Chapter 10
Blaze healed nicely over the next week. He barely saw Mallory and when he did she acted as though he wasn't around. Ridge knew he deserved her anger. You never kiss a woman and walk away.
A week after the injury Ridge walked into the barn to find Mallory in the stall with Blaze. She was checking his vitals as he leaned on the stall door. "How's he doing?"
Mallory jumped when she heard his voice. She'd been daydreaming about him at that moment and then he appeared. "He seems better?" Her voice cracked and she took a deep breath, "but the sutures need to stay in for a couple more days."
He watched her as she put her instruments away with shaky fingers. "Thanks for all you've done to help him." Crossing his arms across his chest he wondered what she was thinking about as she stared down at her bag, lost in thought.
"Yeah, sure, it's part of my job." She stood up and walked by him without another word.
What was up with her today? That's the first time she'd acted like that toward him. "Did I do something?" He said to himself.
"About what?" Luke said as he walked up.
"Oh, nothing, just talking to myself." He waved it off and walked to his office. Maybe things were progressing with Chase. It made him feel out of sorts to think about them together.
The same thing happened the next couple of times he was near Mallory. She acted as though he was a stranger. He did see her talking with Chase a couple of times. The sound of her laughter as Chase leaned in and told her something made him groan.
Ridge's mood became almost unbearable to the whole family. He walked around with a scowl and even Maggie couldn't muster a smile from him. Finally after a couple of days of the snapping and grunting responses Chase cornered his brother.
"That's enough of the over the top sour attitude. If I hear you snap one more time I think I'll deck you." He stood in the doorway of Ridge's office with his arms crossed in a stance of serious business.
Ridge shoved his fingers through his hair and slumped his shoulders. "What sour attitude? I thought I was always Mr. Softy." He ground out between his clenched teeth as he looked up at Chase. This was the one brother he'd avoided as much as possible. If he avoided him, he could avoid her.
"What is up with you? The last week you've been plain out nasty and that's saying something considering your usual cheerful self." Chase knew it had something to do with Mallory, but she was avoiding him like the plague. Maybe that was the problem, he'd used his Ridge charm on her and she'd run for the hills.
"Chase let's just say I'm having a bad week and leave it at that." He sat back and studied his brother for a minute. "Shouldn't you be out on a date or something? I mean it is Friday night and you usually have a woman lined up somewhere. Maybe Mallory's waiting on you to call." Somehow he wished he could take the last bit back, but since it was out there maybe he'd find out the truth.
For a minute Chase was quiet. Why would he mention Mallory because he wasn't dating her, but then it hit him? Ridge's bad mood started right after his horse was injured and he spent the night helping Mallory care for the horse. Then he grinned, Mallory had kissed his cheek that morning and Ridge seen it. He'd looked like someone had murdered his favorite horse.
With a plan coming into his mind he looked up. "You're right, I need to give her a call. Maybe she'd free tonight." He turned to leave, but stopped. "Thanks for the reminder bro." Then he headed out of the barn to call Mallory. This plan had to work and if it did, things should get a lot better.
Ridge sat watching Chase's retreating back. Great, just great, his suspicions were confirmed, they were seeing one another. This day was getting worse by the minute. He stood up and walked out to his truck. What he needed was to get his mind off Mallory?
Chase watched Ridge pull out of the driveway and head toward town. He knew exactly where his brother had headed, Beau's Bar & Grill. Pulling his phone from his pocket he called Mallory. When he asked her to dinner she seemed a little surprised, but then he explained that he wanted to talk to her about a horse he was looking at. She suddenly became interested and accepted the dinner date.
They met at Beau's thirty minutes later. The waitress led them to a booth near the back. As they followed her between the tables to the side of the dance floor he spotted Ridge sitting at the bar. Grinning he put on his game face. This would be an interesting evening.
The waitress took their orders and went to get their sweet teas. Mallory grabbed a chip from the basket in the middle of the table and dipped it in the salsa. "Well, what kind of horse are you looking at?" She'd wondered why he'd called her about the new horse. He had amazing horse buying skills.
"Oh, it's this horse from the local shelter. I thought maybe you could check him out for me. You, know, make sure he's healthy." He took a bite of his chip and looked back toward the bar.
"I'd be happy to check the horse out. When did you want to go by the shelter?" She said as she chose another chip.
The waitress placed their drinks on the table and walked back toward the kitchen. "I thought maybe Monday afternoon if you didn't have plans."
"I'm actually scheduled to be at your place anyway, so I'll just meet you at the shelter before I go out to the ranch."
Chase looked back to see that Ridge was finishing his steak. Just the right timing to make the next move in his plan. "Would you like to dance?"
For a minute she was a little stunned. This was supposed to be just friends discussing business. "I don't dance well." She stammered, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.
"Oh, I don't mean anything by the dance, I just love this song." He stood up and reached for her hand. "I'm a great leader on the dance floor. Come on, it'll be fun."
She finally gave up and took his outstretched hand. Chase made a wide circle around the tables, walking along the side of the bar. He knew Ridge couldn't miss them passing by. As they passed by where he sat, Mallory suddenly stopped. When he turned to see why she stopped her gaze was riveted on Ridge.
Chase grinned and slapped his brothers back. "Well, look who decided to come to the same place. What a coincidence?" He was playing this to the hilt. "Enjoy your steak, we're headed to the dance floor."
When Mallory didn't budge he cleared his throat. "Mallory honey, the dance, remember?"
She looked back at Chase and then back at Ridge feeling the need to explain why she was here with his brother. "We came here to uh? to discuss a new horse? and have dinner." She stammered miserably.
Ridge turned to face her fully before he responded. "You don't have to explain it to me. It's great that you two are dating." It took everything he had not to jump up and bolt from the restaurant. His heart pounded in his ears as he slowly took in her pink blouse and black jeans. She was beautiful.
"We're not dating Ridge, just discussing horses."
Chase leaned in toward her, "My song is almost over."
"Oh, sorry." She frowned at Ridge and followed Chase onto the dance floor.
He quickly pulled her into his arms as the song ended and a slow ballad started. Ridge was riveted to the couple and Chase played the part well. His hand stroked her back and he gazed down at her, even though she didn't look up at him. It was alright, because his plan was working.
Ridge sat feeling lost for a moment. She'd made sure he knew they weren't on a date, but why? He'd seen something flicker in her eyes as she'd stood staring at him. Turning back around to keep from going crazy he motioned for Beau to refill his glass.
"Can't believe Chase is dancing with the vet." Beau said as he poured fresh tea for Ridge. "I didn't see her as his type because he doesn't date the same woman twice."
"It's a little odd, but I guess it's what they want." He took a sip of his tea and his old friend continued leaning on the bar, watching the couple.
"Funny thing is she doesn't look real comfortable in his arms. If I had to gauge that couple, I'd say she wasn't in it for romance." He motioned for Ridge to see it for himself.
He tur
ned and looked at the couple again. Beau was right, she looked miserable. Chase looked up and caught Ridge's gaze. Winking at him as he leaned in and whispered something to Mallory. She looked around and saw Ridge looking their way. The look on her face was unmistakable.
Before Ridge knew what he was doing his feet were leading him toward the couple. He tapped Chase on the shoulder. "I'm breaking in." He said as a statement, not a question.
"It's about time." Chase said with a huge grin as he put Mallory's hand in his brothers.
"What?" Ridge and Mallory said in unison as the three of them stood in the middle of the floor.
"You two need some time together. So enjoy yourselves." He tipped his hat to Mallory and turned to go over to talk with Beau.