Page 34 of River Legacy
“I was going to say I was sorry that I involved you in my mess with my father, but I’m not. It’s the most impulsive thing I’ve ever done, but I’m so glad.”
“You were desperate. Once I met your father and Claude, I understood.”
“It would have been an unbearable weekend, so thank you. I owe you.”
“That’s just it, Vicky... You don’t owe me anything.”
She turned in his arms to smile at him. “As I recall, I promised you a night you’d never forget. I never break a promise.” Her gaze locked with his as she reached for him again.
“Vicky—” The rest of his words died on his lips as she kissed him.
Chapter Eleven
Someone was pounding on the door. For a startled second, Victoria forgot where she was. She felt Ryder go rigid next to her for a moment before he leaned over and kissed her, then leaped up calling, “Just a minute.” She watched him in the semidarkness of the room as he pulled on briefs and a T-shirt before he went to the door.
He cracked it open only a few inches. She heard Brand’s voice, then Ryder saying, “I’ll tell Vicky,” before he closed the door and turned to her. “It’s time.”
Still half-asleep, she glanced at the clock by the bed. Four-thirty in the morning? Surely not breakfast.
“It’s Sunny. She’s about to foal,” he said as he pulled on jeans and a shirt. “You don’t want to miss this,” he said, sounding excited, even though he must have seen dozens of horses born on this ranch. “Hurry and get dressed and come out to the barn.” He stepped to the bed, kissed her again, his gaze as much as the kiss telling her how much he’d enjoyed last night. Then he left, closing the bedroom door behind him.
She lay there for a moment, not wanting to leavethe warm bed. She remembered last night, their lovemaking, and hugged herself. She hadn’t meant for that to happen but didn’t regret it. Couldn’t. It had felt so... right.
It would have been easy to just close her eyes and go back to sleep in the warm hollow Ryder’s body had left in the bed. Why was she so tired? Brand said it was the higher altitude air that had worn her out, or it might have been the long horseback ride or driving that big truck or dancing until the bar closed. Not to mention making love not once but twice.
Brand couldn’t know she was in his brother’s bed, could he? She felt as if he was challenging her to show his brother how wrong she was for him. She wouldn’t put it past him. She could tell that Brand thought she was too soft, too fragile, too spoiled, too much of a city girl.
Right now she figured that, but determined she threw her legs over the side of the bed and hurriedly dressed in one of Ryder’s shirts. It had quit raining as she crossed over to the house and ran upstairs to get dressed. She’d show them both what she was made of, she thought as she left the house in the cold darkness and made her way to the barn.
As she walked in, her nostrils filled with the once-strange smells that now seemed familiar. She heard Ryder and Brand encouraging the mare. Drawing closer, she saw the horse moving around the stall nervously. She could see what appeared to be one small leg protruding from the back of the horse.
“Foals come out front hooves and face first,” Ryder said when he saw her and motioned her closer. He was talking to the mare, brushing his hand over her, speaking in a soothing tone.
“We’re about to pull him out,” Brand said. “Want to help?”
Heart pounding, she stepped into the large stall as another leg protruded. She stepped in and watched nervously as the mare circled nervously once more before lying down. Both brothers got behind the mare and began to pull on the colt’s legs. Victoria hugged herself, hoping both horses were all right as the men worked.
It seemed to take forever and yet it was only a few minutes before the foul came sliding out and Victoria saw its tiny body and face inside a thin sack. She began to cry tears of joy. The brothers pulled off the bag so the colt could breathe. It lay there, so tiny, as the mare began to lick him.
“She’s encouraging him to stand up,” Ryder said. “He needs to get on his feet to make it.”
Heart in her throat, all she could do was stand still, silently pleading with the colt to get up. It was such a beautiful scene, but she feared the colt wouldn’t rise, and her heart broke at the thought. She could see the mare encouraging her baby to stand. Her heart pounded as she willed the little animal to stand.
And as suddenly as he came into the world, he was on his feet, wobbling, butt up. Victoria began to cry, covering her mouth, relief making her weak.
“He’s going to be a strong little fellow,” Brand was saying.
Ryder stepped over to put his arm around her, looking as awed by the birth as she’d been. To her amazement, once on the colt was on his feet, he began to try out those legs, and within minutes, he began to nurse as the mare too was back on her feet.
“It’s such a miracle,” she said, her voice breaking.
As the brothers finished taking care of the mare and her foal, Victoria sat on a stack of hay bales, content to watch baby and mother and the cowboys looking after them both. At some point she must have leaned over and fallen asleep because the next thing she remembered was sunlight streaming in through the barn door.
She could feel it on her face but kept her eyes closed, wrapped up in the warm memory of last night.
Claude couldn’t be more anxious to finally get to Powder Crossing. He’d left the motel and driven to Miles City early this morning. Now he was cutting east toward Broadus. Who in their right mind would live out here, he thought as he crossed a mountain and dropped down into what he hoped was the Powder River basin.
He thought he would never get to Powder Crossing when all of a sudden it appeared on the horizon. But when he drove down the main drag of the town, he saw to his dismay that there wasn’t much there. Fortunately, there was an old hotel, a bar anda café. And at least there was a place to get gas at the fuel station/convenience store for when he finally got to leave.
