"How are you feeling now?" Trey asked.
"I'm fine. The art show, despite the ending, was a success. It was a good day." She shivered, pulling his jacket closer around her shoulders. It smelled like his cologne.
"Come on, let's get you into the house."
She nodded. "I have to see Samuel."
"It's late."
"He'll be waiting. I need to say goodnight."
"If you want I'll come with you."
"Sure."
They walked through the quiet house toward Samuel's room. She lifted her hand and rapped her knuckles against the wood door.
"Come in." Samuel's voice sounded muffled. A flickering of fear touched her as she wondered if he still wasn't feeling well.
Sacha curled cold fingers around the brass knob, then pushed inward.
Samuel lay in bed reading, his bedside lamp casting a soft glow over the room.
"I just stopped to say we're back and tell you goodnight."
He held out a hand and she squeezed it.
"I'm glad you came in," he said. "I heard Brian showed up."
"How --"
Samuel pointed to the police scanner next to his bed. "My link to the outside world." His glance went over her face. "You looked tired. I'm glad you're okay, but come back in the morning and we'll talk."
Sacha leaned down and placed a kiss on his forehead. His hand still holding her, she felt the tremble, and then they left the room.
Sacha and Trey walked upstairs together. His room was only down the hall. She bit her lip, met his gaze. Sexual tension rode her, tightening her stomach muscles and weakening her resolve. It would be so easy to invite him inside. But would it really be that easy?
He smiled at her in the dimly lit hallway. His hand touched her cheek. "We'll talk tomorrow, eh? We need to know where we stand before we take any steps."
Sacha nodded, the tension melting away. "Good night, Trey."
"Sweet dreams," he said and he left her.
#
"I'm in the back room," Samuel called out the next morning.
Sacha walked through the bedroom and into a brightly lit sitting room.
Samuel sat eating his breakfast at a small table by the window. Glancing up at her, he smiled. His color looked good and his eyes were bright.
She experienced a great wave of relief.
"Come in, come in." He pushed a chair forward with one foot, then looked out the window beside him. He flexed his arms, pushing his elbows out. "I feel good today, really good for the first time in a long time. Come over here and watch. I know you'll enjoy this. Trey's putting a new colt through his paces." Samuel motioned to her. "Hurry, you're missing the best part. He's almost through with the ground work. He's been handling this colt all week. Tomorrow he's going to saddle him."
Unable to contain her curiosity, she quickly moved toward the chair Samuel indicated. She looked out the big window, surprised by the panoramic view of the grounds from where they sat.
"You've got such a clear view up here. You can see just about everything."
Samuel shot her a glance. "You'd be surprised what I see. I can spend all day here spying if I need to." He gave a snort. "I really don't have much else to do these days." He indicated outside, his arm sweeping the entire area. "Last spring I had landscapers come in and clear-cut all the dead spruce and brush that cluttered my view."
Sacha bent her head, chewing on her lip. "You know, when I first came here, I thought Trey might be trying to swindle you."
"Listen, Kate, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Right now there's a company willing to pay him handsomely for the rights to produce special equipment he's patented for horses with stifle problems."
"What's holding him back?"
Samuel shrugged. "Trey wants to make sure he's getting the best deal possible before he signs anything. When he does, you can bet it will be on his terms."
She continued to watch Trey and the horse.
"You don't wear glasses anymore?" Samuel said.
Startled, Sacha shook her head. "No, I never --" She swallowed. "I wear contact lenses."
He looked at her from under bushy brows. "That was an argument we had often, wasn't it? Me telling you to wear your glasses, not read in the dark. One more fight, a squabble over insignificant things."
A sudden longing wrenched her. Jerkily, she reached her hand out and touched his sleeve.
His eyes searched her unguarded expression. "You know, I surprise myself more and more these days. Arrogance and damn-everything attitude wears thin when you can't lift a finger to help yourself, and I've never felt so helpless as the last six months.
"You're all I've got, girl." A rueful smile played about his lips. "I'm not trying to work a sympathy ploy here, but I've accepted the fact your life is your own. What you want and need to do will be your own decision. I'm changing the terms of the agreement and dropping that six-month clause."
Releasing her breath, she said carefully, "I need to talk to you about that night eight years ago." She met his eyes unflinchingly. "And the lie I told Trey when he came to find me."
"I know."
"Y-you know?" she stammered, caught off guard.
"Yes."
"Trey told you already?"
"No, dammit! I eavesdrop -- it's a bad habit, but I do it all the time." He sat back, his elbow sending his coffee cup sliding sideways across the table, then off the edge. Katharine reached for the cup, but it spun under his chair, dark liquid streaming across the light-colored tile. She grabbed several paper towels from a nearby shelf and mopped up the spill, then retrieved the cup.
"Kate," Samuel said, "when you first arrived, I heard you and Trey talking. I might be old, but it wasn't hard to figure out what the hell was going on." He actually laughed. "You've been taking him on a roller coaster ride, riding the rail to the top of the coaster ride and then sending him back down. Does he know?"
"I had good reasons," she said defensively.
"I might be half-blind and crippled," he exclaimed, "but I know the girl who may or may not be my own flesh and blood! Whatever your reasons for leaving eight years ago, I know it hurt you to disappear. Worst of all, Katharine, I know I let you down."
The words opened a dam of emotion inside her. One tear fell, and then another and another. She stared at Samuel through the tears, awash in memories that had broken them apart. The tears came so fast that she grabbed a tissue to wipe her cheeks, shaking her head at her own emotion.
"I'm sorry," she said, gulping down the tightness in her throat. She rubbed her eyes, finally managed to stem the tears. "There were some terrible things that happened," she admitted. "I felt like there was no way out, so I ran. I was desperate, and ashamed. I felt like I threw everything in your face, all the years growing up, for Brian, a man who was not worth any of it."
"Kate, you could have come to me."
She came to her feet. "I couldn't. I ran from Brian and I didn't dare stop. He was sick -- such a monster, I had to hide. I was afraid if I came here he'd find me. Hurt you."
Gruffly, he said, "I could take care of myself."
She shook her head. "You don't know Brian, the lengths he'll go to get what he wants. I assumed the identity of a girl I knew, Sacha Fortune. She helped me, hid me for a week so I could -- recover."
Samuel half rose from his chair, gripped the armrests. "What did that bastard do to you?"
She looked away. "It's over. But I knew I could never trust him, so I hid. But then one night Sacha left me a note. There was an envelope with her personal documents and she simply said she was starting over, and I should do the same. She left me personal documents to help me hide for awhile. I just never let go of her identity. That night Katharine Garner ceased to exist."
"Kate, we've both made mistakes. Despite the fighting, the disagreements, I would never have turned you out. I would have given anything to know you were safe," he said hoarsely.
"I was an adult. I had to take responsibility for once," s
he said.
"Whatever happens, promise you'll never disappear again."
"I promise." How could she not? It's what she wanted. She could see the pain he'd suffered, and knew her own pain on that score.
Suddenly her grandfather began to chuckle.
"What is it?" she asked.
He pointed to her cheek. Katharine touched her face, felt the contact lens disc on her cheek.
"You've got one green eye and one brown eye," he said, laughing harder.
Katharine began to laugh also. She removed the remaining contact lens from her other eye.
He stared at her solemnly. "Those are the green eyes of my Kate."
"Yes, Grandfather, they are," she said softly.
"You need to tell Trey," her grandfather said.
"I will."
"That boy needs to get off the roller coaster ride."
#
As Katharine and her horse cleared the fallen tree in their path, exhilaration quickened her heartbeat, the wild tangle of her hair a dark banner as she and Rosie cantered the old log road. A warm sprinkling of light gave chase through the trees, but they eluded the sun's rays with feet as swift as the wind.
Rosie's pounding hooves ate up the track, the sound wonderful in the early morning hush. The wind in her face cleared any remaining mental cobwebs, allowing nothing to crowd her mind except the joy of the ride.
An entirely new world lay before her, if she had the guts to step into it. Would that world include Trey? Excitement and wanting curled her stomach. She tightened her fingers on the reins.
Could she have it all?
She had hidden in plain sight for eight years, and every new place, each new street she had walked, her fears had kept her trapped. She no longer wanted to be under the harness of those fears. She wanted to live again.
#
Trey watched Katharine ride into the stable yard, her face flushed with sun and wind.
"Rosie missed you," he said quietly as she slid lithely to the ground.
She pushed the curling damp tendrils from her forehead, then reached a hand out to him, and he took that hand, curled it into his chest, pulling her closer. Trey looked down into her uplifted face, the shine in her eyes, and knew he was lost. He'd been lost since he first met her.
Something gave way inside him. "I wonder if you'll stay, Katharine," he said softly. "Forget about the way we met, or why."
She stepped back. "Trey, you deserve an explanation." She bit her lip, then she told him everything she had told her grandfather.
"So it's been a game of pretense all along," he said.
"Not a game, no, and not the way Paula meant it either," she said. Belatedly, she said, "Is Paula all right?"
"She's shaken up, but she never should have interfered with Brian."
"Brian can be convincing," was all she said. "I'm glad she's okay." She rubbed her mare's neck. "That night you came to the gallery, you offered me what I wanted the most -- to come back. In the intervening years, I'd lost sight of the way home." She dipped her head. "When I think back to the hell I put grandfather through -- the hell we put each other through. Back then I was wild and didn't give a damn about anyone, my grandfather included. We both made mistakes."
Trey's hand touched her chin, tugged gently. "Right now all he wants is you home when you can arrange it."
She nodded agreement. "When you showed up at the gallery, I panicked. You called me Katharine, then you turned around and presented Sacha with this deceitful proposition. I thought you were trying to cheat my grandfather, so I told myself I had to come home."
"You came back, despite the threat from Brian."
"Brian almost killed me eight years ago. He kept me locked up, beat me, barely let me have food. He said if I ran, he'd kill my grandfather and burn the place down."
Trey pressed a fist to his thigh and turned away. "And then I threaten you into returning."
Sacha put her hand on his arm, urged him to face her. "I'm not sure I ever believed your threat," she said honestly. "I felt attracted to you, but at the back of my mind I was afraid my thinking was warped where men were concerned. So I had to come home to figure it out myself."
"Kat, I need to tell you I've known Brian since we were kids. We grew up in the same home for boys." He expelled a breath. "Samuel knew. Brian was actually the one who directed me here for a job. Maybe he intended to cash in on that somehow, I don't know. By that time you were gone. Samuel didn't talk about you so I didn't even know about you right away. Anyway, Samuel was selling everything and getting out of the business. He was sick with no health insurance. He'd auctioned off the horses and some of the equipment.
"Your grandfather is old-fashioned. He dealt only in cash. He planned on going to the bank early the next morning, so he put the money in the office safe. It was never proven, but I think Brian somehow got the safe combination."
Katharine glanced at him sharply. "It's written on a piece of molding in the office, behind the desk. Grandfather could never remember the combination, but you had to search to even notice it and pull it loose."
"Someone broke in and cleaned Samuel out. They took everything."
"Brian could have discovered that combination any time when we were engaged," she said slowly. "He used to sit in the office and make business calls."
Katharine rubbed her horse's nose. "You need to be brushed off," she said, and walked her horse into the barn. Trey unbuckled the girth and pulled off the English saddle as Katharine curried the mare. She stopped a moment and stared at Trey as he cleaned the bridle with a damp sponge.
"I only knew Sacha briefly," she said, "but she saved my life. I moved to a women's shelter. They offered classes in art and self-defense. I took both." She smiled. "The city held an art show and I entered a few paintings. No one was more surprised than me when my art sold like fire. And then you found me."
"I saw your picture in an art publication," Trey said.
"I always avoided having my picture taken," she murmured. Katharine finished brushing her mare and Trey led her outside to her paddock.
"Denying you were Katharine was totally unexpected," he said.
Trey opened the gate. With a small whinny, the mare trotted into the field toward the other horses. He pulled the gate closed and leaned against it.
"When you said my name -- I'd been running for so long --" She frowned. "How could you be so sneaky? Ask me to impersonate myself?"
"I thought you must be her, but then I wasn't entirely sure, and I was afraid you'd disappear forever. It wasn't until I saw your watch that I was finally convinced you were Katharine." Trey circled her wrist with his finger. "Samuel has a picture of you in his room. You look about seventeen, and you're outside in the wind, pushing your hair out of your face. On your wrist is that same jeweled watch."
"It was a gift for my sixteenth birthday. It's almost funny, but Brian thought I was impersonating Katharine," she said. "He didn't even know me. And he must have told Paula."
"Forget about him. I imagine they'll send him back to jail," he said grimly. "As for Paula, she's pretty embarrassed by her behavior. I don't expect we'll see her at the farm for awhile." He grinned. "Though you might see her again, since she and Harry have gotten kind of close."
"Harry can take care of himself."
"What now?" he asked. "You have a career. I run the farm."
She looked up at him. "What are you saying?"
"I'd like you to stay so we can see where this goes, but asking you to stay here might not be realistic."
Katharine knew it was time to take risks, reach for what she really wanted. She looped her arms lightly around Trey's neck. Moving in close, she looked into his blue eyes. "I'm sure we can work it out."
His hands rested on her hips and he dipped his head, touching his mouth to hers. Trey straightened after a moment, and he put his head back and gave a deep laugh. He dropped his forehead to hers. "For the first time," he said, "I get to see your beautiful green eyes."
S
he kissed him. "I might even be persuaded to let my hair go back to blonde."
The End
Please check out my others romances, contemporary, time travels and romantic shorts at https://www.GraceBrannigan.com
Two Babies, a Cowboy and Sara
Sweet Romantic Short story
Chapter One
Sara Holmes paced the hospital corridor, the walls the same suffocating white as any other hospital. Why wasn't there any news about Jilly and the babies? Gripping her coffee-stained Styrofoam cup, she walked back out to the main lobby and looked at the clock. Five more minutes and she’d check at the nurses’ station.
The hospital hadn’t been able to reach Lucas Stihl, Jilly’s husband. Sara crushed the cup and dropped it in the garbage, never having understood how warm, impetuous Jilly ever got involved with Lucas. She’d only met him twice, but although she found him incredibly attractive, like his name he seemed to have a hard, unyielding edge.
Sara sat on the stiff-cushioned waiting room chair. When would they let her see her best friend and cousin Jilly?
Sara watched a doctor in green scrubs approach. He seemed to walk in slow motion, a certain resolve on his face. She was familiar with that expression, what she’d dubbed the professional face. Doctors and nurses worked with crisis every day and it was essential they protect themselves from personal involvement in times of crisis. Sara ducked her head and stared at the gray specks on the floor. Someone was getting bad news. Perhaps the woman across from her whose husband had been in a tractor accident, or the teenager two seats over awaiting word on her injured boyfriend.
The doctor stopped in front of her. "Are you Sara Holmes?"
Moisture dampened her forehead, fear a hard pit in her stomach. She pushed herself from the chair and stood. Sara flashed back to three years ago, the doctor’s eyes when he’d told her she had ovarian cancer. An echoing inside her head hurt, and that other doctor’s office filled her vision again. Now, as then, the words were unnecessary as into her heart crept deep fear.
The doctor motioned Sara into a small room off the waiting room. Stiffly she moved into the room, hardly aware he closed the door behind her. ". . .I’m Doctor Myers. . .I’m sorry, but Jillian Anderson sustained multiple head injuries in the car crash, we couldn’t save her. . .."
The fear banding her chest let loose and empty loss rushed in. In her memory were the childhood tea parties and make-believe dates she and Jilly used to act out. Hopes, dreams and confidences shared. Lost, all lost. She sat down hard in a chair, gripping the arms of the chair while despair punched at her insides. No matter her personal demons, she should have come earlier to see Jilly.
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