Another Chance

by Sandra Cuppett

  She didn’t see Wolf, but was aware that he was watching her from somewhere in the barn. After about an hour of exercise and training, she rode back to the barn and dismounted. She removed the bridle and replaced it with the halter and cross tied the animal next to the tack room. Throwing the near stirrup across the seat of the saddle, she unfastened the girth. Being a meticulous rider, she walked around the horse and fastened the ring of the girth up on the off side so it wouldn’t drag when she walked and wouldn’t end up under the saddle the next time she put it on a horse. When she started back around the horse, Wolf was there, pulling the saddle off. He turned and carried it into the tack room. She followed him and picked up her grooming kit and walked back to the horse. He had done a good job and deserved a good rub down.

  As she worked, she felt rather than heard, Wolf behind her. Deliberately she turned and looked at him. “What?”

  Sometimes she hated the baseball cap he wore. The bib of it shaded the upper portion of his face and cast his pale eyes in deep shadow not allowing her the chance to see any reflection of light or thought in them.

  He started to look away, but she was standing there, waiting for some response from him. He shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t imagine anyone wantin’ to hurt you. This Lambert must be some sick puppy.”

  She thought he was going to say something more, and then Bhrandii barked and bounded toward the front of the barn.

  “I think we have company.” He said softly his eyes meeting hers steadily.

  Jordan finally turned and spoke to the dog that was still standing at the front of the barn growling.

  They heard the slamming of a vehicle door and knew that someone was coming into the barn. Jordan stepped around the colt and put on her greeting face as John Davis entered the barn. He carried a bag in one hand as he walked toward them.

  From the far side of the colt, she heard Wolf mutter, “Again?”

  “Hey, I thought y’all might be down here. Then I heard that dog bark and knew that Jordan was.” Then he spotted Wolf standing behind the colt, his arms resting casually on the animal’s smooth back. He held the sack out and Jordan accepted it. “I brought the cell phones for y’all. I had Marge program in the quick dial for the office. Just press the 1. It’ll take you directly to her and she knows what to do. Don’t use that unless you need help or have seen Lambert. Any other time you need to call me,” his eyes shifted to Wolf, “to talk about anything else, just call my private line.”

  Jordan reached in the bag and took out one of the phones. “What am I going to do with two cell phones? You know I already have one.” She handed the other one across the colt to Wolf who took it, his fingers lightly brushing against hers in the exchange.

  John Davis shrugged. “I don’t know, but you make sure you carry this one with you at all times. Got that?” He lifted his hat and wiped his face with a handkerchief he pulled from a back pocket. “Gettin’ hot, today,” he said. “Summer’s just around the corner.”

  She nodded. “Can I use it for calls that I might need to make, other than to you?”

  “Of course.” He looked across the horse at Wolf. “You okay, boy?”

  Wolf looked back at him, and then shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Where is that pretty little sister of yours? We need to make some arrangements to keep her safe. Don’t want Lambert getting his hands on her,” the sheriff asked.

  “We took care of it.” Wolf answered. “She’s with some friends of Jordan’s.”

  Davis looked at her.

  “She’s with Mac and Mary. They were thrilled to have her stay with them for a while,” she explained.

  John smiled. “I know they will enjoy that. Those two should have had a dozen kids. Maybe they will have grandkids before long. I’ve never known any two people who enjoy young people more.”

  For reasons he couldn’t explain, he felt there was tension between these two people. He stood there for another minute, wanting to say more, but not knowing how to say it without sounding nosey. Finally he just lifted his hand. “Well, I guess I’ll go. Y’all be careful now, you understand?” He looked from one to the other.

  They both muttered their good-byes and watched him leave. When Jordan turned around, Wolf was releasing the colt from the cross ties. He turned and led the animal back out to his paddock and turned him loose. He leaned against the fence, watching as the colt dropped down on its front knees, then onto its side and rolled.

  He knew without looking when Jordan stopped a short distance behind him. “Your friend, the sheriff, thinks there’s somethin’s goin’ on between us.” He said.

  She stepped up beside him and crossed her arms on the top board of the fence like he had done, except she had to stretch up to do it while he had bent his shoulders over to do it. She made sure there was a little distance between their arms so their elbows didn’t touch.

  “He’s just being protective. I think he has taken a fatherly interest in me because he was secretly in love with my mama.” She turned her head so she could see Pride in a nearby paddock.

  Wolf turned around so he was facing her. “The sheriff and your mother?”

  She shook her head negatively. “No. My mama loved my daddy, but Sheriff John had a crush on her. He respected my daddy, but if daddy hadn’t been in the picture Sheriff John would have been. He’s just looking after me.” Jordan looked up at him then and smiled. “I think that’s sweet of him.”

  “Yeah, well, I wish he’d tend to his own business.” Wolf’s voice had that rough softness that made her tingle.

  “I am his business,” she qualified, quietly.

  “You’re my business,” Wolf disagreed. “He assigned me to take care of you, now he needs to trust me to do the job.”

  His first words caused that ribbon inside Jordan to draw tightly. It seemed he had revealed his only reason for being here. It was his job. She looked away from him, then turned and walked back into the barn. She didn’t want to be just a job to him.

  Since David died, she had found no man that held any interest for her, but then Wolf came along. There were times that she could swear he was as drawn to her as she was to him. From the minute she had first met him, he had been like magnet drawing her. She realized that with his good looks most women would be attracted to him, so he was probably used to it.

  She walked out to the small pasture that belonged to Tempest. He saw her coming and nickered a greeting as he trotted to the gate to meet her. Bhrandii accompanied her, although not as eagerly. His devotion seemed divided. Jordan knew that he liked and accepted Wolf as part of the family. Well, now she realized that she was just a job to Wolf, so her dog might as well get used to the idea.

  She stroked the blaze that ran the length of Tempest’s face. He needed a good grooming, but right now, she didn’t want to return to the barn where Wolf was. She knew he was watching her. Doing his job like the professional he was, and he was certainly that. Professional man, but still a man. Deep inside her, an idea formed.

  She knew she was attractive. Men had been telling her all her life that she was beautiful. In college, she had gone out of her way to attract David’s attention. There were many girls after him, but she had won him. If she put her mind to it, she could attract Wolf too, after all, he was a man. She had never used feminine tricks to lure a man, except David, and that was only to get him to notice her at the beginning. She shouldn’t do that to Wolf, but he seemed to think that he was above physical attractions.

  She glanced over her shoulder and just as she had expected, he was standing near the front of the barn. “I think I’m going to go up to the house for a while,” she called to him.

  He nodded and started paralleling her path. They arrived at the gate at the same time and he paused to allow her to pass through first. As she walked ahead of him, he felt a change in her. Her body language seemed slower, more deliberate in the way she moved.

  “I’m just going to read for a while. You can take a break. You don’t ha
ve to be my shadow,” she said coolly.

  He noted the coolness of her voice and wondered what had happened to the familiarity they had been developing. “I need to check the house, make sure it’s safe. We were gone for a while,” he explained.

  She shrugged. “Suit yourself, but if Lambert was hiding there, Bhrandii would have alerted me by now.”

  He chose not to acknowledge that, although he knew it was true. When the door was unlocked, he motioned her to stay back and entered ahead of her. He walked through each room, checking closets and both bathrooms. In her bedroom and bath he took his time, his eyes slowly noticing all the personal items placed around the two rooms. Her pajamas hung on the hook behind the bathroom door, her towel hanging on the rack beside the shower, the hair brush and comb that she used each morning, her bath powder and cologne on the vanity, her toothbrush in the cup beside the sink. He drew in a deep breath, absorbing the smell of her that permeated the room.

  In her bedroom, the bed was neatly made, but a soft looking robe was tossed carelessly across the foot. Her closet was filled with clothes hanging from the rod. There were boxes stacked across the top shelf and only a couple of pairs of dress shoes sitting neatly together at one end. He resisted the urge to lift the sleeves of one of her shirts just to feel the fabric and to see if it smelled like her. At the door he paused, his eyes drawn once more to the bed and he wondered which side she slept on. There was a bedside table with a lamp on each side, but he felt confident that the side next to the door was where she lay at night.

  “Are you satisfied?” She asked from the hallway, intruding on his secret thoughts.

  He turned and looked at her, then nodded. “Once I’m out the door, lock and dead bolt it.”

  “The last time Lambert came, he came in a window,” she reminded him, unfastening one of her braids. “And since it’s getting warm out, why don’t you just hang out in the living room. It’s cooler inside with the air on. I’m going to get a shower and hopefully finish a book I started last week.”

  He just looked at her for a minute. She had finished unbraiding one braid and the long silk like threads hung loose over the front of her shoulder. It looked like strands of spun gold curling wildly across the front of her blouse. She was now working on the other braid.

  “Don’t lock the door,” he managed to say his voice almost breaking with coarseness. “I’ll hang around on the porch.”

  She shrugged, shaking the rest of her hair loose. “Suit yourself. There are some books and magazines on the bookcase and there are some soft drinks in the fridge. And if you change your mind, just make yourself at home.” As she spoke, her hands moved from her hair to the top button on her shirt and she unfastened it. Before either one of them moved, she had started backing the second button through the hole that held it shut. It was Wolf who moved first, turning his back and walking quickly down the hall and out the door.

  Jordan smiled and refastened her top. She did plan to take a shower, but not until her mass of long hair was coiled atop her head and confined under a shower cap.

  About an hour and a half later, she emerged from her bedroom, her long hair brushed out and held back by a barrette. She had finished her riding for the day so she was wearing a pair of modest length shorts and a tank top. She had finished her book and even dozed off for a while. She realized that Bhrandii was no longer in the house and knew he must be outside with Wolf. She pulled the front door open and stepped out onto the porch. The dog was lying near Wolf’s feet and they were both looking up at her. Bhrandii wagged his tail and hopped up to come greet her. She squatted down to pet him, aware of Wolf’s eyes on her as she did. When she stood back up, she smiled at the man in the rocking chair.

  “I didn’t mean to stay so long. I guess I went to sleep. I didn’t sleep very good last night.” She said.

  He nodded. “I remember you sayin’ you’d had a nightmare. You’re under a lot of strain.” He couldn’t seem to look away. Finally he realized his focus was lost and he grinned self-consciously. “You really look different.”

  “Not worse, I hope.” She said, a little regret niggling at her for deliberately trying to distract him from maintaining his professionalism.

  He took her words as an invitation and allowed his eyes to enjoy a long exploration of her. “Definitely not worse.”

  Now that she had his attention, she was hesitant to use it. She had planned to raise her arms over her head and take pleasure in a long reaching stretch, but found herself unwilling to do so. Instead, she dropped into the chair beside him. He was still watching her and she thought she saw a spark of humor in his light eyes.

  Wolf wondered why she had acted so cool earlier and now her demeanor was totally different. He was having a hard time concentrating on anything but that bundle of wild hair held back behind her head and those long, golden legs extending from the chair next to him. It didn’t help that when he did look at her, he remembered the rise of soft flesh he had seen when she was unfastening that second button earlier.

  While she had been relaxing, his mind had been working and he had come to the conclusion that he was too far away, down in the tepee. He needed to be in the house, closer to her, should Lambert decide to come through a window again. He needed a clear mind when he approached the subject, but he wasn’t sure he could do it with her sitting beside him with so much skin showing. He swallowed hard, trying to think of how to open the conversation.

  “You know, Wolf, I’ve been thinking. Maybe you need to move up here into the house. When Lambert does come, I don’t want to be in there by myself.” She realized that Lambert finding her was all too real and for the first time, expressed her true fears.

  Wolf was surprised that she had almost voiced his same thoughts. He was still looking at her, wishing he could close his hands in her hair and feel its softness. He forced his eyes away from her hair and met her steady look. “That’s smart thinkin’. I was wonderin’ how to convince you of it.”

  She rested her head on the back of the chair, stretching her neck back, leaving her throat open to the sun, and Wolf’s eyes.

  He indulged himself for a long minute, and then looked away. This was certainly going to test his restraint.

  So went the next few days. Jordan was a constant temptation to Wolf and in turn, she became more attracted to him. Each day, they worked side by side and when night fell, she retired to her room and he became comfortable in her guest room.

  Wolf struggled to maintain a professional facade while Jordan caught herself more than once trying to attract him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Lambert emerged from his room. It was dark and he needed to stretch his legs and have supper. He had gotten lucky earlier in the day and had an interesting conversation with a man at the second feed store. The man was a talker and it didn’t take long to bring the subject around to women. From there, Lambert just casually mentioned that he had met a woman at a horseshow once that was from Lake City. Her first name was Jordan. He could remember that because it was such an unusual name. It had been a couple of years ago and he wondered if she was still around.

  “We have a customer named Jordan. Jordan Lanier. One of the prettiest women around,” the feed store clerk admitted.

  “Lanier? I don’t think this woman was a Lanier. Probably not the same woman.” Lambert’s heartbeat was increasing.

  “Probably was. She’s a widow, but had her name changed back to her maiden name when she came back home to live. I don’t know of another Jordan around,” the man insisted. “’Specially one that’d be at a horseshow.”

  Lambert’s heart almost jumped out of his chest. “The Jordan I met was a real looker, though. Short black hair, and really flirty.”

  The store manager shook his head. “Nope, definitely not the same Jordan. Our Jordan is a blond and keeps to herself. Very nice lady. Has this really big dog that goes with her everywhere. I’ve heard he’s a bad dog, but is meek as a kitten if she speaks to him.”

  “Lake Cit
y…..I’m not sure. Maybe that woman said Lakeland,” Lambert shorted. “It was a long time ago. It’s not important. Now where did you tell me was the best place for a nice steak?” He did not want the man to even remember this conversation, so he put on the appearance of already having dismissed it himself. In reality, every word was stored inside Lambert’s mind. He would especially remember the part about the dog that he hadn’t even appeared to have heard. The dog was a problem he would have to deal with.

  All afternoon he had stayed locked away in his hotel room, savoring the information he had so skillfully gleaned from that stupid man at the feed store. She thought she was so smart to change her name. Well, it didn’t matter because now he knew who she was! One step at a time. His heart raced with excitement. He was getting closer!

  He had checked the phone book and there was no Jordan Lanier and no J. Lanier, in fact the only Lanier was a Dr. Fred Lanier on First Street. He was sure that the same last name was just a coincidence. Lanier was not that unusual.

  He had taken out the envelope he’d found at the Swartz home and looked at it several times. There was no return address and he had no way of knowing where she would be located, but just touching it made him feel closer to her. Tomorrow he would go to the court house and see what he could find there. Today he had just needed to collect his excitement and relish the idea of nearing his objective. Five years was a long time. He had stored up an uncommon amount of hate sitting there day after day, thinking about her. Soon now, she would pay.

  He ate supper, and then spent a couple of hours driving around, just becoming familiar with the area. Lake City was on the verge of becoming a real city and he was almost surprised that he had discovered Jordan’s identity so quickly, considering the size of the town. That name of hers was sure helpful.

  On a short jaunt west on US 90 he discovered a western store with an arena. That might be a place to locate her. He made a point to remember it. If worse came to worse. Driving north on state road 441 he discovered miles and miles of nothing but pine forest. Turning onto a dirt road, he followed it, twisting and turning until he came out on a small county road that eventually led him back to town. That had been a good drive. He returned to his room filling he had accomplished a lot.