Hearts Are Wild

by Patrice Michelle

As evening approached and the wind whipped around her again, she glanced up to see dark clouds rolling in the night sky. Sighing, she decided she’d better go eat some dinner. When she shut the screen door behind her, the wind howled, causing the door to swing wide open and slam against the main door. Sabrina shivered at the loud sound and decided it might be best to close the main door, too.

  Opening the refrigerator, she pulled out her plate and stuck it in the microwave. As the smell of fried chicken and baked beans wafted from the microwave, she watched the trees bend back and forth in the wind and wondered why Josh hadn’t shown or at least called.

  Turning off the kitchen lights, she walked into the casual living room and flipped on the TV while she set the plate on the coffee table and sat down on the couch to eat. The TV’s sound in the background made her feel less alone. Nan was right. She did miss Mace and everyone else. The house seemed so quiet now that Elise, Colt, Mace and Nan were gone. When she thought of the reason for Elise’s absence, Sabrina said a little prayer for her friend’s father before she began to eat her meal. She hoped he made it through his surgery without any complications.

  A warning flashed up on the TV screen, making her turn up the volume out of curiosity.

  Earlier today, Eddie Clayton, convicted for the murder of his longtime live-in girlfriend, escaped the bus that was transferring him from his temporary cell to his permanent twenty-year stay in the state penitentiary. If you see this man, don’t go near him, please call 911. He was last seen heading south on foot as he ran into the woods off Highway 17.

  Sabrina shivered at the picture that flashed up on the screen of the menacing man with his long black hair, full beard and beady black eyes. Highway 17 was only a few miles from the Lonestar ranch. What part of Highway 17? she wanted to scream at the TV. When the news flash ended, she clicked off the TV and turned on the side table lamp to light up the entire room.

  Walking into the kitchen, she turned on the light and cleaned her plate and glass, dried them and put them away. She’d just turned off the light in the kitchen and started to walk into the living room when she thought she heard a knock at the door.

  Apprehension washed over her and her heart rate slammed in her chest as she peeked out the kitchen window. No one appeared to be standing at the back door, but she noticed a glow that drew her gaze. An oil lantern sat on the railing holding down a piece of white paper that fluttered in the wind.

  No way would an escaped murderer take time to write a note, let alone find a lantern. Feeling better, she opened the door, walked outside and lifted the lantern to retrieve the paper. She set the lantern back down as she read the note.

  Elise,

  Meet me at the stables. I’ve got a couple of things to go over with you.

  Josh

  With a smile, Sabrina crumpled the note and set it on the railing beside the lantern. That news flash on TV had really spooked her. In more ways than one she was thankful for Josh’s company. Grabbing the lantern, she carefully walked down the stairs in her high-heeled sandals.

  She didn’t care about the wind slamming into her or the thunder off in the distance, announcing an impending storm. She just wanted to see Josh again. Hmmm, he might be disappointed that it wasn’t Elise meeting him concerning the horse, but as her heart raced in anticipation of seeing him again, she hoped her appearance in the stables would make him glad he came by anyway.

  The wind had apparently blown the large stable doors closed. She had to pull hard to open one of the heavy wood panels against the wind. Once she’d opened it enough for her body to squeeze through, she slid inside.

  As the door slammed closed behind her, a couple of horses neighed, drawing her attention. Holding up the lantern, her heels sank into the dirt floor as she turned in the direction of the agitated horses and called out in a loud whisper, “Josh, are you there?” Why the heck am I whispering? she wondered.

  Maybe it was because, with the main doors closed, the stables were almost pitch-black. The darkness combined with the sound of the wind buffeting the stable walls outside made knots form in her stomach. Hearing that story on TV and knowing some psycho-killer was running around free didn’t help either, she thought with a smirk.

  As she walked toward the neighing horses’ stalls, she realized Josh never answered her. She held the lantern higher and found herself hissing out in a whisper once more, “Josh Kelly, I’m spooked enough as it is tonight. I don’t need you goofing around. You’d better show yourself or…or I’m going to tell Colt what you said to me yesterday.”

  When Josh didn’t answer her joking threat, the knots in the pit of her stomach turned to queasiness and then a cold feeling shot down her spine as fear caused the hairs on her arms to stand up. Something definitely didn’t feel right.

  “Colt can’t have what belongs to me,” a man said from behind her, his low voice dripping with hatred.

  As Sabrina started to whirl around to shine the light on the man, a sharp pain flashed through the back of her skull. She fell to the dirt floor, felt the bits of scratchy hay underneath her cheek and then nothing.

  * * * * *

  Sabrina awoke feeling like someone had beaten her with a baseball bat. When she tried to turn her head to see around the room in order to determine where she was, she moaned at the pain the small action caused in the back of her head.

  Lifting her hand to her head, a sharp sting in her hand caused her to gasp. Josh leaned over her and grabbed the IV pole that had tilted with her swift movement, righting it. Apparently that’s what had caused the pain. She had an IV needle stuck in her hand.

  “Hi there,” Josh said softly as he pushed her hair back from her forehead. Concern lined his brow as he looked down at her, worry and relief paramount in his gaze. He smelled of smoke and he had dirt on his face. Smudged with soot and crumpled, his white T-shirt looked as if he’d pulled it out of the “to be bleached” pile of laundry.

  “You look about as bad as I feel,” she croaked out.

  The corner of his lips tilted in amusement and his teal green eyes twinkled. “You must not be too bad off then, or do you always wake up handing out compliments?”

  She managed a smile. “I’m not a morning person. That’s for sure. Uh, is it morning?” she asked, confused once again.

  “No, it’s almost midnight. But as far as your comment on not being a morning person,” he paused and ran his thumb down her jaw, his gaze following its path as he finished in a husky tone, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Where am I? What happened?”

  Josh’s brows drew together and he took her hand. “You don’t remember what happened?”

  Her heart thudded against her chest and her stomach tensed that she couldn’t recall how she got there or why her head hurt so damn bad. His warm hand on hers helped calm her frazzled nerves. At least the fuzzy feeling spreading from his contact with her hand to the rest of her body was comforting.

  “Why were you so late?” she asked, trying to remember when he finally showed up at Elise’s house. Staring at his tousled hair and five o’clock shadow on his sexy jaw, she wondered how the hell she could forget him finally putting in an appearance.

  “Sabrina, Josh saved your life.” Nan’s upbeat voice came from the other side of the bed.

  She turned her head as Nan entered her room. Taking in the sparsely decorated room, the IV pole, the hard twin bed she was residing in and the cotton gown with a blue floral print on her body, Sabrina realized she was in a hospital.

  Nan patted her other hand then picked it up and squeezed it. “I’m so thankful you’re okay. When I got back and saw all the fire trucks—”

  “Fire trucks?” Sabrina interrupted, her voice raising an octave as panic started to take over. “What fire trucks?” Even as she asked, she realized the mention of the fire trucks explained Josh’s bedraggled appearance.

  “The stables were on fire and you were unconscious inside,” Josh explained.

  “Oh my God,” Sabrina said as she ra
ised a trembling hand to her mouth in horror, afraid to ask. But she needed to know. “The horses?”

  “Are fine, my dear,” Nan answered with a calming smile.

  “What do you remember?” Josh asked, his question urgent.

  Sabrina met his intense gaze, frustrated that she couldn’t recall. “I waited for you to come to…to tell you that Elise had to go out of town suddenly.” She furrowed her brow, hoping the rest would come back to her.

  Nan took her hand back and squeezed it, concern on her lined face as she glanced at Josh. “I know you’re rattled, Sabrina. What else do you remember?”

  “All I remember was hearing a sound and walking outside to see what caused it. And…and…” She struggled, trying to remember. Fear slammed into her and she blurted out, “I do remember someone or something hitting me in the back of the head but…but who and how, I just don’t know.”

  “You don’t remember anything else?” Josh asked her, his expression insistent as he came around to stand beside Nan.

  She slowly shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. That’s all I remember.”

  Josh gave a heavy sigh. Then he said to Nan, “The doc won’t let her talk to the police until he’s checked her out himself.”

  “The police?”

  Josh nodded. “I stopped by to apologize to Elise for missing our appointment when I saw the smoke coming out of the stables.”

  He met her gaze, his serious, concerned. “Here are the facts as I know them for now. The stables were on fire and the doors were locked from the outside. You were inside the stables and you have a knot on your head as if you were hit from behind. We’re not sure yet if the fire was intentional or not but whoever hit you must’ve also locked you in.”

  Looking at Nan, he said, “Go ahead and get the doc so the police can leave.”

  As Nan rushed out, fear set in, making her chest tighten and her breathing increase as she said, “But that doesn’t make any sense. No one knows me here. Certainly not enough to wish me harm.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t you they were after.” His green eyes darkened, churning with unfathomable intensity. “I wouldn’t want anything or anyone to harm you,” he said, sounding serious, almost possessive.

  She tilted her head to the side and said with a half smile, “I do remember what you said to me in the stall the day before when you thought I was Elise. I guess the fire doused your plans to meet with her.” When she realized what she’d said, she quickly added, “About the horse, I mean.” Well, crap! Why couldn’t she leave well enough alone? Why did it bother her so much that he cared about Elise? She’d just met the man.

  “Er, sorry. I didn’t mean to imply…well, it’s just that… I didn’t imagine your attraction to Elise yesterday in the stables—” she started to say, but he cut her off as he moved closer and put his hands on the bed on either side of her, his statement low and rumbling.

  “Once upon a time…maybe…but that was the first time I’d ever been attracted to Elise’s backside.”

  He paused and ran his finger along her jaw, his intimate touch taking her breath away despite the incessant pounding in her head.

  Then he continued, “If you had any idea what I thought about doing with you all day after I’d laid eyes on you, you wouldn’t be questioning what woman I wanted ‘cause I sure as hell don’t.”

  The heated look in his intense gaze, mixed with the conviction in his words, made her heart skip a beat. Unsure how to respond to his revelation, she started to speak when Nan walked into the room followed by an older, silver-haired man with gold-rimmed glasses. Josh straightened but stayed close to the bed as the doctor approached.

  Pulling his stethoscope out of his coat, the doctor said in an upbeat tone, “Hi there, young lady. I’m Amos Shelton. You gave us quite a scare tonight.” Glancing at Josh, he said, “Stand back, Josh, and let me have a look at my patient.”

  When Josh moved back to the other side of the bed to allow the doctor room to work on her, the doctor checked her out thoroughly. Once the doc was finished, Josh asked him, “Is she up to going home tonight?”

  The physician nodded. “I’d like to evaluate her for another half hour, but she doesn’t appear to have a concussion. As long as she’s going to have someone to watch out for her over the next couple of hours, then I’ll release her.”

  The older man looked at her and asked, “There are two police officers who want to ask you some questions. Are you feeling up to it? I told them to be brief.”

  Sabrina nodded and the doc left the room to get the police officers. It seemed within seconds he was back with two officers in tow.

  “Hi, Miss,” the young, blond male police officer said as he entered the room and pulled out a pad and a pen. “I’m Tom Jenkins and this is my partner Renee O’Hara. We’re the investigating officers on this case. Are you feeling well enough to give us a statement?”

  Sabrina nodded and ran through the exact same scenario she gave Josh and Nan.

  “Are you sure there’s nothing else you can remember?” the female police officer asked as she tucked a stray lock of red hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

  Sabrina shook her head.

  The woman looked at her partner. “It’s possible she could’ve stumbled on the escaped convict trying to hide in the stables. I just heard over the radio he was picked up a couple of miles from the Lonestar. They’re questioning him as we speak.”

  Sabrina’s heart jerked at the news her assailant could’ve been a convicted felon. Either way…someone tried to hurt her. As a shiver passed through her, she said in a shaky voice, “Thank goodness you caught him.”

  “When we hear back from the arresting officers, we’ll give you a call,” Renee said. “Where will you be staying?”

  “She’ll stay with me,” Josh interjected.

  Sabrina turned a surprised expression his way. “Um…”

  Josh met her gaze and held it as he said, “Elise would never forgive me if something happened to her friend. I’m taking a personal interest in your well-being, and I think, at least for tonight, you’d feel better staying somewhere else.”

  “Pshaw,” Nan said. “Sabrina, you’re welcome to stay with my sister. She’s a bit crotchety at times, but she wouldn’t mind the company.”

  “I’m…I’m not sure…” Sabrina started to say, not at all sure whom she wanted to stay with.

  “What are your wishes, my dear?” the doctor asked her.

  “She’ll stay with me,” Josh insisted, his tone broking no argument. “Nan, I’ll bring her back to the Lonestar tomorrow.”

  “Josh,” the doc said in a warning tone. “I don’t want my patient upset.”

  “Josh Kelly, I’ve never seen you so argumentative,” Nan said in a shocked voice.

  Sabrina turned to her to say, “It’s all right, Nan. I’ll let Josh watch over me.” That’s when she noticed the amused look on Nan’s face. Hmmm, why did she feel she’d just been hoodwinked into staying with Josh? Better yet, why didn’t it bother her one bit? Because he tripped her trigger. That’s why.

  “Have Colt and Elise been informed of the situation?” Tom asked Josh.

  “I have a call in to Colt’s cell.”

  “Good. Let us know when you reach him,” he said, closing his notepad.

  “And until we know for certain Sabrina’s assailant was the escaped prisoner, no one beyond the people in this room should know where Sabrina is staying tonight,” Renee suggested to everyone.

  “That’s enough questions and people for now,” the doc said, ushering the police officers out of the room.

  As the physician followed the police officers out the door, Renee called over her shoulder, “We’ll be in touch.”

  “Are you hungry?” Nan asked when the door closed behind them. As she spoke, she pulled out a sealed plastic bag of biscuits with a sideways look at the closed door. “Hospital food is never good,” she whispered.

  Sabrina smiled when the doctor reentered the room and Na
n quickly shoved the biscuits back in her oversized purse.

  “Okay, Nan Marie,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s see what goodies you’ve got stowed away in your purse. Did you really think I couldn’t smell your good cookin’ a mile away?”

  As Nan chuckled and pulled out the bag of food, the phone beside her bed rang.

  Josh answered it. “Kelly here.”

  Sabrina listened intently to Josh while the doc negotiated Nan’s biscuit recipe in exchange for lenience on the hospital food rules.

  “Hey, Colt.

  “Yeah, she’s a bit bumped and bruised but she’s fine. All the horses made it out okay but the stables are a total loss.” Josh met her gaze as he continued talking.

  “The police think Sabrina might have surprised an escaped convict who may have been hiding out in the stables. Whoever it was, he knocked her out and possibly was the one who set the stables afire. No, right now she doesn’t remember what happened. I understand you can’t be here for a couple of days.” Josh nodded and he reached for Sabrina’s hand as he sat on the bed beside her. Lacing his fingers with hers, he rubbed his thumb across her palm in a slow, rhythmic motion, his gaze on hers. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on Sabrina.”

  Sabrina’s heart raced as Josh held her hand as if it was the most natural thing for him to do. The intimate way he looked at her, as if they’d known each other for years, made a shiver of sensual awareness run down her spine.

  Josh handed her the phone, drawing her out of her reverie.

  “Elise wants to speak with you.”

  Sabrina took the phone. “Hello?”

  “Ohmigod, Bri, are you all right?”

  “I’ll be fine,” Sabrina answered. “How’s your father?”

  “There was a small complication after the surgery, so I won’t be able to come home for a couple more days. I’m so sorry, Sabrina.”

  Sabrina heard the fear and regret in her friend’s voice. She squeezed Josh’s hand. “Don’t worry. Josh said he’ll take good care of me.”

  “Oooh, he did, did he?” Elise chuckled despite the worry in her voice. “Sounds like you’ve got him right where you want him.”