She wondered where Jared lived. When would she see him again? How did she really feel about him? So many years had passed he was like a stranger to her now. A very sexy and handsome stranger.
Something made a noise.
What was that?
Chapter 10
She threw back the covers and stepped onto the mat, the fabric rough under feet. Her heart pumped way too fast.
She held her breath.
Tick tock, tick tock. The clock on her wall had never seemed so loud before, or the crickets chirping outside her open window.
A scream pierced the silence.
“Oh, God, oh, God, Cassie!” She threw the bedroom door open and charged down the almost dark hallway, grasped the handle, and pushed into Cassie’s bedroom. Her breaths came fast and labored in quick gasps. Please, please.
Cassie lay on her back, snoring softly, the orange cat curled up against her leg. He lifted his head and his eyes shone in the dark. Tara turned to leave, and that was when she heard it. Another horrible, piercing scream.
She grabbed the edge of the dresser and gasped out loud. Her heart hammered in her chest. She couldn’t catch her breath.
Someone cried out again. She stood there, frozen with fear, her legs weak, her breaths coming in pants.
Running footsteps passed the bedrooms and she heard them take the stairs two at a time.
Somewhere, a door creaked open and slammed closed.
Cassie moaned and turned over, but she didn’t wake up. The cat lifted his head, yawned, and then went to sleep again.
Tara forced her shaking legs to work. She slid into the hallway, the flashlight raised in case she had to use it as a weapon.
She couldn’t make her legs work.
They wouldn’t support her. She slid down the wall and sank to the floor.
She took a few deep breaths and then hauled herself onto her knees and held onto the wall as she struggled to get onto her feet. Her stomach clenched and her legs still wobbled.
She crept down the hallway, hardly daring to breathe.
The light was on in their bedroom. Her parents’ room. She stood outside the door for a while, trying to tell herself they were all right.
“Mom, Dad, is everything okay?” she called. There was no response. She tried again. Nothing. She didn’t know what to do, didn’t want to look into the bedroom, but she had to. She had to look.
She pushed the door open and screamed and screamed and screamed.
The sight in front of her would be imprinted on her brain forever.
Something was making a loud noise. Bang, bang, bang. “Señora!”
Her eyes shot open. Where am I?
“Señora!”
Oh, crap. I’m in the house. The dream. The fucking dream again. I must have been screaming. My bedroom windows are wide open.
“Señora!” Bang, bang, bang.
“Oh, Jesus.” Sweat covered her and she fought to drag the wet tangle of sheets from around her. Her heart pounded.
The call came again from downstairs. “Señora!”
“Yes,” she croaked. She couldn’t talk. She wiped her face with the twisted sheet and stumbled out of bed. Where are my clothes?
She turned on the light and pulled on her jeans and T-shirt, and leaned against the wall trying to catch her breath. Her mouth was so dry she couldn’t swallow.
The banging on the door came again. “I’m coming,” she panted.
She grabbed her phone and turned on the flashlight and trod carefully down the stairs to the back door. She stood and listened, still fighting to catch her breath.
“Señora, señora.”
She opened the door. Roberto stood there, his worried face lit up by the security lights. The dogs pushed their heads into her hands. “Sorry, Roberto. I’m okay. I had a dream.”
She cleared her throat to get rid of the rasping in her voice. Oh God, I wish I knew how to speak Spanish. “I’m okay.”
She forced a smile. “It was a dream.” She mimicked sleeping with her hands together and her head leaning on them. “Gracias,” she said. “Thanks for your concern.” She bent and stroked both dogs. They whined and licked her face.
Roberto nodded his head, mumbled something, and headed back toward his cabin behind the barns.
Tara locked the door and ran her hands through her sweaty hair, still breathing hard. She kicked the kitchen counter. “Fuck it!” The nightmare had come back again. That was the reason she hadn’t wanted to come back to Hardship.
Her therapist, Sally, had told her she had to let go of the anger. “You’re keeping that anger inside you,” she said, often. “If you’re ever going to find peace, you have to find forgiveness, and it will bring peace to your soul. Forgiveness is not easy for anyone. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.
“But what would you feel like if the person you loved the most betrayed you and did such a horrific thing? And why? Why? I just don’t understand. Jared and I—we were so close—in love. I trusted him.”
“Tara, I come across people every day who have been betrayed by their loved ones and trust me,” Sally had said, “there’s only one way for you to free yourself of the mental anguish you’re suffering.”
It was true. She had been very angry, not only at the fact that Jared could betray her parents’ trust like that, but to do that to her—to murder her parents, and in such a despicable manner. He said he loved her, but if you love someone, you can’t hurt them like that. You don’t do that to anyone you love. It had been so confusing and so hard to understand. And then she feared his execution. She didn’t know how she would be able to handle that.
Now everything had changed. Jared was free. He didn’t kill her parents. Her world had been turned upside down. She felt as if she were in a snow globe and just when it had all settled, someone had picked it up and shaken it, and the snow whirled about her and she had no idea where it would land.
Chapter 11
Tara woke up with her head resting on the kitchen table. A rooster crowed outside, horses nickered, and the clank of feed buckets banged against the mangers. She checked the time on her phone and rubbed her aching forehead. Six thirty-seven.
She climbed the stairs back to her bedroom. No sign of Slugbug. The cat was like a ghost. Maybe he wasn’t real. She opened the drapes and blinked at the brightness. The sun was just showing its rays over the barn roof. Another gorgeous spring day, so different from the horror of the dream.
She stood under the steaming shower water for a long time, trying to shake off the after-effects of the nightmare. She threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and flip-flops, and left her hair down to dry. It would frizz, but somehow that didn’t seem to be so important now. Her whole body felt achy, and her eyes gritty, as they did after the dream.
She went out the back door to be greeted by furry bodies, wagging tails and doggie kisses. Their warmth, their soft fur, and their joy at seeing her helped to still the unease inside her. The dogs had never been allowed into the house, and she would love them to be inside with her at night, but she wasn’t sure they’d like that.
She toured the stables, familiarizing herself with the horses again. She greeted Roberto, who was hard at work cleaning stalls. She wanted to say something about last night—the dream—but her limited Spanish stopped her. She wondered briefly if she should have been up early to supervise the feeding, but he didn’t need her to interfere. He’d been feeding the horses forever, and he knew a lot more than her about how it should be done.
She thought about her mother as she moved from horse to horse—how she had rescued horses whenever she came across one that was neglected, until her dad had said enough was enough. Her mom had told her that
was how the Taurus Center got started. She had to find a use for the horses or Dad would make her sell them. At the same time, Cassie, who was three years old, had been diagnosed as autistic, and her mom was determined to find a way to communicate with her, as she had never spoken a single word. She read up about equine therapy and how it could help with autism and a lot of other problems, and made the decision to go to Austin and study to be an equine therapist. Tara was only five at the time, but she remembered Aunt Lacey taking over from her mom and taking care of her and Cassie while her mom was away.
There was no internet at the time, but there was such a thing as distance learning, so her mom wasn’t away all the time, although she did have to do a certain amount of practical work with actual patients. Tara wasn’t exactly sure how it worked, but her mom had graduated with a certification in equine therapy.
They had the land, horses, and some stable facilities. Dad built extra stalls and all the other outbuildings and schooling arenas, and later, the rec center. Aunt Lacey was living in the guest cottage, and together, she and Mom had made Mom’s dream a reality and started the Taurus Center for Equine Therapy.
Jules arrived at five minutes past eight, followed by the other, more junior therapist, Christy. Tara had been in school with Jules, but she didn’t know Christy, who looked a few years younger. She shook hands with the willowy blonde.
Christy removed her sunglasses and seated them on top of her head. “It’s so good to meet you, Tara. I’m so glad you came.”
The girl had gorgeous big, brown doe eyes, a friendly face, and an easy smile.
“Tell me we have water,” Jules said, after giving Tara a hug and studying her face.
“We have water. Jared had to leave, but he must have come back and completed the job in the dark. Does the pump go out often?”
“It’s old. Like everything else here. Jared seems to be able to keep it going, though, and he’s had to work in the dark before. He seems to be able to manage.”
“He’s amazing,” Christy said in a dreamy voice.
Tara found herself annoyed by the comment—or the way it was delivered. What’s wrong with me? Surely I can’t be jealous?
“What can you tell me about Kaitlyn?” she asked, pushing the thoughts away
“Oh, shit. She was here yesterday?”
“Yes. She almost got trampled by Copper. I heard she comes here often. How does she get here?”
Jules shook her head. “I don’t know how she finds her way here, but that makes five times that she’s shown up out of the blue. Two times since the Brankens gave her up and three times since she moved in with Lou Barnard. What happened? Copper wouldn’t hurt Kaitlyn, he loves kids.”
“There was something bothering Copper and making him cranky. I’ve never seen him so uptight. Kaitlyn could have been trampled, but Jared extracted her from the stall. He said other horses have been acting weird like that.”
Jules frowned and wiped a hand over her brow. “Yeah. It’s a mystery and it sucks because no one can figure out what’s messing with them. They get restless and jumpy for no reason. Doc Grainger couldn’t find anything wrong with the first two horses. He said their heartbeats were elevated, and he took blood, saliva samples, and feces samples to be examined in the lab, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He checked the water in the stalls, too. We didn’t call him after that, but it has happened again at least two times.”
“What did you mean the Brankens gave Kaitlyn up?”
“She’s an orphan or something like that. I don’t think anyone knows who her parents were. The Brankens fostered her, but when she kept running away they gave her up. They said it was too stressful not knowing where she was.”
“Jared and I were here late three weeks ago,” Christy said. “All of a sudden, Kaitlyn showed up and went to pet the horses. It was dark already. We had to take her back to her new foster family.”
“How far away does she live now?” Tara’s fingers dug into her palms. She wondered why Christy and Jared had both been there after hours.
“It’s about two miles.” Christy looked at Jules with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah. A long way for a kid to walk,” Jules said.
“Who do you have for therapy sessions today?” Tara asked, trying to put aside her irritation. She thought about the small child walking the streets all on her own in the dark. Small towns were safer than big cities, but any pervert could have grabbed her.
“I’m helping Jules with two PTSD guys who lost limbs in Iraq. In the afternoon, I have my regular kids, and Jules helps when I need it. They have so many different challenges, but I love them all, and I really, really want to help them.”
As they talked, two teenage girls who looked like twins with freckly faces and their long blonde hair in ponytails arrived and waved at them before they disappeared into the barn.
“Don’t those kids have school?”
“Lizbeth and Sally are home-schooled,” Jules said. “Their mom allows them to come and work here in the mornings and they do their schooling in the afternoons, when it’s better to be indoors because it’s hot. You may remember their mom—Mrs. Brixton. She taught us in sixth grade, Miss Hancock she was then. She got pregnant and left, and Lanny Brixton married her soon afterward.”
“Oh, yes, of course I remember. Lanny was in tenth grade and bonking her between classes.” Tara laughed.
Jules grinned back at her. “Man, it’s so good to have you back.”
“Aw. Thanks, Jules.” Tara checked her watch. “I have to go get dressed for my meeting with the attorneys. See you guys later. I want to go for a ride on Brown Sugar when I get back, if you don’t need her.”
“No. I’ve been riding her to keep her exercised, but she’s your horse,” Christy said.
She wondered if Brown Sugar was the only thing Christy had been riding.
Chapter 12
Tara found a parking space directly on the street in front of the sign that read, Howard J. Richert and Alfred G. Rich, Attorneys at Law. Her hand hovered over the door for a few minutes before she pushed it and entered.
The furnishings were pretty much what she expected—a soft green sofa and a couple of easy chairs with a coffee table in the center with magazines in a tidy heap on it, plush beige carpets, hotel-type pictures and diplomas hanging on the walls. It smelled flowery, like there was a scented candle burning somewhere nearby.
An older woman behind a wooden desk looked up. “Well, if it isn’t Tara Ericson. Welcome home.” Her smile didn’t touch her eyes.
Tara recognized her as soon as she spoke. Her graying hair was cut in a short bob, with thick bangs, and she wore a gray silk blouse.
“Hello, Sue. It’s good to be back,” she lied. Having to deal with people who knew her from before was definitely not a favorite pastime. She knew they would disapprove of the way she had handled Aunt Lacey’s death, and maybe they were right. She should have visited and she should have been there at the funeral and given a eulogy. Poor, poor Aunt Lacey. She couldn’t have understood about the nightmares—could never have known how hard it was for Tara just to get up in the morning and go to work after a bad night. It wasn’t only the horrible murder scene she had witnessed, but everything else that went with it. Jared’s betrayal of—of everything she had believed about him, and Cassie leaving.
A door behind her opened and Mr. Rich smiled at her. “I heard your voice. Come on in, Tara-Grace.” He looked a little older and a little more gray was sprinkled in his hair, but his dark suit was the same as she remembered. It always looked a little small. The pants didn’t go past his ankles, and the white cuffs of the shirt sleeves poked out of the jacket.
She slid onto a wooden chair at a large, polished conference table. He closed the door and seated himself across from her. A big-screen TV was mounted on the wall behind him, and ro
ws and rows of law books filled a wall-to-ceiling bookshelf on one side of the room. They exchanged pleasantries before he cleared his throat and opened a file from the pile in front of him.
“You weren’t here for the will-reading, but obviously you’ve received our notifications. Your aunt left everything—the house, the property, and the therapy business with all its assets in equal amounts—one third each to Cory and you, and your—er, missing sister, Cassandra. And I believe she’s been missing for over nine years. I know this is probably painful, but you can legally have her declared deceased if you and your brother decide to do so.”
Tara widened her eyes, but she stifled the pain that stabbed at her heart. Composed, her face impassive, she said, “N—no. Cassie isn’t dead. She’ll come back to us one day.”
The attorney looked as if he was going to say something else, but he pursed his lips and continued. “Very well. Your brother, Cory, has decided to sign his portion of the inheritance over to you, as I’m sure you’re aware. That will give you two-thirds of everything.”
What? She most definitely wasn’t aware. She shifted in her chair, took a deep breath, and forced herself not to give her surprise away. Cory signed his share over to me? What the fuck? What about Cassie? Why didn’t he tell me? This was classic Cory. He never shared information unless it was squeezed out of him. “The finances were not in as good a shape as you might have wished, but there was enough in the coffers to cover all the outstanding debts—bills for feed, veterinary care, farrier, and the likes. Insurances are all paid up for almost another year. I set aside enough for the payroll for the two therapists and the groom for six months, and we’ve been writing the paychecks for them on a bi-weekly basis. There is no mortgage.” He slid a piece of paper across to her. It was a balance sheet for The Taurus Center for Equine Therapy. “This is what’s left after all of the expenses.”
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