Page 40 of The Way Back Home
Perceptionwasreality. What were they supposed to infer when he showed up at a family celebration with her in tow, the two of them staying in his cozy little cabin on the property?
Short of breaking her word and slipping away, there wasn’t much she could do about that. She’d suck it up, play her part in whatever game Noah was playing for the next two days, and then move on as planned.
Having reached the stall, Teagan pulled the apple out of her pocket and gave it to Chester.
“Chester’s depressed because no one rides him anymore, and controlled exercise is good for an arthritic spine,” she said to Daniel. “Don’t use full saddle gear; limit riders to those who don’t weigh much, like your sisters and the older kids. Tell them to keep their weight centered toward the front. Chester needs human contact. If riding’s not an option, then just sit on the half wall like this”—Teagan hoisted herself up—“so that he can lean against you.”
“You really are a horse whisperer, aren’t you?” Daniel asked with an upward tilt of his lips.
“No.” Teagan stroked the roan’s nose and gave his neck a pat. “Just good at reading body language, I guess.”
“Sleigh’s good to go,” Eli called.
“Thanks.”
Teagan eased back down to the ground, then moved to the side of the barn, where Adam waited with a stunning white Percheron.
“This is Aspen,” Adam said as Teagan stepped up to the horse and was instantly rewarded with a nuzzle.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. You okay?” Adam asked with a smile that seemed almost shy. “Alex can be intense sometimes.”
“Yeah, I’m good,” she lied, even though her fight-or-flight instinct was urging her to disappear into the night and not look back.
She glanced back to where Noah and Alex were still facing off. Hated that she was the source of it. Though, deep down, she suspected that she wasn’t really the issue.
“Hey,” she called out to Noah. “Were you serious about getting that tree tonight?”
“Absolutely,” Noah called back.
Turning on his heel, he walked away from Alex. Alex cast a final glare her way before he disappeared into the shadows.
“I’m sorry about that,” Noah apologized.
“Don’t be. And I don’t want to talk about it anymore tonight. I just want to enjoy the moment, okay?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
She reached up to pull herself onto the sleigh but paused when she felt a sharp pain shoot across her back and side. The bench seat was higher than it looked, and she’d already strained her shoulder with the half-wall stunt she’d pulled earlier. It had hurt more than she’d let on, but she’d had lots of practice hiding injuries.
Noah’s hands were on her waist a moment later. “Here, let me.”
Without waiting for a response, he easily lifted her into the sleigh, then climbed in himself.
“You don’t have to do everything alone, you know,” he murmured.
Noah took the reins, and they glided forward smoothly.
“I could say the same to you,” she replied.
“Fair.”
Teagan was content to lose herself in the lazy descent of the flakes still coming down, blanketing everything. The farther they got away from the house, the easier she breathed. It seemed that he did too.
Eventually, they reached a dense forest of evergreens in neat rows and columns, too orderly to have been created by nature alone. When she looked closer, she saw that the trees were arranged in patches, like city blocks, with pathways between them.
“You have your own Christmas tree farm?” Teagan asked.
