Amber: Read My Lips (F&L Story #5)

Read My Lips: Chapter 7

Chapter Seven


Two weeks later, Linc reclined in his easy chair, frowning at the poker game on his smartphone with a beer at his elbow and a nearly empty bag of cheese puffs in his lap...so completely bored out of his mind.  Mainly because everyone seemed to have forgotten about him.  Wil and Sally returned from their cross-country RV trip a few days earlier -- their idiotic idea of a honeymoon; Linc would have chosen an isolated beach in the Bahamas -- and called Linc to let him know.  Not that he’d been worried, or anything.  

Nope.  Linc didn’t stay up late at night, wondering when they’d call him to let him know everything was okay.  Not that he’d been concerned that his brother, still fulfilling his parole, would have done anything stupid in another state to get his ass thrown back into the slammer.  Not that the exertion of hiking up and down the Grand Canyon would have caused Sally to miscarry.  And of course, he’d not thought about all those other idiots on the road that might cause his brother and sister-in-law to have an accident.  Nor did he think about them when he saw that horror movie with the chainsaw-wielding psychopath on television one day and wonder if Wil and Sally happened to run out of gas on some isolated highway and ended up as the main course for dinner that night.  

Nope.  He’d not been worried at all.  Just slightly concerned for a while.  Two weeks was a long time for a cross-country trip in Linc’s thinking.  And he’d been closer to his brother in the past several months than he’d been in the past several years.  Linc had missed the brotherly phone calls, but now, they were both back home at Sally’s farm in Arkansas, safe and sound, resuming their married life together and most likely making love every night.

His younger brother was happily hitched, and he was a forty-year-old hermit bachelor.  Yay.

Dammit!  He’d lost another hand!  That was the tenth one in a row.  Stupid game.  Linc sighed and tossed his phone on the table next to him along with his dreaded glasses.  He rubbed his eyes, feeling more tired than he’d ever been.  The game had only been a minor distraction.  Now, he was itching to do something constructive, something to get his energy back up.  Maybe, I should get a hobby...other than reading and horses.

What he’d really like to do was head into town and hang out in his favorite corner of the library, spending the whole afternoon just relaxing and reading.  He tried to do that very thing last week, but he ran into Amber while there, and he’d rather not repeat that incident.  He didn’t come away the bigger man...even though he was a man and about half again bigger than her.  He did manage to get his book back, though, since she apparently forgot to return it at the wedding.

Linc grimaced to himself, thinking about rounding that corner bookshelf in the biography section.  He smashed into the girl, causing her to land solidly on her rump, scattering a load of books in her arms.  She was wearing an almost sheer white knit top, another one of those swirling, lacy skirts -- this one turquoise -- and that leather bag slung across her waist.  She looked sweet and pure and as fresh as a ray of springtime sunshine.  When she landed on the dark green carpet, her skirt hiked up around her legs, and the male in Linc appreciated the glimpse of two shapely legs before he’d been pinned by an icy glare.  However, seeing her like that and remembering how he’d been the one on his back at the wedding, he burst out laughing.  

She didn’t think it was funny at all.  

Linc had only an instant of warning before a particularly heavy, leather bound biography of George Gershwin smacked him in the gut.  The air flew out of him, and as he reeled from the impact, her legs scissored like flashes of lightening, and there he found himself, on his back again, books raining from the shelves all over him as he tried to save himself frantically.  

Now that...she thought was hilarious.  Linc blinked to clear the stars from his vision and gather air into his lungs again.  Then he heard the tiniest, sweetest, cutest giggle rise up from the vicinity of his boots.  He lifted his head and gawked at her, not quite sure if it was her making that wonderful sound or if his ears were ringing.

Amber sat up, fixed her skirt to hide those lovely legs, and gathered her stack of books in her lap, all the while giggling.  She glanced at him, grinned and shook her head.  “Stupid cowboy,” she said, making the signs while she gathered.  

Linc reared up on his elbows so she could see him clearly and said, “Well, this stupid cowboy is missing a book you...borrowed.  I do believe I told you to put it back where you got it.”

Her fingers froze around the hardbound biography that hit him in the stomach, and her eyes widened.  For a moment, he watched the shades of pink roll over her cheeks as she went from gaily pissed off to embarrassed.  Setting her stack of books to the side, she ducked her head as she flipped open that bag on her hip.  He watched as she slipped his paperback out of it and ran her fingers over the creased spine...a creased spine that had been ripped and meticulously repaired with a clear adhesive cover.

“Hey!  What the hell did you do to my book?”  He crawled over to snatch it out of her hands like the last time before she could do any more damage to it.  Her eyes widened more as he got closer, and she popped him on the head with it.  Smack.  Right there between the eyes.  Then she had the gall to hold the book out of his reach behind her back.

“Stop it,” she said to him, staring at him square in the eye and leaning back a little.  That’s when he noticed just how close and intimate his bigger body was to her smaller one, casting a shadow over nearly every one of her curves.  His face was inches from rubbing noses, and his chest hovered so close to her that he could feel the heat radiating off her skin.  His hands were braced on the floor next to her hips, and if they were on a bed instead of the carpet of the library’s second floor, then their particular scenario might be a bit more appropriate.

It was intoxicating to be this close to a beautiful woman again.

“Amber,” he said darkly and slowly, not sure if it was the lust in him making him sound this way or what, “give it back.”

Her eyes flicked from his lips as he spoke to his eyes when he finished.  They locked gazes for an eternity, his aging vision blurring slightly, but Linc wasn’t budging.  A stuffy bag of a lady rounded a corner, saw them, gasped with indignation, “Indecent!” and hurried away, holding her heart.  Linc tipped up a crooked grin while he stayed right there in Amber’s personal space.  He’d like to see her trip him now.  He’d like to see her do anything to him now...heavens, anything at all.

Amber’s gaze dropped back to his mouth.  Her own parted slightly, and her breathing increased, blowing warm, peppermint-scented breath along his lips.  A delicate stain of rose continued to color her cheeks, which reminded Linc of a long ago memory with a first kiss taking center stage...and if there was ever a time for a man to kiss a beautiful woman, this was it.

Macie...

Linc’s lungs seized up, and he reared back, dropping to his butt on the floor.  That close, with her features obscured a fraction, he could almost believe Amber was Macie sitting under him like she’d been the first time he kissed her.  And he seriously thought about kissing Amber, closing his eyes, kissing her full on the lips, just to believe for a second that he was kissing Macie and she had come back to him.

And that was wrong.

“Amber, just give me my book back,” he said wearily, hating himself for almost using her just to feel alive again.

Carefully, she held it out to him.  He -- just as carefully -- took it from her.  She frowned and tilted her head to study him.  Her hair fell over her shoulder.  Linc couldn’t stand the sight of her anymore.  He wanted her, but he wanted her to be Macie, and he couldn’t have either of them.  “Don’t you have work to do?” he asked roughly.

A wounded look filled up her blue eyes...right before they hardened to ice chips.  With furious fists, she pounded out that now familiar sign for asshole on her head but added an L to the motion.  Linc didn’t know what that meant.  And he didn’t care.  She stood up with her stack of books in her arms, kicked the bottom of his boot and swung her hips bewitchingly as she stomped away.

His eyes followed the swish of that turquoise skirt all the way to the elevator, amazed that he could still feel so damn attracted to her and so freaking furious with her because she wasn’t the woman he loved.  As well, because he didn’t particularly enjoy getting his butt whipped by a slip of a girl, or want her to be a replacement for Macie, he hadn’t been back to the library since.

The only other thing he preferred as a relaxing activity was riding Egaeus.  However a rainstorm hit the area the night before, and the land was too muddy to go for even a quick ride.  Poor Egaeus was stuck in his paddock for the time being.  And poor Linc was stuck in his home.

Being rich and without a job to do every day kind of sucked, he thought, flipping on the television.  Since he sold the ranch and all the livestock, his morning chores out in the stable and around the remaining property took less than two hours to complete.  And since he lived alone, there wasn’t much mess inside the house to deal with either.  Boredom forced him to do his laundry and dishes everyday.  Yesterday, he even stripped the curtains off the dining room windows and stuck them in the washing machine just because he spied a speck dust on the top ruffle.  He ironed them, too, before hanging them back up.

Short of getting down on his knees and scrubbing the baseboards, Linc lived in the cleanest bachelor pad this side of a compulsive cleaning disorder.

After an hour of flipping channels and actually watching about twenty minutes of a cupcake baking contest, which only roused a craving for chocolate, he was just about to scrounge for some Oreos when a knock sounded on the door.  As much as he detested neighborly visits, he jumped out of his chair, eager to have any kind of distraction.

Please let it be Girls’ Scouts selling cookies, he thought, suddenly getting a hankering for those coconut round thingies.  Then he passed a mirror in the entry way and noticed that his middle was looking a bit poochy.  Maybe he should pass on the cookies.  He'd been doing a lot of snacking lately, and it was starting to show.

Wiping some residue from the cheese puffs off his fingers onto the seat of his jeans, he peered through the peephole in his door.  Doc Crouch?  What's he doing all the way out here?

Linc jerked open the door with a smile for the old veterinarian.  "Hey, Doc-a-roach, " Linc greeted, swinging the door wide to let the doc inside.  

Doc Crouch squinted and scowled.  "Ha, ha.  The gets funnier and funnier every time you say it, Lincoln Log."  He wiped the mud off his boots before stomping up into the house, favoring his right leg.  Linc frowned at that.  He knew the old veterinarian was getting up there in age.  Hell, Doc Crouch had been the vet to Martin Meadows Ranch when his dad took over for his grandfather almost over thirty years ago.

But Linc wasn’t about to ask about the slight limp.  Instead, he chuckled at hearing Doc Crouch’s nickname for Linc.  "Whatcha up to, oldtimer?"

"Watch it, young buck, I can still toss you over my knee."

“I’m sure you can,” Linc muttered and followed him into the house.  “You want some coffee?”

“You got decaf?” the balding man asked, rounded and squinting at Linc again.  Linc really wished the man would wear his glasses, but Doc Crouch never did.  Claimed there was nothing wrong with his eyesight.

“No, sorry.”

“Ah, well...that’s just as well,” Doc Crouch said woefully.  “This ain’t exactly a social visit anyhow.”

“Oh, yeah?  What’s up?” Linc asked, intrigued.  Since he was a bit bored out of his freaking skull right then, a spider crawling up the wall would have intrigued him.

“I’m in a bit of a pickle,” Doc Crouch announced, “and I was hoping you might help me out of the jar.”

“I don’t have anything else to do,” Linc said with a grin, rubbing his hands together.  “Whatcha need from me?  Got a new filly you need me to train or break in?”  Since retiring from his veterinarian practice, the older man had been very active in the fostering program for abused animals around the state.  Linc had housed a few horses in the past on the doc’s behalf, but he’d probably take on a herd of jackasses at this point.

Doc Crouch peered oddly at him.  “You got some kind of psychic radar in that hat of yours or something?”

Linc got so giddy he started bouncing on his toes.  “So, you do need me to stable a horse.  Great!  Egaeus could sure use the company.”

The vet held up his calloused palms.  “Now don’t get yourself all worked out.  You don’t know all the details yet.”

Linc peeked out a front window.  Screw the details.  He needed something to do, dammit.  Doc’s truck sat in his drive with a horse trailer hooked up to the back.  He could see movement inside the enclosure.  “That the animal?”

“Yup...she’s a Friesian purebred...”

Linc whistled low.  “Friesian, huh?  How’d you come across one of those?”

Doc Crouch limped toward the door.  “How about we go take a look at her, and I’ll fill you in.”

The two men walked out of the house to the trailer -- Linc, holding himself in stride with the older man, although he wanted to sprint ahead.  A Friesian female purebred...Linc almost wet himself.  Those animals were beauty in motion.  Completely black in coat and naturally graceful, Friesians weren’t a common sight around these parts.  Most owners of that breed raised and trained them for dressage, an equestrian sport.  Linc had never had the pleasure of actually caring for one before.

Propping his hand on the corner of the trailer, he vaulted fluidly up to stand on the wheel well and peek through the slatted windows.  What he saw shocked him.  “Holy hell!  What happened to her?”

Like most of her breed, the mare’s proud and obsidian head arched elegantly, shimmering in the thin streaks of sunlight filtering through the slats.  Her belly flared out in an obvious sign of pregnancy, but it was her flanks that drew Linc’s scowl.  Half of the hairs of her tail had been burnt off, along with a section of her black coat along both sides of her rump.  The blistered skin glared angrily at Linc.

She jumped sideways when Linc suddenly appeared in her monocular vision, as though she didn’t notice his presence right away.  That nagged Linc’s brain.  Something wasn’t right about the way she kept him in her sight...something odd about the way she...

Linc couldn’t put his finger on it.  But there was something...

“She’s called Raven Rose,” Doc Crouch informed Linc as he scrambled up beside the younger cowboy.  “Beautiful, ain’t she?  It was a sad business getting her like that.”

“How’d she get burnt?”

Doc Crouch sighed and rubbed a calloused hand over his balding head.  “DEA found her in a drug bust gone wrong down around Springfield.  They were closing down a meth lab in the back of an old barn and some chemicals exploded.  There were four horses in the barn at the time.  Raven Rose, here, is the only one who got hurt, which is awful considering those babes she’s carrying.”

Linc whipped his head to Doc. “Babes?  As in twins?”

“Yup, examined her myself when I went to get her yesterday morning.  Besides the burns, she’s in relatively good health.  I’m guessing she’s got another ten to eleven weeks left.  Maybe less with the two of them in there.”

Linc nodded and jumped down to walk around the back of the trailer.  Raven’s eyes followed him, her body shifting to constantly keep Linc in her sight.  Linc cocked his head and studied her.  He walked a complete circuit around the trailer and she rotated inside it to stay with him, locking her gaze on his head.  That something nagged him again.  He got a feeling Doc Crouch was leaving the something off.  With his fingers curled loosely around his hips, he turned to the vet.  “Alright...now why don’t you tell me the real issue.”

Doc Crouch chuckled.  “That’s why I’ve always liked you, Linc.  You prefer things up front, no sugarcoating allowed.”  He squinted at Raven Rose.  “Alright.  You stay right there and don’t move.”  

Linc cocked an eyebrow as he watched Doc move away from the trailer and it’s passenger.  He dug through a tool box in the back of his truck, coming up with a hammer and a large monkey wrench.  Propping one end of the wrench on the ground, well out of sight of the mare, the doc swung the hammer against the metal, causing an ear-piercing ring to sound out.  Over and over, Doc banged on the wrench, filling the air with the deafening sound.  Linc blanched and wriggled a finger in his ear canal.

Raven Rose didn’t budge.

Linc blinked at her.  Slowly it came to him.  The something that bothered him.  Her ears.  They hadn’t twitched or shifted to focus on him or anything.  “Doc!  Cut it out!” he yelled to stop that inferno racket.  The older man dropped both his tools in the dirt.  Linc pursed his lips and studied the lovely equine.  For some reason, unbeknownst to him, he conjured up a picture of Amber for a moment, watching him, ducking her head to keep his mouth in her sight.  

“You brought me an injured, pregnant, deaf mare?  This is your pickle?”

“That’s my pickle,” Doc Crouch agreed forlornly.  “Think you can handle it?  I honestly don’t trust anyone else, and I’m getting too old to take on such a hefty responsibility.”

Linc shifted his weight and stared at Raven Rose through the trailer slats.  She sure was a beautiful creature...like  Macie...like Amber...

“Now, don’t think I’m expectin’ you to do it for nothing,” the vet said in a rush when Linc stayed silent.  “Those foals of hers will go for a pretty penny.  The Humane Society is willing to give you a portion of the profits to cover your expenses, and afterwards, we’ve got a home lined up for her, so it’s not like it’s a permanent situation here.  There’s a ranch out west that sponsors summer camps for deaf and blind children.  They’re willing to take Raven Rose if no one adopts her in the next few months.”

Linc said nothing.

Doc Crouch went on.  “And she’s a gentle animal, if you handle her right.  Look here.”  The doc limped to the back of the trailer again.  Raven Rose glanced briefly at him, but she mainly kept her eye on Linc, as though he was a threat.  Doc Crouch gabbed his hammer and hit the metal hitch that connected the trailer to the truck.  Raven Rose stamped a hoof and jerked her head in that direction.  “She feels the vibrations,” Doc Crouch called out and went over to the other side to hit the wheel well near Raven Rose’s feet.  She snorted and whinnied and gave Doc a scathing glare, as though to say, Cut that out.

Linc chuckled.  Oh, yeah.  Raven Rose and Amber had a lot in common.  Macie would have smiled and teased the doc for flirting with her.

His mirth increased as he continued to compare the mare to the women foremost in his thoughts.  “...a gentle animal, if you handle her right...”  What would it take to gentle Amber?  She wasn’t so affable when you accuse her of stealing.  He’d never been able to tame Macie much...hence her going behind his back and getting on that damn horse.  On the flip side, Macie knew how to work a man over...get exactly what she wanted.  

Did Amber know any of those female tricks?  Linc couldn’t picture her welling up with tears because he picked up a gallon of chocolate fudge ice cream instead of the chocolate mint because the store was out of the non-fat chocolate mint and he knew that she liked the chocolate fudge ice cream just as well and only ate ice cream if it was non-fat...but she really, really wanted the chocolate mint, and that new cafe down in Hyde Park sold the best non-fat chocolate mint ice cream, and it was only a forty minute drive...

What was Amber’s favorite ice cream flavor?

Raven Rose stamped her hoof again, bringing Linc back to the matter at hand.  He did wish for something intriguing to happen today.  And this was what he got.  A Freisian mare that reminded him of a fiesty, raven-haired beauty with a perchance for getting him on his back...and old memories about chocolate mint ice cream.

Grinning, he said, “Well...no sense in making her stay in there any longer.  Let’s get this little momma unloaded and acclimated to her new home.”