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“You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden,” Hadley commented. “Cat got your tongue?”
He snorted at her. “I was just thinking about the girl I met ten years ago.”
“Which one? There must have been hundreds.” An undercurrent of insecurity ran beneath her teasing.
Liam decided to play it straight. “The only one that got away.”
His declaration was met with silence, and for a moment the companionable mood between them grew taut with anticipation. He walked on, curious how she’d respond.
“You can’t really mean me,” she said at last. “You must have met dozens of girls who interested you where the circumstances or the timing weren’t right.”
“Probably. But only one sticks out in my mind. You. I truly regret never getting a chance to know you better.”
While she absorbed this, they reached the driveway of the house where they were staying and began to climb. In minutes he was going to lose her to Maggie’s bedtime ritual.
“Why did you sell Lolita and disappear?”
She tensed at his question. “You asked me before why I was no longer interested in horses. It’s the same reason I stopped showing. At that sweepstakes show, my best friend fell during her run. She wanted really badly to beat me, so she pushed too hard and her horse lost his footing. He went down with her under him. She broke her back and was paralyzed.”
“I remember hearing that someone had been hurt, but I didn’t realize how serious it was.”
“After that I just couldn’t race anymore. It was my fault that she rode the way she did. If I hadn’t... She really wanted to beat me.” Hadley let out a shaky sigh. “After it happened she refused to talk to me or see me.”
Liam sensed there was more to the story he wasn’t getting, but didn’t want to push deeper into a sensitive issue. “I don’t want to downplay your guilt over what was obviously a tragedy, but don’t you think it’s time you forgave yourself for what happened?”
Hadley gave a bitter laugh. “My best friend is constantly getting on my case for not letting go of mistakes I’ve made in the past. She’s more of a learn-something-and-move-on sort of a girl.”
“Maybe if you start riding again you could put it behind you?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Which sounded like a big fat no to Liam’s ears. As soon as they entered the front door, Hadley took Maggie’s carrier.
“Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’d better get this one into bed.” She paused as if having more to say.
“It’s still early. I’m going to bet there’s some seriously decadent desserts in the kitchen. Ivy knows my guest John Barr has quite a sweet tooth, and she always makes sure it’s satisfied.”
“It’s been a long day, and I’m dying to finish the mystery I started on the plane. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Liam watched her ascend the stairs and considered following, but decided if she refused to have dessert with him, she was probably not in the mood for his company. He’d ruined what had been a promising evening by asking about matters that were still painful to her. Well, he’d wanted to get to know her better, and he’d succeeded in that.
Pouring himself a scotch, Liam sat down in front of the enormous television and turned on a hockey game. As he watched the players move about the rink, his thoughts ran to the woman upstairs. Getting to know her was not going to be without its ups and downs. She was complicated and enigmatic.
But Liam hadn’t won all his reining titles because he lacked finesse and patience. He thrived on the challenge of figuring out what each horse needed to excel. No reason he couldn’t put those same talents to use with Hadley.
He intended to figure out what this filly was all about, and if he was lucky—the news reports were already talking about airport shutdowns all over the Midwest—it looked as though he’d have four uninterrupted days and nights to do so.
* * *
After a restless night pondering how some inexplicable thing had changed in her interaction with Liam, Hadley got up early and went to explore the gourmet kitchen. Up until last night she’d characterized her relationship with him as boss and employee. Maybe it had grown to friendship of a sort. They enjoyed each other’s company, but except for that time she’d gone to retrieve Waldo from his bedroom—which didn’t count—he’d never given her any indication that the physical desire she felt for him was reciprocal.
