Max (7 Brides for 7 Brothers Book 5)

by Lynn Raye Harris

  There was a knot in her belly. “No one said it had to be, did they? You’re here, trying to convince me to sell and learning how we operate while you do that.”

  “I’m not going to ask you to sell. Not anymore.”

  He’d said earlier that he wasn’t going to take the farm from her, and while it had made her heart leap, she’d also been worried about him and what he wanted. Because if he didn’t have the money from the farm, he would have to put off his dream—which meant he’d go back to doing dangerous things. Or more dangerous things than what he wanted to do with his own business. She had to assume that was less risky than what he did now, which was certainly a powerful motivation to make that change.

  “I’ll get the money, Max. Champ will win at Louisville and I’ll get an offer. And even if he doesn’t win, I’ll get an offer because everyone is going to know how very good he could be with the right trainer once they see him. Everything will work out, and we’ll both get what we want. You can stay here until then if you like. No pressure.”

  But her belly churned and her skin prickled with heat. Not the heat of arousal or need, but worry. She worried about Champ performing well next week because that could set the tone for the season, and she worried about Max, about what he was going to do. And she didn’t want him to go. There it was—she didn’t want him to leave when she was just now getting to know him. She liked having him around—liked the way he looked at her, the way he touched her, the way she felt when he was buried inside her. It was different with him. She felt things she’d never felt before, and maybe that was her inexperience and the fact she’d never encountered a man like him—a man who was so sexy and in charge, who knew what he wanted and took it, who inspired confidence in his ability to get things done just by the tone of his voice and the way he attacked a problem.

  “I know,” he said. “And thanks. But Ellie, don’t sell yourself short, okay? Lacey and Miguel say that horse is one of the best they’ve ever seen. He didn’t get that way by himself.”

  Their steaks arrived then, and she couldn’t say anything until the waiter walked away. “No, he didn’t, but someone with more experience could take him further.”

  “How does a horse trainer get more experience, Ellie?”

  He’d arched an eyebrow and was looking at her with a challenging expression. Now that was more like the Max she expected. The Max she’d lived with for the past several days.

  “It takes time. You get there by training and showing and working hard—and having a good mentor.”

  “Your mother was your mentor, am I right?”

  “She was.”

  “And was she good?”

  Pride swelled Ellie’s chest. “One of the best. She trained four world’s champions—though we never had a world’s grand champion.”

  “Then you be the one to get that brass ring,” he said. “Don’t give up until you get it.”

  “It takes years,” she said.

  “You got anything else to do?”

  She couldn’t help but grin. “No.”

  “Exactly.”

  Impulsively, she reached across the table and grabbed his hand. He didn’t pull away. “Come to the show next weekend and watch Champ work. It’s his first show, and I could use the moral support.”

  She saw the hesitation flash through his eyes, as if he was considering not being in Kentucky at all. As if he was planning to take that job in the desert and leave anyway. But then he squeezed her hand and nodded. “I’ll be there.”

  Relief washed through her then, so strong she felt weak with it. She picked up her fork and kept eating. She had no idea what was going on here, not really, but whatever it was, it twisted up her insides and made her jumpy as a cat. She liked this man far too much for comfort—but she didn’t think he felt the same.

  She didn’t blame him. He hadn’t twisted her arm or anything. He’d warned her, in fact. Told her he had nothing to offer her, but she’d barreled forward anyway, refusing to walk away when he told her she should.

  And now they were lovers. Every day that passed, she felt drawn deeper into the mire of her emotions. Since the night he’d sat with her in the barn, if she was honest with herself, that’s when she’d started to feel more than she should. It was too late to change it. All she could do was ride it out until the end.

  And pray her heart survived.

  17

  Max couldn’t sleep. He sat on the porch for the second time tonight. Earlier, he and Ellie had come home from Lexington and sat out here. She had a glass of wine, he had a beer. They talked. Nothing so deep as what they’d talked about earlier. Nothing about his dad or her mom or the future of the farm. It was mostly stories about growing up—her with horses, him as the son of a successful tycoon. To say they’d led disparate lives was an understatement.

  And yet they were connected, not only by the fact his father had left him this farm but by the relationship between their mothers. His mother had loved this place, he had no doubt. He didn’t have to hear it from anyone’s lips to know it. The picture of her on a horse with Pam at her side was enough evidence. The smiles, the sheer happiness on their faces, the look of utter contentment.

  He saw that look on Ellie’s face when she was with her horses. She loved those beasts, and it kind of surprised him to realize his mother had too. But she’d given it up. For love, for kids, for whatever reason. Some people walked away from horses and never went back. But many did. Ellie had told him about her newest student, Terri. A woman who’d ridden twenty years ago but then marriage and family got in the way.

  The kids were in high school now, and Terri missed riding. So she’d returned to it and she was even talking about buying her own horse. Ellie hoped she would. She had a good seat, Ellie said. Whatever that meant.

  They’d ended up in bed, of course. He’d taken her to his room, made love to her on the air mattress with the smell of fresh paint hanging in the air in spite of the fact he’d opened the windows. She’d marveled at the windows, and he’d promised to get the rest of them open. Old houses and windows that were painted shut. It was practically a requirement.

  And then she’d fallen asleep in his arms, curled around him, and he’d lain there awake, feeling both content and restless at the same time. He hadn’t meant to take her to bed again. He’d told himself after the conversation with Aunt Claire that he needed to back off and figure out what he had to do next.

  He enjoyed Ellie, there was no doubt. But it wasn’t fair to her to let this keep going if there was no future in it. And there wasn’t, because that wasn’t him. Wasn’t his life.

  Yet every time he thought that, he got a pinch in his chest, as if someone were stabbing him with a very sharp, very thin knife. He liked her too much. And part of him liked this life, which was so uncomplicated compared to what he usually did.

  Like now, sitting in the dark on this porch. It was comforting. He had time to think. Not the kind of thinking he did on watch when lives were on the line, but thinking about anything and everything.

  Thinking about the best place to put a master bath addition. Thinking about refinished floors and freshly painted walls, about wood restored and wiring redone.

  Jesus, what the hell was wrong with him?

  He stood and started down the steps, needing to walk in the cool grass and clear his mind. He headed for the barn, because that was the most logical place to go. It wasn’t quiet out here, far from it. There were crickets and frogs and the sound of horses softly moving in the grass from time to time.

  He heard the sound of an engine in the distance, but that wasn’t entirely unusual. The road was a few hundred feet away, and traffic sometimes passed this late at night. He kept going, kept thinking. He was halfway to the barn when a shot cracked in the relative stillness. He froze, his blood running cold. It wasn’t deer season. Another farmer could be shooting at coyotes perhaps. But then horses’ hooves pounded in the night, and he knew that no one was shooting at coyotes. There was neighing and frigh
tened snorting, and another shot sounded.

  A high-pitched whinny sounded then, and Max broke into a run. He didn’t have a weapon, but he didn’t necessarily need one. Most people would go the other way, but he ran toward the sound of the shots, leaping over the fence and into the pasture. They were coming from the other side of the field, and he ran hard toward the last location, keeping as low as he could while also staying away from the horses, which seemed to be a target for whomever was shooting.

  It could be kids. Teenagers did stupid things sometimes. Or it could be worse. A horse snorted and neighed, and Max feared the worst. But he had to catch the culprit. That was his one thought. Catch the asshole and take him down hard.

  A vehicle engine revved and then roared into the night. Max kept running as taillights appeared when the driver tapped the brakes. Then the headlights flashed on and the vehicle accelerated down a path that ran along the pasture before disappearing into the woods.

  Whoever it was would get away, there was no doubt about that, but Max kept running anyway. And then there was the sound of squealing brakes and a crash as the vehicle plowed into something. Max redoubled his efforts and kept running.

  A truck had crashed into a fence just a few yards ahead as the driver misjudged the turn and skidded headlong into the barrier. The engine whined as the driver tried to back up and get free. Max threw himself at the driver’s side door, wrenching it open. A male voice yelled obscenities at him and a handgun swung into view. Max didn’t hesitate as he swiftly disarmed the man and then dragged him from the truck by the throat and slammed him into the ground.

  The driver hit with a thud but tried to get up again. Max dropped him with a blow and he was still, his hands rising to shield his face as if he expected another blow.

  “What the hell?”

  It was Ellie’s voice. Max turned to see her approaching with a shotgun in her hands and a wild-eyed look on her face. She must have woken when the shots sounded. She came closer and then she shined a flashlight on the man lying in the grass. He blinked and groaned and Max wanted to kick him again just on principle.

  “Brice Parker. You asshole,” Ellie hissed. “If you hurt any of my horses, I’m going to fucking shoot you myself.”

  Max reached down and lifted Brice by his throat. He made choking noises as his legs kicked helplessly.

  “I warned you, didn’t I?” Max growled. “I told you what I’d do if you came near Ellie or Lacey ever again.”

  Brice sniveled like the pussy he was. “Let me go. I didn’t do anything wrong. Please.”

  “Shut up, asshole. Ellie, call the police before I kill this motherfucker for breathing.”

  Ellie took out her cell phone and made the call. Max shoved Brice against the side of the truck and then reached inside and pulled out a box of 22-caliber rifle shells. A peek in the back of the truck would no doubt reveal the rifle. “What the hell were you hunting, asshole?”

  Brice spit in the grass. The truck’s engine idled, and Hank Williams spilled from the radio. “Nothing. It’s a free country.”

  “Not when you hunt Ellie’s horses, it’s not.”

  Ellie finished the call. Her face was white in the light filtering down from the trees. The moon was coming up and illuminating the landscape, and Max’s heart hurt for her. If one of those horses was hurt, she’d be devastated. Considering the sounds he’d heard earlier, he suspected one was. The fact he heard nothing now worried him. Had one of her horses died?

  “Did you hit any of my horses?” she growled as she walked over to them.

  “I didn’t shoot any horses,” Brice said.

  “You had better damned well hope not,” Ellie snarled at him.

  “Go,” Max told her. “Check the pasture.”

  “As soon as the police arrive.”

  “Ellie,” Max said. “It’s okay. I can handle it.”

  She seemed to hesitate. And then she thrust her shotgun at him. “Take this.”

  He didn’t need it, but he took it anyway. Probably for the best, because if she found any of her horses dead in that pasture, she was coming back to kill this man.

  Max thought he might just help her, if so.

  Ellie’s gut twisted as she ran the flashlight over her horses. Lily had been hit. Blood dripped from a hole in her hindquarters while she shivered. The baby was fine, but he stayed close to his momma. Ellie soothed the mare with soft words as she walked up slowly. She got ahold of the halter and led the horse toward the barn. The baby followed while the other horses snorted and pranced a short distance away.

  Ellie dialed the emergency vet while she walked, her fingers shaking hard. He answered on the second ring and she told him what happened. She heard sirens in the distance as the police made their way to the farm. She thought of Max holding Brice at gunpoint and knew there was no way the asshole was getting away with this.

  Small comfort at the moment, but at least it was something. When the vet arrived, the police were everywhere. He tended to Lily while Ellie stayed close by. A cop came to talk to her while she held the mare.

  “She’ll be fine,” the vet said when he finished. He left instructions and medicine, and Miguel showed up to watch over everything while Ellie went down to the police station with Max. He’d walked up in the blue glare of the lights, his face an angry mask, and her heart had skipped with gratitude. And maybe something more, though she was too tired to know what that was. They’d ridden in silence to the station, and then they’d been separated, presumably to give their version of events in their statements. By the time they were ready to leave, it was after six a.m.

  “I’m sorry, Ellie,” Max said as he drove her back to the farm.

  “It’s not your fault. You caught him. I don’t even want to think of the danger you put yourself in to do it either.”

  “I know what I’m doing. It was fine. But I’m sorry he did such a terrible thing and hurt one of the horses.” His voice was low and filled with anger, and she reached out to squeeze his arm.

  “Thank you. Lily will be okay—and her baby is unharmed. If he’d just waited until the moon was up… Well, I shudder to think of it. Even though it was only a .22, he could have killed her if he’d taken good aim and hit her in the right spot. Or he could have killed the baby.” She sounded perfectly calm, but inside she was screaming.

  “He’s an idiot,” Max growled. “He wanted to hurt you, but he didn’t plan it well.”

  “Thank God.”

  “Agreed.”

  She could tell that Brice’s attack on the animals had hit a nerve with Max. It had hit a nerve with her too, of course, but she was surprised at how angry Max was. Considering the kinds of things he must have seen as a SEAL and as a contract soldier—or whatever it was he did—she had to think that a redneck trying to shoot horses was pretty low on the scale of violence and misery he was accustomed to.

  “I watched him,” he said. “I followed him and watched—and I didn’t see this coming.”

  She gaped at him. He’d followed Brice? “I don’t understand. When?”

  He threw her a glance. “After Lacey filed the restraining order. I watched him to see if he’d go near her. I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t, and I didn’t want to leave her unprotected.”

  Understanding dawned. Those nights after Lacey had gone home when she’d wondered where Max was. She’d thought he was avoiding her, but he’d been protecting Lacey. Her heart swelled with so many feelings that she couldn’t quite deal with them all. Not yet.

  “You kept Lacey safe.”

  “But I didn’t keep you safe.”

  “I’m fine, Max. My horses are fine—mostly fine. The vet says Lily will recover quickly. The bullet wound isn’t life threatening. Am I pissed beyond belief that it happened? Hell yes I am. But not at you. How could you know he’d come after me?”

  “I should have known. When he didn’t go near Lacey, when he avoided calling or following her—I should have realized he’d shifted his target. A man like that is
too used to getting what he wants to ever let go of an insult so easily. I insulted him, and Lacey complicated matters with the restraining order. That left you. He wouldn’t come after you, but he knew he could hurt you if he harmed your horses.”

  Ellie shuddered. “It could have been worse. He could have set the barn on fire.”

  “Too risky. He wanted the distance and anonymity a drive-by shooting would provide.”

  “Thankfully, it didn’t work out, and everyone in town will know what he did by tonight.”

  “Yep.”

  They turned into the farm then and eased down the drive. Soon she’d have to go help Miguel and prepare for the day. Even though she was exhausted, she had to work or lose revenue. And with a show coming next week, she needed every extra dollar she could get. As it was, she was going have to sell a kidney to finance this show season.

  Or maybe a horse.

  “I’m so grateful you were here, Max. I don’t know what I’d have done without you. What Lacey would have done. You’re—” She choked because she didn’t know quite what to say. Amazing? Incredible? The most wonderful man I’ve ever met?

  Somehow, she didn’t think those were the appropriate things to say just now. She was tired and emotionally wrung out and she was second-guessing everything. He looked over at her, and she knew she had to say something.

  “You’re a good friend,” she said, her heart hammering. She wanted to slap her hands over her face and hide. Gah, how lame was that? Friend? He was so much more.

  He smiled at her and she felt like maybe—just maybe—that had been an okay thing to say. “Thanks.”

  They pulled up to the barn, and he put the truck into park. When he turned to her, his eyebrows were drawn low and he looked very serious. So serious that her heart skipped a beat.

  “I won’t leave you shorthanded, Ellie—but I think it’s probably time I think about getting back to what I’m good at and leave you to do what you’re good at. I’ve learned all I need to know about the farm.”