With a resigned sigh, she returned to Noah’s side and steered him into the living room. Once they were sitting on the couch, she offered him a reassuring smile.
“About that. Colton’s going to be staying here with us and—”
“Colton?” Noah shot to his feet with an instant fierce frown. “Why?”
The anger in Noah’s voice went beyond his statement of dislike the other day. It was so unlike him, she scrambled for words. “Because he gave up the lease to his apartment and needed a place to stay.”
“Even I know there’s more than one apartment in this city.”
As always, smarter than his years. Kendra nodded patiently. “Yes, but Joel had already promised he could use the guest house.”
“I don’t want him here.” Noah locked his arms across his chest. “He was mean to you the other day, why would you even let him stay here?”
So he doesn’t blow our cover and make me reveal the real reason we’re here. But she couldn’t tell Noah that.
“First of all, it’s not my house, and second, I explained what happened in the barn.”
His mutinous glare told her he didn’t believe that explanation now any more than he had when she first gave it.
“What is your problem with Colton, Noah?” She knew hers, but Noah seemed to get along with Colton since the water fight, and Colton appeared to treat him no differently than Cody and Dustin. Joel’s boys seemed to regard him as a favorite uncle, despite there being no blood relation.
Maybe it was the fear of having a large male in the house again, she suddenly realized. A reminder of Robert? That would make sense…but surely he could see Colton was nothing like their cruel, cold-hearted half-brother?
Noah stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head, his jaw set. “Forget it.”
He spun around as if to leave. Kendra jumped up and caught his arm. “No, tell me what’s wrong? Did something happen with him?”
“No.”
“Then why are you so upset? You know you can tell me anything.”
Noah shook her hand off his arm. “There’s nothing to tell. If you’re okay with him being here, then fine.”
“Noah—” she protested as he stomped toward his room.
“I’m fine,” he hollered over his shoulder. “I don’t care!”
She stared after him until he slammed his door. Sure sounded fine to her. Damn it. She blew out a breath and rolled her shoulders. The bath sounded better and better, yet something told her it wouldn’t relax her half as much as she’d anticipated.
And it didn’t. Neither did a hot cup of tea, or the lights out in her bedroom as she lay on the soft king-sized bed. Worry over Noah’s reaction kept her wide awake, despite the fact there was nothing she could do about it tonight. Her best bet was to get some sleep and reassess the situation in the morning. Make sure her little brother accepted Colton’s presence and they made it through the next couple weeks with the least amount of stress possible.
If only she could fall asleep. This was what she hated most about the night. Laying in the quiet, listening to every noise, worrying who might be out there. Watching. Waiting. Planning. And Colton’s surprise arrival last night hadn’t helped her anxieties.
Her exhausted mind locked on her new housemate. Where the heck was he, anyway? There’s no way she would’ve missed the loud muffler on his rusted car. She punched her pillow a few times and then held it over her face in frustration. Who cared where he was? Or with who? Or what he was doing?
Not me!
And yet she proceeded to imagine—with a little too much detail—what kept him out.
She groaned at the clock, half-past midnight.
Next she knew, she jerked straight up in bed; breath panicked, pulse racing, Jeremy’s vile face still vivid in her mind. Fighting for oxygen, she squinted at the red numbers on the clock that read three-forty-five. Her shoulders slumped in despair before she threw back the covers and stumbled toward the kitchen to brew some coffee.
As the black liquid dripped into the pot, she couldn’t help brushing aside the green-checked curtain and rising on her tiptoes for a peek out the window.
No maroon car.
Kendra shoved away from the counter and went to get her book from her bedroom. She didn’t care. Not at all.
She almost believed it by the time she entered the barn a little before seven a.m. Joel appeared above in the opening of the hayloft, a bale in hand.
“Hey,” she greeted with surprise. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” he replied with a cheerful grin. “What are you doing here? It’s Saturday.”
Kendra climbed the ladder to join him. “You advanced me a full week’s pay, I’m going to work a full week.” It was a simple explanation, and she demonstrated it by lifting a bale and swinging it a few feet closer to the loft opening before gravity took over.
Joel didn’t argue and they began feeding the horses. Between their teamwork and the easy conversation that flowed between them, she began to enjoy the morning. Until Joel surprised her out of the blue with the question, “Who’s Robert?”
She froze for just a second. The uneasy flip of her stomach spurred her back into motion. More surprising than the question was that he hadn’t asked about him before now. “He’s my older half-brother from my dad’s side…why?”
He lifted a shoulder. “His name was in the letter, but you haven’t mentioned him at all.”
She wracked her brain for an explanation to offer.
Before she could think of anything, Joel added, “Not that I mind that you came to us, but why didn’t he help you?”
Because he wants us dead.
She couldn’t blurt that out so decided to stick as close to the truth as possible. “We don’t get along—never have.” She moved to the next stall with three flakes of hay to avoid Joel’s probing gaze.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, I’m not.”
On her way back out, their eyes met. The compassion she read there hit her right in the chest. She’d forgotten what it looked like when someone actually cared. His warm, golden-brown eyes invited her confidence, and she suddenly wanted so bad to tell him everything.
Her heart thudded hard, even though she sensed by now she could trust him. If only it were so simple. It wasn’t Joel she worried about, it was the police he would surely want to notify. She couldn’t take the chance of someone from Jeremy’s department leaking information to either him or Robert. Robert was friendly with the whole department—one mention of her name would generate interest and inquiries. Questions would be asked, bloodhounds would scent the trail, and they’d find her and Noah.
She couldn’t take that chance.
She looked away from Joel…directly into Colton’s green eyes. She sucked in a breath at his unexpected appearance. As his gaze shifted to Joel, and he offered a general greeting to encompass the both of them, she couldn’t help notice he wore the same clothes he’d left in yesterday.
His date must’ve been successful. She pictured him with a tall, undoubtedly beautiful, blonde. Someone named Sandra with big breasts and…nah, Sandra sounded too innocent. Her name would be Tasha, or Candie, or Barbie—
Kendra broke off the thoughts before they really became catty and returned her attention to feeding the horses. She needed to focus on what was actually important. Colton’s bedmates had absolutely nothing to do with her.
“How’d everything go last night?” she heard Joel asked Colton.
“Good. Mom says hi.”
Kendra paused inside the stall. Mom?
“Tell her we’d love a visit sometime,” Joel said. “How’s your dad?”
“Same as always,” Colton answered in a low tone. “No better, no worse.”
Was there something wrong with his dad? Kendra snuck a glance, only to discover him watching her. His gaze shifted back to Joel.
Joel put a hand on Colton’s shoulder as he walked by. “Well, we’re almost done here, so when the
kids arrive for the trail ride, we’ll be all ready.”
“I’ll get changed and be right out.”
“Actually, if you want to take the day off, Brittany and I can handle things.”
Kendra felt the impact of Colton’s gaze again.
“Thanks, but Kendra and I have some work to do,” he said. “The sooner it’s done the better.”
Kendra seethed and grabbed two more flakes of hay, but didn’t want Joel to see the resentment she had for his employee and—more apparently—friend. Wishing she could give Colton a piece of her mind, she wondered exactly what kind of crappy chores he had in store for her today. If there was something worse than shoveling shit, he’d surely find it for her.
She braced herself when he returned from the house in his work clothes and jerked his head toward the Arabian barn. “Let’s go.”
Kendra followed. What thankless, smelly, impossible job had he come up with now? Once inside the barn, he stopped at Paelo’s stall and handed her the halter.
She accepted the halter with trepidation. “What?”
Colton nodded toward the huge black horse. “Put it on him.”
“You want me to put it on him?”
“I believe that’s what I just said.”
She stared at the animal. He paced back and forth in the stall, rustling shavings beneath his big feet, watching them with intense interest, head bobbing up and down. “Why him?”
“He’s a good teacher.”
“Him?” she squeaked.
Colton silently crossed his arms and leaned against the stall.
She took a determined breath. Despite her nervousness, she certainly wasn’t about to argue this unexpected opportunity to learn. She could do this…even with Father Superior looking on.
Kendra willed her hand not to shake as she slid the door open. Surprisingly, the horse stilled in the stall the moment she stepped inside. She lifted her chin to contemplate his towering height. How in the world would she reach his head without a ladder?
“Easy boy.” She spoke softly so Colton wouldn’t hear. “This won’t hurt. You’re the pro here so any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.”
The halter wobbled in her unsteady, outstretched hand. When the black horse dropped his head and dipped his nose right into the constraint, she had to consciously tighten her slack jaw. Paelo waited for her to finish the job and Kendra secured the halter before he lost his patience. A current of burgeoning courage flowed over her nerves. The accomplishment of this first task tugged her lips up and she faced Colton with a triumphant smile.
He scowled. “Now bring him out and stand him in the aisle.”
After she did as instructed, he showed her how to secure the horse in what he called crossties, ropes attached to either side of the aisle. He demonstrated the quick release of the latches in case of emergency before spending the next hour going over the basics of a horse, its care and brushing techniques. She was happy to discover how much she remembered after studying her book over the past few days.
Next, he had her lead Paelo out to the training paddock to work on handling lessons. Though she was anxious on the way out, Paelo walked calmly, and she relaxed.
Standing in the middle of the enclosure side by side, Colton put her through the paces over the next forty-five minutes until she was comfortable with the horse.
“That’s good for now,” he finally said. “Let’s give him a break.”
Kendra led Paelo to the gate and Colton directed her to the green pasture. Inside, she unhooked the lead, but Paelo remained where he was, his nose stretched toward her hand.
She glanced at Colton. “Why doesn’t he go?”
He chuckled and dug into his pocket to pull out a couple sugar cubes. “Britt has him completely spoiled. If he works, he expects dessert. Here.”
“You want me to give them to him?”
He nodded and reached for her hand. Calloused fingers closed around hers, warm and rough, yet gentle with their grip. That first contact jolted through her, and she almost yanked free. Trying to ignore the heat of his touch, she let him turn her palm up to place the sugar in it.
“Hold them like this.” His voice had gone unusually low and he cleared his throat. “Palm up, fingers flat.”
He kept one hand under hers and smoothed out her fingers with the other. Then he extended their arms together for Paelo to take the cubes. Instinctively, she trusted Colton when it came to the horses, but still tensed the slightest bit as Paelo’s nose drew near their hands.
“Fingers flat.” He tightened his hold when she instinctively began to pull back.
The stallion gently lipped up the treats. As he crunched the sugar, he raised his nose to nudge it against her cheek. Kendra jerked in alarm, and took an instinctive step backward, only to come up against the solid wall of Colton’s chest. His left hand steadied her shoulder.
“He’s saying thank you.” The husky murmur stirred the hair at her temple.
She swallowed hard, a tingle running from her ear, to her neck, down her back and through the rest of her body. A glance up and over her shoulder met with smiling eyes, and she quickly turned her head to focus on Paelo.
When Colton reached around to give her more sugar, she realized she was practically encompassed in his arms. The urge to lean back into his warm strength hit hard.
Trust him with the horse—not yourself. Tension threatened to stiffen her body beneath the weight of his hand on her shoulder. She latched onto the first thing she could think of. “If I’d seen you with these sugar cubes before now, I would’ve assumed they were for you.”
“I’ll admit I have one every once in awhile.”
The grin in his voice had her laughing that her joke was actually true. Abruptly, his arms dropped, and he stepped away. She felt the loss of his warmth and was sorry for it.
“This went well,” he said shortly. “I bet we have you riding within a week.”
“Riding?” She turned around in alarm. “I never said I wanted to do that.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You can’t live on a horse ranch without learning to ride, Kendra.”
His tone suggested she was being an irrational fool and succeeded in putting her on the defensive. She lifted her chin with a glare. “Yes, I can.”
God, how did he go from soothing and encouraging to mocking and condescending in the blink of an eye? It was impossible to keep up with his instant mood swings, though maybe easier to deal with when her uncooperative body wasn’t messing up her mind.
Her attempt to sweep past him was misjudged, and her shoulder bumped his arm hard enough to push him back a half step. He caught her arm, but she shook him off. He reached again and held tight.
“Hold on a second.” He swung her around to face him before releasing his grip. “What the hell is your problem?”
“You are.” Kendra glared at him. “You take every opportunity to mock me and make me feel stupid.” Her fists clenched at her sides. “You’ve done it since day one, and I’ve had enough. If I don’t want to learn to ride, you can’t make me.”
He held up his hands. “Okay, fine, sorry I suggested it.”
That took the wind right out of her sails. She’d been counting on him bullying her into it so she could focus on being angry with him instead of being afraid of the horse. She wanted him to make her do it, so she didn’t have a choice. Damn it. She turned to head back into the barn.
Colton sighed heavily. “Now what?”
The all-suffering tone certainly didn’t make her want to confess her backward reasoning. “Nothing.”
His hand on her arm conveyed determination to finish the conversation, yet it was light enough to give her a choice. She turned of her own accord and admitted, “I never said I didn’t want to learn to ride, either.”
He frowned. “Yes you did.”
“I said, I never said I wanted to.”
“You just said you didn’t want to learn and that I couldn’t make you. I’m not going to for
ce you, Kendra.”
She shook her head. “If I didn’t want to learn, you couldn’t make me.”
“No…you said…aw, hell.” Confusion became annoyance. “So, which is it then?” When she hesitated, his jaw clenched. “Do you or don’t you want to learn to ride?”
“Yes,” she said quickly. Looking down at her boots, she lightly kicked at the grass, and added, “I do.”
“Fine.”
He left, mumbling under his breath as he went. For once she understood his frustration, because she felt it, too. Why was it so hard for her to get along with the man?
Paelo’s soft nudge against her back brought her around. “You’re still here?” She ran her fingers across his velvet-soft muzzle. His brown eyes regarded her as he lipped at her hands for more sugar. “Sorry, he had them all,” she apologized with a final stroke down his neck.
The bus from the teen center arrived as she returned to the barn. Kendra helped Britt pack lunches and said goodbye as they mounted up. Noah stood at her side, waving with a forlorn look on his face.
She was surprised when Cody halted his horse next to Joel at the end of the line. “Dad, can I stay with Noah?”
Not to be outdone by his brother, Dustin decided he wanted to stay, too. From atop their own horses, Joel and Britt exchanged a glance, as if debating which one would remain behind with the boys, so Kendra stepped forward. “I can watch them.”
Britt reined Paelo around. “That’s okay, I’ll stay.”
Joel shook his head. “No, you go. In a couple of months you won’t be able to.”
Kendra smiled and pointed out, “I’ll be here with Noah anyway, it’s not a problem.” She waved them off to catch up with the other riders.
After putting their horses away, the boys took off for the tree house and swing set between the two houses. Kendra detoured through the guesthouse to get her book, making her way to a chair on the front porch where she could see them.
****
Colton rode back into the yard as Kendra settled into a chair on the guesthouse porch with a book.
She sat forward when she spotted him. “Is everything okay? I thought you were going with the group?”
A glance across the yard confirmed all three boys playing by the tree house. “Everything’s fine,” he assured her calmly. And I’m going to make sure it stays that way. “I forgot about some things I needed to get done,” was the only further explanation he offered Kendra.
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