Chase Cooper would be here in ninety minutes. She was suddenly wide awake. He probably took her for a babbling, stumbling alcoholic. Jade grimaced as nothing could be further from the truth. Tossing back the white cotton sheet, she hopped out of bed. After seeing her in the bikini last night at the pool, she hoped Chase didn’t consider hertawdry.
Jade padded to the private bathroom attached to her bedroom and turned on the shower. Stepping under the hot spray, she shampooed her hair, soaped her body, and stewed over what Chase and Chloe thought of her. Why did she care so much? She hadn’t even known them for twenty-four hours. Chloe and her Aunt Rachel seemed genuine and down-to-earth. She’d like to have them as friends. Would Chase want to be friends?
Toweling off after her shower, she donned her bra and stepped into her panties. She dried her naturally blond, thick hair, leaving it to fall straight down her back. Mascara, lipstick, and then she perused the closet. Two bikinis, halter top, tube top, two tank tops, short-short jeans, short denim overalls, jean skirt, and sundress, none of which she was allowed to wear in town since all were considered too revealing and casual.Tawdry, Franco had sternly informed her.
While not expecting horseback riding to fall in her lap at a bed-and-breakfast, she thanked her lucky stars for the unbelievable opportunity. For months, she’d been secretly taking online classes in equestrian therapy, sometimes called equine-assisted therapy, or simply horse therapy. Her courses thus far had involved an academic approach to the history, study, and benefits of equestrian therapy rather than of the horses themselves. She’d been far too fearful of the consequences, if caught, to pursue any actual contact with a horse. Petting the palomino had been the first time she’d ever touched a horse. She prayed for the best as she tugged on the one pair of jeans she’d packed.
No sooner did she unmute her phone than it rang, startling her. She looked. Margo, Franco’s office manager. She didn’t answer. It was Friday, normally a workday. But this was a holiday weekend, and the office was supposed to be closed until Tuesday morning. Jade silenced her phone again. But she tensed seeing all the missed calls from Franco. Scrolling through Franco’s increasingly demanding texts caused her head to pound.
Dr. Franco Spatafore. Plastic surgeon. His needles and scalpels had never touched any part of her. She’d met the humorless man after signing contracts to work for him and his brother, Dr. Mateo Spatafore, a psychiatrist. They operated out of an enormous, three-story Victorian house on lower Cascade Avenue in downtown Colorado Springs. Franco’s surgical clinic took up the entire first floor. Mateo’s wellness center, where her office was located, occupied the second floor. For patients and clients already in shape or striving to get there, the third floor offered treadmills, stationary bikes, and rowing machines. No weight lifting as dropped barbells tended to make therapy clients, in session on the second floor, jump. Jade jumped as the cell phone vibrated in her hand.
Franco. Severe and relentless, his pursuit of possession was becoming obsession.
“Chase,” she whispered, hearing his baritone voice downstairs. “Why do you have to be so attractive?” She zipped her jeans. “So sexy?” She selected a top. “So funny?” He’d teased her at the pool but hadn’t tried to take advantage of her tipsy state. “Such a gentleman.”
“Jade?” Chloe called up the stairs. “Chase is here.”
Jade looked at her phone to say, “Today is my birthday, so I just might have another glass of wine. I plan to get some sun because I’m going for a horseback ride with a real live cowboy.” With that, she turned off the phone and, sliding it under her pillow, said, “Leave me alone.”
Grabbing her sunglasses, she entered the hallway outside her lovely room. She trailed her fingers along the banister, turned a corner, and descended the winding staircase. She smelled bacon and heard Chase’s voice again on her way to the kitchen. Just as she reached the doorway, he and his Aunt Rachel laughed as Chloe flipped a pancake across the kitchen. Chase caught it square on his plate, and Rachel hooted.
Sitting at a round table in the breakfast nook, Chase wore a light-blue button-down shirt with a tasteful Triple C Ranch logo over his heart. The long sleeves were rolled up his forearms. The black belt with the big silver buckle looped through his blue jeans and his black cowboy boots had a shine to them. His black cowboy hat sat upside down on a counter.
“Good morning,” Jade said, watching Chase catch another flying pancake.
“Good morning,” Rachel replied, two pancakes already on her plate.
“Grab a plate, Jade,” Chloe said. “You’re next.”
“Hi.” Chase smiled and held out an empty plate to her.
“Hi.” Jade took the plate and held it in front of her. Chloe flipped the pancake high in the air, and Jade missed it completely. “That’s harder than it looks!”
Chase chuckled, picked the pancake up, and tossed it in a trash can. “C’mere.” He crooked his finger. Jade walked to him, noticing hers was the only pancake in the trash. Chase tugged her between his knees and, using both hands, positioned the plate in front of her. “Go for it, sis.”
Chloe flipped another pancake, and this time, with Chase’s help, Jade caught it. “Yay!” she laughed as Chase and Rachel cheered.
“Ready for another one?” Chloe asked.
“Ready.” Staying between Chase’s knees, he let go of the plate. Jade felt his hands at her waist as she aimed her plate like he had. The pancake flew, and she caught it. They all whooped.
Chloe said, “Welcome to breakfast for brunch, Jade. Have a seat.”
Chase gave her outfit a head-to-toe perusal before glancing at a clock on the wall, which read exactly eleven. “And yet, you seem alert and oriented.”
“Chase!” Chloe said.
“It’s a private joke,” Chase said and pulled out a barstool for Jade.
“It is,” Jade assured Chloe. Taking the seat next to Chase, Jade suspected it was a witty jab at her clothing choice. He had a sense of humor. She smiled. Her headache had vanished.
Chloe joined them at the table, bringing bacon, scrambled eggs, and buttered toast with her. They ate and chatted, washing the delicious brunch down with coffee, orange juice, and milk. Jade consumed only half of what Chase did and was stuffed.
* * *
After brunch,Chloe and Rachel waved them out of the kitchen. Chase followed her down the hallway and opened the front door. On the porch, he put his hat on and then a pair of sunglasses. Both suited him. Under a shady elm, the horses were tethered to a hitching post Jade hadn’t noticed the previous day.
“Valor, here, is an eight or nine on a scale of ten,” Chase said, stopping beside the horse.
