Chloe's Secret

by Shelley K. Wall

  I started to get up and leave, but she just pushed me back down and slid in opposite. “Honey, you’re in a bit of a pickle, aren’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “You really didn’t know he was here? Well, let me say this. That guy has a long list of women just waiting to feed him, and keep him entertained. I wouldn’t waste your time if I were you.”

  “Thanks for the unwanted advice. Can I order now? Or does it cost extra to get food if you’re not a vet?”

  Abby raised a brow and stood. “I’ll be back for that in a minute.”

  It took me about two minutes to realize what just happened. I’d been warned. Warned away from a guy who obviously wasn’t my type anyway. Look at him, he rides motorcycles and heals animals for a living. I work all the time at an entry-level job and don’t do pets. Nor do I heal anything.

  Abby’s words rankled on the one remaining nerve my boss hadn’t touched. Heat and moisture saturated my eyelids. No way. I was not going to cry. She would not get to me that easy. She served his food, hot and steamy a few minutes later, as I sat waiting to order. The water puddled a little more in my eyes, but I blinked it back and took a sip of water.

  Then Colton threw his napkin down and stood. His face flushed, his fists clenched. He stomped toward me with his head down. Something had happened. The man behind him called him, but he ignored it.

  He looked straight at me. Actually straight through me, then he shoved the door open and left. The coldness in that look only punctuated the note he’d left me earlier. The note I’d been too chicken to respond to. I knew it required an apology, and I wasn’t quite ready to give it yet. Sure I’d gotten a little bent out of shape that he’d kissed me. I hated to admit it but I actually liked it. That’s probably where my problem was. There were so many things going wrong in my life, it didn’t seem possible that this one was different. There had to be a catch, somewhere. I didn’t trust it. Him.

  That was ironic, because as far as I knew, I was the one keeping a secret.

  The old man who had been Colton’s source of frustration, heaved a visible sigh and watched out the window as the rumbling motorcycle rounded the side of the building and gunned down the street. He turned to survey the room, as if looking for comfort and found . . . me. Our eyes locked briefly before he concentrated on finishing his meal.

  Chapter 9

  Sadie Lindun Scott picked up her phone for the fifth time and dialed the first three numbers, which was farther than she’d gotten the first four attempts. It had been three years since she’d talked to her husband, and even longer since her son, Colton, had told her to “leave them the hell alone”. Her Husband. The ring on her finger was the only remnant of their relationship. Stubbornness goaded her to wear it all these years. The same stubbornness that enticed her to keep her married name and forego filing divorce papers. No matter how it appeared, she had never been a quitter. Maybe a worthless mother and wife and an idealistic criminal, but not a quitter.

  She squared her shoulders and dialed the remaining numbers. Would he hang up when she spoke? Who would blame him if he did? There had been so many times she wanted to tell the truth. Confess. To share her massive failure with the only man that had believed in her when she struggled through law school. Doing so would have made him an accessory. He would have understood it but she couldn’t bring herself to include him in her crime. It had been better for both of them to let everyone believe she had simply lost it.

  She hesitated for two seconds when the familiar voice beckoned her to speak. It was time to forge ahead. For Mona and Colton, but most importantly, for him. It had all been for him.

  “Hey, there. I got your message.”

  Dead Silence.

  It took two hours for Sadie to pace her living room until she recognized the crossroads she had reached. He hadn’t said it, but there wasn’t any way to mistake the need in James’ voice. He wanted her there just as she had wanted him when she’d made the choices that derailed her life—and forged her career. Maybe she couldn’t divulge her stupidity—the mistake that would have disbarred her and send a vicious criminal back into society—but this one thing she could do. And she would. Now.

  She called her secretary and had her rearrange appointments and book a flight and hotel. She was going home. She looked around the luxurious house she’d inhabited for the past eight years and realized what that meant. As much as she hated to admit, home had always been somewhere else. Actually not somewhere, but someone. Two someones if she was honest. The husband. And son that despised her and would probably never forgive her abandoning them.

  She didn’t deserve it anyway. She was a criminal and a liar. She had violated the very laws she swore to uphold. And doing so had kept them safe.

  She felt the liquid puddle in her lower lids. Eight years later and she still got emotional. Would she ever get over the past?

  I ditched my routine on Friday because my nose was out of joint. I wanted to understand Mona’s reasons for hiding Chloe’s story from Colton. And if the man I’d seen him with—who appeared an aged version of Colton himself—had anything to do with it.

  Mona, however, had foiled my plans by getting sick. She wasn’t at the carriage stand on Friday, instead she had staffed her meager business with a replacement.

  Colton.

  “Where’s Mona?”

  “In the hospital with pneumonia.” He lifted a hand to help me into the carriage then climbed to the front and flipped the lines. Our carriage jolted into action as Goliad clipped forward with an ear strained toward us. A suspicious glance backward told me he didn’t understand the change himself.

  “Oh, no. I’m so sorry. Which hospital?”

  “Remmins General.”

  I made a mental note to send flowers and pulled a blanket over my legs. I wished I had seen him earlier and just walked past, but jumping out of a moving carriage even at this slow speed was likely dangerous. Not to mention stupid and overly dramatic.

  Without turning, Colton spoke, “You want to hear the story again or just ride?”

  “Story?” Which one?

  “Yeah, Grams always tells all the history of these places and the people that lived in them. You’ve already heard it, but it’s part of the tour, so if you want it again, I’ll be happy to give it.”

  Happy to give it. Yeah, sure. He was hoping to ride along in silence, continuing his mad. I considered how I’d apologize for my comments about the kiss, then decided. Why? He said himself it wasn’t that big of deal. Why make it one? And he was wrong, Mona had told me little at all because we always talked about her friend Chloe. The familiar stab of guilt came and passed.

  “I’d love to hear it.”

  He flicked the lines again and started in with that low sexy voice of his. Amazing stories about the birth of a city, the scandals of its prior occupants, and the creativity behind its architecture. Of course, he rushed through it, just like he rushed the horse. We were on opposite ends of the planet. He wanted to finish the ride and my company—and I wanted it to last forever. I could have listened to him speak for hours regardless of the words, though his stories fascinated. When we were half way through the route that I’d memorized, I couldn’t bear that he leave me too soon. I had to hear more, no matter what, so I reached a hand to his back and held it there. We had made it this far in fifteen minutes rather than the normal thirty. Those were my fifteen minutes and I wanted them. With him. It was time to swallow pride.

  “I’m sorry. I guess I have anger issues.” It took a lot for me to say that.

  “No kidding.”

  “Judging by the way you stomped out of the café the other night, you do too. Anything I can help with?”

  “Nope.”

  “Who was the guy you walked out on?”

  He ignored me and told a cute story about the shop we passed, which apparently was a dance hall during the cattle baron days when the stockyards were flush. When I heard how often those barons bathed before entering town, I pitied the wom
en they sought for attention.

  “Very interesting,” I said, “but tell me about—”

  “See the building with the silver sunburst at the top?” He pointed two blocks down.

  “You’re stalling.”

  He met my eyes briefly. “Stalling for what?”

  “You’re changing the subject rather than answer my question.”

  Colton worked Goliad through a busy intersection. He coughed twice before speaking. “What question was that?”

  I smiled. “About the guy in the café. Remember?”

  “Not important.”

  “Is that why you blasted out of there like he’d just called your mother a name, or kicked your dog?”

  He laughed nervously. “I wish it were that simple. So, what about you—you still mad?”

  I wasn’t quite ready to talk about the kiss, mainly because I’d probably have to find a level of honesty that might be uncomfortable. For him or me.

  “You know your girlfriend, Abby?”

  “Not my girlfriend.”

  “Maybe not, but she’s definitely a bit territorial when it comes to you.”

  “I don’t know why—I’m not her territory either. Nobody owns me, Tess.”

  I wondered if she felt the same way, I was certainly convinced that he was off-limits. But I was getting off point. “Have you ever noticed that she never waited on me? Other than when you were there and forced her to. Is there a history there?”

  He pulled on the lines hard and turned Goliad into the side of the street, then turned and rested a knee over the bench. “Why do you want to know?”

  “I don’t. I just thought—look she told me to back off, which is actually a little silly if you think about it, because you and I weren’t—anything.”

  He smiled at that; I had no idea why.

  “You find that funny?”

  “I think for someone that wanted to hit me for a simple kiss, you seem really bent out of shape about Abby. Don’t you see the humor in that?”

  Actually, I did. It was funny that she considered me a threat and therefore needed to warn me away. Why would he find me attractive over, say, her? But he had kissed me—and it was a good kiss. A little short, but good. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to. I just wasn’t ready for it, and for reasons I had no control over, I thought about it all the time now—which was infuriating. As for Abby, well, she was just irritating.

  “I didn’t want to hit you.”

  “Really? That’s not what you said in one of those rambling messages on my answering service.”

  My face went ten shades of pink and I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. Yeah, I had left a couple of angry words that I wished I hadn’t. I wasn’t ready to discuss that though, so since he had the carriage stopped and didn’t seem in a hurry to turn around and go . . . I stood up. I dropped the blanket and glared.

  “Yeah, well maybe if you wouldn’t do that big, bad, motorcycle-riding, dog-loving, sexy bad-boy thing all the time—”

  Plunk. Goliad chose that very moment to bolt forward two steps and I fell. Right onto Colton, completely sprawled across his legs, which I clutched frantically to prevent a bigger fall to the pavement.

  Stupid Horse. Colton grabbed the lines with one hand and held my hip tight with the other, speaking horse whispers to calm Goliad.

  “Calm down, lucky bird. You’re scaring him.”

  “I guess that makes two of us.”

  I scrambled upright. With his hand still on my hip I had no choice but to remain across his legs. Our noses were almost level and he focused dead on my eyes. “You’re scared of Goliad? He wouldn’t hurt a flea.”

  My voice squeaked. “I meant you.” I couldn’t help but look at his mouth then. Maybe because I was a little too close to tasting it myself, and that would be a mistake. Especially since I’d ripped him a new one for that same thing.

  Seconds passed into the most awkward of pauses before he pushed my legs off and let me stand again. “You have the strangest way of showing fear, Tess.”

  Goliad took a slight step again. I glanced at the horse’s back. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he wanted to make me fall. I stumbled, caught myself, and jumped to the pavement. I needed distance. “I have to get back to work.”

  “We’re not done. Your ride’s not over. I can drop you off at the building.”

  I dropped the fee next to him and bolted. “We’re done.”

  He frowned which was the last thing I saw before I practically ran for my office. If I had stayed in that carriage for another few minutes, I knew I would have done something really stupid, like kiss him.

  Colton watched Tess retreat. Operable word, retreat, because that’s exactly what she did. She ran from him as if he had attacked. He found it amusing, but then everything about her was amusing.

  His cell rang for the five hundredth time. He answered for the four hundred and fiftieth. “Look Doc,” his assistant started, “we have a couple of emergencies down here and need someone. I know you’re busy but we need help. We have a Sheltie that was hit by a car, a cat that the owner thinks was poisoned, and a possible put down—not sure about that one as the woman is crying so much she can’t talk and I think she’s changing her mind. When are you coming back?”

  He flipped the lines and started Bullwhip back to the carriage stop. “Tomorrow. Maybe. I can’t leave here until this evening. The horses have to be taken back to the stables, groomed, and fed. I should have someone else here to do it tomorrow.”

  “We need someone now.”

  Colton stared at the phone. What exactly did she expect him to do? He couldn’t walk off and leave the horse standing in the street. He scrubbed a hand across his chin, reminded that he’d been so busy getting Grams to the hospital he hadn’t shaved.

  “I’m stuck. Send the emergencies to Dr. Harrow’s clinic, and let the owners know we need to keep the others for a few hours. I’ll see what I can do.” He had no idea what the next step would be.

  “What? Give up a customer? We can’t do that, we need the business.”

  “You know that’s why we partner with Dr. Harrow. The animals need to live more than we need the business. We’ve done the same for him in the past and so far neither of us has lost a customer. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up, but it rang almost immediately. Colton slowed Goliad into the carriage stand and dropped down to give him a rub down. His life had become so chaotic just the ring made his blood pressure hitch. These few trips with the horses were soothing. There had been moments in his life when he despised his Gram’s devotion to the horses and the agreement she’d entered into without much thought. Her commitment affected all of them and it wasn’t an easy one to keep. It was their legacy—she’d drilled it into them. To be honest, he didn’t understand it. Not about a legacy that was decades old, but she was the closest thing he had to a family. She was there for him when his mother hadn’t been and he owed it to her to do the same.

  “Coffee?” a familiar voice spoke from behind.

  Colton peered over Goliad’s haunches. The last time he’d seen his Dad, they were arguing over selling the horses, Gram’s house, and the stables. He had no desire to go through that again, especially not with her sick.

  “Not now, Dad. Grams has only been in the hospital for a few hours.”

  “And you’re trying to juggle three jobs because of it. Take the coffee and go back to the clinic where they need you.”

  Colton tensed. His dad had never wanted anything to do with the horses. It had angered him the way their entire family’s future centered around these big animals. Even Colton’s choice of career was related. Though he would have done it anyway. He liked working with animals.

  “I can handle it. I have to.”

  “No, you don’t.” His dad moved around Goliad and pushed the coffee toward Colton.

  Colton grunted and although it was in direct conflict with his earlier thought, he challenged the comment. “Yes, I do. Our family made a commitment to t
hese animals and to this town. It’s our legacy. Grams would never let us give it up.”

  “Grams is old, son. She needs as much rest as some of the horses do.”

  “She lives for them and you know it. If they weren’t—You know, I’m not having this discussion with you again. We’ve done it too many times. You don’t get it. You or Mom. This isn’t about Grams or the horses. It’s about commitment, living up to your promises, doing what you say you’re going to do. I realize that’s not something you have much experience with. And Mom certainly has less than you, but that’s where I’m thankful that I take after Grams. I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

  “This isn’t about your mother and me, son—and it was never your promise. You know that.”

  Colton had no desire to battle it out here on the street once again. His dad just didn’t get it. A man’s word mattered. And for some reason, keeping Gram’s commitment did too. He knew he didn’t have to, he wouldn’t be expected to hold to it. Yet, for some reason the fact that his parents hadn’t taken it seriously made it all the more important to him. A family approached for a ride and he was never more thankful to climb back up in the carriage. And get away from his father.

  But he couldn’t.

  James Raymond Scott, his father, smiled at the family as they climbed aboard the carriage . . . and whisked up into the front, taking the lines from the loop on the side. “Welcome aboard. How are you fine folks doing?” he asked, ignoring Colton altogether.

  Colton shook his head. He did not want to do this in front of customers. He put a hand on the rail and reached his foot to step up next to the old man.

  Goliad chose that very minute to misbehave and Colton swore it was intentional. The horse glanced back with his big chocolate eyes and—stepped forward. Not once but several times. In fact, the horse took the family away with his dad at the helm.