“Either we’re going to feed cows or ride horses,” she said. “I don’t think most people name their cows.” And after a second, “Except you.”
I laughed as we walked straight through the barn, a few of the horses in their stalls whinnying.
“We’ll come back and visit these guys,” I said, sensing that she was hesitating as we walked by the stalls. The smell of hay took me back home. It seemed to take her someplace else too. “Muriella?”
She’d stopped walking. “Yes? Sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a stable.”
“You’ve ridden before?”
“It’s been over twenty years. I hope it’s like riding a bike,” she said optimistically.
“It will be,” I assured her. “Ready to give it a try?”
We resumed our trek to where two horses were saddled and waiting for us. Rick stood between them, holding the reins. “This is Jezebel,” he said to Muriella, stroking the nose of the horse on his left.
She walked straight up to the horse. Jezebel blew air out of her nose but didn’t put up any protest when Muriella touched her. Though the creature towered over her, Muriella let Jezebel lean into her small palm without hesitation, their connection immediate. Something tightened in my chest at the sight.
“You mind taking me for a ride, sweet girl?” she asked, and the horse nuzzled her some more.
Before Rick or I could offer assistance, Muriella lifted one foot into the stirrup and mounted like she did it every single day.
“Guess you’re ready to go,” I commented dryly, easily climbing onto Cedar’s back.
“Let’s do this.”
“Looks like you’re familiar with riding,” Rick surmised.
“Appears that way,” she said.
Rick looked at her, clearly impressed. “I’d planned on spending a good half hour showing you the ropes. Now I don’t have an excuse to put off shoveling out the barn. You two enjoy your ride.”
We trotted out of the ring into an open pasture. I set a slow pace to warm up the horses.
“This one’s ready to run. Do you think you can beat us?” Muriella taunted after a bit.
“Yeah, I do, darlin’.”
She loosened the reins, and Jezebel took off at a gallop. Cedar and I easily caught up, but she encouraged her horse to go faster, a little too fast for my liking. I was beside her in a split second and we flew across the open fields. Muriella was breathless and her features relaxed by the time she slowed her horse by a little stream.
“The best laid plans,” I grumbled, sidling Cedar up beside her.
“What about your plans?”
“First off, I can’t beat Charles in a cute competition.”
“And second?”
“I thought you might be a little more helpless when it came to horses, and I could woo you with my manly skills. Like maybe we’d start out on two horses but come back on one.”
She pressed her lips together and looked away, her body shaking twice before she turned back to me. Was she fighting a laugh?
“I thought this was just lunch,” she said straight-faced, even as her mouth twitched.
“Wishful thinking on my part.” I flashed her a grin. “Guess I’m going to have to be the helpless one. My dad would shit a brick if he knew that’s what I had to resort to, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
“You’ll walk back before I let you on my horse,” she said defiantly, but her eyes glimmered in amusement. “And watch your language.”
“Sorry.” I fought a smile, pretty sure I was the only guy in the world who enjoyed being scolded. Something about it renewed my certainty that she cared more than she let on. “You wouldn’t show mercy on me?”
“Nope.”
I slowed Cedar to a stop when we reached an old horse chestnut tree.
I dismounted and helped her do the same. “Thanks,” she said, “but next time could you warn me I’ll need a different kind of boots?”
Next time? She didn’t even realize she was already thinking in terms of us beyond today.
“I happen to like the ones you have on.” Discreetly, my gaze slid down her legs to those suede boots with their wedged heels, then back up again. Bad idea. I took a second to get my thoughts back to a G rating as I grabbed a blanket from my saddle bag and spread it on the ground beneath the tree.
I flopped down beside her with a picnic basket and pulled out a container of red grapes.
“I love these things,” she said, opening the lid and plucking one out.
“I know,” I replied, producing a few more items.
“You do?” I didn’t know why she seemed so surprised. I knew all her favorite foods.
“Yep. You’re staring, darlin’,” I said without looking up.
She shoved another grape in her mouth and then one in mine, her cheeks tinting pink. I tried to hide a grin and failed miserably as I opened a plastic container and unfolded tinfoil.
She peered over. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, but I did,” I confirmed, peeling back more foil to reveal the tender brisket inside. Not long after we’d met, I’d introduced her, Daniel, and Vivian to my granddaddy’s brisket. She’d asked for the recipe, even put Vivian up to begging for it, but I wouldn’t budge. If she wanted family secrets, she was going to have to join it. “I’m pulling out all the stops here. The brisket’s not all I’ve got.”
Her eyes rounded in anticipation as I unwrapped another favorite of hers.
“Jalapeño bread?” She reached for it, but I held it out of her grasp.
“I wouldn’t do this for just anybody,” I said, as she seemed to physically restrain herself from crawling over me to that bread.
“I wouldn’t recommend sharing unless it’s someone you want to be stuck with for life, because once they have this”—she waved at the food—“they’ll be hooked.”
“Stuck for life, huh? So that means there’s a pretty good chance you aren’t going anywhere.”
Her face flamed with the realization of what she’d said.
“Only because of the barbecue. And the bread.”
“That’s it?”
She quickly nodded, and I smirked. “Glad to know I won’t have to share the banana pudding with you, since you only like me for my barbecue.” I dug a fork into the brisket. She swiped the bread away from me. “Aww, don’t be like that, darlin’. If you admit you like having me around a tiny bit for something other than my grandparents’ food, I’ll share.”
She chewed bread and tore off another piece. “I like that you’re a good friend to Daniel. He needs it, even if he’s too stubborn to admit it.”
“What about you? I don’t see you opening up to other people either. Not beyond Daniel and Vivian.”
“Why would I need anyone else? Except you, of course. You’re my friend.”
“Don’t I know it.” As if I needed reminding that she’d stuck me in the casual friend category. Well, I wanted out of that zone. “Think there’s a possibility you’d ever let me where they are. In there.” I stopped just short of touching her in the vicinity of her heart.
The bread slipped from her fingers. “It’s not easy for me.”
“After six years, shouldn’t I at least have a clue why?” I held up both hands. “It’s not my business. I get it. But maybe you’ve gotten a little too good at keeping people at arm’s length.”
She shot to her feet. “And you’re just everybody’s best friend?”
“No. I only want to be yours.” I looked up at her lazily, ignoring the jab.
She opened her mouth and closed it. “I don’t think I can do that,” she finally said, deflating.
“Because you want more?” Hope infused my words.
“I’m only here because you helped Vivian.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And it’s just lunch,” she reminded me again.
I let it drop. “Let’s go for a walk.”
We strolled along the bank of the creek. I stopped and picked up a rock, sk
ipping it across the water.
“Vivian seemed better today,” I said to try to take away the awkwardness that had settled in between us.
Worry lines creased around Muriella’s eyes. “She says they’re back together, but she didn’t tell me why she was so upset last night.”
I paused mid-skip. “They’re back together? I would’ve thought she’d be happy. That was one hell of a jag she went on last night.” I couldn’t recall a time Vivian had cried, but she’d worn herself out in the stairwell of their building to the point I’d had to carry her to Muriella’s place.
She swallowed hard. “That’s what has me worried. I’ve never seen her so completely devastated, not even after Daniel left her. Whatever it is that Daniel’s done, it’s bad.”
As she nibbled on her bottom lip, it took all my self-control not to put my arms around her. “Can we try to see the positive? They’re together. That’s what we all wanted, right?”
“Yes.” She sighed, her expression somber. “I’m tired of the secrets. With Daniel, he’s never told me everything, and I haven’t expected him to. But now Vivian’s keeping secrets too, and they’re clearly very serious. I hate this instability. That’s supposed to happen out here.” She waved her hand around. “Not at home.”
I understood her all too well. “Sometimes we can’t filter out the bad.”
She pressed her lips together. “You’re right. I’ll focus on the positive. At least we’re a whole unit again.”
Yet again, she had me in awe of her strength. She and our friends had been up to their necks in mud, last night the pinnacle, but she forged on. Not many people could do that.
“How much do you believe in fate?” I asked.
“I don’t think anything happens by accident,” she admitted.
Until recently, I’d always been respectful of her personal space, but now I was ready to get all up in it. The time for tiptoeing around was over. I just had to figure out how to do this delicate dance with her.
“Do you think that’s how you ended up with Daniel? That the path was always leading to him? To Vivian?”
She swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“Neither of you have ever told me the whole story of how you met.” I handed her a rock and pointed my chin toward the water. I knew he’d found her as a girl, but I always had the distinct impression it wasn’t something they liked to talk about, so I didn’t.
She tried to mimic my technique, but the stone immediately sank.
“When I was fourteen, my brother stowed me away in a cargo ship headed here from Nicaragua. Daniel found me in a container, nearly starved. I’d rationed my food, but had eaten the last of it the day before he found me. When I saw Daniel, I knew he was the answer to my prayers.” She pressed her lips together and stared out across the bank.
I ran a hand through my hair. Damn, that was way more dramatic than I was expecting. To go through a thing like that, and so young? “How the hell did you survive? You must have been terrified.”
“Carlos, my brother, he cut a hole in the metal. During the day there was a small sliver of light. It wasn’t so bad then. I could see out.”
I reached for her and then dropped my arm, hating I couldn’t touch her. “Wasn’t it hot?”
“Unbearably so at times. But I’d spent a lot of time in the heat growing up.” She seemed to go right back to the past. “The dark was the worst. I’d focus on the sound of the sea. It became a lullaby just for me.”
A sharp and intense anger clawed my insides. “Why would your brother do that to you?”
“To save me from hell.”
Chapter Seven
Muriella
Stone pulled into the underground garage at my apartment building, maneuvered the truck into one of Daniel’s parking spaces, and killed the engine. I’d been pretty quiet since we’d skimmed stones at the lake. Telling my story for the first time in a long time had not been easy. I was grateful that he didn’t ask me to explain more than I was ready to. We sat there silently for a few minutes until, I guess, he couldn’t stand it any longer.
“There wasn’t a space down here this morning. That’s why I was in the alley,” he explained, even though I hadn’t asked. Then he reached behind my seat, and a plastic bag of some sort crinkled. “For you.” He presented a bag of my favorite Mars candy bars, the miniature ones I loved. That got my interest.
“You’ve had this all day and are just now giving it to me?”
Stone smiled, well aware of my addiction. “If I’d given these to you first, you’d have sat in this truck all day. I’d have had to eat brisket alone with Jezebel and Cedar.”
“Never let anyone tell you that you aren’t a smart man.” I reached for the bag. He held onto it, and I couldn’t pry it out of his grip.
Once I gave up trying, he said, “I’ll walk you up.”
“That’s not necessary.” I reached for the door handle.
“If Ruby finds out we went to lunch and I didn’t see you to the door, she’ll tan my hide.”
“We wouldn’t want to upset your grandmother.” He let his guard down, and I grabbed the bag of candy from him. “It occurred to me we never finished discussing the origins of your family names,” I said in mock seriousness.
“Give me those back,” he demanded, swiping at the candy which I had stashed between me and the door, out of his reach. “And here I was pulling out all the stops.”
“Thank you for the ride. Some of my best memories are of my horse, Angel.”
“Just lunch wasn’t so bad?”
“No,” I admitted reluctantly.
A satisfied curve shaped his lips. “Would you do it again?”
Part of me wanted to jump for another opportunity, but I couldn’t let him know that. “Don’t push it.”
Stone was showing me a video of Sissy the cow at his grandmother’s window when the elevator opened on my private lobby. The front door to my apartment was wide open, and fear ripped through me. I immediately called for Vivian, and marched to the door. Stone caught me by the arm before I could cross the threshold.
“Let me go first.” He looked at his hand on my arm and let go.
I opened my mouth to protest, but his eyes warned me he wasn’t going to budge on the matter. “Fine,” I acquiesced, trying to remain calm.
He found me. Fear that my past had finally caught up pushed its way to the surface. At the thought of my father, my heart rate picked up speed. I steadied myself with a hand on the door frame and braced myself for the worst.
On a deep breath, I forced logic into my thoughts. It was more likely that the trouble from last night had resurfaced. I shivered thinking about being tied to that chair, a gun in my face. For the first time today, I was truly grateful Stone was with me.
The apartment was quiet, each room we checked empty, with no trace of Vivian or anyone else. Initially, we had only glanced in the study, but upon closer inspection I noticed an envelope lying on the glass surface of the desk. There had been two, one addressed to me and one to Vivian. Daniel had asked me to keep them in case something happened to him. Hers was gone.
“We need to go upstairs,” I said. We climbed up the flight of stairs to Daniel’s floor to find his front door wide open too. All was not right. Whatever was in his letter to Vivian had made her come rushing up here.
“Daniel,” I called, Stone on my heels as I crossed the foyer.
“In here,” he said, and I couldn’t help the twinge of affection I felt at the familiar response. Daniel had done that since I’d known him. This apartment was huge, and whenever I called for him, his answer was never specific, just always “in here,” wherever that might be. I’d gotten good at figuring it out by the volume of his voice, but he spent the majority of his time in the study, so it wasn’t too hard to guess.
He and Vivian were snuggled up on the dark leather sofa in front of the fire. My jubilation at their reunion was overshadowed with worry.
“What’s going on?” I asked, bursting into the
room and sinking into a chair.
“Everything okay here?” Stone asked from the doorway.
“Yeah.” That’s all Daniel managed to say.
“Then I’m gonna go. Give you three some privacy.”
“No. Come in. You should hear what I have to tell Muriella.”
Stone strode across the room and rested his rear on one of the oversized arms of my chair. I silently pleaded with Daniel to put me out of my misery. I couldn’t stand being in the dark, even if I wasn’t going to like the news. He swallowed hard, and Vivian squeezed their interlaced fingers.
“Tell me,” I said, twisting mine into knots in my lap.
“I’m going to prison—”
My heart stopped. Stone stiffened beside me.
“Not if I can help it,” Vivian said, her outburst determined.
I looked back and forth between them in confusion. “Will someone please tell me what is going on? Prison?” Panic rose.
I glanced to Stone, who looked as perplexed as I felt. I must have misheard. The two of them were sitting there as if we were discussing nothing more than what we should have for dinner.
“I confessed to killing my father.”
The onslaught of nausea was swift. I gripped the arm of the chair unoccupied by Stone and willed it away. “Why—why would you do that? You didn’t kill him.”
Surprise registered on his face, but he quickly smoothed it back to impassive. “To keep the man you met last night from going to prison for his murder.”
I stared at him. The Daniel I knew was protective of the people he cared about to a fault. How could there be this other person in his life who was obviously very important to him, but that he’d kept from me? I sat on the edge of the seat as a tumultuous mix of emotions swirled inside of me.
Stone shoved his hand between his legs as if trying not to touch me. Discreetly, I scooted away. I couldn’t handle that. Not now.
The weight of Daniel’s admission gripped my heart and squeezed until all I could focus on was the anger that was taking hold of me.
“If he did it, he should be the one to serve the time. Not you.” I folded my arms over my chest.
Three Dates (Paths To Love Book 2) Page 5
