by Cajio, Linda
“Well, everyone looks fine, Curtis,” she said in an overly cheerful tone, stepping between the two of them. “I’ve told Mac you will be with the horse at all times. He’s not happy, so you’ll have to—”
“I know my job,” Curtis snapped.
“That’s debatable,” James muttered just loud enough to be heard.
“Stop it!” Anne rubbed her temple. So much for subtlety. Enough was enough. “Okay, so we have a security firm poking around that none of us wants, Curtis. We may not like it, but we can hardly complain about it. And maybe it’s better this way. We’re not in the protection business, and we ought to stop trying to be. We’re in the horse business.”
She rounded on the other man, the man who had humiliated her in front of everyone for protecting his horse as best she could. “And you damn well better remember that, James. Curtis and his men were doing their jobs that morning when they went after Redman Chief, just as I was when I went in the field with Battle Cry. Now, back off!”
She stormed away, furious with him. How she ever could have thought he was perfect was beyond her now.
“Are you done yelling at me?” James asked, catching up with her.
“Are you done punishing me?” she asked in return.
“I’m not punishing you—”
“And you’re not talking to me either.”
“I don’t see you babbling away, lady,” he said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. “You almost got yourself killed, Anne.”
“That’s a convenient excuse.”
“Convenient excuse!”
“Yes. I knew exactly what I was doing, and I was in no danger. Why can’t you understand that?” She glanced at him, then at the ground. Her steps unconsciously quickened. “Why not just tell me you’ve changed your mind about … me?”
“I’ve—” He grabbed her arm and spun her around, effectively stopping her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“About me … and you.” Her voice broke, and she took a deep breath to compose herself. She’d get to the truth and behave like an adult while she was doing it. “About why you have been keeping your distance, and why all this anger is an excuse to stay away. Just say it and get it over with.”
“Dammit, Anne, you were the one who told me to stay away!” he exclaimed. “I yelled at you because you took unnecessary risks—”
“Very necessary risks—”
“And you scared the life out of me,” he continued, ignoring her interruption. “But I am keeping my distance because you said ‘Not in the house,’ and I completely agree. And you haven’t exactly been attacking me at every moment. You’ve avoided even being alone with me.”
“I have not! You’ve barely been talking to me.”
“No, I haven’t!”
She stared at him. He stared at her. Then they both began to laugh. He pulled her against him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, not caring who saw them. Under her amusement she had never felt so relieved in her life.
“Things have been so crazy,” she murmured. “I just didn’t know what to think.”
“Neither of us have been thinking straight. We’ve both been under pressure with this damn mischief maker loose.” He sighed. “Please, no more risks. My heart couldn’t take it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind—when I’m taking a risk.”
“Annie,” he warned, then rubbed her back. “I’ll get used to your job and you get used to my yelling. Agreed?”
“Agreed. As long as you don’t yell at me in front of my people.”
“Deal. One of the best I’ve ever made.” His arms tightened. “At least this time there was no attempt at physical damage to Battle Cry.”
She lifted her head to look at him. “But it was real damage, James. Somehow the business with the steroids has never come out, but I don’t hold much hope for this second incident. My reputation for careful breeding will be ruined. As it is, my farm is on the line.”
“I know.” He smiled gently. “We’ll stop this before it goes any further. Whoever he is, he’s either incredibly clever or stupid. I’m banking on the latter. In broad daylight like that … it was as if he wanted to get caught.”
Anne sighed. “Fortunately, all the mares Battle Cry was in with were already in foal. By sheer luck we’ve avoided a breeder’s worst nightmare. Now we have to wait and see if the mares were too upset by the ‘excitement’ and miscarry. So far they’re holding.”
“They’ll hold.” He stroked her hair. “We need a diversion, and I think I have a solution to our other problem. We need some time alone with each other, sooo … tonight we’ll take a late tour of the farm. We’ll find a cozy spot under the stars. I’ll pledge my eternal love, and then you’ll be all over me like cream cheese on a bagel.…”
“Sounds wonderful,” she murmured, chuckling.
“Have you told Philip?”
“No. There hasn’t been time for one thing, and I wasn’t sure …”
“We’ll both talk to him tonight.”
They reluctantly separated and walked hand in hand to the house.
“It figures,” James said, “that I’d have to court you in the middle of a disaster. I should have seen it coming the moment you threw up on me when you were a baby.”
She grinned, feeling better for the first time in days. “I aim to please.”
His smile was intimate. “And it will be my pleasure. Tonight.”
“Go fish.”
James sighed and rooted through the pile of cards on the kitchen table. He pulled one out and tucked it into the cards fanned in his hand.
From across the table Anne grinned wryly at him. Playing Go Fish with Philip and Lettice wasn’t exactly the way he’d planned their evening, he thought as he gazed at her, seeing the longing in her expression. Still, they were spending time with Philip as a family. Maybe that was more important right now than themselves. They still had to tell Philip, and this time together could make the difference in his reaction to the news. James had to admit he was finding a special pleasure in every moment of Go Fish. He was coming to care for the boy as much as he cared about Anne.
“Got any threes?” Philip asked his great-grandmother.
The boy held his cards with a studied carelessness. He looked almost bored with the proceedings in spite of the five completed sets lying in front of him. Nobody else had any points yet. James vowed never to play poker with the kid. He’d probably lose his entire stock portfolio in the first five minutes.
“Brat,” Lettice grumbled as she handed over three cards.
Philip grinned at her, placing another completed set on the table. “Now, now, Grandmother Lettice. A Kitteridge is not a sore loser.”
Lettice eyed him sourly. “One Kitteridge at this table is going to have a sore butt if he doesn’t stop being a smug winner.”
James looked at Anne, and both of them started laughing. Philip grinned, unrepentent, while Lettice tried to look dignified and unruffled. James admired Philip’s courage with Lettice, who could make a great white shark look like a cuddly kitten at times. Losing at cards was one of them.
Suddenly he found himself the recipient of Philip’s nonchalant expression. He sobered.
“Got any aces?”
“Wehll,” James drawled, studying his hand. He grinned at the crossed-out hearts and A’s on one of his cards. “I have one that used to be an ace. I think. It’s not an ace now.”
“Really, Anne,” Lettice said, groaning. “This is ridiculous, playing with two decks of cards combined into one. And changing some of them into completely new cards! I’m not even sure what I have anymore. If you don’t buy one decent deck of cards, then I will!”
“It’s not on your list of things you can have with you while you’re here,” Anne replied, laughing. “Besides, this way is more fun. Right, Philip?”
“Right. Are you sure you don’t have any aces?” the boy asked earnestly. “Maybe you’re tired and not reading it right. I can help you.�
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“Nice try to get a peek at my cards, Philip,” James said, chuckling. “But I’m reading just fine tonight. Go fish.”
Anne set her cards down on the table, drawing his attention. She was staring at him. “Philip knows about your dyslexia.”
“I told him a while back.” He frowned, puzzled. “Why?”
“A while back? You told my son before me?”
He nodded, growing uneasy with her questions. She seemed upset, and he had no idea why.
She turned to her grandmother. “And you know?”
Lettice was frowning, too, clearly as bewildered as he with Anne’s questions. “Of course. I’ve known for years, from Maida.”
“I didn’t know for years.” Anne looked back at him, her eyes narrowed with anger. “I didn’t know until the other day.”
“It’s not something I advertise,” he said, hearing the defensiveness in his voice and not able to stop it. What the hell was wrong with her? She had been so damned understanding when he told her.
“All these years I thought you were perfect.”
“And now you’re angry that I’m not?” He should have known she’d find some excuse. Pain ripped through him.
“No, I’m angry that everyone knew before me.” She leaned forward and stabbed the air with her finger. “Dammit, James. All these years you have seemed so … perfect. Always doing and saying the right thing. Not an imperfection anywhere. And then you—you never called after that dance.…”
“What dance?” Lettice asked.
They ignored her, intent on each other. “I thought I didn’t measure up,” she said.
“Annie,” he said, realizing how he had accidentally hurt her all those years before. “It was the dyslexia. I had just been rejected because of it, and I couldn’t face another rejection—especially from you.”
“Believe me, I would have been thrilled to know you weren’t perfect. All this time I vowed to stay away from you because … and I fell for you anyway.”
“You didn’t want to because you thought I was perfect?” he asked in astonishment.
“Yes. No.” She waved her hands in the air. “It was a lot of things.”
“Does this mean the game’s over?” Philip asked.
“Yes,” Lettice said, collecting the cards.
“It means I—” Anne took her son’s hand. “I love you, Philip. And I love James, even though I’m a little angry at the moment.”
“And I’m confused,” James said, “but I love your mother.”
“I know all about that,” Philip said, smiling. “Grandmother Lettice told me the night we went to dinner. That’s why we went. To help matchmakin’ you ’cause you needed help to love each other and be happy.” He shrugged, half embarrassed. “I like James … Well, it’s okay with me.”
Lettice shrugged in her turn, as James and Anne rounded on her. “If I waited for you two, all hell would freeze over.”
“Is there anything I’m the first to know?” Anne asked the room in general.
“I doubt it,” James replied, relaxing. Philip clearly approved of him, and he was extremely pleased with the thought. He stretched his arms and said as casually as possible, “I suppose we ought to check on security.”
Color tinged Anne’s cheeks, making her look unexpectedly shy and vulnerable. He loved knowing he could do that to his tigress.
She shrugged. “I guess it’s about time.”
“About.”
Philip didn’t ask to go along, instead becoming busy with cleaning up an already cleaned-up kitchen. James hid a smile at his “helpfulness.”
A few minutes later he was shutting the kitchen door behind him and Anne. He snapped on the flashlight, its powerful beam illuminating their path.
“Okay, now, why are you angry?” he asked as they walked along. “Besides everyone knowing before you. I’m sorry. Your opinion was the one I cared about the most, that’s why it took so long to tell you.”
“I don’t know. It’s just that my family knew something that I wish I had known from the beginning.”
“It would have made a difference?”
She nodded. “Instead I had to fight the image of the man to find the man.”
“Then I’m glad you didn’t know. I think I would have wondered if you cared only because I did have dyslexia.” He chuckled. “That would have been ironic as hell. I just wanted it not to matter.”
“It doesn’t matter. Only you matter.”
He stopped and kissed her. Her mouth was sweet honey and summer heat. Reluctantly, very reluctantly, he lifted his head. “Let’s get this damn inspection over with.”
“James …”
Anne’s head was spinning, and she felt unsteady on her feet. How he managed to do that, she didn’t know. Just as long as he managed it only with her.
She felt silly now for being angry earlier back at the house. But it had suddenly hit her that if she had known, they might not have wasted so many years. James was right, though. It would have been awful to wonder if a learning disability had made her fall in love with him. Instead, it hadn’t mattered. Just as it should be.
The reason for the tour surfaced through her thoughts, and she asked, “How long will the security firm be here, James?”
“As long as it takes to catch the person doing this.” He squeezed her hand.
She sighed at the thought of continuing disruption. “The breeding season is almost over, only another couple of weeks are left. The two incidents with Battle Cry were directed at his breeding. Once the season stops, I have a feeling the nastiness will stop.”
James shook his head. “I think things will escalate because the season’t almost over. He’ll have to achieve whatever goal he has in mind or wait another year.”
Anne moaned, horrified at the idea. “Please, no.”
“Agreed. What do you say about utilizing the breeding shed?” he asked as the small building became visible about a hundred yards away. “For human purposes. Very human.”
“James!” she exclaimed, laughing at the notion. “You’re crazy.”
“I’m trying to be sexy.”
“No comment.”
“Well, where do you suggest?”
“This is so … clinical,” she said, sighing. “Where’s the moonlight and roses? Where are the stars and shadows? Where’s the romance—”
“Shh!” He snapped off the flashlight.
“Where’s the ‘shh’?” she asked, astonished that he’d hushed her like that.
“Shh!” He nudged her arm and pointed toward the breeding shed. His voice was a bare whisper. “There’s someone over there.”
“One of the security people?” she whispered back, peering at the shadows. She saw a vague shape flit around the building.
“I don’t think so. Whoever it is, he’s carrying a can. I’ll go and check. Stay here, and use this on anyone except me.”
“James!” she cautioned as he shoved the flashlight into her hands and slipped away from her in the darkness.
Damn that man, she thought, spinning around trying to find him. How could he yell at her for taking risks when he plunged right into trouble? And if she went after him, he’d yell at her for not listening to him … and if she didn’t, she was terrified he might get hurt and she wouldn’t know it. Hadn’t he ever heard of the buddy system, for goodness’ sake?
She had just started moving toward the shed when a loud “poof” filled the air. An odd orange light was barely visible from the other side of the building. She started running as an acrid odor reached her. She saw flames licking at painted wood.
Someone had set the breeding shed on fire.
“James!” she screamed, looking everywhere in an attempt to spot him. “James!”
An “oowff” erupted to her right, and she veered toward it … just in time to see two struggling bodies fall to the ground.
“Ouch! Dammit!”
James cursed a blue streak, as if he were going for his doctorate in vulgarism. The
other man was silent, concentrating on stopping his opponent. Relief and panic washed through her. She ran over and flicked on the flashlight.
“I can’t see,” James shouted.
She swung the light away and turned it off, but not before she got a shocking glimpse of the other man. “It’s Mac!”
“No … oowff … kidding.”
Suddenly men were swarming around them, pulling James and Mac apart. Curtis motioned others toward the shed and shouted for them to start putting out the fire.
Anne threw herself into James’s arms. He held her tightly.
“Dammit, Anne. You didn’t stay put.”
“Right. Just be grateful I didn’t hit you over the head with the flashlight.” She straightened away from him and faced Mac. “Why? What did I do to you, Mac?”
The older man looked broken and defeated. “I meant no harm to you personally, miss. But they were taking my boy away from me. I raised him, taught him his schools, was the first one on his back. He was mine! Mine! Not theirs to sell like a piece of meat. No one loves him like I love him, but I couldn’t buy him. I always thought we’d be together, that when he was done racing we’d be put out to pasture together. But they sold him to … this.”
“Were you …” She swallowed back a wave of horror. “Were you trying to kill him?”
“No!” Mac looked appalled. “I’d never hurt my boy. I thought maybe if he was useless at the breeding … but you found that out. After that you were extra careful with him. I thought then if I messed up his breeding line, Mr. James would move him to another farm and I might have more of a chance. You stopped that.”
Suddenly everything clicked into place. Mac’s continual protestations of innocence to keep anyone from suspecting him. She remembered the odd words of bitterness when he arrived, and how he had insisted that Battle Cry hated to be touched by strangers, then later told Lettice the horse was always the friendliest in the stable. They had been clues, but he had presented all of them with such ingratiation and charm, they all had been taken in by it.
“And tonight?” James asked, his voice harsh. “What did setting fire to the shed accomplish?”