Kaia was so wrapped up in that look she stumbled, almost tumbled. Righted herself. Someone inhaled sharply.
And Ridge sprang forward as if to save her.
She didn't need saving, but damn, in that moment, she wished she had tumbled so he could catch her in his big strong arms and hold her as if it meant something.
Chapter 6
After rehearsal, the group moseyed out to the front porch again, chatting, laughing, and congratulating Archer and Casey on their impending wedding. A red-tailed hawk circled lazily overhead, gliding on the current.
Ridge stood off to one side, slipped on his sunglasses again, more for the incognito effect than to block the morning sun.
Behind the chapel was a brand-new barn that had never housed animals. Archer had told him it had been built solely to host wedding receptions. Three hundred yards to the right lay his house. He had to wonder why Duke had picked this spot to build the chapel and reception barn.
A dig at him?
Or had the location been Vivi's idea?
He hadn't laid eyes on the house in ten years, and he felt no sense of ownership. Couldn't even figure out what had possessed him to build on the plot of land his grandfather's trust forbid him to sell without his father's and brothers' permission? Probably some naive notion, that as the oldest, he would run the ranch one day.
Idiot.
The house was constructed of Texas limestone, with a wide stone porch and silver tin roof. Desert willows in the front yard landscaped with gravel, flagstone pavers and hearty, heat-loving plants-agave, aloe, bougainvillea. The porch swing had a fresh coat of paint. Someone had been looking after it.
Ridge set his jaw, fingered the straw Stetson in his hands. Archer and Casey were talking to her parents, Herb and Nancy. Kaia and her sisters were in a huddle discussing the upcoming bachelorette party that evening. His brother Ranger was offering Lynne and her husband, Ned, a private tour of the McDonald Observatory. Duke was deep in discussion with Kaia's parents about something he couldn't hear.
The toddler ring bearer was running around and between the vehicles, carrying a toy water gun, making blasting noises, shooting everything and everyone in sight. Including Majestic who was still hitched up to the post in front of the chapel, not far from where Ridge was standing. No one was paying any attention to the kid.
Ridge settled his hat on his head, eyed the boy.
"Pew-pew!" Atticus cried, zipping by and squirting Ridge's dusty boots.
Majestic flicked his ears, narrowed his eyes, nostrils flaring.
Uh-oh. Trouble.
The kid swung on the hitching post right underneath Majestic, back and forth, back and forth. With a chortle, the boy dropped to the ground and crawled underneath the horse.
Majestic cocked his back leg, the muscles in his haunches twitching, his nostrils flaring, eyes narrowing.
"Hey!" Ridge shouted, running for the boy. "Hey!"
The clueless adults turned to see what was going on.
"The kid! The kid!" His boots churned up a flurry of sand, but it felt as if his legs were slogging through molasses. One sharp kick from the ornery stallion could cave the kid's head in.
Damn Duke for bringing the stallion out here. He should have known better.
The adults stood openmouthed, clearly still not understanding the impending disaster. The boy stood directly behind Majestic, gazing at the big horse with his mouth open and his eyes wide, seemingly mesmerized by the stallion's flicking tail. Ridge knew exactly what that slow, deliberate tail flick meant.
Imminent doom!
Ridge dove to the earth, shoving the boy out of the way just as Majestic did what Ridge knew the stallion was going to do.
Kick.
Hard.
Majestic's hoof connected with the side of Ridge's temple and sent him flying flat on his back.
The boy howled at being knocked down.
The adults gasped and came running. Lynne scooped up her yowling son, hugged him close, burst into tears.
Ridge blinked at the sky. Saw stars at nine o'clock in the morning.
And moons.
And rainbows.
And unicorns.
And finally, after an elongated minute, Kaia's concerned face peering down at him.
When Kaia came outside to see Ridge sprawled spread-eagle in the dirt, a red welt blooming at his temple, her heart catapulted into her throat and stuck there like cockleburs in Velcro. She'd been in the chapel talking to her mother about Dart, the new kitten she was fostering, but suspected she'd adopt, and she hadn't seen Majestic kick him.
His cowboy hat and sunglasses were flung several feet away, and a circle of people surrounded him.
Duke had untied Majestic and led him away from the group. Archer was crouched beside Ridge's head, Casey at his feet. Lynne stood next to Ned, clutching Atticus to her chest.
"Ridge saved Atty's life," Lynne kept babbling. "If it wasn't for him . . ." She shuddered, buried her face against the toddler's head.