“Sure, he’s clamoring to see if you’re all right.”
Kelly smiled with effort. Jace retrieved her tray. He sat it in front of her and handed her two pain pills.
Taking the glass of orange juice from the tray, she swallowed the medication and drank the entire contents of the glass.
“I know what Mira said, but I think you’d better tell me what happened.” Jace sat in the chair next to the bed.
She told him the whole story as well as she could remember it. “You didn’t say anything to Ari?” she asked, concerned for the boy.
“No,” he said.
“It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know he could spook the horse. I should have...”
Jace leaned over and brushed his lips over hers. Kelly’s eyes opened wide.
“I understand,” he said. “But he needs to know how to properly work around animals.”
“Kelly, Kelly,” Ari shouted as he ran down the hall. Kelly heard him coming. Jace moved away from her and as the little ball of energy came into the room and headed directly for the bed, Jace caught him before he launched himself onto the spread and upset Kelly and her breakfast tray.
“Good morning.” Kelly smiled at him, hoping the pain didn’t show on her face.
“You slept a really long time,” he said. He looked at his dad. “Dad said we needed to be quiet. I was quiet.”
“I didn’t hear you at all,” she told him.
“Is your leg better?”
“It’s swollen, but that will go down soon.”
“Can you walk? Dad carried you up here.”
She remembered. Even in the haze of medication, Jace holding her had been familiar. Kelly thought about the night of the open house. She remembered being in her office, putting the receipts in the safe and looking at her computer. The next thing she knew it was morning and she was fully dressed, in her bed, with the spread over her. She had no recollection of how she got there, but some dreamlike memory felt the strong arms that carried her.
“Ari, we need to let Kelly rest now,” Jace said.
“She rested all night.” Ari’s logic tickled her. “Didn’t you, Kelly?”
“You’re right, Ari. I did rest all night, but the medicine makes me sleepy.”
“Okay. When it’s lunchtime, are you going to eat in bed?”
“I have to keep my foot up, so I might have to stay here,” Kelly explained.
“Can I eat in bed with you?” he asked.
“Maybe.”
“Wow!” he said. “What about tomorrow? Will we eat in bed then, too?”
“Tomorrow I might be able to eat at the table if your dad will help me get there.”
Ari turned around sharply to look at Jace. “You will, won’t you, Dad?”
Jace bent down to Ari and said, “I will if you promise me something?”
“What?”
“Promise me that you won’t go running after the horses even if you see me or Kelly getting on them. You’ll always, always call us first. So you won’t get hurt?”
Ari had given his full attention to Jace when his voice became serious.
“I promise,” he said. Then he looked at Kelly. “Did I hurt you?”
“No,” she and Jace said at the same time.
“The horse hurt me, Ari,” Kelly said. “I need to be careful, too. And I wasn’t. That’s why I got hurt.”
“You’ll be careful, too?”
“I will,” she told him. “I promise.”
“We have to go now, Ari.” Jace caught the boy’s hand.
“Ari?” Kelly called. He faced her. “Do you think I could have a hug?”
He smiled and ran to the bed, reached up and Kelly leaned down and hugged him.
He let go and turned to his dad. “You hug her, too, Dad.”
Kelly felt the color drain from her face. Then a flash fire took possession of her and her face was no less red than a cooked lobster. Glancing at Jace, she saw his face reflecting the exact same color.
* * *
KELLY’S LEG WAS still throbbing when she woke for lunch four hours later. The swelling had gone down some, but not totally. Mira came up and helped her wash and change clothes. The effort took more energy than she thought it would.
“Where’s Ari and Jace?” Kelly asked.
“In the kitchen. Ari is making you a special lunch. At least, he’s trying to, and Jace...” She seemed to intentionally leave the sentence hanging.
“What about him?”
“You’re attracted to him.” Mira stated it as if the entire world knew it to be true.
Kelly didn’t bother to deny it. “Nothing new, I’m afraid. You know I’ve been drawn to him since he was a wild teen riding across the fields.”