From This Moment On - By Debbi Rawlins Page 0,43

bucking stallion, Trace waved frantically for the woman to get out.

Rachel cursed under her breath. “I’ll go get her.”

It was too late.

Trace lost the lead, fell hard and rolled clear of the horse’s hooves by a scary few inches. The blonde scrambled to safety outside the corral. A cowboy ran from the barn to help Trace regain control of the stallion.

“It seems we need to have another talk with the guests after dinner.” Mrs. McAllister’s hand was at her throat, her face pale.

“I’m going to have one with Eve right now,” Rachel said, steam practically coming out of her ears.

“No, don’t. Trace is going to talk to her.”

Watching him walk over to the guest, Nikki knew he was hurt. He subtly probed his left shoulder and winced. After speaking with the woman for a minute, he gave her the usual killer smile. But as soon as he started walking toward the house putting her behind him, the smile abruptly vanished as if a switch had been flipped.

“My poor brother,” Rachel said. “I’ve been overloading him with guest stuff and with all his other duties he’s exhausted.” She sighed. “These women have been driving him nuts lately. He’s so sick of them. I’ll have to figure something out.”

“Other than his shoulder he seems okay,” his mother murmured. “He reminds me of your father more and more each day. Same mannerisms, same temperament. Of all your brothers he’s most— Oops, he’s headed for the mudroom. I doubt he’ll appreciate us standing around watching him. I have to run upstairs, anyway.”

As soon as she left, Nikki looked at Rachel. “Trace is like your dad?”

Rachel blinked. “Yeah, I guess he is.”

Quite a compliment considering what she’d heard about Gavin McAllister. “Does he know that?”

Rachel shrugged. “Beats me.” Her gaze returned to the window. “I hadn’t really thought about it before.”

Nikki saw that he was close to the house. “I need to talk to him.”

“Go,” Rachel said, with a nod at the mudroom door.

“Thanks.” It would be private in there, at least for a few minutes. Trouble was, she didn’t know what she wanted to say except to apologize for the other night.

He entered from outside just as she came in from the kitchen. His brows lifted in surprise. “Hey, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Are you all right?” She stopped when he did, standing a few feet away and feeling awkward, unnerved that her first instinct had been to touch him.

“Fine. Why?”

“I saw you fall.”

Disgust transformed his expression. Flushing, he squeezed his eyes shut and muttered a mild curse.

“Don’t be embarrassed. It wasn’t your fault.”

He yanked his gloves off and squinted at her. “Who said I’m embarrassed?”

“Okay,” she said, trying not to smile. “Forget I said that.” She cleared her throat. “And while we’re at it, can we forget about the other night?”

“Why?” He shrugged, doing a better job than her of controlling a smile. “What happened?”

She fixed her gaze on his shoulder because she was still worried about him, but also to avoid his eyes. “Thank you for not taking advantage of my stupidity.”

“Told you. It’s forgotten.” He reached for her hand and drew her closer. “How are you holding up?”

“Numb, confused, overwhelmed...” She sighed. “Anxious to get back to work. Sadie wouldn’t let me go back last night.”

“She was right not to,” he said, rubbing her arm.

“I’m better off keeping busy.”

“Yeah, but you never know what bonehead thing a customer will say that could set you off. I’m not naming names, mind you.”

Nikki smiled. “What else hurts besides your shoulder?”

“Ah, Jesus.” He let her go and plowed his hand through his hair. “Nothing. Nothing hurts.”

“Well, I see your ego is in working order.”

One side of his mouth lifted and he caught her chin. “Lucky for you I hear people in the kitchen,” he whispered.

“Yes, they’re waiting to fawn all over you.”

“Well, hell.” He lowered his hand and yanked a glove back on. “Thanks for the warning.”

“Wait.” She laughed. “Where are you going?”

“Where there aren’t females trying to either get me hurt or patch me up.” He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “How long you gonna be around?”

“Until we’re done preparing food for tomorrow.” She shook her head. “We’re making a ton of stuff. Way too much. I keep telling everyone— Go, before it’s too late.”

Trace smiled. “I’ll see you later, huh?”

Nikki nodded, amazed how much better she felt just talking to him. “You’ll be there tomorrow, right? At the funeral.”

“Of course I will.” He gave her a long gentle look