Twice Blessed by Jo Ann Ferguson

The boy was showing good sense to keep some distance between him and that crazed horse.
    She wiped her hands on the stained apron over her dark skirt and simple white blouse. “Toby just gets ideas into his head sometimes, and nothing will get them out.”
    â€œWhat got into his head this time?”
    Emma shrugged in answer to Noah’s question, then wished she had not. She winced as pain ricocheted through her shoulders.
    â€œAre you all right?” he asked.
    â€œI told you. I’m fine. Just a bit sore. When Toby tried to pull the reins out of my hands, he almost took my arms with them.” She forced a smile as she met the concern in Noah’s gaze.
    Her aching shoulder was forgotten when she found herself becoming lost in his dark eyes. Only the low whoosh of the horse’s breath reminded her that anything existed beyond the scarcely restrained fires in those eyes. When Noah came around the horse, putting his hands on the reins near her fingers, she shivered, hoping and yet fearing he would touch her.
    Since he had called at her house with his daughter and their dog, she had tried to put him out of her mind and concentrate on getting Sean settled into Haven’s school. She had prided herself on believing she had her thoughts of Noah Sawyer under control and would not succumb to the spell of his warm gaze the next time they met. She had been deceiving herself.
    He bent toward her, and her breath shattered over the swift beat of her heart. Could he hear its thumping? Could he guess how the scent of freshly cut wood drifted from him like the most beguiling cologne?
    Emma swallowed roughly and closed her eyes as she released that breath when he knelt and lifted Toby’s front hoof. He examined it before checking the others. Rising, he wiped his hands on his denims, which were lathered to his legs with the sweat left by hard work.
    â€œLooks to be all right,” Noah said. “He didn’t step on anything to scare him.”
    â€œI knew that.” She refused to lower her gaze when he regarded her with astonishment. She had not intended her answer to be so sharp, but it was irritating that he seemed completely unaware of the tenuous sensation that had joined them together for a single heartbeat.
    â€œYou did?” He rested his arm on the horse’s back. She wondered if his cool pose was a pretense. Maybe so, or maybe his skin tingled in anticipation of a caress as hers did. His hooded eyes and the growing dark masked all emotion. “Then what do you think caused a horse of his considerable years to act like an unbroken yearling?”
    â€œI told you. He sometimes gets—”
    â€œIdeas.” His mouth twisted into a wry grin. “So you said. What upset him?”
    â€œI’m not sure.” She looked at Sean, who was inching toward the wagon. “We were heading back into town after finishing our deliveries out to the River’s Haven Community. We got here, and Toby refused to go any farther.”
    â€œThe creek is high. Maybe he’s afraid of fast water.” He chuckled. “There’s a reason folks use the term horse sense, you know.”
    â€œThe water has been high before, almost every spring. It’s never bothered him before.”
    â€œSomething sure has spooked him tonight.”
    Emma watched, baffled, when Noah went to the bridge that was barely wide enough for her wagon. He squatted to peer at it.
    â€œWhat are you looking for?” she asked, taking the lantern and holding it up so he could see better.
    â€œNot sure.” Standing, he walked out onto the wooden bridge. When he bounced on each plank, she almost laughed. He had to be the oddest man she had ever met.
    Sean gave a whoop and raced out onto the bridge, jumping about as Noah was.
    She shook her head. Maybe Toby was simply mad, and that madness had infected both Noah and Sean. Yet she had to smile to see Sean acting like a child. Too often, he was as