that he hadn’t been holding her very tightly so it was easier. “It was nice seeing you,” she lied without looking back in his direction. She didn’t want to see him again, she didn’t want to know if he was angry with her for leaving him like that. All she wanted to do was get as far away from him as possible.
When she reached her father’s cottage, she slammed the door closed and leaned against it, trying to get her breath back after the frantic rush out of the stables.
“Hard run?” her father asked from his favorite cozy chair.
Rachel jumped and opened her eyes, looking around to find her dad. “I thought you’d be asleep by now.”
He raised an eyebrow. “At only eight o’clock?” he laughed. “I’m old, but I’m not that old yet, little lady.”
She sighed and walked over to the sofa, pretending that nothing was bothering her even though he’d seen her against the door. “So what are you reading tonight?” she asked conversationally.
Her dad laughed softly. “Are you really going to try and pretend like you didn’t just come into the house like the demons from hell were chasing you?” He paused as he took in her flushed cheeks and bright eyes.
She looked at him as if he’d just spoken a scary truth that she didn’t have the courage to acknowledge. Which was exactly the case. When had her father become so aware of human frailties? He was a genius at guessing when a horse was upset, but she’d always thought he was oblivious when it came to human interactions.
Taking a deep breath, she pasted a smile on her face and pretended to be relaxed, letting her shoulders drop and her stance widen slightly so she didn’t look like a terrified rabbit hiding from a wily fox. “The horses were beautiful. How long have they been here?” she asked.
Her father smiled and shook his head, not letting her get away with a subject change. “What happened between you and Rais?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes and straightened up to get herself a cup of herbal tea which she knew her father had probably already prepared for her. Sure enough, sitting on the counter was a cup of peach tea brewing with steam rising from the aromatic liquid. “He just…” she waved her hand in the air, trying to put a description to Rais that wouldn’t reveal too much about what had just happened. “Well, he was his normal self.”
He paused, one eyebrow raised as he watched his daughter carefully. “He made a pass at you then?”
She coughed from the sip of peach tea she’d just sipped. When she finally had her breath back, she looked up at him and shook her head. “Why would you say that? I’m like his kid sister, you’ve always said.”
He rolled his eyes and dropped the magazine he’d been reading. “Have you taken a look at yourself lately, Rachel?”
That was an odd question coming from her father. She looked back at him curiously as she sat back down on the sofa, pretending to be relaxed when all she wanted to do was hide in her room and try to figure out what had just occurred in the stable between her and Rais. A subject she definitely didn’t want to discuss with her father of all people. “Of course. What do you mean?”
“Then you have to know that Rais hasn’t looked at you like a sister since you were about sixteen or seventeen years old.”
She glanced at her father, surprised by his comment. “Why would you say something like that?” What had she missed over the years? Had Rais said something to her father? What was she missing?
John smiled at his lovely but oblivious daughter. “Rachel, that man has been interested in you for years. The only reason he’s waited this long to do anything about it was because initially you were too young. Once you were old enough, I’m pretty sure he would have done something about his interest, but by that time, you were off at college and making darn sure you weren’t here when he visited.”
With his last comment, she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Did you trick me into coming here tonight? Knowing that he would be here?”
He was already shaking his head. “You know me better than that. I respect your wishes, honey. But I don’t think you’re being very fair to him. The two of you used to talk so much I was sometimes jealous of