Daring Dreamer (Quinn Valley Ranch Book 7) Read online

  He looked at her arm pointedly. “Really?”

  “Hey, there was ice!”

  “There was ice. I know that.” He looked down at the tablet she was holding. “Have you finished the first season yet?”

  “Not quite, but I’m sure I will within the next hour or two. I want Scully and Mulder to get married.”

  He laughed. “Don’t obsess over it.”

  “But . . . I’m a romantic. I’m supposed to obsess over it!”

  He reached for the remote. “I’m going to pull up your Netflix, and we’ll watch from where you are. What time do you want to eat?”

  She shrugged. “Five or six?”

  “When is your next pain pill due?”

  “Six, but I’m just taking an Advil. I’ll get another pain pill at bedtime. It’s time to start weaning off of them. I always worry I’ll grow too dependent.”

  He frowned. “I’m not sure that’s something you should be worried about already, but you can do what you want. I’m not about to force you to take a pain pill you don’t want.” He turned his attention to the episode in front of them. “Oh, this is a good one!”

  “From what I can tell, they’re all good ones. How did I never get addicted to this show?”

  “No idea. I’m just glad you have time to watch it for a while.” He draped his arm over her shoulders, careful of her arm. He’d had a long hard day, but he felt like he’d accomplished a lot. Someone had brought him a stallion he wanted trained to saddle, and he was going to start working with him the next day. The challenge would feel good.

  After supper, she was getting a bit stir crazy. “Can we go for a drive or something? I hate being cooped up.”

  “If you want, I can drive you out to see my horses. But you have to let me hold your arm to make sure you don’t fall.” He didn’t want to think about what would happen if there was a repeat of the other night.

  She sighed. “Are you ever going to let me walk without assistance?” she asked.

  “Maybe not in the snow.” He grinned to soften his words, but he truly meant them. He didn’t think she was safe walking around in the winter on her own.

  “Well, you’re going to have to get used to it. Unless you plan on driving me to work every day and then picking me up.”

  He frowned. “Maybe I could get you to use a walker. You would have something to catch yourself if you started to go down!”

  “Not happening. I’m clumsy, not geriatric.” She got up and walked to her closet, pulling out a shawl. “I can wear this instead of a coat, and then I’ll still stay warm. I got this when I broke my arm a few years back.”

  “How did you break it?” he asked, feeling very suspicious.

  “There was a little girl and a semi-truck, and she was running in front of it, and I hurried and pushed her out of the way just in the nick of time!”

  “You fell on the ice, didn’t you?”

  “Maybe we should compromise, and I should get grippy things for the bottom of all of my shoes.”

  “You’re going to hold onto my arm all the way to the truck, right?”

  She shrugged. “If I have to I will.”

  “You absolutely have to. Period. I’m not letting you break yourself again. Not under my watch.”

  “I’m sorry to hear the relationship is over,” she said with a grin. “And we were doing so well!”

  He snorted. “You know what? You’re crazy and clumsy and beautiful. I can’t even figure out what to do with you.”

  “Just be nice to me. I ask for nothing else.”

  He sighed. “I’ll be nice to you. Do you need help putting that thing on?”

  She nodded. “There’s a hole for my head, and you drape it over me.”

  He slid the shawl over her head, kissing her softly as soon as her head emerged. “I could get used to helping you dress this way.”

  “Just don’t say it that way in front of my father. We don’t want to give him another heart attack.”

  Chad thought about what he’d said and grinned. “Maybe you’re right.” He carefully held onto her arm as he opened the door.

  “You know, you could wait with the death grip until I’m at least on the front porch.”

  “There’s a step down. I’m not letting you risk your life!”

  “I’ve never died even once! Just broken and sprained and contused.”

  “Is contused a word?” he asked, really not certain.

  “I dunno. If it wasn’t before, it is now.”

  Chad helped her into the truck and fastened her seatbelt for her. “How’s that?”

  “As good as it’s going to get until my arm is out of the sling.” She leaned back and looked out the window, pleased to see the outside for a change. She loved being outdoors . . . as long as she wasn’t falling, that was.

  As they drove, he told her about the new stallion he’d been hired to train. “I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

  “I didn’t know you did jobs for hire. I guess I figured you got your own horses, broke them to saddle, and sold them. I don’t know a whole lot about it.”

  “I do both. I prefer to find my own horses to train most of the time, but this one is special. I can take on clients or not. It’ll be a bit more lucrative for me to take on clients.” He turned onto the main highway heading north of town. “I’m still in the reserves, too. That’ll bring in a paycheck for a good long while.”

  “That’s one weekend a month?” she asked, not liking the idea of him still being in the military, but she understood. He was starting a new business, and the extra money would come in handy.

  “Yeah. I was in for twelve years on active duty. If I do another eight in the reserves, I qualify for retirement.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a bad deal. I wonder if Bobling is planning to do the same.”

  “He said he goes by Jake now,” he said, glancing at her as he stopped at a four-way stop. “Don’t you think you should call him that?”

  Renae shrugged. “Jake doesn’t sound like my brother. He’s always been Bobling.”

  “But Bobling sounds like a cross between Bob and a duckling. It makes him seem like he’s a tiny little duck with feathers everywhere.”

  “I guess that wouldn’t feel like a good name for a Marine, huh?”

  “I’m sure his buddies would go insane if they heard anyone call him Bobling. He’d never live it down.” Chad couldn’t believe how bad he felt for the man he’d gone to high school with. Bobling? Who on earth wanted to be called Bobling?

  “Probably. But he’s been Bobling since before I was born.”

  “It might be time for everyone to remember to at least try to call him Jake. I’m sure he’d appreciate it.” He slowed the truck as he stopped at his ranch. It wasn’t a big operation—nothing like the Quinn’s, but it was his. All his.

  Renae peered out the window at the big house. “Oh, what a pretty old ranch house!”

  “I really like it. I have been saving money for this place since before I left for the Army. I always knew this is where I wanted to end up.”

  “Then why the Army?”

  He shrugged. “Free training in the field of my choice. I was able to save almost every dime I made for my future. Retirement at forty. It made sense.”

  “Bobling gave all of those reasons, too.” She opened her door to get out of the truck, and he ran around to help her down.

  “You’re not falling on my watch!”

  She laughed. “You keep saying that. I already have. Four times! I will fall, and I will get hurt, and we will both just move on from there.”

  He mumbled something about bubble wrap again, and she laughed. “I’m not sure even bubble wrap would keep me safe. It doesn’t seem like it would. I mean, I’ve been breaking myself for a very long time. How can we change a lifetime of habits with a little bit of shipping material?”

  “I’m not thinking a little bit! I’m thinking a huge roll bigger than you are!”

  She rolled her e
yes. “You’ve lost your mind. I’m not running around wearing bubble wrap. People laugh at me enough as is.”

  “But you’d be so much safer.”

  “Take it up with Brooke. She’ll give you all the medical reasons a person can’t safely spend their life running around wearing bubble wrap.” With her feet firmly on the ground, she looked at him. “Do I get to see the house and the stables or just the stables?”

  He frowned. “If you can deal with the mess in my house, then you can see it. It’s probably not in great shape at the moment. When I’m not working, I’m spending time at your house.”

  “I don’t care if it’s messy. If there are clothes for me to trip over, I’m sure you’ll gallantly lay your coat over them so I won’t fall.”

  “You are the only person in the world who can trip over a piece of lint! I’m not sure a coat is going to fix things, but I’ll do my best.”

  She glared at him. “You can’t join the ranks of people who constantly make fun of my clumsiness if we’re going to date. It’s not fair.”

  “I think it’s very fair. But I’ll do my best to pretend I think you’re as graceful as a prima ballerina!”

  “That would be wise.”

  “Do you know what the true meaning of caring for someone is?” He’d almost said love, but he wasn’t quite certain he was ready to say that word aloud around her. He was saying it in his head often, but not aloud.

  She stopped walking and looked at him. “I’ve to got hear this.”

  “It’s not simply not seeing the faults in someone you care for. It’s seeing their faults and caring despite them.”

  “So you’re saying that by seeing my faults, you’re one step closer to . . . caring for me?”

  “Yup. Isn’t that good to know? I’m not just playing games with you.”

  “I wish we could play some games. I can’t even properly hold a hand of cards at the moment.” She let him guide her to his front door, his hand firmly under her elbow. “You know I’m just going to knock us both over, right?”

  “Nope. I’m here to save you from yourself.”

  She ignored that as she went into the house with him. He was right, and it was messy, but it wasn’t terrible. It looked as if it had been cleaned and cleaned well within the past couple of weeks. She walked around, picturing the house the way she’d decorate it. She was sure he’d love that!

  Walking into the kitchen, she saw that the appliances could use an update, but all of them at least looked like they were in working order. “How many times have you cooked in here?” she asked.

  “Are we including microwave meals as cooking in here?”

  She shook her head.

  “Once then. I made a frozen pizza.”

  She wasn’t sure she was going to consider that cooking, either but she couldn’t argue with everything he said. That would get annoying quickly. “Tombstone or DiGiorno?”

  “Oh, DiGiorno all the way. I love their self-rising crust thing.”

  “Were there vegetables on the pizza? It’s not a real pizza unless you have at least a few veggies.”

  “Sure,” he said. Tomato sauce was a veggie, right?

  “Then I guess that really was cooking.” She walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. There was a couch and a love seat. It would be a good spot for entertaining because it was so open. All of the windows were uncovered, but that didn’t matter much as far out in the country as he was. “How many bedrooms?”

  “Four. And three baths. I think it’s the perfect place to raise children.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she laughed.

  “Are you trying to lure me into a long-term relationship with your house? I’m not so sure that will work . . .”

  “I’m not above trying anything. My grandmother had a talk with me, and she told me if I let you get away, I was the biggest idiot alive.”

  Renae choked on her laugh. “Are you kidding me? That’s even more forceful than my grandmother has been. What’s been in her Ensure?”

  “No idea, but I think it should be taken from her.” He shook his head. “And she told me she’s making quilts for our future grandchildren, and that meant we’d better have babies who would need them.”

  “My grandmother was knitting little booties while we were watching TV together today, but I pretended not to notice. They could easily be for Roxie and Ciran’s future baby anyway.”

  “Yeah, they could . . . do you think they are?”

  “No idea. But they could be, and I’m going to concentrate on that for now.” She looked around. “You don’t have a dog? You need a dog. You can call him Rover and teach him to fetch your slippers when you come in the door after a long day of work.”

  “Do I have to name him Rover? That’s never been one of my favorite dog names.”

  “I suppose the name is up to you, but he is a figment of my imagination, and you could be kind and bow to my will, just this once. I bow to your will by letting you hold onto my arm every time I step outside. Tit for tat.”

  Chad shook his head at her. “I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to do with you, Renae Quinn.”

  “Me neither. But it looks like you’re stuck with me if you want to keep your grandmother happy. That won’t be too terribly difficult, will it?”

  “I hope not. I’m starting to think that God put you on this earth simply to torment me and make me crazy.”

  “It’s definitely a possibility. I do like tormenting you.” She walked to him and put her good arm around his neck, pulling his head down for a kiss. “Of course, I make up for it in kisses.”

  “That you do.”

  Chapter Seven

  Chad led Renae through the stables next. He wanted to show her the horses he had that he would later sell and the new stallion he was training. “His name is Midnight,” he said, stopping in front of the stallion. “Don’t get too close.”

  She nodded, understanding that the horse was as yet untrained. “I won’t.” She stared at him in awe. “He’s beautiful.”

  “He really is. They want to use him for breeding, but they also want to ride him. If they gelded him, he’d be easier to ride, but then they can’t use him for breeding. So they want the best of both worlds. I’ll see if I can work my magic.”

  “What made you decide to go into horse training?” she asked.

  “When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a rancher, but I’ve always had a magic touch with horses. So when I realized this place, where a horse trainer I apprenticed under as a teenager lived, was coming available, I talked to him. He said he’d keep running until I was out of the Army, and I gave him a thousand down before I left. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but to a boy who spent all of his time working until he left, it was a fortune.”

  “I can see that. I’m glad you were able to take it over.”

  “Yeah, Mr. Feinstein has been planning on retiring forever. He wanted to move to Florida, where the warmth would be better for his joints. I was going to do another tour, but he wasn’t willing to wait anymore, so I came home.”

  She looked at the stable, seeing where some repairs were needed. “I’m sure you’ll love this place more than anyone else ever could.”

  “I know I will. This is where I belong. I knew it from the first moment I stepped foot on the property fifteen years ago. And now it’s mine. Well, mine and the bank’s, but a good chunk of it is mine. All the other guys in my unit would spend their money on drinking and gambling. Not me. I stayed in and read books on horse training. I knew what I wanted from a young age, and I’ve worked toward nothing else.”

  “I’m glad you came back.” She stepped closer to him. “When I was a teenager, I would daydream about what it would be like to be your girl. What it would be like to kiss you.” She grinned, her head tilted to one side. “My imagination is nothing like reality.”

  He laughed. “So is the real thing better or worse?” He slipped one arm around her waist, always mindful of her injury.

  �
�Oh, so much better. I’m glad I’m your girl.”

  “Me too. It . . . it’s strange how quickly it happened. I knew I was going to want to think about settling down when I got home, and I had this flash of a young girl in pigtails, and I couldn’t figure out what my problem was. You were that young girl, though.”

  She grinned. “I wore pigtails a lot when I went to your house. I remember having overnights with Sam and thinking about you sleeping in the next room, and my heart would flutter faster.”

  “Did Sam know?”

  She shook her head adamantly. “Never. She would have laughed at me. I asked about you once, and she said that you were just her big dopey brother. So I knew I couldn’t really say anything. She knew I thought you were cute but not that there was a crush to go with it.”

  “Well, I’m glad you kept it to yourself. She’d have tried pushing us together as soon as I got home otherwise.” He leaned down and kissed her softly. “I’d better get you home. Your sister is going to get there and think I kidnapped you.”

  “Nah. Riley’s a lot more down-to-earth than that.” She yawned. “I do think it’s time for another pain pill, though.”

  He led her to the entrance of the stable, watching her feet as she walked. He wished he understood where her falling came from. When they were outside, his hand went to her elbow, and he gently guided her. He was so worried she’d fall, and he’d have to explain to her family not only why he had her out when she was injured but why he kept letting her get hurt.

  Once she was in the truck, he hurried around to drive her back. “So what do you think of my place?” he asked.

  “I think it suits you. It’ll be a good place to raise horses and kids.”

  “Does it suit you?”

  She smiled, looking over at him. “It could. A few changes would need to be made. You know the old saying. It needs a woman’s touch.”

  He laughed. “I haven’t given any thought to decorating the thing. I bought it already furnished, and I was happy with that. I guess it’s time to think about what to put on the walls and how to cover the windows.”

  “Probably. But when you marry, that will be your wife’s job.”