The Girl with the Broken Heart

by Lurlene McDaniel

  Kenzie flinched. Austin had acted quickly at the Taylors’, because he’d been trained. Austin Boyd, jack of all trades. Helper, protector, medical assistant, trusted friend. Her anger morphed into bitter resignation. Truth came with a price.

  She kept her eyes on Avery, her pulse pounding. “What else aren’t you telling me? Because I know there’s more. Because there’s always more to the story, isn’t there?”

  Avery’s face reddened. He shifted his weight. “You’ve had security around you for the past two years you’ve been away from home.”

  Kenzie’s blood ran cold. “Who?”

  “I paid a few of the campus security cops to be extra vigilant, to make sure they were close at hand if you left your dorm or library cubicle, especially late at night. I knew if you were being stalked, you’d never see it coming.”

  “Stalked? That’s crazy talk!”

  “Think back to how contentious it got between me and Bill when I fired him, and when that soring documentary and undercover video hit TV. Every animal lover on the planet went nuts! Bill was ruined, and we were in the crosshairs, guilty by association.”

  He was guilty for hiring Bill in the first place, but words stuck in her throat, stopped by the look of raw fear in her father’s eyes.

  “When you stopped talking to me, when you took off to live on campus, I couldn’t take a chance that he wouldn’t follow through with his threats. I had no choice, Kenzie.”

  “You had no right—”

  “I had every right! I’m your father.”

  “Did Mom know? Did she approve?”

  “She was relieved. We both wanted you safe, and hiring extra security reporting to me made us both feel better while you were on campus.”

  Angry words jammed her throat. Her gaze shifted to Austin, who stood expressionless in front of Blue’s stall, her stomach churning over the thought of Austin dutifully “reporting in” to her father. What details might Austin have shared? “They reported to you? They were your spies?” She turned her fierce anger on her father but meant it for Austin too.

  Avery reddened. “It wasn’t like that. No one was spying on you. They were ready to protect you if you were in any danger. It wasn’t as if you were checking in, you know. You wouldn’t even take my phone calls or answer my text messages back then.”

  “But I talked to Mom.” Not exactly the truth—her calls were occasional, not frequent enough. “Why didn’t you tell me about having me watched? You should have asked me!”

  “Oh, yeah, that would have worked.” His tone was derisive. “Please, tell me, what would you have said if I’d asked your permission?” She pressed her lips together. “Exactly,” Avery allowed. “You’d have thrown a fit, said I was ‘interfering’ in your life. You’d have refused—and I’d have done it anyway.” He hit the last few words hard for emphasis.

  She toned down her ire. “What about Dr. Kaye, when I went to work for her?”

  “You were covered there too. Always discreetly, and she never knew.”

  “But why this summer? All that mess from two years ago is behind us.”

  “Actually, I was ready to call off security, thinking you’d come home for the summer. But you didn’t. You insisted on coming to Bellmeade instead.”

  “But there’s no threat to me here! I’m just rehabilitating hurt horses.”

  Avery’s expression clouded. “Maybe not, but after Caroline…we didn’t know at first, why she…” He paused, started anew. “When you and I got into her computer after her funeral…” He trailed off.

  Kenzie remembered those dark days before and after her sister’s funeral. She remembered the images she and her father had discovered in an innocuous folder marked TERM PAPER—selfies of Caroline unclothed, in provocative poses. The file had provided a window into the secret life of a girl she and her parents had loved, but there was a piece of her that none of them had truly known. Standing in a Bellmeade stable, Kenzie’s heart broke all over again.

  Avery cleared his throat. “Don’t you see, Kenzie? Your mother and I couldn’t have survived losing you too. I can’t change what happened to Caroline, or what she did, but I’ll do whatever’s necessary to protect you. Even if I must hire others to do it.”

  Kenzie’s lips trembled. Paying Austin Boyd to keep an eye on her was logical from her father’s point of view. Austin’s daily proximity made him a natural. What she couldn’t sort out was the maelstrom of emotions tumbling through herself about and for him.

  Her father intruded into her silence. “I know you’re mad at me, but your mother deserves better treatment. Please come home before the semester begins. Just for a few days. It will mean the world to both of us.”

  Feeling defeated, disillusioned, she said, “I’ll come. You have my word.”

  “I—I’ve hated being separated from you, Kenzie. You were always my princess.”

  She stiffened as he awkwardly patted her shoulder. Showing emotion was difficult for them both, and the past lay between them like scorched earth.

  Avery looked over at Austin. “You stay on until she leaves for home.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alone with Austin, Kenzie felt as if the walls were closing in. “Will you please bring in the horses? It’s getting pretty hot outside.”

  “Kenzie, I—”

  She held out her hands in a stop motion. “Not now. I’m going back to the house where it’s cooler.” She walked into the sunlight.

  “Sooner or later, we have to talk,” he called out.

  She ignored him and kept moving.

  * * *

  —

  Austin’s insides twisted. He’d hoped to leave Bellmeade without her ever knowing about his and Avery’s connection. That hope was gone now, and the landscape of his and Kenzie’s relationship lay like fragmented flower petals in the aftermath of a windstorm. The revelations had wounded her, the very last thing he ever wanted to do. He wasn’t angry at Avery for telling her. She’d had her father’s back to the wall, and the man had nowhere to go except to the truth.

  Time to call in the horses. Austin found his hat in the tack room, where he’d been waiting for Kenzie before Avery had unexpectedly shown up. He fingered a vase of flowers on her desk, a bouquet he’d planned on giving her to welcome her back. Now the flowers looked cheesy, misplaced.

  For weeks, he’d tried to dissect and deflect his feelings for Kenzie. She could be maddeningly willful and headstrong but also endearingly softhearted and tender for the things she held dear. He had begun to believe that one of those things was him. But today’s revelations altered everything. Betrayal. Her father, her sister, and now himself.

  Austin tried to forget the feel of her in his arms or the brush of her lips across his on the night of the wedding reception. Forgetting was a lost cause. The surface of his skin would never forget. For weeks he’d attempted to stave off his growing feelings for her and had failed miserably. With Kenzie, he’d inadvertently stumbled into a whole different realm.

  He’d foolishly fallen in love with her.

  Doing what she did best, Kenzie turned inside herself and locked Austin out. For the rest of the week, she performed an elaborate dance of avoiding him, which wasn’t easy considering they still shared the space and the chores. She arrived later in the mornings, letting him handle early feedings by himself, or groomed and exercised boarders’ horses to avoid being alone with him. That weekend, she left him a note to handle all the work and spent Saturday morning feverishly cleaning her bungalow.

  In the late afternoon, her doorbell rang—persistently. Kenzie wasn’t in the mood to see anyone, determined not to open the door if it was Austin. She peered through the peephole and saw Lani standing on the porch. Kenzie hoped she could be cordial, forced a smile, and pulled open the door. “Come in, welcome home! How was Aruba?”

  Lani stepped inside,
looking relived. “How are you? I stopped by the hospital this morning to catch up before I start work again on Monday. I was told that you’d been a patient. Went to the stable first, and Austin said you were resting.”

  “He exaggerates. I’m taking a break from stable work to catch up on work here in the house.” Kenzie walked them into the living room, where they nestled on opposite ends of the sofa. “And I’m fine, or they wouldn’t have kicked me out of the hospital. Just got a little overheated, that’s all.”

  “Overheated? Is that what you’re calling hyperthermia? It’s serious. Don’t make light of it. I was also told it happened at the Taylors when you went to retrieve Oro.”

  “It was my own fault. I wasn’t paying attention to the heat index. I wanted to get Oro home and out of the Taylors’ way. They were grieving and didn’t need extra baggage of caring for a horse.”

  Lani’s solemn gaze met Kenzie’s. “Jamey’s death is sad, but it was expected. Your collapse wasn’t. I saw your chart, the list of tests that were run.” A furrow creased the space between her eyes. “Some tests were atypical for heatstroke, and the physician on your case was unexpected too.” Lani’s medical experience gave her a clear edge on reading charts.

  “I was well treated at the hospital. And I’ve been released.” Kenzie skirted Lani’s concerns and closed the door on a discussion of her health. She flashed a bright smile. “How about some fresh lemonade? It’s Ciana’s grandmother’s recipe, and it’s really tasty.”

  Taking the hint to back off, Lani trailed Kenzie into the kitchen. Ice clinked into glasses. “Nurses told me Austin’s quick thinking of using cold-water immersion to lower your body temp was genius.”

  Kenzie took a pitcher from the refrigerator, poured the pale-colored liquid into the glasses. “Yes, he saved the day.” The comment was clipped. She headed again for the sofa. “Now tell me about Aruba.”

  Lani settled, offered a sigh soft with reminiscence. “The place is paradise, and the resort was gorgeous. Just the two of us together without a care in the world…heavenly.” Lani took a sip from her glass. “And speaking of twos, you and Austin looked pretty cozy at the reception. You make a lovely couple, you know.”

  Kenzie’s smile faded when she realized Lani wasn’t giving up her hunt for information. She eased her glass onto a coffee table coaster. “Get that idea out of your head, please. We are not a couple and never will be.”

  Her voice held more snap than she’d meant, and Lani’s eyes widened. “What happened? You both looked so happy that night.”

  Feeling tears edge into her eyes, Kenzie told Lani how she had overheard her father and Austin and of her confrontation with Avery. “As soon as Dad left the stable, so did I. It was humiliating, you know, learning that I was just part of Austin’s job description. ‘Watch the girl. Feed the horses. Paycheck in the mail.’ ” Tears again pooled in her eyes, a few sliding down her cheeks. She swatted them away like bothersome flies.

  Lani had sat patiently throughout Kenzie’s story and set her glass aside. “Look at me.” Ashamed, Kenzie refused. “Okay, then listen to me. I’ve seen the way that man looks at you, Kenzie Caine. You are far more than a ‘job’ to Austin, so let that idea go. I noticed it on Memorial Day, I suspected it when I brought the kids here that Saturday, and I clearly saw it at the reception. He’s crazy about you.”

  Kenzie shook her head, sighing. “I’ve made plans for my life, Lani, and they don’t include Austin Boyd.” She’d come to terms with truth and reality. She already had one path into the future with an ending beyond her control.

  Lani tried one more time. “I almost walked out of Dawson’s life once because I was afraid to let him know how I felt about him. Don’t make that mistake. Don’t look back on this summer and have regrets about things left unsaid, and undone.” Kenzie leaned into the sofa cushion, shut her eyes, let her silence be her response. After a long silence, Lani said, “Okay, none of my business.” She touched Kenzie’s shoulder, understanding. “But since I’m already at Bellmeade today, I’m going on a nice long ride on Oro.”

  “He’ll be glad to see you. I exercised him yesterday, and he’s truly a fine horse.” Kenzie walked with Lani to the front door. “And thanks for checking on me.”

  Lani took hold of Kenzie’s hands. “Don’t forget your promise to visit in the fall when I get Trailblazers going.”

  “I won’t.”

  They hugged and said goodbye. As soon as the door closed, Kenzie braced her back against its solid frame and did the one thing she’d put off since her return from the hospital. She let tears flow freely, weeping over what lay behind her, over what couldn’t be.

  * * *

  —

  “She’s beautiful!” The words came from Elaine, a middle-aged woman stroking Sparkle, the bay horse saddled with reins tied to the hitching post.

  “Glad you like her.” Kenzie untied the reins.

  “She’s a beauty, all right.” Elaine’s husband stood behind his wife, hands on her shoulders.

  Elaine took the reins. “Charlie’s had a walking horse for years, and he’s always wanted me to ride with him. But I was so busy with the kids and the house. Now our last one’s headed off to college and it’s our time to do the things we talked about doing after the kids grew up.” The woman stroked Sparkle’s neck. “She’s a rescue, right? We live on a farm in northern Alabama, and we take care of several adopted dogs, cats, goats, even a calf rejected by its mother.”

  “A menagerie,” Charlie said. “But we love all of them.”

  “She’s a rescue,” Kenzie confirmed.

  “We got a phone call from a friend about her, and read your online posting. I called, and Mrs. Mercer invited us to take a test ride. We hoped to be first in line.”

  “And you are.” In the week between the call and arrival, Kenzie had vetted the couple’s paperwork online and all looked good. “Take her for a spin on our riding trail. Her gaits are smooth as silk.”

  Just then, Austin came along, leading another saddled horse, one of Jon and Ciana’s trusted trail mounts. “In case you’d like to ride along,” he told Charlie.

  “That would be terrific!”

  Kenzie directed the couple to the riding trail and watched them head out.

  “I think they’re serious buyers,” Austin said in Kenzie’s ear. Her aloofness had continued since she’d learned the truth about him and her father. He told himself it was just as well. Soon they’d be going their separate ways. He had accepted that ending, but he wouldn’t allow them to part without settling this rift.

  She edged away. He touched her elbow. “Please, stop. You’ve shut me out long enough. It’s time we talked. You owe me that much after three months of working together. Please, Kenzie.”

  His tone was soft but firm, and his touch, his breath on her skin, brought memories she couldn’t block. He was right, of course. Ignoring him wasn’t working, nor was it fair. She nodded. “Where?”

  “How about I drag out the lawn chairs from July Fourth and we sit in the pasture?” The intense heat spell had broken, and temps had fallen. Today was breezy, with the sun ducking behind sullen-looking clouds. In another month, autumn would arrive.

  Austin set up the chairs by the pasture fence where Blue grazed alone on one side and Mamie on the other. Apart…like us, Kenzie thought.

  “You first,” he said, believing it was better to listen, hear her out, instead of trying to defend himself.

  She’d had days to think about what she’d heard in the stable, and although her emotions weren’t as raw and fiery, she still wrestled with the situation’s complexity—Austin’s motives and actions. “When I heard you and my father arguing, the first words that registered were about what happened to my car. At first I was just upset because I thought we’d agreed to keep it between us. But then the rest of the words sank in—that you were working for him.
That all summer long you’ve been a glorified babysitter for me.” She struggled to keep herself together, never wanting him to know how hurt she’d been over that realization. Angry, yes. Wounded, no.

  “Ouch, that’s harsh. A babysitter? Is that how you think of me?” He groaned and took a few minutes to align his thoughts. “Okay, let’s backtrack. Here are the facts. Jon hired me to work for you and with you. When your dad learned from Jon about me being your exclusive hire, he called and insisted we meet. I came into town a few days early, met with him in a coffee shop in Murfreesboro. He told me about Hixson’s threats and about hiring special security men to make sure you were safe away from home. He offered to pay me to be an ‘extra layer of protection’ this summer, and I agreed.”

  He offered no apology, not that she would have accepted one from him. “Go on.”

  “I also scoped out Bellmeade before my official arrival. And frankly, the size of the place was off-putting, full of areas where you could have been accosted—the stable and pasture where we’d be working alone, the barn up front, the wooded trail you freely walked.” He thought back to how Kenzie and Ciana passed him in the bushes on that day of surveillance, both easy targets for anyone looking to do harm.

  “I walk that path by myself all the time.”

  “Not usually. I follow you, to make certain you arrive home safely. And I wait inside the tree line before you head to the stable every morning.”

  Another confession. Another illusion shattered. She bit hard on her lip, fought for composure. “My father overreacted by hiring you, and you should have told him so. But I get it—I was your second source of income while you were working the same job for Jon. And you’re planning on law school. How convenient for you. Getting paid double for the same work. Makes good business sense.”

  Her conclusion and sarcasm as she said the words struck him like a stone. She’d heard the facts, but not the truth. Being with her every day far outweighed anything he’d been hired to do, either for her father or Jon Mercer. He saw her eyes go gemstone hard and knew there was no way she’d believe anything he said about his feelings for her. He moved forward with his explanation of what she’d overheard—more facts. “As your dad said, the car news came from someone else. Avery showed up and nailed me with it. He was angry, Kenzie, but I’d made a promise to you not to tell him, and I didn’t. We were in the middle of a shouting match when you walked in.”