The Unexpected Storm

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “I’m fine out here, Stella. I grew up here and can manage just fine.” She wiped her forehead, and her white sleeveless tank was stained with grime and sweat.

  “Honey child, you’re not fine. That’s why I’m here. You’re in arrears on the mortgage, and...”

  “I’ll get you the money. I just need some time. I have a couple buyers lined up for the horses, and then I’ll have enough to get me caught up and then some.” Candy swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched the horses she loved so much. They hadn’t provided any income for trail rides on the beach for a long time, not since that other guy moved in. The greedy bastard had bought a stable of horses and gotten all the business. Maybe he was in cahoots with Neil, running her out of business so Neil could pick up her land for a dime.

  “You’re selling Sable? I thought you’d never part with him.”

  “No, I’d never sell Sable. My dad bought him for me. It’s the other two.” Candy watched Melody, the palomino, and Frank, the thoroughbred. She had worked with them for the past few years, a five- and six-year-old, and they were in good health, well trained. She just hoped the wealthy American who wanted them came through.

  She heard the heavy sigh behind her. “Candy, I love you, darling, I really do. Call Neil Friessen, and we’ll work something out with him. He’s always wanted to buy this place, and I’m sure you could sell part and have enough to look after your strays and stay here, although I can’t figure out why you would. You’re young, gorgeous. Move into town, get yourself a condo, meet some guys, have some fun. You know Neil is interested in you.”

  “No!” She pumped her fists and tossed the bucket, scaring her baby donkey, who raced away and almost hid behind Stella. “Not him. He’s the scum of the earth, after what he did to my dad. He was responsible for my dad’s death. If it wasn’t for him...”

  “Candy, Neil didn’t have anything to do with your dad dying.” Stella cut her off. “I hate to tell you this, honey, but your dad drank himself to death. No one had him swallow all those pills with that booze except he himself.”

  Candy turned away because she didn’t want to listen to this. Her dad may have swallowed all those pills, but it was Neil who had forced him to that point. Her dad had even said Neil wanted their property so badly he’d do anything to get it, that it was Neil who was responsible for their troubles. She believed her father when he said that Neil had forced them into the financial mess they were in. Her dad had so many debts, and after his charter business for offshore fishing and scuba-diving tours all dried up, she knew it had all been because of Neil. Her dad said Neil had threatened him, saying he’d find a way to get a hold of this property and that he kept low-balling him with a ridiculous offer.

  “Candy, now, listen to me. I liked Randy. He was a character, but he was also the biggest bull-shitter around. He could spin a tale about anyone he didn’t like, and he had his hands in things that I wonder if you even know about. You need to start seeing the situation for what it really was. Open your eyes, girl, because I think you’ve misjudged Neil. He has a good heart, and I know he cares about you. I know he’s concerned about you, out here.”

  “Stella, the man has a heart of stone, and the only concern he has for me is how he can steal my land away and put up his fancy resort, probably right where my house is!” Candy yanked open the wooden shed and lifted the lid off the sealed bin that held the grain for the horses. She scooped some into a pail and strode back across the dusty dirt yard to the corral, not missing the frown on Stella’s face. “Just give me until the end of the week, Stella. I’ll have the money.”

  “Candy, I love you, honey, and if it were up to me, I would give you all the time you need, but I can’t keep carrying you. I’ll give you two days, and then I want you to talk to Neil.” Stella strode in those four-inch heels on the uneven ground as if she were in a ballroom. Those shoes were downright sexy, but Candy knew that if they were on her size-eight feet, she’d probably break her ankle. Stella strode around on those spikes as if she’d been born in them.

  “I mean it, Candy. Two days and you call me. I’ll go with you to see Neil, but you’ve run out of options, honey.” Stella strode up to Candy and held both her shoulders, then air-kissed both her cheeks. “Okay, I gotta go. I’ll leave you to your strays, but a word of advice: If you see any more, keep driving.”

  Candy said not a word as she stood in the middle of the yard, watching the dust cloud from Stella’s Land Rover trail behind her as she drove away. Candy knew hell would freeze over before she’d ever allow Neil Friessen to own one inch of her property.

  Chapter 3

  “Stella, this is a surprise! What brings you to my part of paradise?” Neil asked as he dried himself off with a fluffy blue towel after climbing out of the Olympic-sized saltwater pool at the back of his sprawling adobe mansion.

  “Neil, if I were thirty years younger, you’d be in big trouble right about now.” She laughed a rough, smoky laugh. She reminded him so much of Lucille Ball, the actress, whose old shows he remembered watching as a kid. Stella was such a character, with vibrant, dyed red hair and a round face that was always heavily painted, with thick mile-long lashes he was pretty sure were fake. Neil dropped the plush towel on the lounge chair before sprawling in it to finish drying off in his dark bathing trunks.

  “Listen, Neil, I wanted to talk to you about Candy.” Stella sat in the olive green padded chair beside him and shoved on a pair of dark sunglasses, her lips coated with a vibrant red lipstick. She was quite the package, trademark Stella, a transplanted Canadian from the prairie province of Manitoba. She’d moved here with her husband twenty years before. He’d since died, but she had flourished and become as much a part of this paradise as the white sandy beaches that dotted the shoreline.

  “Well, I’d rather not.” Neil smiled as he shut his eyes, but unfortunately it was Candy’s sweet face and slim curves, all that mile-long lush hair he dreamed of one day running his hands through, that popped up in his mind. He wiped his hand down his face and held back the growl that wanted to burst out.

  “Oh, come on, Neil. Be nice.”

  “Nice, are you kidding me?” Neil was propelled forward by the frustration he’d been carrying around for Candy since she’d slapped his face earlier that morning. He slid his legs around the side and sat up, facing Stella. “I’ve been more than nice to her. Every time I see her, she wants nothing more than to claw my eyes out. What did I ever do to her? Seriously, Stella, I’m done with that chick. That girl has serious issues or something. I mean, what the hell is it with her, anyway? It’s like she’s got a poker jammed so far up her ass that she’s...” Neil stopped talking as Stella slid her glasses down her nose with an expression of amusement. “What?” he snapped.

  This was so unlike him. He was the reasonable Friessen, the one who smoothed things over, the negotiator. But, Candy McCrae had the ability to turn him into one of those rough, uncivilized alphas like his brother Jed and, at times, Brad, who barked and growled and stalked around like cavemen. Their wives just shook their heads because there was no reasoning with them. Neil had always laughed and tried to lighten the moment, but it was no fun when it was him and his reasoning that had hit the road all because of a woman.

  “Neil, Candy is a very nice young lady. You just don’t know her, and...” She held up her hand and reached out to touch Neil’s when he nearly lost it, waving his hand in the air like a madman. “She’s in trouble. I am cautious about saying this because of how she covets her privacy, but I can’t stand by anymore on the sideline. She’s out there all alone with those damn horses, and did you know she rescued a baby donkey two weeks ago? As if she needs another mouth to feed. Its mother was killed, and she’s been feeding it from a bottle, nursing the thing just like a baby. The first two days, she barely had any sleep. Francisco told me that. Apparently, she went to him. She didn’t know what to feed the animal, and she was absolutely exhausted when he stopped in to see how she was coping. She does things like that, y
ou know.” She raised her eyebrows at him as if he didn’t have a clue.

  “Francisco came to see me this morning about Candy,” Neil said. “You know how he is. He never butts in on anyone’s business, but he told me Candy went to him and asked him to partner with her in her land, that she’d sell him a share. He wouldn’t tell me how much, just that it was too low and he couldn’t let her do that. He doesn’t have much, and she knew that, too, but apparently she was willing to take very little. He said she’s in a bad way.” Neil realized he had little hope of getting Candy out of his head any time soon, especially with the way Stella was watching him, as if she could read his mind and discern how he really felt about Candy. “I went to see her this morning. She damn near clawed out my eyes, Stella. I tried to offer her money and partner with her on that property, but she wouldn’t even hear an offer, not from me.”

  “Hmm, well, I don’t know what to tell you, Neil, but if you could try again, she really does need the help and I can’t carry her much longer. She’ll lose everything, and she doesn’t deserve that fate. She’s selling off her horses, too. Thought you should know that.”

  “Her gray one?” Neil hated to see her part with that big guy, but he wondered if maybe he could offer to buy her horses...if she was selling them.

  “No, she loves Sable. Her dad gave her that Azteca. He’s worth a pretty penny, too. I think she’d go to her grave first before parting with him. No, it’s the other two.” Stella pushed herself from the chair. “Now think about it. Go talk to her again, but don’t tell her I came to see you. Work that slick charm of yours. Sweet-talk her. I know you can do it.” Stella blew him a kiss and stalked away, her heels clicking on the concrete patio, her hips swaying as she tossed him a wave over her shoulder.

  Neil picked up his towel and then tossed it back on the lounger. Sweet-talking and Candy were two things that never happened together, more like flares and shotguns.

  “Aww,” he groaned and swiped his hand over his face, because although he’d like nothing more than to turn his back on Candy and never speak to her again, he couldn’t. Somehow, that sultry, sexy siren had gotten under his skin. Neil needed to find a way to convince Candy she needed him, and that would be an entire project in itself.

  Chapter 4

  Neil pressed his hand against the frame of the large floor-to-ceiling window in his comfortable living room, decorated in browns and greens. Everything outside was swaying, the palm trees, the bushes, his flag pole, a little too much for his liking.

  “Mister Friessen, sir, the weather reports are saying the hurricane is two days out. They’re ordering an evacuation, sir,” Ana said. She was a short, plump Mayan in her early fifties who lived in a small cottage in back with her husband, Carlos. Ana looked after the house, and Carlos took care of the gardens, the maintenance, and all the upkeep required for a property of this size.

  “Could be closer than that, Ana.” He could feel Ana standing just inside the entryway, and he knew she and Carlos would stay behind and take care of everything if he let them.

  “Do you think it will miss us, sir? Carlos said the last five have veered off in another direction at the last moment. Could happen again. Maybe it will be all right,” Ana said, trying to sound hopeful, though Neil could hear the worry in her voice.

  “I don’t know, Ana. I think we need to get these windows boarded up, haul out all the storm shutters, seal this place up. But I think this time, maybe you and Carlos should head into Merida. Take the Jeep.” Neil pushed away from the window and listened to the radio announce a yellow alert. He slid his hand over his scratchy jaw. He needed to shave, get cleaned up. Normally, he’d never walk around like this, but he had other things to worry about. Since the green alert had been issued a few hours before, he’d been waiting and watching.

  “Okay, Ana, I want you two to get ready. It’s too close. Call Carlos. I’m going to need his help to board up, and then I want both of you out of here.” Neil pulled out a pair of boots from the closet and listened to Ana hurry away and shout out the door to Carlos. Then the phone rang. He knew who it was before Ana reappeared, holding the cordless handset.

  “Mister Friessen, it’s your father.” Ana passed him the phone.

  “Dad, how’re Diana and the baby?”

  “Wonderful! She’s home now. We’re just waiting for Jed and Diana to pick a name for this big boy. Your mother took a ton of pictures. But that’s not why I’m calling. We’ve been following the news. You need to get out, son, and Ana and Carlos, too, before the hurricane makes it impossible,” Rodney Friessen said from the other end of the line.

  “I know. They just issued another warning a few minutes ago. I’m going to get everything boarded up, batten down the hatches. I’m sending Ana and Carlos out. I’ll be right behind them after I make sure all the staff are gone,” Neil said.

  “Don’t wait too long, and call us when you leave. I want to know you’re out of there. Your mother, you know how she is, she’s already worrying.”

  Neil grabbed the boots he’d just pulled from the closet and sat down, jamming his feet into them as he sandwiched the phone between his shoulder and ear. “Well, it’s your job to get Mom to stop worrying. Just tell her I’ll be out of here soon. But I need to get going, Dad, so I can get everything boarded up.”

  “Okay, son. Take care, and remember to call as soon as you’re out.”

  Neil tossed the disconnected phone on the desk and started out the front door to where Carlos and Raphael, a younger man who occasionally helped Carlos out, were securing boards over the windows. “We need to hurry, Carlos. The second alert was just issued, and the wind is starting to pick up.”

  “Sir, we drained the pool, and Raphael has already stored all the outdoor furniture in the shed and secured it.”

  “Sir, you have another call.” Ana opened the front door and waved the phone she gripped in her hand.

  Neil stuck a couple screws in the side of his mouth and lifted another board over one of the other windows. “If that’s my dad again, I’ll call him later,” Neil mumbled as he fingered another of the shiny screws from his mouth and screwed it into the wood.

  “Sir, it’s not your dad. It’s Miss Stella,” Ana shouted.

  “I’ll call her back, Ana. I don’t have time to talk to her right now,” Neil barked, because he realized he was supposed to go see Candy yesterday and he hadn’t. He was still humiliated and didn’t have a clue how to deal with that prickly woman.

  “I’ll tell her.” Ana disappeared back in the house but then reappeared a second later, right behind Neil, holding the phone out. He could hear Stella shouting and carrying on as Ana walked the phone to him. “She don’t want to hear it, and she said something nasty I can’t repeat and told me to get you on the phone.”

  “Oh, for the love of God.” Neil passed the cordless drill to Ana and took the phone.

  “Stella, I’ll call you back. I need to get the windows boarded. We’re kind of in a hurry here. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got a storm coming in.”

  “No, you can’t call me back. Did you go see Candy yesterday like you told me you would?” She sounded really irritated on the other end.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t have a chance. Listen, I’ll deal with it after this storm passes. I’ll sit her down and have a talk with her, but now is not the time. Everyone’s evacuating, and I hope you are, too.”

  “I’m leaving now, but I can’t get a hold of Candy. You and I both know, Neil, that she won’t leave her place. She won’t leave those damn animals, and how is she going to move them? She hasn’t got a dime to her name, or have you forgotten our conversation?” Stella barked, and he was positive that if she were standing before him, he’d feel the heat of her fury as she took another strip off him.

  “She’s a big girl, Stella. I’m sure she can take care of herself.” Neil couldn’t believe he’d said that, and obviously neither could Stella, because he listened to silence from the other end for what felt like precious minu
tes, minutes and seconds he didn’t have to spare right now, and then she let out a heavy sigh.

  “Neil Friessen, you surprise me. I never took you for someone who’d turn his back on someone else. All I’m asking is for you to go out there. If she hasn’t left, convince her to leave. Hell, toss her over those big, broad shoulders and carry her out of there if she won’t listen.”

  Maybe it was the worry he picked up in Stella’s voice, and her heavy sigh, that had him softening and going against his better judgement. “Fine, I’ll go out there. I’ll check to see if she’s still there. I’ll do it on my way out. But I can’t force her—”

  Stella cut him off. “Neil, just talk to her. Don’t take no for an answer. Please get her out of there, because you and I both know she won’t leave. She probably turned off her radio and isn’t even listening to it.”

  Neil banged the phone to his forehead. “Fine. If she’s still there, I’ll handle it. Now I’ve got to go, Stella. Make sure you leave now.”

  “On my way out the door. Thank you, thank you, you big hunk of man.”

  Stella hung up, and Neil handed Ana the phone. For a minute, as Ana watched him in a way his mother often did, Neil wondered if she had read his mind.

  “Come on, let’s finish.” Neil grabbed another sheet of wood and glanced out at the swaying trees. He felt that something different was coming this way, something he couldn’t put his finger on. There was something about this storm, this hurricane, that he knew would change everything.

  Chapter 5

  Candy’s phone had long since gone dead. She’d lost power hours ago. Her house, although sheltered by trees, was right on the ocean and directly in the path of this storm. She’d listened to the radio and heard the first warning, the green one. She hadn’t worried then, but when she heard the second warning, yellow alert, she started to move her horses to the adobe barn they used only during bad weather and the few times of the year when the rains were heavy and unpredictable. That barn was far back in the trees at the far edge of her property, the piece that backed onto the Friessen parcel. It was sheltered and hard to get to, and Candy had to haul everything by hand. With the water, the hay, and the feed, it took all day and a lot of work every time they were forced to take shelter.