by Marie , J
“So, a little birdie told me we hired ourselves a new groom yesterday.” I jumped at the sound of his voice as I turned to see him standing there with the cutest damn grin I’ve ever seen.
A shy smile quirks the corners of my lips, “If that little birdie happens to be named Reagan, then you should know that she more or less demanded that I work here.”
“Sounds ‘bout right.”
“So, who should I start with today?” I was ready to get started with the first of my day. Standing so close to Beau made me uncomfortable, but not in an I’m afraid of him sort of way. More like my high school crush is now all man and I’m crushing hard sorta way.
“I’m going to work with Zeus later today if you’d like to watch.”
I quirked an eyebrow, “Watch?”
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you been sitting with him every day. I can see a difference in his personality. I think it’s helping him warm up to you.” I didn’t know if he was just inflating my ego or if he could truly tell there was a difference with Zeus. I hoped that I truly was helping. If nothing else, by now, I think he’d know I would never do anything to hurt him.
“I can understand where he’s coming from…” I wasn’t going to elaborate. I was already so embarrassed after telling Reagan and my parents. I didn’t want Beau to see me that way; as an abused wife too dumb to leave her no good husband.
“What happened, Cass? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happier than a horse at feeding time that you’re back in town, but you ain’t the same girl… Shit, I mean you’re a woman now and… apparently I can’t get a damn word to come out of my mouth right…” He said, shaking his head.
I shook my head. My heart was in my throat. I couldn’t speak. I had no idea how I could get around telling him what happened. I didn’t want to. I’d known Beau for a long time now, but things change when you’ve been through what I have. That trust that was once there feels misplaced or depleted. At the end of the day he’s still a man. He’s not Andrew and even if he hasn’t gained my full trust yet, we’re getting there.
“Well, I’ll be damned, look what the holler dragged in. And here I thought I might be a spell early.” Reagan’s smile is wide as she looks between us. “So, what’d I miss?”
I’m the first to pipe up, “Just fixin’ to get this day started.”
“Well as far as I can tell we got horses to feed, stalls to muck, horses to groom and work. Let’s stop piddling around and get to it. Get…shoo.” She says waving her hands at us.
Whinnies, neighs, and horses happily munching fill the air as the grain filters into feed buckets throughout the barn. Two flakes of hay are thrown into each stall and water buckets are topped off.
We give them an hour to eat before we start to turn out for the day. One by one they’re led out to the pasture. Ten in total, including Zeus. Titan, Elle, Tucker, and Oakley went out together in one pasture, while Jet, Koko, Remmy, and Cash went into another. Meanwhile, Apache and Zeus went into their own separate paddocks. I didn’t have to ask why. You always separated the stallions from the mares and geldings.
I hadn’t realized at first that Zeus or Apache were stallions but it was very obvious when they were out of their stalls, if ya know what I mean. Apache had a very calm demeanor about him. I’d have never suspected he was a hot-blooded stallion.
The rest of the morning was spent knee deep in horse crap, so to say, mucking out stalls. I was tired. My sweat infused hair was sticking in tendrils to my face and I was ready for a big lettuce, tomato, and bacon sammie. I finished raking the remainder of sawdust into Oakley’s stall when Reagan peeks over the door.
“Hey, you want some grub?”
“Do I ever,” I say with a huff. “Do you mind if I shower first though? I am covered in horse crap and disgusting.”
“Sure thing. You remember where it is? Up the stairs, take a left, first door on the right.”
Reagan and Cassidy Mae had gone into the house to wash up and grab some lunch. I had just finished Apache’s stall and was planning on following them when I noticed a black SUV that I didn’t recognize sitting in the parking lot. He must have been watching the girls head into the house which made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
The last thing I wanted was someone watching the girls. This was my farm and they were my responsibility to protect.
I started to walk towards the SUV, but before I got halfway there it turned and sped away. I managed to get the first four of the license plate, SCOT, but doubted in this small town I could ask the sheriff to look into it. Crime didn’t happen here. People didn’t follow other people around here. The most action you ever saw was Jim Brown down the street getting pulled over on his tractor while intoxicated.
I shook it off and decided to join the girls inside. I wouldn’t get answers today, but I may stop by and see Sheriff Tom later on tomorrow. Just to let him know to keep an eye out for any suspicious out of towners. I’d have to let the guys on the farm know too.
I found Reagan in the kitchen when I walked through the front door.
“Hey Rea, you notice any weird black SUV’s hanging around lately?”
She quirked an eyebrow. “No, why?”
“There was one in the drive just now. He sped off when I started walking over though.”
“Huh…” She said at first and then her eyes grew to the size of saucers.
My heart rate jumped and I immediately wondered if this had to do with my girl. “What? What aren’t you tellin’ me, Reagan Harper? I saw your eyes get big as saucers just now, spill, now.”
She shook her head. “I can’t, Beau. It isn’t my story to be tellin’.”
“Cassidy Mae?” She nodded.
“Is she in trouble, Rea? Just tell me that at least.”
“Ok… I can’t tell you the whole story. Like I said, it ain’t mine to tell. But what happened to her, Beau. No one should have to go through what she did and the fact that she’s standing here today is testament to her strength in the face of hell.”
“He did this to her, didn’t he?”
She nodded slowly and anger seized through my core. I would hunt him down and skin him alive if I could. For every single hand he laid on her body.
I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. “I knew something happened to my sweet Cass. This woman… she just isn’t the same. I can promise you something, though. Ain’t nothing else is gonna happen to her. Not while she’s here. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“I asked her if she wanted to stay here in addition to the job and she turned me down. She said she had to do this on her own and her speed, and I get it.”
“Yeah, well that’s fine and dandy, but the second things start seeming off I’m going to demand she does just that. If she’s here I can watch out for her. Not that I don’t trust her daddy to pull out his shotgun…”
Reagan laughed at me.
“What?”
“You’re in trouble, aren’t you brother?”
“What do ya mean by that?”
“Oh nothing. Cassidy Mae came back to town and you’ve been captain agreeable. You wanna try and tell me you aren’t crushing on her again just like high school?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“Uh huh. Well, if your plan is to get her to fall in love with you… I’d say a fresh set of clothes and a shower will do ya good, brother. You smell like shit.”
“Alrighty, hint taken.”
As I climbed the stairs, I heard the running water of the shower and realized I never asked Rea where Cassidy Mae had run off to.
I’d found her.
Cassidy Mae was naked in my shower. As I stood outside the bathroom door, vivid images passed through my brain, unbidden, but definitely not unwelcomed. I thought about the water cascading down every curve and dip of her body. How her nipples would pebble up in the cold water. I bit back a groan as I thought about her running her soap laden hands up and down her body soaking every inch. R
unning those hands down her belly and lower into the paradise between her thighs. I wondered if I’d ever get that pleasure.
It wasn’t the first time I’d imagined it, but now she was actually naked inside my house and I couldn’t help my feelings. I also couldn’t help the way my Levi’s tightened against the growing bulge in my pants at the thoughts pounding my brain. I was fantasizing so hard that I never heard the water turn off.
The door on the bathroom opened and brought me back to reality, face to face with a towel clad Cassidy Mae. I was frozen in place. Breath halted in my throat as I stood and stared slack jawed at the beauty in front of me.
“Cass… I didn’t know you were showering. I’m sorry… It’s just… wow… you’re gorgeous.”
A blush smattered her creamy white skin, leaving behind a beautiful pink flush. Her cheeks flushing with a deeper color that had nothing to do with the warm shower she just completed. Her eyes landed everywhere but on me. I couldn’t help but see her wandering eyes as they landed on my pants. Specifically, the bulge I had forgotten was growing to impossible lengths within my denim blues.
“Um… Beau…” She said softly, still looking at my erection. I couldn’t help it. I wanted it to go away, but it stood proud.
I prayed to all the gods I could think of. I thought of my grandma. I thought of every possible thing that could kill a boner. The way her eyes wouldn’t leave me, wouldn’t avert. My arousal skyrocketed demanding I tap into the urges, to play on them.
The tips of my fingers itched to reach out of their own volition to rub the smooth skin of her cheek and down her long, feminine neck. Her normally dark hair now darker with the shower dripping water droplets down her back and over her shoulder. My eyes trailed a water droplet down her neck, over her collarbone and I watched as it disappeared at the spot I really wanted to touch, but resisted.
The air sizzled and crackled with the tension between us. Desire burned and fizzled in waves. Something I couldn’t decipher spread across her face and I held my breath, anticipating what came next. My eyes found hers and she tilted her chin up at me, a silent invitation to touch the soft dip at the base of her throat. I watched as she swallowed audibly when I finally allowed myself to reach out and touch her, but then remembered myself and why touching her wasn’t the right thing to do.
Her breath quickened and I watched another water droplet fall. Her hands tightened around the teal towel she held tightly to her body, but she wasn’t running. She wasn’t looking for a way out. This was the first moment that I felt like maybe she wasn’t afraid of me at all. Like maybe she wanted this as much as I did, but that was ludicrous. She’d been through what—I didn’t know—but all the evidence pointed to bad things, and especially a bad man in her life.
I wanted to reach out and reassure her somehow. Let her know that she wasn’t alone. I caught her gaze and her hooded eyes. Her body was saying do it, but her eyes were still cautious, unsure. I didn’t want to push her and realized that she wasn’t ready for what I wanted yet. I wanted her. All of her and she couldn’t give me that. I was afraid that once I started, I wouldn’t hold back. I’d want it all and right now wasn’t the right time.
I pulled my hand tighter to my side, showing her that I wasn’t going to disrespect the trust she’d put in me so far by having me touching her. Seeing the disappointment gutted me. I shouldn’t think about taking liberties with her like that, we hadn’t built enough trust between us yet.
“I’m sorry Cassidy Mae,” I rasped. “I need to… shower.” I say pointing to the shower behind her. She moved out of the way and scurried down the hall. Before I could shut the door I heard her say.
“Hey, Beau.”
I peeked out of the bathroom door. “Yeah?”
“Do you have…could I borrow… I didn’t bring a change of clothes…and well… I don’t… I was wondering if I could… could I borrow a shirt and some shorts maybe?”
I thought about it for a minute. “Oh… I mean, you could but you’d be swimming in it. Let me get Reagan. You guys used to swap clothes, right? I think you’re still the same size.”
She nodded and smiled at me. I walked out of the bathroom and turned jogging off down the stairs, trying to get my body to calm down so I could think and control it.
“Reagan Harper!” I yelled walking into the kitchen. Her smile said it all. She knew what I had been walking into and gave me no indication. “You knew?”
She shrugged her shoulders not divulging the truth. She knew. I could read it in the smile on her lips.
“Did you need something, dear brother?” For once I was glad the evidence of my arousal was gone. Quickly drowned when Reagan’s name ran across my brain after it had slipped from Cassidy’s lips.
“It’s Cass. She doesn’t have a change of clothes. She asked me, but she’d be swimming in my clothes. Can she borrow some from you?”
“Oh shoot. Yeah, I should’ve suggested she bring a change. Maybe I’ll suggest it from now on. I don’t think you’re complaining much though.”
I growled my frustration and headed back upstairs. I turned on the shower inhaling the sweet scent of the being that occupied it before me. She smelled like peonies and sugar. I stripped off my clothes as the steam from the shower fogged up the mirror in front of me.
As I looked around the table, I realized that Willow Springs Stables was starting to feel like home again. I’d been invited to join the group for dinner. A few I’d met over the past couple weeks of being here, but tonight was the first night that I’d meet the rest. Everyone around us had been friends with Beau and Reagan for as long as I could remember. Most of the workers lived on the property in case something happened. It seemed like most didn’t have families of their own yet or had family that lived far away. I felt like I was sitting in on family dinner. Each of the crew sat and laughed together.
Jameson and Rhett sat beside each other. A girl I hadn’t yet met, named Faith, sat across from them beside Reagan. Reagan told me that she taught lessons at the stables. Another barn hand named Remington sat at one end of the table opposite Beau and I sat at the only chair that was empty beside him. I didn’t miss the smirk that Rea sent Beau’s way when she realized where my chair had been placed.
With everyone seated at the table, we started passing around the fixings before us. Meatloaf, potatoes, and green beans. It wasn’t fancy or extravagant. It felt homey. A hearty meal of meat and potatoes. A Springs Stables favorite, notated by the cheerful sighs of delight as people indulged. Talk quickly turned to things around the barn.
“How’s the new colt comin’ along with the breaking for Mr. Johnson? He’s been askin’ bout him every time I seen ‘em in town.” Jameson spoke, eyes hoping for a morsel of news.
Beau piped up. “He knows how long I take to work with these colts. I’m not the breaking type. He wants me to teach that colt to handle a saddle and hold a rider, he’s gotta give me time to teach him, not just demand they do it.”
Rhett shook his head, “Ain’t that the truth. We don’t just throw some miracle grow at ‘em and expect big things. I don’t see him down here puttin’ in no effort.”
Beau grinned. “Darn straight.’”
Questions about Zeus came up and Beau handled them. I knew he’d grown up with horses, but the amount of knowledge he’d accumulated over the years astounded me. I’d been sitting enjoying the revelry of company and family when I realized that I was finally at peace.
For once, I wasn’t looking for every escape route out of the room I was in. I was content to just sit and listen to the guy’s goof off and the girls flirt. I looked over at Beau and he winked at me, then resumed his talking.
I took another quick scan around the table. I wondered if I was enjoying my time here a little too much. My thoughts strayed back to what I left behind.
Would his family even notice I was gone? Would they come looking for me when they found out he was dead? Had they even found his body yet? I had been too scared to even google it for fear the
re was a trace and show I knew something. I know that’s ridiculous. I was working myself up with the rapid questions firing off in my brain, but I couldn’t get them to stop. The stress over everything that had happened since I asked for a divorce was front and center…and then the text came.
I’m coming for you, Cassidy Mae.
Chills shuddered up my arms. This was a new, unlisted phone number. No one had this number except my parents and those on the farm. To add to the foreboding in my gut there were no caller details. I felt a panic attack coming on. The blood rushed from my face and my head felt light and dizzy. I looked up to find Beau trying to read my face. Everyone around us continued on like nothing happened, but I was still in a state of shock. It’d been weeks since I left and I hadn’t heard from anyone. I panicked. Sheer terror ran through my veins, pumping my blood with fear and adrenaline. I had no reason to be afraid, but I couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling of dread that crept through me as I thought about what happened next.
“Cassidy Mae?” Beau questioned. I swallowed and tried to hide the fear, but Beau could see right through it. I felt his warm breath on my skin as he leaned over and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t tell him what was going on because I wasn’t exactly sure how to explain anything. My phone slipped from my fingers, no longer able to hold on. Beau grabbed it right before it hit the floor and saw the text. His mouth line tightened and his eyebrows furrowed as he read it. Anger was apparent all over his tight face. Shame hit me and I shielded my eyes from him behind my bangs.
I felt his hand on my shoulder and I relished the comfort it gave me. “Oh, Cass. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise. I’ll protect you. Just breathe.”
“Cassidy Mae,” Reagan’s voice hit me next. Clearly, conversation at the table had come to a slamming halt and all eyes were focused on Beau and me. I hated it. I didn’t want to be the center of attention.
Luckily, Beau seemed to know that I didn’t want to make this into a big deal. He shook his head, “Eat, Rea. We can talk about it later.”