She didn’t want to, but she nodded just the same. Carolina glanced at the neighborhoods they passed, her mind settling on one word: rodeo. James would follow her to one of them. She would stake her life on it, and there would be no way to avoid the man—not in a public place. Her stomach curdled thinking about it.
They passed the burger joint outside town, and she caught sight of a young couple facing each other in the gravel parking lot. The girl sat on the tailgate, a look of love on her face as she gazed into the eyes of the captain of the high school football team.
Okay, she had no way of knowing if that were true. Carolina looked away from the scene because it made her think of her own childhood. Had she ever really had one? There’d never been time to date anybody, much less a football player. She’d been too busy working two jobs and trying to graduate. She’d refused to flunk out like her mother. Carolina had been determined to do things differently, but look what it’d gotten her. The first man she ever dated had ended up being a complete psycho—just like the men her mom used to bring home. It was enough to put her off men for the rest of her life.
“I’ll move back into my old room at Colt’s,” Chance said, drawing her attention. “I don’t think they’ve completely babied it out. And they won’t mind, not once we explain the situation.”
Oh, yeah, sure. Explain that Carolina’s ex-boyfriend was even crazier than she’d thought. Great.
Do not start crying.
She inhaled sharply. Tears were for babies. She wasn’t one and she wouldn’t act like one, either. So what if she was in a spot of trouble with her ex? She’d deal with it. And she had help, she thought, glancing at her companion in the truck. Chance was much younger than her boss, at least five years, but clearly older than her. And while her boss was a handsome older man, Chance Reynolds wasn’t handsome. The former Army Ranger was drop-dead gorgeous. Like Tatum Channing, only with a way better body. She should know. She’d seen the whole enchilada.
Carolina!
“Have you lived here long?” he asked.
“My whole life.” She’d known who the Reynoldses were long before they’d known her. Their father was legendary in rodeo circles. A member of the Hall of Fame, a world-renowned horse trainer. She’d heard about the dark side of Zeke Reynolds, too. His infamous temper. His ghastly horse-training techniques. Even that he might have beaten the boys and their sister. She’d seen no evidence of it, though. Her boss never spoke ill of his dad, and when she’d brought Zeke Reynolds up one day, all Colt had done was shrug and repeat what Carolina thought—the man had been a legend.
“You go to the local high school?” Chance asked.
The only high school. “Via Del Caballo High.”
“Go, Chargers,” Colt sang.
She smiled. A rearing horse was the school’s mascot, and it was the reason why she’d gotten into horses, much to her mother’s dismay. Carolina had always been fascinated by them, but when one of the local cowboys had brought his horse to the football game her freshman year—in a foil and cardboard costume made to look like armor, of course—she’d been able to touch one for the first time. It’d been over for her ever since. Once she’d looked into those liquid brown eyes, her life had changed.
“You graduated a few years ahead of me,” she said. “I remember your sister, Claire. She graduated my freshman year. She always seemed nice.”
“My sister is the best,” Chance said. “Kills me what she’s been through.”
Cancer. Not Claire, her son. Leukemia. But they had it on the run, she’d heard.
“You’d never know there was anything amiss from meeting her.”
Claire Reynolds was her hero. A woman she could look up to, and she did. Natalie Reynolds, too. Natalie had been in a horrible riding accident before she’d met Colt. They’d told her she’d never walk again, and now look. By comparison, Carolina’s problems seemed small.
“Everyone has a cross to bear,” he said softly.
She gulped at the kindness and understanding in his eyes. She forced her gaze away and out the window. They were out in what Carolina used to call the boondocks back when she was growing up. The town of Via Del Caballo had faded into tiny ranches—or wannabe ranches, as Carolina called them—single-story houses surrounded by white fences and small arenas. She glanced behind them again. Still no 4x4 in sight.
“We’re not being followed,” Chance said.
She jerked around so fast her braids nearly hit her in the face. “How do you know?”
“Simple.” He glanced at her quickly, the line of his jaw so strong and masculine she swallowed. “I doubled back when we were in town.”
He had? Good heavens. She hadn’t even noticed.
“You should get in the habit of that, too,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. “Pick a street you know isn’t a dead end, one that will allow you to double back. If someone’s following you, they’ll take the same route, and you’ll know it’s a bad guy, because nobody’s going to do circles for no reason.”
She nodded.
“And don’t assume he’ll be in his truck, either.”
She glanced at him sharply, because that’s exactly what she’d been looking for.
“He could change vehicles.” He rested his wrist on the top of the steering wheel in a manner of complete ease. She supposed compared to driving in a war zone, her situation must seem like Disneyland to him. “And if you are being followed, don’t let on that you know. The worst thing you can do is speed up and try and outrun him.”
“What do I do?”
“Call 911. Or me. Head to the police station. The man’s not going to follow you there. Not unless he’s stupid.”
She hadn’t really thought about that. Yipes.
“If you aren’t paying attention,” Chance continued, “and you notice he’s followed you to the ranch, don’t worry too much. Just come on inside. He’s not going to come down our road, and if he does, I’ll take care of him.”
“What about Natalie’s clients? Or Claire’s? What if he somehow sneaks in thanks to them? What if he hides out or waits until I’m alone?”
Claire ran a canine rescue not far from where Colt lived. Natalie ran a successful horse-jumping business. There was no telling who might accidentally let James in—if it came to that. Carolina doubted he’d come after her like that, though. He was simply mad she’d turned him in. It made him feel like a big man to terrorize her. He was succeeding, and that made her angry all over again. No man should ever have that kind of power over a woman.
“I’ll have Claire call her clients tonight and explain what’s going on.”
Oh, great.
“I’ll ask Natalie to take precautions with her clients, too.”
So the whole family would now know what an idiot ex-boyfriend she had. Terrific.
BITCH.
Her skin prickled as she recalled the red color. She never would have thought he’d go that far. Now that some of the shock had faded, it made her furious. How dare he deface her property? Granted, it was just a tiny apartment, but she’d worked hard to get the place, and now her landlord would likely throw a fit—and she’d have to pay to fix it, too.
“It’ll be okay,” Chance said, patting her leg, which made her madder, because she wasn’t some little girl who needed a pat on the head—or the leg, as the case might be. She was a full-on adult who could take care of herself.
Then why are you glad a former Army Ranger is sitting next to you? And why are you grateful he’ll be with you tonight? And why does the sight of his hand on your leg make you all squirmy inside?
They were questions she refused to answer.
* * *
PRICKLY.
That was the word he would use to describe her. Chance pulled his brother’s black truck into its parking space and added the word
to his list of stubborn, fiercely independent and dogged.
“Looks like your brother’s back,” Carolina said.
Colt and Natalie had matching trucks, except for their different colors, and they’d clearly returned from running errands. Chance hadn’t heard them leave this morning, which just went to show how completely wiped he’d been from his long journey home. It’d been an eight-hour hitch to Europe, then another eight across the pond. A quick stop on the East Coast, where he’d managed to snatch a nap in an empty hangar only to be headed out again less than an hour later. All told, he’d traveled for twenty-four hours. He’d gone straight to bed once he’d arrived home. Not that it’d helped. He was still bone tired.
“I’ll go in and talk to him,” he said.
“No. That’s okay. I can explain the situation.”
Yup. Independent.
He shook his head. “We’ll go in together.”
It was strange walking up to the house he’d grown up in. Strange and unsettling, in a way. Saying he’d had a bad childhood was like saying Abraham Lincoln had a bad night at the theater. His father had terrified all three of his kids, but he’d taken out his temper on Colt the most. His brother used to say their dad tried out his evil tricks on him first, then used them on Chance or Claire. As they’d gotten older, they’d gotten wiser, especially Colt. He’d taken to preempting their dad, but not always. There’d been times when none of them had been able to avoid the drunken fits.
And so as Chance turned the handle to the front door, he braced himself. He hadn’t been inside since his brother’s wedding, not even when he’d returned home last night, and he really wasn’t sure what to expect.
“Anyone home?” he called, though he knew there was. He took two steps and then stopped.
Where before there’d been a small sitting room and a room beyond, there was now open space. The wall he’d been thrown against as a twelve-year-old—after he’d dared to tell his dad he was too sick to walk to school—had been removed. The kitchen was still to his right, but the wall separating it from the sitting room had been removed. The whole first floor was open, and it felt so different that he instantly relaxed.
“We’re up here,” a female voice called. His sister-in-law, Natalie. “In your old room.”
He caught Carolina’s eye. She couldn’t seem to stop her gaze from moving around the room, as if she were in awe of the scope of the place, and maybe even a little intimidated.
“I’ll stay down here,” she said.
“No. Come up. I’m sure they won’t mind.”
He glanced around again. It was like a whole new home.
Maybe that was the point.
He glanced at Carolina. She clearly didn’t want to go, but he touched her shoulder and urged her forward. He could feel the tension beneath his hand as they headed toward the stairs on the left. The staircase was the one thing that hadn’t changed. The oak banister he’d tried to slide down still existed. His father used to make them march up those stairs when they’d been bad. Chance remembered looking up at the top landing, heart pounding...
Enough.
That was in the past. He was a different person. Not the frightened child who’d grown up with an abusive father. And this was a different house. Pictures of Natalie jumping the most amazing horses hung on the stairwell wall. Pictures of his brother, too, at rodeos and reining competitions. Pictures of Natalie’s protégée, Laney, in the winner’s circle. And in the middle of it all, a picture of the three of them, Colt, Claire and Chance, blown up big, and smiling. He was young. His mom held him in her lap, which meant his dad must have taken the picture.
“Is that you?” Carolina asked.
He jerked his gaze away from the image. “Yup.” He tapped the picture. “And Claire and Colt.” Not that anyone would need to be told. They all had dark hair. Only the eyes were different. Colt’s were hazel, Claire’s and his own eyes were green.
“You were so young,” she observed.
“Yes, we were.”
There had been good times, he reminded himself, heading the rest of the way up the stairs before she could ask any more questions. His trip down memory lane had started to sink his mood, and he refused to let his father have that kind of power over him. Not ever again.
“Hey, guys,” he said, stopping before his old room, first door on the left, a smile instantly lifting his lips. It looked as though a box factory had exploded.
“Hey, you two,” Natalie said, returning his grin somewhat sheepishly as she, too, peered around the room, her hands on her pregnant belly.
“How’d you sleep?” Colt asked with an equally wide smile, getting up from the floor and dodging some boxes. After Colt had finished thumping him on the back, he leaned back and clutched his shoulders. It was good to look into his brother’s eyes.
Chance chuckled. “I never made it off the couch.”
“You didn’t?”
He shook his head. “Just stripped down to my Skivvies and passed out.”
He glanced at Carolina. She had the same look on her face as someone who’d just discovered their zipper was down. He almost felt bad for her. Almost. He’d never been one to resist teasing a person.
“Lucky I wasn’t naked when Carolina here came bursting through the door this afternoon.”
“I didn’t burst,” she said, tipping her chin up before looking at his brother and his wife. “I thought the place was empty.”
“She knew I was half-naked and wanted a glimpse of my hot stud flesh.”
Carolina gasped.
“Chance!” his sister-in-law said. “Quit teasing her. You’re making her uncomfortable.”
He almost said that was the point, but held his tongue. The blush staining Carolina’s cheeks was adorable.
Adorable?
Best not to dwell on that too long.
“I’m glad he was able to help you out,” Colt said to Carolina. “Although I think you should start leaving a spare set of keys here.”
“I think you’re right,” she grumbled.
It was then that Chance noticed what his brother and sister-in-law were doing. “Wow.”
“Baby equipment,” Colt explained, going back to his position on the floor and picking up a screwdriver. “Changing table, crib, a new dresser that should have taken me ten minutes to put together.” He rubbed his jaw. “But it’s been a little longer than that.”
“Because he won’t listen.” Natalie’s blue eyes were clearly teasing.
“Why should I follow the directions?” Colt asked. “Obviously, they’re for dummies. We’re not dummies. I can figure it out on my own.”
Natalie tsked. “Said the man who built the chicken coop that fell down two days later.”
Colt shook his head, his eyes seeming to ask the question, can you believe her? But he smiled, and Chance had to admit, it was good to see. Colt had waited to join the army until Chance was old enough to get out of the house, too. Claire had already fled, married to Marcus, and so both he and Colt had left for the military together. The difference was that Colt had done only one tour, then returned home to nurse their ailing father—Lord only knew why—while Chance had stayed. Truthfully, the military suited him better. He loved how everything was black-and-white. He relished the camaraderie. The simplicity of being told what to do—and then doing it. His brother hadn’t had a good experience in the military, whereas Chance fit in like a foot in a boot. He couldn’t wait to go back, this time as a private contractor. More money for doing basically the same job, and a career he loved.
“So what can we do you for?” Colt asked, picking up a small square of wood.
Carolina had been quiet beside him, which struck him as odd. He doubted she was quiet very often, but she seemed to be waiting for him to explain.
“Carolina was wondering if
she could sleep in the apartment instead of me.”
That stopped Colt. Natalie looked up from reading the directions. They both stared at Carolina with concern.
“Is he back?” Natalie asked.
Carolina nodded, and Chance watched as Carolina’s lids caught and held tears. Only she wouldn’t let them drop. She straightened her shoulders, clearly getting control of herself. Chance had to admire her for that.
“He left a message on my door,” she explained.
That was one way of putting it.
“Well, sure, you can stay anywhere you want,” Colt said, glancing at his wife, who nodded. “But where will you sleep?” he asked Chance.
“I was thinking at Claire’s place.”
“That’s too far away,” Colt said.
“You can stay here,” Natalie interjected. “I mean, if you don’t mind pieces of baby equipment and the smell of baby powder and new diapers.”
“I told you,” Colt said, “I’ll have it together in ten minutes.”
“That’s what you said ten minutes ago.”
“I hadn’t even started ten minutes ago.”
Another long-suffering sigh from Natalie. She caught Chance’s eye and smiled.
“I don’t mind sleeping in here,” Chance said. “I’ll bunk down on the floor, like we used to do when we were kids.”
Colt’s smile froze. So did Natalie’s when she glanced at her husband’s face.
They would hide from their dad under the bed, but before that, before their mom died, they’d played games. “You remember the time you couldn’t find Henry?”
A smile slipped onto his brother’s face. “I do.” His gaze encompassed his wife and Carolina. “My pet squirrel. I caught it out back. Stupidest creature that ever walked the earth. Afraid of everything. It must have figured out how to get out of the cage, because one day it was gone.”
The Ranger's Rodeo Rebel Page 3
