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“Are you all right?”
“Tired. It’s been a long day,” Bailey said. “Have you decided when you’re leaving, Clark?”
“Soon. I need to get back, but like I said, I’m enjoying the break.”
“It’s nice here.” Nice. Bailey nearly laughed at the word. What she felt about Ryker—or more importantly, Joe Trainer—was so far beyond nice.
“And is what’s between you and the eldest Trainer nice, Bailey? And don’t insult my intelligence by denying it.”
“No, I won’t deny it, but I’m not sure where it’s going.”
“Do you want it to go somewhere?”
“I don’t know... maybe. It’s complicated, and I don’t want to be hurt again.” She hadn’t meant to say the words, especially not to him. She and Clark didn’t discuss personal issues.
“Again?”
She looked out the window at the rapidly darkening sky. Even the stars were different here. Everything was so much clearer, the air fresher.
“Has there ever been anyone in your life, Clark, that you just can’t forget? Someone who makes you feel different from every other person?”
“Once,” he said quietly.
“Who?”
“A woman I used to know. She died, and I remember thinking the day she left me that I wouldn’t recover. Maybe a part of me never did.”
Bailey touched the hand he had on the steering wheel.
“I’m sorry, Clark. Sorry for your loss, and sorry we never talked before about things like this.”
“Things?” He threw her a smile.
“Personal things.”
He shuddered. “I’ve pretty much shut myself off from personal things since Alison’s death, and I don’t think I ever want to go back there.”
“I thought that,” Bailey said. “Believed it was for the best.”
“But now you don’t?”
“I don’t honestly know. Personal stuff comes with messy emotions and feelings, and I’m not sure I like that.”
“Sure you do. And you feel messy emotions for Joe Trainer, don’t you?”
“Clark Munro, I do believe that is a personal question,” Bailey tried to lighten the mood.
“It is, but then things have changed between us too, since coming here, haven’t they?”
“I guess they have. I like to think we’re real friends now,” Bailey said.
“Sure, I like that we are.” He threw her another smile. “I never thought I’d see the day you rode horses, mucked out stables, and went on search and rescue missions. Jesus, Bailey, I still can’t believe you were in that stable when it was burning.”
“It was not burning, a bunch of cloths were.”
“You know what I mean. It’s dangerous here for you. I heard about the shots fired when you and Jack Trainer were out riding, and now this stuff today. Maybe you should think about leaving with me?”
Should she? Would it be better to go now and decide what she wanted to do? Joe had said he’d come after her, but did she believe him? Maybe, but the thought of leaving Ryker was not a happy one. She felt like this was home now, but then what if Joe and she didn’t work out, and she had to see him with other women? Also, she couldn’t spend the rest of her life working in the stable or playing in Apple Sours occasionally. She needed a plan, a career path.
