Reid shook Buddy’s hand and walked to the elevator with a tight feeling in his chest. Kate would kill him if she ever found out about what he’d just done.

The next afternoon, Reid called Kate from the air to tell her he’d be home in twenty minutes. As he shot the final approach to the runway, his heart melted when he saw her riding Thunder down the dirt road to the hangar. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been met by anyone after a trip, and he couldn’t get the plane down fast enough.

She pushed open the doors to the hangar for him, and he taxied the plane into the building. By the time he cut the engines, jumped down from the plane, and locked up the hangar, she was back on Thunder waiting for him.

“Hey, baby, this is a nice surprise.” He tossed his briefcase and overnight bag into the Mercedes and walked over to pet the horse. “I go out of town for one night, and you’re already making time with my best buddy?” The horse nuzzled Reid’s cheek.

“He likes me better than you. He told me so.”

“He’s got good taste in women.”

Thunder whinnied, and they laughed.

“I swear to God he’s human.” Kate reached down to Reid. “Ride with me?”

“I’d love to.”

She took her foot out of the stirrup so he could swing himself up behind her. When he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck, she sighed with pleasure.

“I missed you,” she said. “You’ve spoiled me. I can’t sleep alone anymore.”

He groaned. “I missed you, too.”

She tilted her head back to kiss him, and the passion flared between them despite the awkward position and the movement of the horse.

“I want you,” he whispered in her ear, sending a shiver through her.

She urged Thunder into a gallop. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter 24

The morning after Aidan told her about Sarah and Colin, Clare woke up with a sick feeling that had nothing to do with her pneumonia. The fight they’d had weeks earlier came back to haunt her when she remembered the awful words she’d hurled at him. It’s easy to say what you would do when you’ve never been a parent. She winced. I can’t believe he ever spoke to me again.

Watching him sleep next to her, she was filled with love for him. How could this have happened so fast? Not all that long ago, she’d wondered how she would ever live without Jack, and now she couldn’t imagine life without Aidan.