A Stallion's Touch Read online

  “I called your home to check on him, but he didn’t answer,” Dana said. “I’m sure he’s there waiting for you.”

  The elevator door suddenly opened, making an unexpected stop on the second floor. Dr. Harper stood in wait, his mouth lifting in a wry smile when he saw them. Tarah suddenly felt like she was trapped in the middle of a really bad movie, everything that could go wrong playing out on the big screen.

  “Ladies, good evening!” he said as he stepped into the conveyor and pushed the button for the first floor. “Are you two headed out to celebrate Dr. Boudreaux’s good fortune?”

  “You told Nicholas he was a burden to me?” Tarah snapped. “Who the hell gave you the right to speak on my personal relationship?”

  The man’s gaze narrowed as he looked from one woman to the other and back again. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “I told him the truth!” he spat. “I explained to Mr. Stallion that much is expected from a doctor of your caliber. He will never be the man you need him to be. And you don’t need a man who is going to hold you back. You deserve better. So I told him what he needed to hear. What you both needed to hear!”

  The elevator opened onto the first floor. Dr. Harper gestured for both women to exit.

  Stepping out of the space and into the foyer, Tarah spun back around to face him. “Dr. Harper, make no mistake, I have truly valued my time here at Phoenix Hope. Being under your tutelage has pushed me to be a better doctor and an even better surgeon. Not only have I learned what to do, but I’ve learned what not to do. And what I have never done is allowed my personal life or my personal feelings to get in the way of my professional judgment.”

  Dr. Harper’s jaw tightened. The color had drained from his face, and he looked as if he’d seen a ghost. He was grinding his teeth and his eyes narrowed, ice seeping from his stare as she continued.

  “Nicholas Stallion is my personal life. And you allowed your personal feelings about my relationship with him to cloud your judgment. So now allow me to give you some advice. Nicholas is a better man than you will ever imagine being. He has exceeded my expectations, which is why he has my heart. He will do more with no legs than you will ever be able to accomplish. You aren’t even man enough to wipe his sweat! You, sir, are pathetic and small and undeserving of my friendship and my respect.”

  “You can’t speak to me like that!”

  “Dr. Harper, I don’t plan ever to speak to you again. Tomorrow I’ll take this up with Human Resources, and I’m going to file a formal complaint about your harassment. I’ll also be giving my notice. You can take this job and you can shove it right up your narrow...”

  “Tarah,” Dana called her name, interrupting the rant she was about to spew.

  Dr. Harper bristled. He hissed through clenched teeth, “All I did was try to save you and your career. If you can’t see that, then maybe you don’t deserve to be here. So do whatever you think you need to do. If you really believe anyone is going to take your complaint seriously, you’re fooling yourself. You have no proof that I did anything wrong!”

  There was a long moment of silence as Tarah narrowed her gaze on the man’s face. Her body tensed, her hands clenched into tight fists and he took an abrupt step back, something like fear pinching his expression.

  A smirk crossed Tarah’s face. “Don’t be so sure of that, Thaddeus!” And then she turned, storming out the hospital’s front doors.

  * * *

  The interior of the house was dark when Tarah pulled into the driveway. She suddenly got a sinking feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. She had tried a few times to reach Nicholas by phone, but he hadn’t answered. She sat in the car for a moment, staring at the outside night-lights that illuminated the property. She was still shaking with anger and frustration, whispering a prayer for God to give her a hand.

  Moving inside, she called Nicholas’s name. When she got no answer, she raced from room to room searching for him. He was nowhere to be found, and when the reality of that settled over her, she felt completely lost.

  She moved to the answering machine to see if he had left her a message, but there were no calls, the little red light not blinking. He hadn’t called the house or her cell, and she was suddenly furious with Nicholas, even more than she was with Dr. Harper.

  She dropped to the floor, her heart racing as anxiety swept through her. In her mind’s eye she imagined the tongue-lashing she planned to give Nicholas when she finally saw him. She crafted each heated word and every irate nuance in her head. She had some choice names she planned to call him, the list lengthy and terse. And then she planned to wrap her arms around him, hold him tight and never let him get away from her again. She swiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to fathom where even to begin her search for him.

  Her cell phone chimed in the palm of her hand. Recognizing the number, she answered on the first ring. “Nathaniel, do you know—”

  “He’s in Utah. Nicholas flew back home.”

  “But how...?

  “Apparently he called Noah. He hasn’t been there that long, but Naomi says he’s locked himself in Noah’s guest room and he’s not talking to anyone. He needs you, Tarah.”

  “He left me!” Tarah felt her anger rising again.

  “No one ever said my brother was the most logical! He’s impulsive and he doesn’t always think things through, but he loves you, and you love him. And right now, he desperately needs you.”

  “I don’t understand why he would run off like that without talking to me. I really don’t.”

  “He’s scared and he’s feeling out of control. He doesn’t know how to handle that.”

  “Maybe, but what if he doesn’t want me? Maybe this isn’t supposed to work out between us.”

  “Do you really believe that?” Nathaniel questioned.

  Silence filled the space between them as Tarah pondered his comment. She finally took a deep breath, blowing the air out heavily. “I need to call the airlines,” she said. “I need to get on the next flight out.”

  “Just pack a bag. There’s a plane waiting for you at the airport.”

  * * *

  A Fly High Dot Com corporate jet sat on the tarmac, the flight crew preparing for takeoff. Nicholas’s sister-in-law Cat Moore owned the multimillion dollar aircraft leasing company. Tarah had enjoyed meeting Noah’s wife over the holidays, and as the staff went out of their way to ensure she was comfortable, Tarah was impressed.

  “Ms. Boudreaux, we’ll be ready to depart in about thirty minutes.”

  Tarah smiled up at the female pilot, a tall redhead with large eyes. “Thank you,” she said. “Is it okay to use my cell phone to make a few calls?”

  The woman nodded. “Of course, and if you want access to the internet, we do have Wi-Fi.” She smiled brightly as she moved back to her preflight checklist.

  Tarah’s first call went to Nicholas’s voice mail, where she left one more message for him to call her back. Her second call was to Nathaniel to let him know she had boarded the plane and would be landing about two hours later.

  “I’m not sure who’ll be there,” Nathaniel said, “but someone in the family will be there to pick you up.”

  “Does he know I’m coming?”

  “No. We all think the element of surprise will work to your favor.”

  “You want me to ambush him?”

  Nathaniel laughed. “Personally, I want you to do whatever it takes. If you need to beat him, feel free to do so!”

  Tarah smiled, shaking her head from side to side. “Thank you,” she said, her voice quivering slightly.

  “My brother is a very lucky man,” he said before disconnecting the line.

  Tarah’s last call was a conference call with her sisters as she filled them all in on everything that had happened.

  “What are you planning to say to him once you
get there?” Maitlyn asked.

  “After I cuss him or before?” Tarah quipped.

  Kamaya laughed. “Please don’t hurt that man!” she teased.

  “No, you need to hurt him!” Katrina retorted. “You need to get him straight. I can’t believe he just up and left like that.”

  “Didn’t you run away from Matthew after a misunderstanding?” Tarah questioned.

  Katrina laughed. “That was different.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Maitlyn said. “And it’s a good thing Matthew went looking for you or you’d still be crying your eyes out!”

  “I did not cry!” Katrina bantered back. “And this is not about me!”

  “Tarah, are you sure about this? Did you ever consider that Dr. Harper might be right?” Kamaya asked.

  “No,” Tarah said emphatically. “I love Nicholas. And he loves me! Dr. Harper doesn’t have a clue what that means or how it feels.” Tarah took a deep breath before she continued. “I can’t breathe without Nicholas. I feel like the bottom has fallen out of my world, and right now I’m falling into a big black hole. I need him more than he will ever need me, and I have never needed any man! He’s a big piece of my heart, and right now my heart is completely broken. I never knew it was possible to hurt this much!”

  “How can we support you?” Kamaya finally asked, breaking through the silence. “Because you know we’ll do whatever you need us to do.”

  “Pray for me,” Tarah whispered. “Then start planning my wedding, because I will get my man back.”

  Maitlyn laughed. “Do you still want to get married in a castle with a moat around it?” she asked, surely remembering back to one of Tarah’s childhood dreams.

  Tarah laughed with her. “I’d marry Nicholas in a tree house in the middle of the Louisiana swamps. I just want to be his wife.”

  “Well, we’re here if you need us,” Kamaya concluded, all the Boudreaux girls concurring.

  “Oh, and one more thing,” Tarah said before ending the call. “Katrina, I need an attorney,” she said. “I want to move forward in resolving that problem we talked about.”

  “What problem?” Maitlyn asked.

  “Her Dr. Harper problem,” Kamaya answered.

  Katrina chuckled. “I’m on it, baby girl. Don’t you worry. You focus on Nicholas. I’ll take care of helping you keep your dream job.”

  Tarah smiled. “Thank you. I really love you guys!”

  * * *

  Nicholas could hear whispering. Then there was silence, with one or both of his siblings leaving the home. He relaxed into the quiet, grateful for the moment of peace and silence. Noah and Naomi had been mumbling under their breaths since he’d gotten off the plane. His decision to leave Phoenix had been abrupt, but in his mind, necessary. His siblings just didn’t understand.

  Despite what was in his heart he couldn’t shake the doubt that Dr. Harper had put in his head. If he would’ve spoken to Tarah, he knew she would have tried to stop him, and he would have let her. It wouldn’t have been fair to her, and he loved her too much to tax her with any more of his issues.

  His cell phone rang once again, and he sent the call right to voice mail.

  “How long are you going to ignore her?” Noah asked as he suddenly loomed large and imposing in the doorway.

  Nicholas’s shoulders jutted toward the ceiling. “I don’t know what to say to her,” he finally answered.

  “Maybe you need to start the conversation with an explanation and then an apology.”

  Nicholas met his brother’s stare. Noah moved into the room and sat down in the wingback chair across from him.

  “You wouldn’t understand,” Nicholas said. “And I know Tarah won’t understand. Hell, I can’t even make sense of it.”

  “It doesn’t seem that complicated to me,” Noah said. “You faced a little competition interested in your woman, and you didn’t trust that she would choose you. So you ran scared.”

  Nicholas tensed, his brother’s comment feeling abrasive. He shook his head. “That’s not... I can’t...” He trailed off, desperate to find the words. “Harper was right. Tarah deserves better.”

  “Did Tarah ever tell you that? Did she ever make you feel that way?”

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. She can do better than me. I’m damaged goods!”

  Noah shook an angry finger. “You are not damaged, and I know for a fact that Tarah never once treated you like you were. In fact, from what I saw, and what I know, Tarah has never treated you any differently from how she treated you at the ranch during Christmas. A woman who will love you like that isn’t a woman you turn your back on.”

  Nicholas thought about his brother’s comments. He hated admitting that Noah was right. And he hated knowing that he’d made a horrible mistake.

  In the distance a door slammed, and Naomi’s voice suddenly echoed from the hallway. “Noah’s right. You’ve messed up big time! If I were Tarah I wouldn’t have anything to do with you.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing you’re not Tarah,” Nicholas snapped back.

  His sister moved into the room, shooting Nicholas a quick look. She turned, directing her comment at Noah. “I picked up some Chinese food from Charlie Chow’s after I ran my last errand. No one’s had anything to eat, and I knew neither one of us wanted to cook.”

  “So, we’re good?” Noah asked, his eyebrows raised. He and his sister exchanged a look, something secretive shifting between them.

  Naomi nodded. “We are. I don’t know about him, though,” she said, tilting her head in Nicholas’s direction.

  “Leave me alone, Naomi. I really don’t need you giving me a hard time right now.”

  “I’m not giving you a hard time, Nicholas. I’m just stating facts. You messed up and now you have to pay the piper. Isn’t that how your mother used to say it?”

  “Norris Jean also used to say that a hard head made for a soft ass!” Noah laughed.

  Nicholas shook his head. He turned his chair so that his sister was looking at his back, his eyes shifting toward his brother. “I need to fly back to Phoenix. I need to talk to Tarah. Can I lease one of your planes, please?”

  “Now he wants to talk to Tarah!” Naomi exclaimed, tossing up her hands.

  Noah shook his head. “Let’s all get something to eat first. Then we’ll figure out your next steps.”

  “Did you stop to consider that Tarah might not want you back?” Naomi interjected. “If you’d bailed on me, I know I wouldn’t want you back!”

  Panic suddenly washed over Nicholas’s expression as he considered that Naomi might be right. “I should call her,” he said as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pushed the programmed number for Tarah. The phone rang over and over, then went to voice mail. Tarah wasn’t answering his call. He didn’t bother to leave a message.

  He shifted his gaze toward his brother and sister, the two eyeing him with amusement.

  Naomi shook her head. “You are such a man!” she exclaimed as she exited the room.

  Noah laughed. “Let’s go eat,” he said.

  Nicholas nodded. “I need to wash up,” he said. “Then I’ll be right there.”

  His brother turned to make his exit. Minutes later Nicholas was having a hard time steering himself out of the bathroom. His brother’s home was not conducive to his wheelchair. Trying to maneuver his way with one good arm didn’t help his situation. Frustration furrowed his brow as he struggled to back himself out of the small space.

  “Do you need help?” Tarah asked, her voice sounding from the other side of the room.

  Nicholas’s head whipped around as he turned in his seat. “Tarah?

  She stood up, slowly sauntering to where he was stuck in the doorway. “The entrance is too narrow for you to wheel yourself if you don’t take it
really slow.

  “Move your hands out of the way,” she commanded as she rested her palms on the handles, pushing him forward slightly, then pulling him backward until his chair cleared the door. She pushed him to the center of the room and stood by the chair his brother had been sitting in earlier. The two locked gazes.

  “Your electric chair would have been so much better had you stopped by the house to get it before you snuck off,” she said smugly.

  “I was going to call,” he said, his voice dropping to a loud whisper.

  “When? Later tonight, tomorrow, a year from now? When were you going to call to break up with me, Nicholas Stallion?” Her hands dropped to her waist, clutching the round of her hips. “Because that’s what you were planning to do, right? Break up with me? So what is it? You’ve fallen out of love and you don’t want to be with me anymore?”

  “Tarah, you know that’s not true.”

  “Do I?” She suddenly raised her voice. “Because you left me! You left us, Nicholas! You actually abandoned our relationship!”

  He tossed up his good hand in frustration. His one arm in a cast made the simplest gestures awkward. “I was messed up, Tarah. I wasn’t thinking. But I do love you, and I know you love me.”

  “But you didn’t trust it. Dr. Harper fed you a line of garbage and you were suddenly ready to throw what we had away.”

  “I’m sorry,” Nicholas said, regret wrapping him in a blanket of lament. “I’m so sorry.”

  Tarah crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. “So am I, Nicholas.”

  He rolled himself to her side, reaching to wrap his arm around her waist. He felt her body quiver at his touch, the heat between them rising. He pressed his face into her abdomen, inhaling her familiar aroma. “How do I make this up to you, Tarah? Because I would do anything to make this up to you!”

  Tarah encircled his head and shoulders with her arms. She leaned down to kiss the top of his head. “I don’t know if you can, Nicholas. I trusted you, and you should have trusted what we had.”

  He looked up into her face. “So, what now?”