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It would be confronting the worst day of his life.
She looked at Rex. She didn’t really want to get back on. But if he was willing to face the lake, she could get on Rex.
“You ride beside me.”
She didn’t miss the gloss in his eyes. The way he drew his arm across his face as if to wipe sweat off his brow. Except it was his eyes he brushed across.
Buckle up, Buttercup.You asked for it.
Yeah. She’d get on the horse. She’d prove to Grayson that she was, in fact, perfectly and completely fine and he had nothing to blame himself for.
Despite her being not at all fine.
Grayson placed a flat palm on Rex’s neck. Bowed his head, making the slightest movement of his lips.
Was he praying too?
Please, Lord.
Surely, between the two of them, God would hear their prayers.
She imagined the inner actress Vivien had instructed her to be. Get on the horse. Ride back to the barn. Smile. Just like any other day.
Don’t think about dying. Or hanging off the side of a horse. Or how much her bruised abdomen throbbed with every breath.
“Ready?” Grayson bent down, held out his hand for her knee.
Oh dear.
I can do this.
Grayson had prayed for her. Well, maybe.
Was that presumptuous? Just the thought of it gave her a little boost of courage.
With God all things are possible.
She nodded, held her breath, and bent her leg so he could cup her knee. Let him lift her while she swung her other leg over the cantle.
She settled in, slipped her boots into the stirrups, then drew up the reins.
They caught on Grayson’s hands before she could make contact with the bit. He was holding Rex and rubbed the horse’s neck again before releasing the reins.
“Right by me,” he instructed again before remounting Maverick.
She wanted to tease him with a “yes, sir,” but she couldn’t. Not when he tried to cover the wrecked expression on his face and nudged Mav forward, alongside Rex.
And the impact of those little details barreled through her. Nothing would be the same between them—and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad.
twelve
Grayson had madea gross tactical error. Saying yes to Beth’s request to go out on Lake Superior just to get her back on Rex had made sense at the time. Trading one hard thing for another.
What had he been thinking? He hadn’t been. After that kiss he’d have said anything. He’d completely lost his mind.
He waited on the shore near Wild Harbor. The Saturday afternoon weighed heavy on him, yet the lake reflected a clear, cloudless sky.
If he did this—if he conquered the lake—then what? He couldn’t actually stay in Deep Haven, could he?
