Willow Creek

Four

Rowan

I slipped the halter over Remington’s chiseled head and led him out of the stall. The colt leaned heavily on my shoulder and I stopped, wagging the reins to force him to take a step backwards. He snorted and flashed a wide-eyed look around the aisle. “You aren’t going to push me around, boy. I’m the leader and you’re the follower.” I tilted my head. “You’ll have some manners soon enough.”

After tying the large colt in the cross ties, I took the brush Katie handed me. She avoided my gaze as she moved to the bale of hay and plopped down on it. Stretching her legs out in front of her, she crossed her arms and studied Remington, refusing to grace me with even a glimpse of those pretty blue eyes.

I turned back to the colt and groomed his golden coat until it shone. A dry breeze stirred the dust in the barn. I exhaled and wiped my brow, considering the English woman who seemed intent on ignoring me. She was even more beautiful than I’d remembered. But that carefree quality she’d once possessed appeared to have gone ‒ or was hidden deep down ‒ replaced with anxiousness and anger. There seemed to be a lot more to her father’s passing than she was willing to talk about. The mere fact that she wouldn’t answer my simple question about his death struck a nerve with me. She was hiding something ‒ something that had upset her greatly. It pained me to think that the sweet girl I’d stolen a couple of kisses from in this very same barn was having troubles. I wanted to ask her what I could do to help, but feared she’d shoot down my offer quicker than I could blink an eye.

I was being overly presumptuous anyway. Katie Porter was nothing more to me than an employer. My obsession with her as a teenager was just a crush and maybe even my own form of quiet rebellion. I was Amish, and Katie wasn’t. It was for the best for both of us that her father had warned me away. She had probably only kissed me in a moment of boredom or experimentation. By now, she had surely learned the ways of the world and had her own man to kiss.

I shook my head at the uneasy thought, chastising myself for being a fool. I couldn’t help it that the now-grown woman still got under my skin. It wasn’t right that I should feel any kind of jealousy toward any man who might be her beau, though. It had been six years without us having any real contact, and it wasn’t like we were ever a couple or anything like that. Katie was entitled to her own happiness. With her beauty and intelligence, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was more than one man seeking her attention.

Besides, I was Amish and she wasn’t. Anything more than a friendly business relationship was impossible. I was a fool to let so many thoughts about an English woman fill my head.

The colt relaxed under the gentle strokes of the brush. A swath of late evening sunlight covered Remington’s face and he closed his eyes. His breathing steadied to a calm rhythm as I glided my hand down his leg, leaning into his forearm until he picked up his hoof. I murmured a few words of encouragement and used the pick to loosen the packed dirt out of the hoof quickly, setting it back down smoothly. I moved around the horse silently, repeating the act with his other three hooves.

Katie didn’t say a word but I could hear the shuffling sound of her shifting weight on the bale and I caught the whiff of her vanilla scent whenever I inhaled. The aroma bothered me. It was familiar, the way a memory jerked at your senses. I purposely took shallower breaths, beginning to believe that Katie was purposely trying to bewitch me.

As if on cue, she spoke, breaking the humming sound of Remington’s breathing. I paused working and glanced over my shoulders.

“How’s your family?” Katie asked. Her voice was brisk yet a little looser than it had been earlier.

Our eyes met briefly and she glanced away. I took the saddle pad from the nearby rack and set it on Remington’s back. The colt tensed, but stood still, dropping his head back to see what I was doing. I shadowed the horse with steady, yet firm movements. I wanted Remington to feel my confidence and take notice that I wasn’t afraid of him. At the heart of it all, he was a herd animal. The colt wanted to be the boss or to be led by a competent herd mate. Part of the training process was convincing the eleven-hundred-pound animal that he wasn’t bigger, stronger, or smarter than me. I had to persuade him that I was the chieftain of the herd and prove that I was worthy of his honor and obedience. With an ornery horse like Remington, the task was easier talked about than actually done.

I couldn’t stop the rush of adrenaline coursing through my body that Katie had spoken to me in a somewhat friendly manner. I hated that her words had perked me up so easily, like the invigorating feel of wind whipping my face when one of my trotters was moving effortlessly on the roadway or when I jogged down the stairs on Christmas morning and first inhaled the delicious smells coming from Ma’s baking, knowing I wouldn’t have to work a lick on that special day. It would be difficult to erase the English woman from my mind but that was what I had to do ‒ forget all the irrational romantic thoughts that had pestered me for years. Katie wasn’t mine, and she never would be.

I cleared my throat, trying to sound casual. “Mother and Father are both in good health. Mother is busy making a quilt with the other women for the schoolhouse benefit dinner raffle and Father has grown the organic vegetable farming business. He’s even selling produce to several grocery stores in the area. Little Nathaniel is growing like a weed. He’ll catch up to my height soon enough.”

I flinched, realizing how much information I’d rattled off. It fell quiet again and I peered over Remington’s back at Katie. She was chewing on the end of a piece of hay, staring out the open barn doors. I took the saddle from the rack and carefully placed it on the colt’s back, grasping the girth and pulling it up to attach the leather tie strap.

“Don’t you have a sister?”

Katie’s question took me off guard. It was a simple thing to ask, and I suddenly understood how she might have felt when I abruptly asked about her father’s death. Uncomfortable subjects weren’t easy to talk about. I didn’t want to lie to her but I really didn’t want to dig into the muck of what was really going on with Rebecca, either. Remington stepped sideways and I paused with one hand on the girth, steadying him using my other hand on his bowed neck.

“Yes, I do. Rebecca’s doing fine as well,” I lied.

“She’s not much younger than us, is she?”

This was the Katie I remembered, full of curiosity and questions. I might not want to talk about Rebecca but I liked that we were at least talking. “Turned eighteen back in August.” I took a breath and looked directly at her. She met my gaze for a change. I leaned against Remington. “Why do you ask?”

Katie shrugged. “I saw her at the feed store a few years ago. I recognized your dad and just assumed she was your sister. She’s pretty. You two look a lot alike.” Her cheeks reddened and she quickly dropped her gaze.

“I hope you’re not saying I’m pretty,” I teased, unable to keep the corner of my mouth from lifting.

She snorted and stood up, smacking the loose hay from her jeans. “Naw. I didn’t mean that.”

I pulled the girth tighter in order to loop the tie strap through the opening. I was distracted and not focused on my charge the way I should have been. Before I had the strap secured, Remington’s muscles tensed and a second later he reared up. I reached for the crosstie closest to me but the scoundrel was too quick. He came down with a thump and crow-hopped, jerking his head sideways. The rope attached to his halter on his far side snapped tight and the buckle gave way. The colt almost had his head completely free. I pulled on the end of the rope that still held him, releasing the slip knot and freeing Remington before he could do much more damage.

It all happened like a blur. The golden horse crashed into me, knocking me off balance. I grabbed the stall door to right myself and Remington whirled around like a tornado. I saw Katie shimmy to the right, trying to get out of the way, but the horse was too large. She disappeared behind his haunches just before he bucked, flinging the untied saddle from his back. The saddle hit the wall with a whacking sound, which was immediately joined by the pounding of Remington’s hooves as he raced out of the barn. Horse heads that were lazily resting outside of their stalls a moment before, shied back in panic. Nickers and snorts followed the colt as he ran past.

I raced to Katie’s sprawled form. Her eyes were closed and I held my breath when I dropped down and touched her cheek softly.

“Katie, are you all right?” I gasped.

Her mouth twitched and then she found her smile again. Blinking, she started to push up into a sitting position. I slipped my hand beneath her arm and around her back. It occurred to me how light she was as I helped her stand.

Katie blew out a shaky breath and wiggled away. I didn’t want to let her go, fearing that she wasn’t steady enough to stand just yet. I loosened my grip as she pulled away, taking a step with her in case she lost her balance. Her eyes sparked fire and I drew back.

“If that colt wasn’t so damn pretty, Daddy would have sold him a long time ago,” she said, brushing the dirt from her pant legs.

“Do you need to sit down?” I asked tentatively, trying not to hover too close.

“No, I’m fine.” She raised her arm in the sling up and down, wincing a little with the action. “He just bumped me, hard. There’s no way Remington will be ready in time for the sale. With his bloodlines and looks, he would have brought a high price. It’s such a shame.”

I removed my hat and wiped my brow, not taking my eyes off Katie. “Whoa, don’t you give up on me or that horse so easy. I told you I’d have all these horses broke by sale day, even Remington, and I keep my promises.”

A light flickered in her eyes and her lips parted. She was about to say something and then snapped her mouth shut. She exhaled loudly, shaking her head. “That horse is rogue, Rowan. Every time Daddy or I worked with him it went the same way. For a few minutes he’s civil and then all hell breaks loose. He’s too smart for his own good and I’m beginning to think he’s not worth the trouble.” Her eyes narrowed on me. “You could get seriously injured.”

My chest constricted with her softer words of warning. I searched Katie’s face for something more than just general concern over my wellbeing, but her expression was grim. I had the intense urge to reach out and squeeze her shoulders, give her a gentle shake, and tell her not to worry about me. I wanted to feel her skin beneath my fingers and the thought of doing something so completely inappropriate sent a shiver down my spine. I had once held this woman in my arms and kissed her passionately. Now, I could only dream of touching her again.

I swallowed down the nervous energy bubbling in my gut and reached by Katie to grab the lead rope off the peg.

“Where are you going?” She swiveled toward me.

“To catch that horse. It’s going to be a long night.”

I turned away and strode out of the barn before Katie could say anything else. My available time to work with her horses was limited and Remington was going to be more difficult to work with than I’d imagined. I was being honest with Katie when I said that I kept my promises. I would get the colts ready in time for the sale, not just for Katie, but for my sister too, who I also owed a promise.

Five

Katie

I leaned over the porch railing the next morning, watching the dust billow up from the round pen. Sweat beaded between my breasts and at the nape of my neck, beneath my ponytail.

“That boy must be awfully determined. He’s been out there in this heat for over an hour, hasn’t he?” Momma stepped up to my side, startling me.

She held out two glasses of lemonade. The ice cubes clinked when I took them. “About that. He started out lunging him with the line, and now he’s working with him freestyle. Remington is stubborn, but I believe Rowan might be even more so.”

Momma grinned, raising a brow. “He grew up to be a fine-looking man.”

The wicked look on Momma’s face made me snort. I felt the heat rise on my cheeks, but I didn’t really care. She was right about Rowan; he was a fine-looking man, and it was good to see her crack a smile for the first time since we’d received news of Daddy’s accident and his infidelity.

“Can he really do it?” Momma’s face grew serious once again. “Train them horses up by sale day?”

I took a deep breath and looked back at the round pen. The dust had settled and Rowan was standing at Remington’s shoulder. The colt’s head was dropped and his hind leg cocked in a resting position. The Amish man rubbed the golden fur along the horse’s neck and I could see his mouth moving as though he was murmuring something. The man and horse looked about as relaxed as they could be.

“Rowan definitely has a way with horses. If anyone can pull it off, it’s him,” I admitted quietly.

“I’m surprised he’s giving us the time of day after the way your father treated him.”

I cocked my head and stared back at Momma. She’d never mentioned the incident before. “Why was Daddy so tough on Rowan? That was the first time we’d ever kissed. Before that, Rowan had all but ignored me.”

A sad smile appeared on Momma’s lips and her eyes had that foggy, faraway quality that I knew so well. She leaned against the railing and sighed, lifting her chin toward the round pen. “That boy wasn’t ignoring you, Katie. He was smitten from the get-go.”

My jaw dropped. “How do you know that?”

She shrugged and gave an annoyed shake of her head. “I guess you were too young to read his aloofness but I saw it.” Her gaze drifted back to the pen. “I felt sorry for him. He understood that it was impossible to have a relationship with you but the attraction was there, and I know firsthand how difficult it is for an Amish man who is sweet on an English woman.

I set the drinks down on the flat board on the top part of the railing and placed my hands on my hips. Heat fanned my face and my insides twisted. “What are you talking about?” I asked in a low voice.

The fearful look that passed over Momma’s face made me hold my breath.

“It’s about time I tell you the entire story, Katie, especially since that Amish boy has come back into our lives. Honestly, I never thought we’d see him again up here at the ranch, working with our horses.” She shrugged. “Life is a strange journey. Now that your father is gone, there’s no more reason to keep secrets.” Momma swallowed and lifted her gaze. Her green eyes glistened. “You see, when I was a little younger than you, I met James Coblentz, Rowan’s father, at a neighbor’s yard sale. Do you remember Mrs. Collins?” I nodded briskly, giving a wave of my hand for her to continue. “Well, my mother had asked me to assist Edna with the yard sale she was having. She was old and her body was riddled with arthritis. She could barely move at the time. I remember that day quite clearly. It was bright and cloudless. The sky was such a pale blue, like a robin’s egg.”

I was still holding my breath and my head felt light with anticipation. Momma’s pause was killing me but I was afraid to say anything to pull her back from those long ago memories. Ever since that day in the barn when Rowan and I had been caught kissing, I’d always thought there was something more than just Daddy being overly protective of me. Something about what he’d said to Rowan, about doing his father a favor, had bugged me for a long time.

Momma sighed deeply and continued. “Edna had an old cart stored in the shed. It was an antique and she’d listed it in the ad she’d posted in the paper. When James showed up to take a look at it, Edna couldn’t possibly make the walk to the shed out back so she asked me to take the young Amish man to see it.” She smoothed down the front of her pink blouse and took another quick breath. “I was very shy. I hadn’t spent much time around Amish folk and certainly not a young man my age.” She glanced up from under her lashes and the mischievous look she flashed me made my skin chill. “He was also a fine-looking man ‒ very tall and well built, with brown hair and the darkest eyes. Oh, how my heart pounded on that long walk to the shed. I was a nervous wreck, I think, but then an amazing thing happened. James began talking to me. His steady voice was pleasant. He asked all kinds of questions about my life, and why I was acting so shy; he seemed almost arrogant in his confidence.” Momma chewed her lower lip. She was beginning to falter and I reached out, squeezing her arm. The touch seemed to calm her nerves. She wrung her hands. “James ended up buying the sulky and starting up a friendship with me at the same time.”

“Friendship?” I said the word with slow emphasis.

Momma made a small huffing noise. “Don’t make me say it, Katie. It’s hard enough to talk about this as it is. You see, I was already dating your father at the time. All of a sudden I had two men in my life that I was very fond of, and it wasn’t an easy time at all.”

“But how did you manage to even see Rowan’s father, him being Amish and all?”

“He would sneak over to my house after dark and we’d take walks together in the fields. Sometimes, we’d arrange meetings at the little general store at the edge of town. It wasn’t easy, and then things got complicated.”

“What happened?” I whispered, imagining all kinds of sordid scenarios.

“Your father found out about James. He was very upset and demanded I choose between the two of them. I cared deeply for your father and I didn’t want to hurt him, but I had already made up my mind. I wanted to be with James.”

“How would that have even been possible?” I breathed.

“That’s the crux of it, isn’t it? It wasn’t possible. At the time I was too naïve to understand, though. The next time I saw James I told him that I was breaking up with your father to be with him.”

A tear trickled down Momma’s cheek but I couldn’t move to wipe it away. Hearing her tell this secret from her past left me frozen. Shock and wonder held me in place.

Momma gulped and sniffed. “That’s when James explained that we couldn’t be together, that he would never leave his people, and that I would not make a good Amish woman.”

“He didn’t!” I hissed.

She nodded. “Yes, that’s what he told me. He dismissed me like I meant nothing to him. The times we’d shared together had been meaningless.” My limbs loosened and I took a step to embrace her but she held up her hands, stopping me. “Your father never mentioned James Coblentz again, until he hired the boy about seven years ago. I was beyond surprised and more than a little uncomfortable having the teenager, who looked so much like his father, coming and going on a daily basis. I never understood why your father would give Rowan a job. It made no sense to me but I didn’t question his decision. When he caught the two of you in the barn together and fired the boy, I wasn’t surprised in the least. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t question it. I was happy to see the boy go. His face had been a constant reminder of the way James had treated me.”

I digested what she’d said, my mind reeling. Momma’d had a fling with an Amish man, with Rowan’s father. Did Rowan know? If he was ignorant of his father’s past, should I even bring it up? I got the answer to my last question immediately.

Momma raised her finger and her threat came out in a low, angry growl. “Do not say a word about this to anyone, especially that boy out there. It’s nobody’s business. We’ve all moved on and if news got back to James’s wife, Rachel, she’d be devastated. There’s no need for any more heartache over a stupid infatuation from the past.”

“It sounded like it was more than just an infatuation for you,” I said softly.

“I learned the hard way that Amish men are nothing but trouble.”

“Couldn’t you say that for all men?” After what Daddy had done, it didn’t seem fair to single out only Amish males for bad behavior.

“I suppose so, or maybe I’ve just had bad luck with men in general.” Her face sagged. “I can honestly say that your father’s betrayal is nothing compared to the devastation I felt when James turned away from me. My feelings for your father were never quite the same as the love I felt for the young Amish man I used to take walks with. The heart is tricky, my dear. Don’t be swept into a forbidden romance the way I was. You’ll only get hurt in the end.”