He grabbed a couple lead ropes and a halter, too, just in case. He stuffed those at the top of the backpack and sprayed a heavy coat of mosquito repellant over every inch of him, pulling on a light jacket before he looped the rifle over his shoulder. Neil glanced back at the house before cutting onto the path that would lead him back to Candy’s. The horses could be anywhere, but one thing he knew about horses was that they knew how to find their way home, and Neil was counting on that. He picked his way over downed trees and piles of debris that had him zigzagging back and forth. He kept his eye on the sun, watching as it dipped lower on the horizon, because the last thing he wanted was to get stuck out there when the sun went down. There were too many unsettled things after a storm, animals, snakes, nothing he wanted to toy with in the dark.
He spotted what he thought was the wall of the old barn. As he stepped closer, he shook his head at the crumbled debris piled here and there and the chunks of rock that appeared to be holding up the one wall left standing. He was glad Candy wasn’t with him, because her horses never would have survived in there. They’d have been crushed, and that image was something he didn’t want in Candy’s head. No, he’d make sure this was cleaned up for her. It was just one more thing he needed to look after. The fact that he’d promised to walk away from this property and from everything he’d planned and worked toward over the past two years.
He heard something through the trees off to his right. A branch moved, and he saw leaves swaying. He slid the rifle off his shoulder and checked to make sure it was loaded, then stepped over the vegetation scattered everywhere, his footsteps crunching and cracking the leaves and branches scattered all over the ground. There he was, watching Neil. His sleek gray mane was gnarled and muddy. He yanked off leaves from a bush and was munching away. Neil stepped closer and looped the rifle back over his shoulder. He unzipped the backpack and pulled out the lead rope.
He could tell the horse was nervous, and he could feel that Sable was considering bolting. He had dried blood here and there on his forehead, shoulder, down his leg and his flank. The poor guy. Neil was worried about how badly he was hurt. “Whoa, easy, boy. Sable, I’m not going to hurt you.” He held his hand out and walked slowly.
Sable snorted and stomped his front hoof, pawing at the ground. Neil didn’t stop. Sable appeared wild: The whites of his eyes flared, and he tossed his head. Neil held his hand to his muzzle, then ran his hand up his forehead and over the white star between his eyes, clipping the lead rope to his halter. “It’s okay, boy. I’m going to take you back with me.”
Something shiny flashed off to the side. Neil held the lead rope and ran his hand down Sables’ flank when he spotted the hoof a few yards away, sticking out from under a mangled heap of trees, branches, and part of a roof. “Shit.”
He led Sable to one of the palm trees still standing and tied him to it securely. He patted his side and quickly surveyed the cuts and dried blood. He was a mess, but it looked superficial. He should be okay.
Neil made his way closer and spotted the dark leg of one of the horses. It wasn’t moving, and as he lifted a piece of rubble, he saw the horse was buried underneath it. He knew it was already dead, the thoroughbred she’d been trying to sell. He didn’t know how he was going to tell Candy. She was going to be devastated. Well, there was nothing he could do for this guy. That left the palomino. Neil picked his way around another tree and looked around at the broken-off tree limbs, smelling rotted vegetation and the salty air from the ocean. There was an odor of death, of destruction and decay, that he couldn’t shake. He glanced back at Sable and knew he sensed the same thing. Neil didn’t want to keep him out here much longer.
He stopped and listened, looking around in each of the four directions. He heard something as he stepped out of the trees to a pile of sand and the palomino who was on the ground, her eyes blinking, lying on her side. He could tell by the angle of her back leg that it was broken. She was barely moving. She had a tree branch poking from her side and a piece of metal jutting out of her windpipe. She was wheezing, barely alive, as he kneeled down beside her.
“I’m so sorry there, girl.” He ran his hand over her mane and down to her whither, and she nickered softly. His throat squeezed and threatened to choke him. He blinked back a burning in his eyes and fought the tears that wanted to fall. He stood up, slid the rifle over his shoulder, took off the safety, and pressed the barrel to her head. He pulled the trigger, and the blast left him numb as he stared at the now still horse and the lifelessness that came over it instantly. He hoped she was at peace, and he shut his eyes for a second to steady himself and then headed back for Sable. His heart had been ripped wide open in doing what he had to do.
Chapter 24
“There are some things she just doesn’t need to know.” Neil stood side by side with Stella, who, for the first time, wore slacks along with those wretched high heels. He had no clue how she strutted around at her age, and he watched as Candy walked Sable on a lead rope around the corral Neil had put together with Carlos, who had returned with Ana the morning after the storm.
“So you’re not going to tell her the truth,” Stella said as she crossed her arms, wearing a bright green sweater.
“She doesn’t need to know what happened to her horses. It’s best if she believes they’ve found a new home. She lost too much. She’s carried an awful lot of hurt for a long time, and I’m not adding to that.” Neil glanced down at this colorful older woman he thought of as a friend.
“Is that what you told her?” she asked.
“I said they were rescued and they were in a good place.”
“She’ll be furious when she finds out.”
“I can live with that. What I can’t live with is seeing the pain of loss in her eyes. I don’t ever want to see that there again. So, tell me, with the roads now cleared from Cancun, has most of the power been restored?”
“Changing the subject, Neil, will not work with me. You know that.” Stella gave as good as she got, and she stood right beside him. The top of her head, even in those ridiculous heels, barely reached his shoulders. “I’m glad to see she’s with you and you’re looking after her. I knew you two belonged together.” She laughed a husky laugh. “Can’t wait to see some dark-headed little Friessens running around.”
Neil set his hands on his hips and grinned, because he’d spent every night for the last week making love to her passionately, fiercely, teaching her all about love. Not once had he considered using anything to protect her, because the fact was that he couldn’t wait to see her belly swell with his child. He couldn’t wait to fill this house with his children. He was thinking five, and he knew she’d be a damn good mother.
“I have never seen you this way, Neil Friessen. She’s got you, and you have that look about you that says you’re going to have her for dinner.” She patted his arm. “Thank you. But we need to talk about her property and Randy.”
Neil had known this was coming. He took his eyes off Candy for a few seconds and didn’t miss the hard set of Stella’s face. At times, she could be all business, even though, deep down, she had a heart of gold. She was a smart cookie and had closed countless deals by making many a man think she was a brainless twit. She would be out the door with the cash before anyone figured out she’d pulled the rug out from under them, and she always got the better deal.
“Stella, Randy is dead, and I nearly lost Candy because of that worthless drunk she had for a daddy. He screwed with her head, and I’ll never forgive him for that. Deep down, I think she knows he lied about me and that he twisted the truth about the offer I made. She hated me for how long, all because her father wanted her to, and the kind of hurt that he put in her is so deep. I’m still having to chip away at the walls she’s thrown up around her heart. I’m pretty sure they’ve always been there. I want her to know love, and sometimes it’s better to leave all those ghosts and skeletons just where they are: dead and buried.” Neil glanced over at Candy as she slipped off Sables’ halter and
walked over to the shelter where Ambrose was hopping around excitedly. Ambrose had been stuck like glue to Sable since they were put together in this corral days ago.
“Well, her property is now yours. Does she know?”
Neil shook his head. “Not yet. I promised her I wouldn’t touch it, and I had every intention of walking away from it.” He breathed deeply, knowing Candy would be furious.
“But you found out that rich Texan was going to snatch it up and build condos up and down the beach.”
“Yeah, couldn’t have that. It’d kill her to see that piece of paradise desecrated.”
Stella squeezed his arm. “So are we going to be seeing construction starting any time soon on that all-inclusive resort you have planned?”
He didn’t miss the lightness that filled her voice. It was the same voice she used when she wanted in on some deal. “No,” he said as he watched Candy heading straight for him with an easy smile and smoky eyes, with that magical spark that had been there for a week. It held their secret, their love. She looked so damn sexy in her pink skirt, which brushed her ankles, and her white tank top, with a thin belt at her waist. Her mile-long hair hung in waves, begging him to run his hands and fingers through it. “It’ll be up to Candy what goes there. That’s her baby, her place. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“You’re telling me you paid off her debt and you’re giving her the property?” she asked. Neil stared down at the mischievous expression on Stella’s face, and she patted his arm. “I expect a front-row seat at the wedding.” Then she waved her hand and strode away, stopping to hug Candy.
“Hey, what was Stella doing here?” Candy asked as she went into the arms he held out to her.
“Oh, you know, catching up, seeing how we are.”
She rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him. He couldn’t help himself as he leaned down and kissed her lips.
“You know, before I scoop you up and take you up to bed, I want to ask you something.” He had been waiting for the right time, and he watched the curiosity in her expression.
“What do you want to ask me?” She slid her hands over his butt and into his back pockets.
“Do you want a big or small wedding?”
Her eyes widened, and her face paled a bit before she said, “But you’re supposed to ask me to marry you first.”
Neil shoved his hand in his front pocket and went down on one knee. He held her hand in his and slid a pear-shaped diamond on her ring finger. “Candy McCrae, will you do me the honor of being my wife, the mother of my children, my lover, my best friend forever, until death do us part?”
Her expression crumbled, her lip trembled, and tears glossed over her eyes. She fought them back, blinking, and then cleared her throat and pressed a shaky hand to her lips as she shook her head and said, “Yes.”
Neil lifted her in his arms and swung her around, then kissed her deeply. His cell phone rang in his shirt pocket. He rested his forehead against hers. “Bad timing.” He yanked out the phone and looked at the call display. “Hey, Dad! Yeah, everything’s fine.” He squeezed Candy’s waist and pulled her closer. “I got some great news.” He gazed at the one woman he’d wanted for so long and said, “I’m getting married.”
THE END
Next in Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series, THE WEDDING. And for news on upcoming stories and series, click here to sign up for Lorhainne Eckhart’s Newsletter.
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading The Unexpected Storm, this book was so much fun to write. Neil is such a complex man, the fun middle brother. And there is a lot going on in his sexy head.
The final book in the Outsider Series is The Wedding and it will be quite a finale reuniting the entire Friessen clan.
If you enjoyed The Unexpected Storm, then I’d love to ask you a favor and have you go back to wherever you purchased this eBook and provide a review. All authors depend on reviews, so the few extra seconds it takes you really helps us out. Thank you so much.
Although this book and all my books have been edited and proofed, editors, proofreaders and I are all human. If you spot a typo, please email me at [email protected] and let me know. Also, I would like to thank everyone who has emailed and told all their family and friends about my books. And if you’d like to know more about my other books please scroll to the next section or visit my website at www.LorhainneEckhart.com
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All the best,
Lorhainne Eckhart
About the Author
Lorhainne Eckhart is a 2013 Readers Favorite Award winner, frequently a top 100 bestselling author on Amazon in Romance, Westerns and Police Procedural. Author of 25 titles which includes novels, collections, and short stories. She writes three genres, western romance, romantic suspense and military romance and has sold more than 250,000 eBooks since her bestseller The Forgotten Child landed on the Amazon #1 Bestseller list for Westerns and Western Romance.
The German Foreign rights for The Forgotten Child have since been acquired by a major publisher, retitled The Forgotten Boy and released March 18, 2014, now a top 100 overall bestseller on Amazon. Lorhainne lives on sunny Salt Spring Island with her family where she is working on her next book.
Lorhainne Eckhart loves to hear from readers!
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Sign up for Lorhainne’s Newsletter
Links to Lorhainne Eckhart’s Booklist
The following Lorhainne Eckhart titles are available in electronic format. Please scroll down for the links or visit my website at www.LorhainneEckhart.com for available retailers.
Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series
The Forgotten Child
A Baby And A Wedding
Fallen Hero
The Search
The Awakening
Secrets
Runaway
The Unexpected Storm
Overdue
The Wedding
The Friessens: A New Beginning
The Deadline
The Wilde Brothers
The One
The Honeymoon, A Wilde Brothers Short
Friendly Fire
Walk the Right Road Series
The Choice
Lost And Found
Merkaba
Bounty
Blown Away: The Final Chapter
The Saved Series
Saved
Vanished
Boxed Sets & Collections
Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series Volume 1
Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series Volume 2
Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series – The Complete Collection
Walk the Right Road: The Complete Collection
Table of Contents
Main Menu
About the Author
Links to Lorhainne Eckhart’s Booklist
Copyright Information
Chapters:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
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