“It’s a long, ugly story, and it probably doesn’t mean anything,” she explained reluctantly, moving away from the fence and lowering her voice to be sure Chloe couldn’t hear. “And Hermie Clark’s just someone I ran into when I first moved back here.”
“Ran into?” Aaron looked serious and, she thought, apprehensive. Maybe her tone had conveyed something of the anger and horror she still felt when she thought about Hermie Clark. “As in a car accident, or…?”
She shook her head and drew in a deep breath, turning to face him squarely. “Things were difficult for me. I decided to go out riding to clear my head and I got sort of lost.”
“Sort of? Lost in this one street town?” His apprehension seemed to be turning into full-blown confusion. Or skepticism.
“Yes, in this town. There are a lot of little side roads leading onto, through, and around ranches and pieces of property, Aaron. Even those flat pastures you see have some arroyos, stands of trees, and outbuildings on deer leases. I didn’t want to ride along the highway, and I got lost—but I didn’t know I was lost.”
“So—what happened? You ran into this Hermie person?”
She still had trouble when she thought about the scene she’d stumbled across. She’d met Ann that day, as a matter of fact.
“I came up on a fence line—sagging, obviously not well cared for. There was a rundown house and an old livestock pen.” Her fingers knotted against her legs. “He was there—Hermie Clark.”
Images flashed back. The horse on the ground was screaming in agony and fear. Dying. Dr. Ann Cottwell, stoic, unflappable, collapsed against the fence in tears, beating her fist on the ground. And Hermie Clark holding a chain saw and whip and laughing like the maniac he was.
“He butchered a horse—cut it up with a chain saw.” She blinked frantically, trying to stop the tears that always threatened when she remembered. “While it was still alive.” A few tears escaped and she brushed them away. “My horse panicked and threw me—he ran home, and thankfully got there safely. Ann was there—I met her that day. She drove me home.”
Aaron looked away, at Chloe who had gotten off Rumbles and was braiding her mane. Then he looked up at the sky, which was going dark, and, finally, back at her. “And now he has another horse? Didn’t anyone do anything?”
“He got a few days for slugging Ann when she tried to stop him. Animal cruelty penalties were nothing back then. He argued that he couldn’t feed himself and he’d bought it for meat. He got a slap on the wrist. Ann found out later he’d done it before, in Laredo.”
“Lord!” He swallowed hard, apparently visualizing the scene in his own mind. “And you think he’d do it again?”
“We don’t have a TV station here, but he’d called the photographer at the local paper and told her she should be there. She was in San Antonio and called Ann, who came out to try and stop him. But there’s no doubt he did it to attract attention.”
“Sick bastard,” Aaron muttered.
“Ann almost lost her husband over it. He was furious she’d risked her life stepping in, and he left her for a while. He loves her, and I guess that was why he freaked out and then why he didn’t want her out of his sight when he decided to quit being a jerk.”
“You know, a lot of men would prefer their wives not endanger themselves that way if they don’t have to and can’t stop what’s happening any way.”
She started to defend Ann, but remembered abruptly that this man’s wife had risked her life daily. And died defending others. Did he resent her courage? Maybe he hadn’t really accepted her work?
“I didn’t mean to offend you or insult Ann’s husband,” Luz said. “That’s when Ann and I got to know each other, and I just know she was pretty torn up over what happened and feeling that her husband wasn’t there for her.”
He nodded. “I can see why she might be,” he agreed, then pulled out his cell phone and glanced at the time.
“Chloe!” he called, “We’re going to have to go. Start saying goodbye to your friend!”
Luz smiled as Chloe made a face and buried her face in the pony’s neck, hugging her as if they’d be parted forever.
“Ann and Ram want a baby,” she announced, without conscious thought.
Oops.
“Although I’m not sure I should have said that.”
He laughed. “You’re becoming a true Rose Creek resident again. Don’t worry—I won’t tell, and I knew anyway.”
“You knew?” That surprised her.
“Sure. Ram has come by the house a couple of times—when Ann has something come up unexpectedly or is watching her novela, we visit. He knows Chloe and mentioned they really want children.”
Luz smiled. “They’d be such good parents. They love each other.”
“Yeah.” He said it absently, though, already turning to Chloe as she came out of the ring, her well-groomed little pony in tow.
“Why do we always have to go?” She pouted. She looked up at Luz. “Couldn’t we have a sleepover?”
“Well—”
“Dad can sleep on your couch.” She had it all worked out. “I have a sleeping bag. I can bring it, and Princess and I can sleep in Rumbles’ stall.”
A sleepover? Luz and Aaron exchanged glances, but Luz waited for him to shoot the idea down.
“Well…” he said.
“That means we can, right?” Chloe dropped Rumbles’ reins and threw her arms around her father. “Thank you!”
“Chloe, I didn’t say we could—”
“You always say yes right after you say ‘weelll’!”
Aaron freed himself and knelt down to Chloe’s height. “Not always, young lady! And anyway, tomorrow’s a school day. It’s only Thursday.”
“You don’t ever read my teacher’s notes. Tomorrow there’s no school because all the teachers have to go to some kind of service—”
“In-service?” Luz asked helpfully. “A training, right?”
“Yeah, for some tests or something. But the kids don’t have to go.”
“How convenient,” Aaron murmured, but his eyes twinkled as he stood up again. “So, Luz…how do you feel about a sleepover?”
Chapter Ten
How did she feel? Her mouth went dry. Heat curled through her. Her legs turned liquid.
“A sleepover?” she eventually managed to repeat. “Here?”
“Well, we can’t have it at home,” Chloe pointed out matter-of-factly. “Then I couldn’t sleep in Rumbles’ stall. And Luz might not like sleeping on our couch. Or—Dad!” Her voice was full of excitement. “You have a sleeping bag, right? If Luz has one, you and Luz can sleep in the stall with me! We can have a real slumber party!”
The kid isn’t helping. Luz waited for Aaron to explain why you didn’t hold sleepovers in pony’s stalls. Maybe especially why the two of them were not spending the night anywhere near each other. Sleeping bags were confining, but probably not nearly hard enough to escape.
“Chloe, you really can’t ask me,” Aaron said. “You have to ask Luz. It’s her house, after all.”
Four green eyes waited expectantly. She was trapped. And they knew it, darn them both!
“Sure,” she said, eventually. “But you can’t sleep in Rumbles’ stall. You’ll have to share the living room floor with your dad—unless he wants to give you the couch.”
“Okay,” Chloe agreed, with only a little reluctance. “But where will you sleep?”
She directed her smile at Chloe, but her words at Aaron. “In my room.” With the door locked.
“Well, then.” Aaron looked pleased, not uncomfortable. Then again, he’d only been alone for a year. And he’d loved the wife who’d died a hero. She shuffled, the aching need surging through her making her uncomfortable. She’d been divorced for four years—but she’d been alone almost since she vowed to love and honor Brian for a lifetime. Funny how empty words could be.
“Luz, if you’d rather not—”
Was the man psychic? Or had her smile slipped int
o her more habitual frown? She forced the lips to turn up again, not wanting to hurt Chloe.
“Tonight’s as good as any for a sleepover.” And that, at least, was true.
“Let’s go get sleeping stuff. Anything special you need in the way of food?”
“Aaron, I could cook—”
“Nonsense. We’re not inviting ourselves over and making you work. Pizza?”
Chloe hopped up and down. “Pizza! Pizza!”
Luz laughed. “I’d been going to ask for Chinese, but I guess that would be cruel.”
“Yes, it would be! As bad as Cruella de Vil. As bad as a wicked stepmother—” Chloe was already halfway to the door, citing examples of horrible people as she went, unaware that behind her, her father and Luz were exchanging looks of dismay and discomfort.
Luz waved him after her. “Go get your gear,” she admonished. “I’m going to do a final check for scorpions and poisonous spiders.”
Chloe and Aaron stopped at the door and spun around.
“Scorpions?”
“Dad, she’s teasing,” Chloe told him, after seeing Luz’s smile. “Right?”
“Right.” Luz didn’t mention that there really were scorpions throughout the state, and that occasionally she’d found one in the yard—and once in the kitchen. But the exterminators had been out a week or two ago, and maybe the unwelcome critters wouldn’t put in an appearance any time soon.
She did look around the living room anyway, and even the kitchen. Princess snorted and nosed her for attention. A sleepover! Grown-ups didn’t have innocent sleepovers. But with Chloe there, luckily, she should be able to stay in her room and think pure thoughts. Right. Well, the part about staying in her room, at least, would be easy. Out of sight, out of mind.
She thought back to Aaron’s unexpected kiss in the barn. He’d sure seemed interested in something more than a platonic friendship. But he’d lost his wife so recently. Did he just want sex? Just a quick roll in the hay? She laughed out loud, startling Princess.
Aaron Estes might be getting better around livestock and other critters, but she couldn’t see him enjoying doing anything much with hay poking and pricking him. She glanced at her watch and decided she probably had ten or fifteen minutes. She could shower in a hurry, eat with them, and excuse herself in short order.
Minutes later, with the comforting pounding of the water on hard and hot, she heard Princess bark suddenly and unexpectedly. The dog almost never barked; the only time she’d even growled was when…
Her heart thudded hard.
When Ross Thurmond had invited himself in.
And— dammit! —she’d still forgotten to put a new lock on the door! Suddenly, she felt alone and insecure, a feeling she hadn’t had since the first days of her divorce in Atlanta. The feeling of helplessness she’d suddenly developed there had been part of why she’d come home. There had always been safety here.
With a silent prayer that Princess was barking at dust bunnies or a deer wandering into the flowerbeds, she finished showering in record time, and dressed just as quickly. Appearance be hanged, she thought, as she made a trip around the small house, checking windows and peering outside.
Princess trusted her to defend them apparently, lying down as soon as Luz came into the kitchen. Nothing seemed to be amiss, and the security light outside lit most of the path to the barn and much of the yard. She decided nothing could be gained by going outside, especially since if she decided to, she’d probably take her mother’s pistol as a precaution.
Aaron was okay with his daughter riding now, and he even had forgiven the secret animals, as far as she knew. But seeing her running around in the dark with a pistol might make him nervous all over again. Smiling a little, she took a frozen pie out of the freezer to thaw for dessert and hummed as she tossed a salad.
Half an hour later, she decided they’d changed their minds—or that Aaron had. Maybe he’d reconsidered the wisdom of them being in the same house, late at night, once Chloe fell asleep. Frowning, she plopped down on the couch, across from the painting.
Like a Horse Saddled. Patience. She’d always liked it well enough, and thought her mom had cherished it. But now, doubt stirred. Even given the fact that Ross didn’t paint professionally, western art would sell in tourist towns, maybe even San Antonio. So he could have made a tidy sum for the painting, and while she couldn’t say that he didn’t have money, he drove one of the oldest trucks in town and almost always dressed in the same, faded work clothes. He must have had no family, because if he had had anyone, she would have known. Everyone knew everyone here.
Why had he given her mother anything, let alone something that might be worth a fair chunk of money? Her mother and father had married in their teens; there’d been no others clouding the picture, so he couldn’t have considered her a love interest.
Could he?
The sound of tires crunching up the gravel drive broke her train of thought, and Princess lifted her head, listened, and flopped over to sleep. Clearly Chloe and Aaron were back.
The door burst open and Chloe clattered in with an armload of stuff, which she dropped in the middle of the room, almost tripping her dad.
“I can’t believe we’re doing something fun!” she crowed. “Besides riding Rumbles,” she amended, and ran across the room to hug Luz impulsively.
Aaron frowned. “Something fun,” he muttered. “Movies, museums, malls—all the ‘m’ words, and I’m no fun?”
Chloe released Luz and ran to give him a hug. “You’re the best,” she assured him. “If you let me stay home from school, just think of all the fun stuff we could do!”
Aaron made two more trips to the SUV before he announced that they were ready to eat. And she’d thought he’d overdone the first day of riding?
He caught her amused glance at the huge pile of belongings taking up a good portion of the living room and grinned.
“Just the essentials,” he said. “Besides—Chloe packed most of it.”
“Can we eat in here by the television? The kitchen isn’t as fun.”
“Eating isn’t supposed to be fun,” Aaron protested. “It’s something we do because—”
“Because if we don’t, we die,” Chloe explained matter-of-factly, as she put three paper plates on the coffee table. Which kind do you want?” she asked Chloe.
“Whichever you think is the ickiest. That way, you’ll have enough.”
Chloe laughed. “I can’t eat that much! And Dad didn’t get the icky ones with onion and green pepper.” She slanted a look toward the grown-ups. “Do you wish he had, Luz?”
“Nah, pepperoni and sausage are fine. Besides—I made salad.”
Chloe looked less than thrilled, but didn’t say anything, concentrating on choosing the biggest slices and piling them on her dad’s plate.
Suddenly she stopped short, dropping the last piece of pizza she’d chosen. “Oh, no!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
While Aaron moved toward his daughter, Luz checked covertly for any rogue scorpions or spiders. But she didn’t see any.
“I forgot to wash my hands!”
“That’s it?” Luz asked in disbelief.
“Germs! I gave you all germs!”
“Bet we’ll live,” Aaron retorted.
Chloe was already rushing to the kitchen to wash her hands, but Luz saw the apprehension come and go in Aaron’s eyes, and heard his soft curse.
“Will I ever quit being afraid of those damn words?” he asked. She knew the ones he meant. Life. Death. Live. Die. The prospect of an evening together changed from torture to the idea that at the very least, she could comfort. Be a buffer between this fragmented family and the world that had hurt them so.
And if Chloe’s hug and her teasing reminded Luz of Lily, and of all that she had lost herself, well…she’d been dealing with her pain longer than they had. She put her hand on his arm and squeezed. “She didn’t seem to notice. Maybe they’ll just be words again if you can let them.”
Chloe came in then, shaking her hands dry.
“I had towels and paper towels in the kitchen,” Luz said.
“Sorry. I was in a hurry. Anyway, drying your hands in the air is better.”
“Where did you hear that?” Luz asked, not wanting to avoid conversations with the child, but hoping it wasn’t something her mother told her.
“Well, it has to be,” she said. “Otherwise, why would they have those air dryers in the restrooms everywhere? Well, not at school, but everywhere good.” She dropped to the floor and began eating.
“Floors are more fun,” Luz said.
Chloe giggled as Luz got down to coffee table level.
“Floors are more fun?” Aaron asked, managing to maneuver his legs into a space under the table without bumping anything or sending pizza flying. At first Luz thought he was humoring Chloe, but then he added, “That explains a lot. But I still wonder why you wouldn’t let me help you off the floor that day.” He shifted, and his leg pressed hers intimately.
Maybe he didn’t need a buffer at all. But she certainly did.
• • •
“Luz, are you awake?”
Luz propped herself up and peered into the relative darkness. She’d left the bathroom light on, and it provided a slight glow to keep Chloe from falling over anything if she needed to get up during the night. Aaron was also half-sitting and looking her way.
Things hadn’t gone as planned. Chloe insisted that in a sleepover, everyone had to sleep in the same room. At least she hadn’t demanded that everyone sleep in the same bed. The three or four feet that separated the three of them from each other was already too close. Knowing how near Aaron was, hearing him breathe and move in the night had been slow torture, and sleep hadn’t come.
“Midnight snack?” he whispered, managing to clamber to his feet without stepping on Chloe or hitting his shins on the table, which they’d moved to one side.
He leaned over, and even in the dark, she could see the quick gleam of his teeth as he smiled and reached his hand out to her.
Wildflower Redemption Page 9
