ve studied you for a long time,” he said. “I know what it means when you purse your lips like that. And I know what it means when they turn white.”
“And what’s that, Mr. Expert?”
“It means back off. You’re irritated verging on seriously pissed.”
“And you know all this from our meetings at my office?”’
He shrugged. “I was drawn to you immediately, Lainey. Even though I knew you were married, I also knew Ron. We’d interacted enough that I suspected you’d be free someday.” He rolled his eyes. “God, I sound like some loser high school kid with a crush on the unattainable girl. Or a creepy stalker. But I’m powerfully attracted to you. And I wanted to know everything about you.”
She let go of her irritation with Brody. He wasn’t Ron. He wasn’t trying to control her. He wanted to help her. She sighed. “Brody, thank you for trying to fix this. I’ve let it go. Okay?”
“Thanks, Lainey. I appreciate that. And I’m glad to know about what Ron did. That he weaseled money out of you. I promise that I’ll keep that in mind the next time we talk about money. Okay?”
“There’s going to be a next time?” she said, quirking one eyebrow.
“I sure as hell hope so. But not now. I’m going to change the subject. In the interest of information sharing, I need to ask if you know how to ride a horse.”
“Smooth segue,” she said, letting the last of her irritation go. She relaxed her shoulders. Managed a genuine smile. “As a matter of fact, I do know how to ride a horse. I was one of those horse-mad little girls. Took riding lessons. Played with plastic horse figurines. Sadly, though, my father wouldn’t let me keep a horse in our suburban backyard.”
“Poor Lainey,” he said. “But now you have horses at your fingertips. How about a ride? It’s a beautiful day.”
“That sounds perfect,” she said, smiling as happiness rushed through her. It had been several years since she’d been on a horse. “Let me go put on more appropriate riding clothes.”
As Lainey dashed up the stairs, her face heated as she felt Brody watching her. Once in her room, she stripped off her tight jeans and running shoes, then pulled on looser jeans and sturdy boots. “I’m all set,” she said less than a couple minutes later as she clattered down the stairs.
“Not quite,” he said, taking her hand and leading her into the mudroom behind the kitchen. He studied the wide-brimmed hats on pegs along the wall and finally selected one. “Try this on.”
She slid it onto her head. Shook her head, trying to dislodge it. It was comfortable and exactly the right size. “Perfect,” she said.
“Great. Let’s go.”
Two hours later, they cantered back to the barn. Brody hadn’t tried to keep up with her, as if he’d realized she knew what she was doing. She knew her way around horses. Knew how to handle them. How to ride them. And she knew how to connect with them, a skill that couldn’t be taught.
When they stopped outside the barn, she dismounted without waiting for help, then ran her hand down the gray mare’s neck. Crooned something in a low voice, and the mare flicked her ears. Turned her head to look at Lainey.
Brody pulled a small carrot out of his pocket and pressed it into Lainey’s hand, and she flashed him a smile of thanks. Offered it to the mare, who took it daintily from her palm.
“You’re a good rider,” he said, his voice warm. “You know your way around horses. You can ride mine any time you like.” He nodded at the gray mare she’d ridden, who gently bumped Lainey’s shoulder with her nose. “Candy agrees with me.”
