Wild Horses by Claire McEwen

Author:Claire McEwen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-11-12T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

WHITE ROCK CANYON was silent and still in the midday heat. As if every bird and insect were taking a siesta. Nora pulled the bandanna out of the back pocket of her shorts and dabbed at the sweat running down her face. It was so hot today, she wanted a siesta, too. When Todd had shown up this morning and asked her to go see wild horses, she hadn’t checked the weather report before she’d said yes.

She actually hadn’t checked anything before she said yes. She hadn’t checked with her plans or her logic or the self-preservation that had her avoiding Todd for the past week, ever since the flood.

But hiking with Todd had been one of her favorite things when they were young. And though she could barely admit it to herself, she’d missed him the past few days. Seeing him at the bottom of her porch steps this morning, in his cargo shorts and Greenpeace T-shirt, his hat tilted at a jaunty angle and the sun lighting his skin gold, all of her determination to stay away from him wafted quietly into the clear morning air.

So when he’d offered her coffee, muffins and the lunchtime picnic in his backpack, she’d blurted out the yes before her brain had even kicked in.

Todd stopped on the narrow trail that traversed the scree slope of the canyon wall and pulled a water bottle from his pack, offering her a sip. “Are you doing okay?”

“Just hot.” The water was long past tepid and on its way to warm. But it was liquid, so she relished it.

Todd seemed unaffected by the heat. He was in his element out here. “This reminds me of us, way back when.”

She thought of all the hikes they’d taken in the glorious coastal hills behind Berkeley. Except back then Todd hadn’t looked like this. The broad shoulders moving under his gray T-shirt, the V of his body tapering down to his khaki shorts, the muscles that rippled in his arms every time he moved—it was so different from the boy she’d known.

And they were different. Back then on their hikes she’d felt as if it was the two of them against the world. They were a unit, facing life together. Now she knew how life could break them apart.

She gestured to the brilliant blue above. “At least we don’t have to worry about flooding today.”

“That’s probably a good thing, though getting trapped in that shed with you wasn’t all bad.” He grinned at her. “I almost miss it.”

“You’re crazy.”

“A little.” He watched her, growing more serious until she was sure he would kiss her again. And she wanted him to, so much that she almost threw herself into his arms. Luckily she didn’t, because evidently he changed his mind about the kissing and tipped the brim of her hat instead. “Don’t get sunburned.”

“Come on. I thought you were going to show me some mustangs. Though if I see them grinding the local plant life into dust I’m going to be sad.

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