The Damaged Heroes Collection [Box Set #1: The Damaged Heroes Collection] (BookStrand Publishing Mainstream)

by James, Sandy

  Katie told him it didn’t really matter who won, but Seth had a hard time not cheering for her horse. She reminded him they just needed to complete the mile in two minutes or less to qualify the animal, but he got caught up in the movement of the horses as they circled the track. The race was poetry in motion.

  The finish line, Katie called it the “wire,” stood in front of the grandstand. The field changed as the drivers jockeyed for position. Some of the horses that had been trailing at the start of the stretch kicked into a higher gear, passing the animals that had led most of the race.

  “I can’t see who won!” he shouted at Katie.

  She smiled, a dimple creasing her right cheek. “On race nights we watch the finish over there.” She pointed to a huge television set mounted above a small building standing between the two chutes leading to the track. “They don’t broadcast qualifiers. I’m not worried though. I’m sure Brian got him through in under two. You take Criminal back and strip the equipment. I want to talk to Brian.”

  Ten minutes later Katie caught up with Seth and helped him bathe the horse. After covering the animal with a blanket, she tethered Criminal in a stall and then they repeated the whole procedure with Heathcliffe.

  The second race was even more exciting than the first.

  * * * *

  As they drove back toward the farm, Katie glanced over at Seth and grinned. Poor little rich boy. He was so worn out, he’d fallen asleep. His chin sagged against his chest, and she hoped he wouldn’t get a stiff neck.

  Seth couldn’t possibly know how pleased she was with him. She’d never seen anyone take to the job so quickly—even people born into the racing world.

  Chris decided to stay at the track to catch his customary afternoon nap, but Seth had told Katie he felt it was his job to get the animals home before he rested. She liked the dedication he’d shown, and his insistence on helping her with Heathcliffe and Criminal boded well for the long season. He certainly wasn’t the nuisance she’d expected him to be.

  She wondered what Seth’s reaction would be when he saw a real race. He was already hooked, and she couldn’t wait to watch him on opening night.

  Despite the fact that both of her horses easily qualified, Katie couldn’t push aside a feeling of apprehension, although it had nothing to do with Seth’s work. Her anxiety grew from her reaction to him. The man’s smile intoxicated her, and Katie found herself constantly staring at his mouth. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the soft curve of his full lips. And there was that absolutely heavenly butt.

  You saw how Rachel looked at him. To her, he’s fresh meat.

  “Why’s that my problem?” she whispered to her traitorous mind.

  You saw how he looked at her too, came the silent reply.

  “He’s just a fickle guy.” She glanced over at her sleeping groom. “Just like all the rest of them.”

  Katie decided she would stop being stupid and decidedly adolescent. She would concentrate on her job, and quit thinking about his... smile. He appeared to be learning very quickly and seemed capable of all she’d asked of him. That’s what’s most important.

  Maybe things would work out well after all. She forced herself to ignore the nagging notion of Murphy’s Law.

  Chapter 7

  “You’re dead meat, Remington.”

  Seth knew the explosion he should have been hearing in Katie’s voice was being carefully contained. She obviously didn’t want to spook Monterey Jack as Seth steered him around the practice track. But he knew she meant every hushed word.

  As he drew closer, Seth saw her standing on the chute with her hands on her hips, her lips drawn so thin they’d all but disappeared, and her cheeks flushed cherry-red. He decided to take the animal on another leisurely lap, knowing there would be hell to pay. Her eyes blazed a threatening promise, but he could swear he saw panic hiding within her anger. Flashing her an enormous grin, he gave a small wave as he drove by.

  “You’re toast.” Katie’s words hung in the air. Not a shout, but he knew the warning remained there nonetheless.

  “I know,” he called over his shoulder.

  After he took his victory lap, Seth steered Jack to the chute. Katie immediately seized the bridle and led the horse back to the barn. As soon as the animal was cross-tied, she turned to Seth in a rage. “Who told you could take this horse, or any horse, on the track? This isn’t some Girl Scout camp pony, Seth. It’s a racehorse. A valuable racehorse. What would Jack’s owner say if something happened to him while you were jogging him?” She took a bullying step toward him. “Do you have any idea how dangerous driving is? What in the hell were you thinking?”

  Seth held his ground and tried not to grin, but it was hard to feel threatened by such a small woman. Even an enraged one. “I was thinking that Chris has been showing me how to drive when you’re working on the books or getting supplies. And I was thinking I’ve watched you every day for weeks and might’ve picked up a pointer or two.” He took off Chris’s helmet, shoved his driving gloves inside, and dropped them onto a closed trunk. “I wasn’t training, Boss. Just jogging.”

  Katie seemed to be having a hard time spitting out the words. “Just jogging? Like that’s all there is to it!” She whirled around and returned to the horse. As she worked around Jack, she started thinking aloud. Seth found it an endearing habit. “What if Jack spooked? What if he took the bit in his teeth and made for the road?” She hefted the harness off the animal’s back and shoved it at Seth. “Did you even think that you could’ve gotten hurt?”

  “Of course I thought about that. I told you, Chris has been working with me,” Seth replied as he calmly wiped down the harness and hung it on a large hook by Jack’s stall. “I wasn’t taking stupid chances, Katie.”

  She snorted an incredulous laugh and patted Jack. “Thinks he’s a driver now,” she said to the horse, nodding toward Seth.

  While he understood her anger over his brazenness, he was more than a little surprised to hear some genuine concern in her voice. Amused by her apprehension, Seth couldn’t resist the desire to tease her. “You were really worried about me, weren’t you? Aww... That’s so sweet.” Seth walked over to her and batted his eyelashes like a flirtatious girl.

  Katie’s face flamed, her nostrils flared slightly with each breath. He wondered for a moment if she’d slap him. She sure looked like she itched to. “I just don’t want to get sued. That’s... that’s all.”

  Seth wasn’t about to let the highly amusing situation drop. Trying to look as cute and as childlike as possible, he clasped his hands together, put them under his chin, and he pouted his lip. “If I got hurt, would you be sad? Would you come visit me in the hospital?”

  “I’d... I’d just leave you on the track where you fell. I’d kick you to the side and train around you if I had to,” Katie sputtered in reply as she busied herself taking off the last of Jack’s equipment. He could tell she was rattled because she haphazardly threw the knee and tendon boots on the ground instead of habitually putting each piece away.

  Seth put his hand over his heart. “You wound me, fair damsel. Can’t I get one bit of kindness from your sweet lips?”

  Katie rolled her eyes, but the twitch in the corner of her pretty mouth showed she was having a hard time not smiling at him. “Can we get back to work?”

  “That’s all you’re about, isn’t it?” He bent down to pick up the discarded equipment.

  “Damn straight. What else is there? I’ve been working with horses since I was a kid. It’s what I do, who I am.”

  “Don’t you ever have any fun? Life doesn’t have to be so serious all the time, you know.” This woman’s personality fascinated him. The only women he knew were all like Kirsten—young, pretty, rich, and very selfish. They’d sooner die than ruin a manicure working on an animal. Katie was young and awfully pretty, but she sure didn’t live like the Kirstens of the world. He respected the fact she made her own way rather than living off of a wealthy family.

  Like I
always did, he thought with some remorse.

  Seth wasn’t sure the word “selfish” was even in Katie’s vocabulary. She gave her time freely to anyone who needed her. Whenever they found themselves in the paddock, he knew someone would come to ask for her help with a problematic animal. Plus the patience she’d shown in teaching him about his new job was nothing short of phenomenal.

  “Answer me truthfully,” he said, dropping the sarcasm. “What was the last thing you did that made you laugh?”

  “I went to a lawyer’s office and he told me I could turn some rich guy into a groom. Trust me, it was a laugh riot.”

  “Ha ha. Very funny, Boss. You can’t even remember, can you?” Seth wasn’t about to let the matter drop. He would make sure she had some fun even if it killed her. Or him.

  “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. I can’t remember, I guess.” She flipped her hand at him as if dismissing the whole notion. “I have a good time working with my horses, and I’m sure I’ll have a good time on opening night. It’s usually a lot of fun.”

  “So it’s a date. You and me on opening night. You can teach me about race strategies. Maybe it’s a lot like car racing.”

  Katie stopped working and gaped at him open-mouthed for a long moment. “A date? You’re asking me on a date? Have you lost your mind? What about the clause in the will?”

  Seth laughed and patted Jack’s neck. “It’s just an expression. I’m not asking for a lifelong commitment. Can’t we both just relax for one night? Maybe have a few laughs?”

  She appeared to be giving his suggestion some serious consideration. “Okay. I’ll go. But not on a date. We’ll go with Chris.”

  “Aren’t you a little old for a chaperone?”

  Katie shrugged. “Call him whatever you want, but if Chris doesn’t go, I don’t go.”

  “Fine. I’ll take what I can get. Will you let me start helping jog the horses? You can pick up teaching me where Chris left off. I know I can do it, and I promise not to take any stupid chances.” Taking care of the animals hadn’t turned out to be as unpleasant as he had imagined. Hell, if he was honest, he’d have to admit how much he enjoyed his time at the barn. But Seth wanted to take a more active role. If he had to do this job, be in this barn, he would do it on his own terms.

  Katie stared at him, cocking her head as if trying to read his expression. He hoped she realized he made the request with genuine desire to learn rather than a way to not have to muck out stalls. She finally heaved a resigned sighed. “It’s against my better judgment, but we’ll give it a try.” She wagged her index finger at him. “But... just jogging. No training. I don’t want to see you going for any speed. Those horses better barely break a sweat. Do you think you can handle that and play by my rules?”

  “Absolutely.”

  As he led Jack toward the bath stall, Seth savored his small victory. He knew he’d be training in no time.

  * * * *

  Opening night at Dan Patch Raceway heralded the arrival of spring to the Hoosier state, and those in attendance were rewarded with a warm and clear April evening.

  Everyone in the paddock had kicked into a higher gear. People scurried about dragging race bikes and jog carts. The drivers stood near the front of the paddock waiting for the horses to be brought forward. Constant announcements droned on the public address system.

  Katie pointed out some familiar faces, and Seth noticed the work clothes had all but disappeared. “See the colors?” she asked.

  “Colors?” He gazed around at the people in one-piece nylon jumpsuits. “You mean the funny outfits?”

  “They’re not funny; they’re called ‘colors.’ Drivers and trainers have to wear them on race nights.”

  “Why haven’t I seen yours?”

  “Only trainers and drivers wear them, and only on race nights,” she explained. “They’re expensive, and we’d ruin them if we wore them all the time.”

  Seth gave her an amused smile, picturing Katie in her colors. “Let me guess. Your colors are... oh, I don’t know… green?”

  “Like I’d be caught dead in anything else.”

  He put a finger on his lips as if contemplating an important question. “Hmm. I’ll bet you have... horseshoes on your colors.”

  “Shamrocks!” He couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction. She blushed and slapped him on the arm. “Where’s Chris? He’s got to be better company than you.”

  Seth pointed to the bulletin boards hanging by the race office where Chris stood appearing to be engrossed with the postings. “Said he was checking on tonight’s entries. And what’s wrong with my company?”

  “It tends to be a little... aggravating.” Her sweet smile and the laughter in her eyes told him she didn’t really mean it.

  Seth saw another horsemen dressed in blue colors hurry to Chris and begin an animated discussion. After a few moments, Chris jogged over to Katie and Seth. “Emergency paddock,” he said. “I’ve gotta bail on you two tonight. Sorry.”

  Katie gave him a friendly pat on the back. “It’s okay, Chris. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks. Go for it.”

  Seth caught the implication. “You mean I’ll get fifty bucks when I paddock?”

  “Yep,” Katie answered. “You’ve got Jack tomorrow, and his owner usually hands you cash on the spot. Plus a fifty bonus if he wins.”

  “Gotta run,” Chris called to the couple as he turned and raced toward one of the paddock’s long halls.

  Katie stood craning her neck, looking up the aisle. “There’s Brian and Sam.” She grabbed Seth’s hand and dragged him over to the stall where the couple worked. He was a bit surprised by the intimate action, and he wasn’t sure she even knew she was hanging onto him. But it pleased him to feel her small, cool fingers entwined with his as she introduced her new groom.

  “Brian, Sam, this is Seth... Crap!” She stomped her foot. The frustrated look on her face was so comical, Seth tried not to laugh at her predicament. “No, not Crap. Crash. Crash Reynolds.”

  Would she ever get the alias right?

  “He’s my new groom. Crash, this is Brian Mitchell and his wife, Sam. Um... Samantha.”

  That had to be the strangest set of introductions Seth had ever heard.

  He wouldn’t have recognized the driver, having only seen Brian with a helmet and work clothes. Dressed in his maroon and gold colors, not a dark brown hair out of place, Brian appeared more than ready to take center stage.

  Standing next to the tall, thin driver was a petite woman with honey-blond hair braided into one long plait. She wore a maroon sweatshirt with an embroidered gold logo over her heart that declared “Mitchell Racing.”

  As Brian and Sam stopped their work to greet him, Seth had to stare down at Katie’s tight grasp on his right hand. She’d have to turn him loose before he could offer it to his new acquaintances. After a few long seconds, he realized Katie wasn’t even aware she had a death grip on him or that she was nibbling on her lower lip. He finally nodded at the couple. “Glad to meet you both,” he offered, hoping they wouldn’t think he was too rude.

  “Crash? Yeah, right. What’s your real name?” Samantha asked, her eyes boring holes through him.

  Katie answered before Seth could. “Let it go, Sam. We can talk about it later.”

  Sam studied Katie for a moment then looked back at Seth, the suspicion still plain in her quizzical eyes. “Fine. Nice to meet you too, Crash. What brings you to Katie’s barn?”

  Seth felt Katie’s sudden tight squeeze of his hand, and he wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted him to say. As he tried to form the right choice of words, Katie beat him to the punch again. “His father used to own horses. Crash wants to see racing from the inside. It’s just for one season. That’s all.”

  Brian and Sam exchanged a glance that told Seth the couple could communicate without words and that neither had believed a single word Katie had uttered. Brian spoke for them both. “Interesting.” He drawled out the word for a couple of seconds, making Brian sound like She
rlock Holmes assessing a new murder. “If there’s anything we can do to help, just holler. I drive most of Katie’s horses, at least when one of my own isn’t in the same race.”

  “Brian is the best driver at the track. He’s going to win the driving title this season,” Katie added with obvious pride.

  The man actually blushed at her compliment. How nice to see a good athlete without an overcharged ego. “So you don’t own all the horses you drive?” Seth asked.

  Brian shook his head. “I wish. I have a small stable I train, and I drive my own horses and some for other trainers who don’t like to drive in races. Like Katie.”

  Sam turned to Katie. “We’re still on for Monday?”

  Seth’s curiosity got the better of him. “Monday? What are you doing on Monday?”

  Katie’s eyes shifted to Sam. “Nothing.” The two syllables held a note of entreaty.

  Sam casually smiled at Katie’s less than subtle appeal and appeared more than happy to supply the information. “We always go out on Mondays. Since we race Wednesday through Saturday, Monday nights are our weekend, our Saturday nights. We get some dinner, suck down a few beers, and—”

  “And that’s it,” Katie interrupted as her eyes shot daggers at Sam before glancing back at Seth with a tacit plea for mercy.

  He granted her no quarter. “And what?” He stared into Katie’s eyes and gave her a broad, smug smile.

  Sam winked at her husband. “We dance and then we—”

  “Don’t do it, Sam,” Katie warned, but Sam laughed it off with a wave of her hand.

  “We karaoke. All of us. It’s a hoot.”