“Oh, no problem.” Sarah rushed to cover her surprise.
“Lucky for me, I’m still able to work. I came here as a veteran patient and ended up with a job.”
“Wow. That’s fantastic.”
“Yeah, it works out really well since Bruce’s clients are amputees like me, so I can relate. In fact, one of the vets, Charlie, will be here pretty soon.” Lynn shifted to peer over Sarah’s shoulder.
Sarah followed her gaze. Debbie had entered the barn with a man. Average height, with brown hair, and a face that glowed white.
Lynn shrugged. “I guess Debbie has someone new interested in boarding here. Looks like she’s showing him around the place.”
“You don’t know him?”
“No. She only has room for a dozen horses, so she doesn’t get many new people. She has one open stall, though.”
Sarah’s pulse quickened. With his pasty coloring, he couldn’t spend much time outside. Neither did hackers. She glanced out the barn entrance to the parking lot, where a shiny black Corvette gleamed under the sun. His sports car, along with the Gucci logo on his shirt and designer pants, meant he had money. Maybe rich people didn’t always go to big ranches. Morgan seemed to be loaded, and she boarded here.
As they came closer, Debbie talked to him until they stopped in front of the empty stall. She entered, but the man paused and gawked at Sarah and Lynn. No, not Lynn.
Her.
Sarah’s lungs deflated. She had to think and not jump to paranoid conclusions. With all the people around, he wouldn’t do anything.
“Nice to meet you, Sarah. I have to work with Bruce and Charlie now.” Lynn gave a quick wave and left.
Debbie continued to talk to the man, but when she glanced down at her clipboard, once again, he leered at Sarah.
She gripped the broom and fought to breathe.
He tapped his cheek with a gloved hand. “I think this will work out fine for me. Do you have anyone to help tack up and groom my horse? I prefer not to perform the menial tasks that tend to be messy. I’ll pay for the service, of course.”
Sarah glanced at his feet. His boots were either brand-new or polished.
“You’d have to come at certain times, but yes,” Debbie said.
“Not a problem. Can I bring my horse later this week?”
“Sure, I’ll write up the paperwork.”
“I’ll wait around to sign. I’m not in any rush.”
Sarah leaned the broom against the stall and stepped outside. The stalker had told her he had eyes everywhere. Maybe he’d hired this guy to watch her. Sucking in deep breaths, she counted and waited for her heart rate to slow. The bright sunshine and the sight of Lynn and Bruce helped. She wasn’t alone.
Bruce glanced over at her and frowned. Of course, he would see her upset. The last thing she needed was to scare the horses again. She wiped her damp palms on her jeans and headed to the trash cans that needed emptying.
Her gaze darted to the parking lot. Morgan hadn’t left, talking again on her phone by the Jag. It didn’t make much sense to come to the farm and spend the day on the phone. Maybe she was hanging around to be with Bruce.
A car pulled in. A man and a pregnant woman got out. They approached the rink, the man with an uneven gate. Bruce met them by the fence. He shook hands with the man, clapping one on his shoulder as he nodded to him. Next, he greeted the woman with a big smile. She laughed at something he said. He led her to a bench, dropped to his knee, and put a hand on her arm. To whatever question he asked, she shook her head and adjusted her swollen belly.
Sarah stared. When Bruce smiled, his entire face transformed.
He and the man made their way toward Misty. Bruce dragged the mounting block next to the mare and stood back. Lynn emerged from the stables carrying a helmet. She shook hands with the vet and positioned herself on the other side of the horse. The man mounted on his own, but Sarah knew how fast Bruce could leap into action to help if necessary.
As Lynn led Misty around the rink, Bruce kept pace alongside and gave instructions to the vet. The man held his hands out to his sides as he rode a lap. After that, he took the reins and maneuvered the horse between some obstacles. Sarah headed to the end of the arena to dump a trash can but stopped along the way.
“Pretty amazing, huh?” The pregnant woman shifted on the bench.
Sarah glanced down at her. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
The lady labored to stand, holding a hand under her stomach. “Are you new here?”
“Yes. I’m Sarah.”
The woman smiled and introduced herself as Hannah. She pointed to the man on the horse. “That’s my husband, Charlie. He lost his leg in Afghanistan. Bruce saved his life.” She rested her arm on the fence. “Twice, actually.”
“Really?”
Hannah nodded. “Bruce led the mission to rescue these guys from enemy hands. It was a setup. They all should have died, but he somehow managed to get them out, despite being shot.”
“Shot?” Holy shit.
“They all came home. Everyone injured, but none lost.”
“Wow.” Sarah followed the action in the arena.
Bruce jogged beside the horse calling out instructions.
“How did he save Charlie’s life twice?”
Hannah waved her hand at the rink. “This program. It’s done wonders. He went through a hard time and was depressed for a while, but this has given him confidence. He’s excited about life again.” She smiled and rubbed her belly. “Says he’s going to ride with our child one day.”
Sarah’s gaze drifted to Charlie. He sat tall in the saddle and appeared to be in complete control. “He looks so comfortable riding.”
“Yeah. He loves it. We come twice a week.” Hannah shook her head. “We could never afford to do this if not for Bruce. The government provides some funds, but Bruce doesn’t charge us for his time. He uses the money to pay the handler and horse expenses.”
Generous and caring, he sure had a different side to him than the one around her. She shaded her eyes with a hand and gazed at him. “That’s pretty amazing.”
“Wait until you see the others. Four of them bus from the VA hospital. Bruce set up a pilot program, and the results are all positive. He’s documenting everything and hoping to get some exposure so other farms might start their own programs.”
Sarah glanced back at the arena. She’d have to keep a low profile if they ran a story and news cameras or reporters showed up.
Bruce gave Charlie a high five and smiled at Hannah from across the rink. Sarah’s heart skipped. So far, he’d only scowled or frowned around her. God help her if he grinned like that at her.
The afternoon sun blazed, and beads of sweat formed on Hannah’s forehead. Sarah touched her arm. “Would you like some water? It’s really hot.”
Hannah nodded. “I left mine on the counter at home. Would you mind?”
“Of course not. Be right back.” Sarah fetched a bottle from the cooler in the stables. She glanced up to find the new boarder leaning against the outside wall of the empty stall, his eyes intent on her. He didn’t look away or even pretend not to be staring. Her nerves jittered. She shut the cooler and hurried back to the arena and the safety of people. She’d have to keep her guard up around the guy.
In front of the rink, Lynn held Misty’s reins as she talked to Charlie. Bruce and Hannah chatted on the side by the bench. Bruce glanced at Sarah when she held the bottle out to Hannah.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks so much.” Hannah twisted the top off and took a deep drink.
Sarah stole a glance at Bruce, whose focus shifted from Hannah back to her. Something flickered in his eyes. As usual, she had no clue what.
Behind Bruce, Morgan approached from the parking lot. She stopped and looked Sarah up and down in a way that would get a guy slapped. Wearing skintight clothes, Morgan had a body that could rival Marilyn Monroe’s. Sarah met her gaze. Cold hazel eyes with the beginnings of crow’s feet at t
he corners glowered back at her.
Sarah guessed Morgan to be in her late thirties. Overly tight cheeks hinted at cosmetic surgery, and her perfectly applied makeup made Sarah aware of her own bare face. The only thing on hers was the sun and probably some dirt. No mistaking the hostility from the Ice Queen, who looked familiar for some reason.
Morgan cleared her throat and Bruce turned. Her bitter expression changed into a beaming smile as she said hello to Hannah and then glanced at Sarah.
Bruce introduced Sarah to Morgan.
“Is she a new patient?” Morgan asked.
She spoke as if Sarah wasn’t there. Stalked, tired, stressed out, and ignored, she’d had enough. “No, I work here.”
“Really?” Morgan tipped her head and raised a perfectly painted eyebrow.
Sarah planted her hands on her hips. Bring it on.
Morgan shrugged and rested her palm on Bruce’s shoulder. “I stopped by to drop off my check to Debbie and see if you wanted to ride with me later?”
The way she touched him implied a familiarity. Maybe they were sleeping together. Sarah’s chest filled and tightened. She refused to think about why.
Bruce checked his watch. “I have patients until four.”
“Perfect. I’ll come back then.” Morgan patted his arm.
“Okay. Batal could use the workout.”
Morgan sauntered toward the barn.
“I better get to work. Nice meeting you, Hannah.” Sarah headed to the can by the fence.
After dumping the trash, she returned to the stables. No sign of the ghost gawker, but his Vette was still in the lot. She’d picked up a rake to muck out the last stall when a huge spider dropped from the rafters onto her shoulder. She gasped and flung it off.
The creature from hell skittered across the floor to the corner. She shuddered and pictured her father in the hospital, deathly ill from a bite, with tubes and IV’s hooked up. Her insides shook as she smacked at the spider with the rake, giving chase as it scurried along the sidewall. The last swing was a direct hit. Goo spewed from the hairy carcass, but she continued to hack away at it. “Die already, you bastard.”
Someone scoffed and she whirled around.
Bruce stood in the aisle.
“What’s so funny? That thing landed on me.”
He waved a hand around the stall. “You’re pummeling a one-inch bug with a five-foot rake.”
Make fun of her. Great. He wasn’t the one who’d sat next to a hospital bed for two weeks while none of the antibiotics worked on her father’s infection. She blew at her bangs.
Bruce leaned against the stall and shook his head. “You do realize there are rats and bugs in a barn, right?”
Heat scorched a path to her ears. She threw the rake aside, stomped over to him, and thrust her chin up. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a big rat.”
For a split second, his eyes flared wider. He hitched a brow and pushed off the wall. “Really?”
Uh-oh.
Angry blood coursed through her veins. She had to crane her neck to meet his gaze, but she didn’t back down. His sheer size, all muscles and man, smelling of musk and shooting daggers with his eyes, made her mouth go dry and other parts wet. Traitorous hormones.
None of it mattered. This gig was over. She’d called him a rat to his face. Surely, he’d tell Debbie not to hire her.
“Glad I could provide some entertainment.” She grabbed the rake and swiped the prongs across the hay to clean off the dead spider goo. “I’ve done everything asked of me today. You could eat off the floor of this place, and all you can do is make fun of me.” She flipped the rake and dug the other side into the hay. “To think I actually was going to apologize to you.”
“For what?”
When she glanced up, for once those deep, blue eyes of his weren’t mocking her.
Images of the day flashed through her mind. Bruce in the arena with Charlie, bent down on a knee talking to Hannah, calming the rider and the runaway horse. She glanced at the tattoo on his arm, a tribute to the military. He might annoy the ever-living hell out of her, but he put himself on the line for everyone else. Besides, he couldn’t know her history with spiders.
The pulse throbbing in her neck slowed, and a long sigh escaped, taking with it all her pent-up fury. “I’m sorry. I misjudged you. Hannah told me all about your work and how you rescued those men in Afghanistan.”
He crossed his arms and glowered. “First Greg, now Hannah. What is it about you that makes people so chatty?”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, I saw how much Charlie enjoyed riding.” She shifted the rake in her hand. “I just wanted to tell you I think what you’re doing is pretty amazing. Hannah says you’re their hero.”
“No.” He held his hands up. “I came back in one piece. Those guys are the heroes. Don’t ever mistake that,” he said in a firm voice.
Huh. Now it all made sense. The survivor’s guilt he must carry. A person didn’t have to lose a limb to be a hero. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped at the sight of his tortured face. Raw pain radiated from his eyes. His mask had dropped.
“You need something, Morgan?” Debbie’s voice came from the other side of the wall.
Morgan stood outside the stall near the opening, her gaze on Bruce. She smiled and faced Debbie. “Yes. I was looking for you.”
“Well, I’m not in there.” Debbie stepped up to Morgan and frowned.
“Just wanted to pay for this month.” Morgan handed Debbie a check.
“I need to talk to you,” Debbie said to Bruce.
Sarah’s stomach balled. Decision time. Guess she’d be sleeping in the car again. She shoved a strand of hair back and met his gaze. “Go ahead and say what you want. I’ve done my best today.”
“Out there.” Debbie motioned to the entrance.
Bruce grumbled something, and their footsteps trailed off.
Morgan made a sound like a stifled giggle.
Fed up with people laughing at her, Sarah smacked the end of the rake against the ground and glared at Morgan. “Do you have some kind of problem?”
“Me?” Morgan brought a manicured hand to her chest. “No, hon. But it looks like you do.” She smirked and strutted around the corner.
Sarah frowned. She’d already checked out all the help-wanted ads, and the fumes in her gas tank wouldn’t get her far. Maybe she should have been nicer to Bruce, but the man pushed her buttons. And now her fate rested in his hands.
Bruce followed Debbie outside and around the corner of the barn.
“So what’s the verdict?” Debbie cocked her head.
Much as he hated to admit it, the barn was spit-shine clean. Aside from her attitude with him, Sarah had gone out of her way to be courteous and helpful to everyone else. He only had one card to play. “I think she can handle the chores. I don’t know what or who she’s running from, though.”
“Someone has her skittish as a scarecrow at a bonfire. I’d bet an ex-boyfriend. Probably an abusive one.” Debbie rubbed her elbow as her mouth pulled into a tight line.
Shit. That’s why she’d hired Sarah. Hard-as-nails Debbie had been through her own round of misery. Not that she’d ever speak of it. A tight ball of fire burned in his gut. Nothing worse than a man who raised his hand to a woman.
Debbie cleared her throat and planted her feet wide. “So what’s the deal? I have work to do.”
The last thing Debbie would want was sympathy. Whatever had happened had to be too far in the past for him to do anything about, but he hated that someone had hurt her.
Bruce kept his voice neutral. “You worried about Sarah bringing any danger to the farm?”
“Well, it’s not fair of me to say, as it isn’t your job, but not with you around. And I own a shotgun.”
She’d nailed that one. If some bastard showed up, he would take care of him. And both Joe and Debbie knew how to shoot. Maybe she’d learned so she could defend herself against whoever had abused her.
Debbie scratched her head. “I gotta say, Sarah has spunk. Risked her life for someone she didn’t even know.”
“It was a stupid thing to do.”
“Won’t argue, but it tells me something about her.” Debbie held her hands up. “Look, I told you this was your call. From what I can tell, she pulled her weight today, and then some, but obviously something’s eating at you, so I’ll let her go.”
Yeah, something was eating at him that he didn’t want to address. But he couldn’t let her get fired because of him. He’d deal. Shut the thing down and treat her like any other employee at the ranch. Maybe if he stopped being so short with her, they could get along. Hell, he had nowhere to go but up from being considered a member of the rodent family. From now on, he’d act the same to her as he would anyone else on the farm. “No. Keep her on.”
“You sure?” Debbie eyed him.
“Yeah. I’m sure.”
He had this.
Chapter 6
With the stall finished, Sarah turned to leave and found Debbie standing in the way.
“You did a good job today,” she said.
“Thanks.”
“I’m heading back to the house to make a list for the store. Come up to get the truck keys and some money.”
“Oh?”
“Make sure you pick up whatever you need for breakfast tomorrow. Last thing I want to see at six in the morning is Greg crying on my doorstep.”
“Tomorrow? I’m hired?” Relief flooded her body, turning her knees to rubber. Thank God she had a place to sleep and a job.
“Yeah. Trial’s over.” Debbie nodded and strode past her.
For whatever reason, Bruce must have told Debbie not to fire her. Maybe he realized how hard Sarah had worked after all. She glanced around the stables. Nothing but horses and hidden spiders. Just as well, because it would probably kill Bruce to accept her thanks.
She put the rake away and went to the tack room to get her backpack. After slinging her arms into the straps, she took a step and froze. The creepy new boarder blocked the exit. He didn’t even attempt to hide his head-to-toe perusal of her. Her belly twisted at the lewd look in his almost-black eyes.
Love in Hiding Page 5
