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“I’m not sure I want you being nice to me,” she said bluntly. Two spots of color burned on her cheekbones. “I’m angry with you.”
“Because I didn’t see you this morning?” He frowned.
“It’s more than that, and you know it. You’re interested in sharing my bed, but you won’t tell me why you ended our marriage. There’s something you’re hiding, Farris. I’m not stupid. I’ve spent five years wondering what it is. And now—I’m over it. Either you tell me what happened, or you and Dottie are on your own when we get to New York.”
“You’re going to abandon her?”
“If you’ll recall, the reason you asked for my help was because you didn’t want Dottie to be alone out here at the ranch. You had work to do, and you thought she needed to have company. But those reasons don’t apply when we get back to New York. So, what’s your choice going to be? You can tell me the truth, Farris, truly. It can’t be any worse than what I’ve imagined.”
He ground his jaw. That was where India was wrong. “You’re not in any shape for a heart-to-heart. Not tonight.”
“And yet tomorrow or the next day your excuse will be something else.” She was furious. And she was assertive, confident, strong. The young woman he had once known was gone. Her expression said she wouldn’t be cajoled or manipulated.
Everything about this new India aroused him. But he knew he was doomed to a sleepless, celibate night. “Now is not the time. We need to get you into bed.”
“It’s barely eight o’clock.”
“You’re dead on your feet, Inkie. I’ll grab you something for pain, something that will help you sleep.”
“I don’t want to be groggy.”
“You won’t. But tomorrow is going to be a long day. You need to rest.”
It was as if her spirit and her objections collapsed all at once. She seemed so frail suddenly. In that split second, he allowed himself to think about what might have happened today. India could have broken her neck. She could be dead.
And Farris would have lost his mind.
In one terrifying moment, he realized that even without anything left of their marriage, he needed to know India was alive. That she was happy and flourishing. Even if her path was not his. Even if he never kissed her or touched her again.
“Come on,” he said gruffly, feeling off-balance and uncomfortably emotional. She had always done that to him. She had always undermined his stern stoicism.
Fortunately, India accepted his help. With his arm around her waist, they made the short trip to the blue guest room.
“Do you think you can change clothes on your own?” he asked. “You don’t look so great.”
Finally, her smile seemed genuine. “Believe me, I know. There’s a mirror in the bathroom.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear, brushing his lips against her painful-looking wound. “You’re as beautiful as always, Inkie. Spending the night in your bed will be torture, but please don’t send me away.”
She blinked in shock. Perhaps she hadn’t expected him to be so open about his lust for her. “Um...”
Before she could divine his intent, he kissed her softly. “You scared the hell out of me today. Don’t ever do that again. I don’t think my heart can take it.”
She rested her cheek against his shoulder. “It scared me, too. I guess I was out cold for a few seconds. No more than that, I think. But Daisy was nowhere in sight.”
“She’ll be lucky if I don’t send her to the glue factory.”
“Don’t even joke about that. Poor Daisy is a sweetheart. It’s not her fault.”
“I need somebody to blame.”
“That would be you,” India said tartly, stepping back to glare at him. “I was upset that you took off for California without telling me. That’s why I was out riding. I was trying to decide what to do about you.”
Grief hit him hard. He had ruined so much. And for what? “There’s nothing you can do, India. I shouldn’t have asked you to come. I’m sorry.”
India was shocked. Farris looked genuinely miserable. For once, he wasn’t hiding behind his tough-guy facade. She shrugged. “Well, I’m here for the moment. Why don’t you go get ready for bed and come back? I guess we could watch a movie or something.”
He stared at her for the longest time, his gaze narrow, as if trying to read her mind. “Or something?”
