Evidence of Trust

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  “That’s it.” A glance over her shoulder caught his look of confusion to match his voice, so she faced him once more. “I respect that you’ve worked hard to turn your life around, and over the past three years, you haven’t given me any reason to distrust you. As long as your past is in the past, then it doesn’t change who you are to me.”

  Relief filled his expression and a ghost of his usual smile curved his lips. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

  Her turn to nod.

  The morning flew by with most of the wranglers out on trail rides while Britt stayed back to cover for Mark until the afternoon. Keeping busy kept her mind off last night. Or it should’ve. Snippets of her conversation with Joel snuck in when she least expected.

  Not a good idea.

  My life doesn’t allow for clutter.

  You’re thinking with your heart.

  You deserve better.

  Damn it—she wanted him out of her head. Didn’t help that he’d been right on every single damn point.

  More than once, her heart clamored for her to listen. This time for a different reason. One that had less to do with her father and more to do with that someone better she deserved. Someone who was too perceptive and unexpectedly gallant.

  He wasn’t supposed to make her like him more. Her head knew where they would end up once his investigation was over. It really sucked, but sometimes the head needed to look out for the heart.

  And her head told her to get back to work.

  She carried two saddles out to the horses lined up at the hitching rail. Jon and Mandy would be back soon and their afternoon ride had an increased guest count. A searching sweep located Kelly leaning against the side of the barn. He brought his hand up to take a long drag off a cigarette.

  She set the saddles down with a thump. Mitch she didn’t have a problem with; Kelly was a whole other matter. “A little help would be nice here.”

  “Just taking a break.”

  “You know there’s no smoking near the barns.”

  “I’ll pick it up.”

  “That’s not the point. I didn’t say anything to Mark the last time, but trust me, you don’t want this to become an issue.”

  He shrugged, squinted toward the lake at the group of guests returning from a ride, and dropped the cigarette. Smoke streamed from between his pursed lips as he crushed the butt beneath his boot heel, then he looked up without barely lifting his head. “Thought you didn’t date here? I saw you with that pretty-boy ranger.”

  Something in his tone tripped her pulse. Did he mean last night? She’d seen him at the bar, but was pretty sure he’d left shortly before Joel showed up, so how would he know they’d spent more time together?

  A chill prickled along her spine as something else occurred to her. Was it possible he could’ve keyed her truck instead of some random kid? Would he really carry his grudge over her rejection that far?

  “What I do is none of your business,” she informed him coldly, refusing to be intimidated. “Don’t mess with me, Kelly. One word from me and you’ll be gone from here faster than you can say ‘just kidding.’”

  His gaze wavered, and then he stooped to pick up his garbage. He walked away, his footsteps fading as the clip-clop of horse hooves, creaking saddle leather and guest voices took over.

  Britt released the breath she hadn’t even been aware she’d been holding.

  With the return of the morning ride, Kelly helped get the next set of horses ready to go. She considered sending him out for the afternoon, but Jon and Mandy worked so well together. In addition to their great rapport with the guests, Britt noticed the shy smiles the two exchanged. Jon was a great guy, and Mandy a sweet girl. The cute couple was so different than the blatant flirting and obvious hook-ups between some of the other resort employees. She didn’t mind assisting cupid with the budding romance, even if it meant enduring additional time in Kelly’s presence.

  By the time the afternoon riders were on their way around the lake in front of the resort restaurant, Casey and Mitch were returning from their extended lunch ride. Her attention was drawn to the reflection of the riders in the water with the Rockies rising majestically in the background. Come September, she was sure going to miss it all. Then all she’d have to look forward to would be Chicago traffic, factory smoke in the air, cold winds off Lake Michigan and a hectic work schedule.

  City life.

  Is that what you want?

  She stiffened at the sound of Joel’s voice in her head again. Determined not to listen to him, she went back into the office, leaving the guys to take care of the horses while she caught up on paperwork. About an hour later, a manager’s signature was all she needed to put herself out of her misery and spend the rest of the afternoon working with Gypsy.

  Armed with the paper, a clipboard and a pen, she rounded the corner in search of Casey. He was on the far end of the line of horses, giving Diesel a good rub-down while Mitch worked on Banjo next to him. Kelly walked past, leading one of the geldings toward the main corral. Colorado was one of her favorites, and she smiled when the gray horse playfully lipped at the wrangler’s sleeve, caught it between his teeth and pulled. Kelly slapped his nose and Colorado jerked away.

  Britt stopped to watch as the gelding reach forward again. It was a harmless game, he didn’t actually bite, he just held the fabric much the same as a playful puppy. Kelly smacked him again and gave a hard jerk on the reins. The horse reared back, the whites of his eyes showing his fear.

  She lunged forward and caught Kelly’s arm as he raised it toward the horse again. “Stop it!” One shove got him out of the way and she secured the reins to calm the horse. “Whoa boy, easy.”

  “The stupid nag bit me.”

  She rounded on him with a glare. “He didn’t bite, he was playing. He does it with everyone.”

  Casey had started their way, her shout having caught his attention. Mitch watched from a distance.

  “That damn horse needs to be taught a lesson,” Kelly grumbled.

  “No, you do.” She ran her hand down Colorado’s neck in a soothing stroke. “Mistreat the horses again and I’ll not only make sure you’re gone from here, but you won’t find a ranch to hire you within fifty miles. This is your last warning, and you don’t even deserve that.”

  His furious gaze bore into hers.

  “What’s going on?” Casey demanded as he joined them.

  Britt kept her gaze on Kelly’s. He dropped his toward the ground and shifted his feet. “Little misunderstanding, that’s all. Won’t happen again.”

  “Britt?”

  She seemed to have gotten through to him, so she nodded at Casey. “I think Kelly and I have reached an understanding, so we’re good.” For now.

  He took the reins from her and led Colorado to the corral as if nothing had happened.

  “You need me to talk to Mark?” Casey asked.

  She crossed her arms, hugging the clipboard to her chest as she watched Kelly’s retreating back before facing his concerned gaze. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  “What happened?”

  She gave him a brief account, then handed him the clipboard to sign. “Let’s just leave it for now and keep an eye on him.”

  Casey signed the paper, then held on when she reached for the clipboard. “I’ll do that, but watch yourself around him.”

  “I will.”

  She finished putting away the paperwork just as Mark arrived for the afternoon. They talked a few minutes about how Eve was handling the bed rest, then she gathered Gypsy’s tack to head out to the arena. She had the mare accustomed to the bridle, had been working her under the saddle, and now hoped to ride her.

  The faint smell of smoke hit her nostrils as she passed the corner of the barn and she glanced back to see a flicker of flames in the garbage can next to the wall. She dropped the tack at her feet and took off running for the water trough.

  “Fire! Casey! Mark!”

  Casey jerked his head up, but it was Mitch who beat her to
the trough to grab a bucket of water. By the time Mark arrived, with Kelly trailing behind from the barn, the flames were doused. Kelly began to back away before Mark even rounded on him.

  “You been smoking out here?” Mark demanded of the younger man.

  His accusing gaze darted to Britt. “You told him.”

  “No, she didn’t tell me a thing.” Mark gave her his own stern glance, then drilled back into Kelly. “You’re the only one who smokes, and that’s the only way I see this fire starting. What if no one had seen it right away? What if it had smoldered and started later when no one was around? We could’ve lost the whole barn and the horses inside.”

  Britt had never heard him so angry, and his furious words made her realize how wrong it was of her to not have told Mark right away with so much at stake.

  Kelly didn’t look him in the eye as he tried to defend himself. “I’m always careful.”

  Mark jabbed a finger toward the blackened metal can. “This is not careful. And hold on…always? You’ve smoked around here before?”

  “No.”

  Without looking away from Kelly, Mark asked, “Britt?”

  She lifted her chin as Kelly’s gaze met hers. “I warned him more than once.”

  Casey moved up to stand at her back. “I warned him once myself.”

  “Pack your things,” Mark ordered. “I’ll have the front office cut your final check.”

  Kelly’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. “You’re kidding. It was a little garbage fire.”

  “That could’ve burned the whole barn to the ground.”

  “Fine, I won’t smoke here anymore.”

  “You’ve had your chances, Kelly. You should’ve followed the rules.”

  “You can’t fire me for this.” Red-faced anger replaced his surprise. “I’ll sue you for job discrimination.”

  “You wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, and you know it. You’ve burnt your bridges, now get the hell out of here.”

  Kelly took a step toward Britt, his lips curled in disdain. Casey stepped between them and shoved the guy back. When Mitch moved forward next to Mark, she felt like she had a wall of muscle protecting her.

  “Go.”

  He pointed his finger at her as he backed up. “Bitch. You’re going to pay for this, just you wait.”

  Chapter 21

  Joel braced his feet and let Kelly back into him. His hand closed on the back of the guy’s neck.

  “What the—”

  He squeezed hard but spoke low. “What did you just say?”

  Kelly froze.

  “You even think about touching her and you won’t make it to tomorrow.” An audible swallow sounded in the quiet. Joel tightened his grip. “Got it?”

  The bastard’s head jerked up and down. Joel shoved him away. He watched him scurry off before turning back toward the barn. The protective anger that’d burned through him when he heard Stevens’ threat still surged high—especially considering Brittany’s slim figure and average height was dwarfed by the three large men flanking her.

  With her blond hair somewhat confined in a couple of messy shoulder ponytails, she looked younger and more vulnerable than ever. He was thankful they’d been there to protect her, and irrationally irritated he wasn’t the one at her side. Exasperation took over as he approached and heard her protest.

  “No, we do not need to call Aaron about this.”

  “I think calling Sheriff Thompson is a great idea,” Joel stated. He’d liked Aaron Thompson from the moment they’d met about his investigation a few weeks back. The man would look after her if need be.

  She whipped her head toward him and he wondered if the resentment in her eyes was a remnant from how their evening had ended, or specifically for right now.

  “No one asked for your opinion.”

  “You got it, just the same. After last night, don’t you think it’s a good idea they have this on record?”

  “What happened last night?” Mark demanded.

  Her gaze scanned the men in front of her, then her shoulder’s dropped the tiniest bit. “Someone keyed my truck at Billy’s.”

  “You did report it, right?”

  “Yes,” she snapped. “But that has nothing to do with this.”

  “Kelly was at Billy’s last night,” Casey reminded.

  “It was just some kids.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

  Joel wasn’t so sure about the kids theory. Her boss’s gaze met his, and he gave a slight shake of his head.

  Mark shouldered his way past the group, headed for the office. “I’m calling Aaron.”

  She barreled after him. “He was just mad and venting his frustration. After you guys heard his threat, he wouldn’t have the guts to do anything, so why bother Aaron with it?”

  Casey murmured to Mitch and they moved back toward the couple of horses standing at the hitching rail. Joel trailed after the other two and saw them face off across Mark’s desk.

  “I feel bad for putting you on the spot in front of him, so humor me, okay?”

  She had one palm braced on the desktop, and the other holding the phone handset in its cradle. “I’m the one who should apologize. I should’ve told you right away.”

  “You should’ve, but that’s water under the bridge. And I’m still calling Aaron because Joel’s right, it’s best to get it on record.”

  “He’s not right about everything you know.”

  “On this I am.”

  She stiffened, then crossed her arms and leaned her hip against the desk as he approached. “Oh, shut up. What are you doing here, anyway?”

  Truth be told, he’d wanted to convince himself she wasn’t worth his restless night, but it backfired. The moment he’d seen her, incredible awareness jetted through his entire body. Judging by her expression though, it appeared one-sided, and that thoroughly annoyed him.

  He knew she wasn’t immune to him, but she controlled it well. He, on the other hand, felt like he couldn’t control much of anything with her around.

  He dug into his front pocket and held up her photo card. “Forgot this last night.”

  “Oh.” Pink tinged her face as he dropped it onto her palm. “Thanks.”

  The blush was promising, so he added, “I also wanted to talk to you about last night.”

  She cast a glance down and to the side, clearly aware of Mark’s presence. With a shake of her head, she stuffed the card in her pocket and headed for the door. “Forget it. In that case, I agree one hundred percent that you were right.”

  That’s the frickin’ problem, he thought as she swept outside. He’d spent most of the night coming to the realization he didn’t want to be right.

  “You need to talk to me, or just her?”

  Joel turned around to see Mark, eyebrows raised as he held the phone in one hand while pressing down the connection switch with the other.

  “Anyone booked for the Thursday overnight?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then we’re good. Go ahead and make that call.”

  He made his way outside and located Brittany in the arena with the crazy mustang. Only the mare didn’t look so wild anymore. She accepted the bit-less hackamore, and was equally tolerant of the saddle.

  Casey joined Joel on his way over to the fence.

  “Things look to be going well in there,” he commented to the wrangler as the mare obediently moved out on the lunge line to circle the enclosure.

  “Really well, especially when you consider that first day when you were here. She’s got a gift.”

  With more than just the horses.

  They talked in low voices as Brittany gave the mare a good workout. When she brought the mare to a halt and drew her in, Joel could hear her soft words of praise for the horse. After a few sweeps of her hand along its neck, she shifted to where she could lift a boot up to the stirrup.

  “Didn’t know she was doing this today,” Casey muttered.

  “First ride?”

  “Yep.�
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  Joel tensed as she pulled herself into a standing position in the stirrup, but didn’t swing her leg over. The mare scooted sideways and Brittany remained standing until she came to a halt.

  “Shouldn’t you or Mark be doing that?”

  Casey shook his head. “This is her baby. Surely you know her well enough by now to know she’d never hand over the reins for this ride.”

  It may be true, but he still didn’t like it. He climbed up onto the fence, ready to jump in should she need help. Casey stood on the bottom board and watched beside him.

  With the mare at a standstill, Brittany swung her leg over her back and settled nice and easy into the saddle. She gave it a moment, then dismounted and did the same on the other side. He was impressed with her patience. Back where he came from, many of the ranchers hopped up and held on tight until the horse stopped bucking.

  Brittany took a moment to pause in front of the mare. She stroked her forehead before moving back to the horse’s left side to mount a third time. She kept talking in that soft voice of hers as she settled into the saddle. Gathering the reins, she shortened the one on the left side and nudged her heel against the horse’s belly.

  The mare skittered sideways again, but when she tried to lower her head to start bucking, the shortened rein kept her head up, and Brittany kept her moving.

  “You really think she’ll head back to the city?” Joel asked. He felt Casey’s gaze on him, but didn’t take his eyes off the girl and horse. From the corner of his eye, he saw the other man shrug.

  “It’d be great if Britt would do what she wants to do, but her dad’s a pretty formidable force. If Mark hadn’t needed her this summer, she’d be working in that high rise right now.”

  Joel couldn’t picture the woman before him in her dusty jeans and cotton shirt sitting behind a desk in downtown Chicago. If she ended up there, would she let this talent go to waste?

  Casey hopped back off the fence. “Good talking to you, Joel, but I’ve still got work to do, so I’ll catch ya later. Good ride, Britt!”

  She’d slowed the mare to a walk, and reined her to a halt in the center of the enclosure. As she shifted her weight to dismount, a motorcycle roared to life from the direction of the Sports Center. Whether it was a Harley Davidson, or the owner simply wanted it to sound like one, the peace-shattering noise was more than enough to detonate the mare’s flight instincts.