Slow Burn: Iron Horse Series

by Danielle Norman

“As in Terra . . . meaning earth.”

  “Gee, Reid and I just got good old family names.”

  “Ellie is a family name?”

  “My real name is Ellis, and yes, it’s my mom’s maiden name. Reid was her mom’s maiden name. So, finish telling me about the horses’ names.”

  “Oh, they’re named after Disney villains. Today, we’re seeing Maleficent. But there’s also Tremaine—”

  “Okay, I know Maleficent, she’s from Sleeping Beauty, but I’ve never heard of Tremaine.”

  “She’s the evil stepmother from Cinderella. That’s Paris’s horse.” I pulled in front of the stables and parked. Grabbing my medical bag, I got out, Ellie following behind just as Holland walked out.

  “Hey, Ash—”

  “Holland, sorry I had to push you back. Had a crazy night.” Ellie punched me in the side. “What?”

  “Don’t say that, it sounded bad,” she whispered to me.

  What sounded bad? I said the truth. “Anyway, this is Ellie. She’s a vet tech and is familiar with large animals. She’s going to start helping me.”

  “Oh. Well, then . . . nice to meet you, Ellie.”

  I gave Holland a weird look, because she wasn’t smiling and wasn’t offering to shake Ellie’s hand, even though Ellie held hers out.

  “Nice to meet you, Holland. You have a beautiful stable. Asher was telling me that you teach Western. I’d love to learn.”

  “You don’t ride?” Holland gave me a quizzical look.

  “No. I mean, yes. Yes, I do ride, just not Western. I ride English.”

  “Growing up around here, there wasn’t too much need for English.” Holland turned around and walked off, totally dismissing Ellie.

  “I’m sorry, Ellie.” I held up my hands.

  “Don’t be. She’s choosing sides, and she has just let it be known that she is on her sister’s.”

  “Her sister’s? For what?”

  “Men. You all are so stupid sometimes. Holland obviously thinks you and Paris belong together, and that I’m here to destroy that.”

  “Let me go explain. I’m sorry, I should have been more clear.”

  “Don’t you dare. A little competition is good every now and then.”

  “You don’t get it, Paris isn’t the jealous sort.”

  “We’ll see.” Ellie patted my arm and followed Holland into the stables.

  “This is Maleficent.” I rubbed the muzzle of a black mare. “You’re right, she does look a little distended.”

  “Ahh, are we having a baby?” Ellie clapped her hands. “Who’s the papa?”

  “The Good Humor man,” Holland replied.

  “Holland.” I snapped. “It was—”

  Ellie held up a hand. “I got it, Ash, frozen semen. Pretty common for horses . . . so was the punchline.”

  I shook my head, not wanting to be in the middle of a catfight. Slipping on an OB sleeve, I slathered my hand and the lower part of my arm with OB grease and walked to the side of the horse. Holland had already restrained her. This was the nice part of working with knowledgeable animal owners.

  People always thought my job as a veterinarian sounded fun, but this definitely wasn’t the glamorous part of my job.

  “Okay, Maleficent, this isn’t going to feel great, and I’m sorry for that.” I moved forward with the examination, feeling along the reproductive tract for small palpitations and trying to find either the amniotic sac or feel a change in the uterus.

  “Aha, there we are.” Pulling my hand out, I slipped off my glove and dropped it into the garbage before heading to the small utility sink in the corner. “You were right, she’s pregnant. Let’s cut out the fescue and just give her other feed. You know the rest.”

  Horses were pregnant for almost a year, tall fescue, a type of grass, increased their gestation period. Even though I was a man, that still sounded horrid. And that was one of the least problematic side effects.

  “I do. Thanks, Ash, I’ll start increasing nutrients in January.” Holland walked over to a giant calendar she had pinned to the wall and counted out seven months from today.

  “We’re going to get out of here, then. See you.” I dropped my supplies back into my bag. Ellie was finger combing Maleficent’s mane.

  “I was hoping you were going to go up to the house. We’ve had some crazy changes. But you have too, obviously.” Holland shot daggers over toward Ellie.

  “Stop.” I tried to think of how to say this without sounding heartless, because I definitely wasn’t that. I just didn’t want to be hurt anymore. “I need time.”

  “Will you excuse us for a second, Emily?”

  “Ellie, her name is Ellie, and she’s fine. She knows all about Paris.”

  “Really, Asher?”

  “Holland, if you’d stop being a brat—”

  “How dare you. Now you sound like Dick Brooks next door.”

  Ellie busted out laughing. “Dick Brooks. Oh my god, that is great.”

  Holland snarled at Ellie.

  “Stop, Holland. Your sister has made it clear that she wants someone else. I don’t know who, and truthfully, I don’t want to know. But as far as being mean to Ellie, there is no reason. And for your information, Reid is Ellie’s brother.”

  Ellie gave a small wave. “Yep, that’s me.”

  “Two reasons not to like you now,” Holland mumbled under her breath.

  “I’m out of here. I’m sorry that you’ve all had changes, but they don’t include me. Call me when you need me as a veterinarian.” With that, I strode out the wide-open stable door, but stopped when I saw London coming from the house. As she got closer, I realized it wasn’t London. It was an older version of her. Holy shit. “Cora?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry, do I know you?”

  “You do—or rather, did. I’m Asher Kinkaide. I live next door. I’m the vet.”

  “Asher? Oh my, look at you. You’re all grown and handsome. I guess your father retired.”

  “My father passed away a couple of years ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. And who is this?” Cora turned her focus on Ellie.

  “Hi, I’m Ellie. I’m Asher’s vet assistant. It’s very nice to meet you, Cora.”

  Holland came out of the stables, closing the doors behind her. When she turned, she wasn’t looking at us. I followed her line of sight and instantly regretted it.

  Paris was walking toward us.

  She was wearing cutoffs, cowboy boots, and some ruffle-type shirt she always wore. She was beautiful. When our eyes locked, she stopped and gave me a small smile. But her smile fell when she looked beyond me and saw Ellie.

  I never should have agreed to let Ellie tag along.

  “Paris, do you remember when you were little and you and Asher used to be inseparable?” Cora asked.

  “Yes, I remember. We were inseparable until about ten days ago.” She sounded hurt, and that was the last thing I’d wanted. God, I had loved the woman, I still loved her, but she’d destroyed me.

  It’s amazing how things don’t turn out the way we plan, isn’t it?

  “Yes, it is,” Cora answered, because apparently, I’d said the last part aloud. “Nothing is ever the way we intended.”

  Paris’s attention was fixed on Ellie, and being the lady she was, she made the first move. “Hi, I’m Paris.”

  “I’m Ellie. I’m just here helping Asher.”

  “That’s nice of you. I’ve never met you. How do you know each other?”

  “She’s Reid’s sister,” I said at the same time Ellie replied, “We got drunk together last night.”

  “You got drunk?” Paris asked. I could feel the weight of her eyes as she tried to see through me and find the truth.

  “Long story.” I waved it off.

  “And night,” Ellie replied with a laugh.

  “Can you keep quiet?” Holland barked to Ellie. “Now I totally see the family resemblance.”

  “I better go.” I took a step toward my truck. “Cora, you look gre
at.” I couldn’t say it was nice seeing her, because it wasn’t. I’d heard too much about the woman to believe she was anything other than bad news. “Holland, holler if you need anything. Paris, you’re beautiful as always.” I took a few more steps and paused right by Paris, trying to decide if I should say anything else. “I miss you.”

  “Obviously not,” she whispered.

  “Why would you say that?” Paris swerved her eyes toward Ellie. “You have no clue what you’re talking about.” I strode to my truck and jumped in, Ellie close on my heels.

  “She loves you, you know that, right?” Ellie said softly as I backed out of the driveway.

  “Yeah, as a friend.”

  “No, she loves you as more than that.”

  “I think you misread the situation. Besides, if Cora is back, things are only going to get worse.”

  Paris

  I waited until the truck was out of sight. “I’m not feeling so well. I’m going to go lie down. Dinner’s ready, just help yourselves.”

  “Paris, wait.”

  “Not now, Holland.”

  “Paris.” My sister grabbed my hand, but I yanked loose.

  “Want me to come with you?” Cora asked.

  “No. I just want to be alone, truly. I don’t feel well.”

  I’d been walking the short distance between the stables and our house for most of my life, but never had the journey seemed so long. Every root that had broken through the ground seemed to be reaching up with the sole purpose of making me stumble. It was almost as if every jagged rock was on a mission to roll in my way and trip me. And damn it all to hell, where did all these friggin’ tiny pebbles come from? For some reason, they all seemed to be bouncing into my boots as I ran as fast as I could toward the front porch. I took the stairs two at a time, shoved through the front door, and hightailed it down the hallway to my room, slamming my door shut and twisting the lock behind me. Slowly, I slid down until my butt rested on the hardwood, pulled up my legs, and dropped my head against my knees.

  What was happening to me? Why did I feel this way? I didn’t care that Asher got drunk and took someone home? I mean . . . it wasn’t as if he hadn’t dated, hadn’t gotten drunk with other women, right? It shouldn’t bother me.

  I thought long and hard for a moment.

  Who was I kidding?

  Yes, yes, I did care. The truth was, I couldn’t think of one woman Asher had ever dated. Sure, he had to have gone out in college, but if he did, he didn’t tell me about it. He was almost thirty, for crying out loud, it wasn’t as if he was a virgin. The man was attractive and smart. Women probably threw themselves at him.

  But if what he claimed were true, if he’d truly loved me, how could he move on so fast? He’d hurt me. Yeah, that was it. What I was feeling—it was hurt. I was hurt because he lied to me. He lied about loving me when he didn’t. Love wasn’t over in ten days. It wasn’t that cut and dried.

  My body bounced as Holland and London knocked on the door. “Paris, let us in. We want to talk to you.”

  “I don’t feel well.”

  “Open the door. You and I both know that isn’t the problem.” London’s voice was soft.

  “Oh, really? How do you know?”

  “I know because I saw your face when you saw Ellie here with him. You’re in love with him, but you’re either too blind to see it, or too dumb to admit it. Open up. Let’s talk.”

  “Can you give me a few minutes? I’ll be out there.” I slowly pulled myself up.

  “I’ll set the table,” Holland said, walking off.

  “Will you let me in? Please?” I dropped my chin and took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to let this go. I twisted the lock and let her in.

  “Where’s Tera?”

  “She’s taking a nap.”

  “Where’s Mom?”

  “Cora’s in the living room.” London refused to call her anything but Cora, claiming that no true mother would ever leave. “I want to ask you something, and I want you to really think hard on it.”

  “Okay, what?”

  “How did you feel when you saw that woman with Asher today? Be honest.”

  “I thought she was rude. She kept saying things under her breath to him.”

  “I didn’t ask what you thought of her. I asked how you felt.”

  “I didn’t think she was his type.”

  London quirked a brow. “You're evading my question.”

  I buried my face in my hands. “Betrayed.” The answer was instant, and I hated that I’d said it.

  “Why?”

  “Because he lied to me. He claimed to have been in love with me, yet he’s already with another woman. That isn’t love. At least not any type of love that I know or want.”

  “You’re making excuses.”

  “No, I’m not.” I glared at her, totally defending my stance.

  “So, you’re telling me that, had Asher not claimed his love for you, you’d have been okay if he showed up here with a beautiful woman and wanted us to meet her?”

  “She’s working for him.”

  “You can’t have it both ways. Either you feel betrayed that he’s with a pretty woman, or you’re dismissing her because she works for him.” London raised her brow again in challenge.

  “Who said she’s pretty? I didn’t think she was all that pretty. She was kind of gangly, to be honest.”

  The corner of London’s mouth raised into a smirk.

  “What? I’m just being honest.”

  “Spoken like a truly jealous woman. Well, you think about what I asked you. Really think about it because, if you discover that you’re in love with him like I think you are, then you better get your ass in gear, or you’re gonna lose him forever. Asher isn’t the kind of man who keeps coming back, only to get rejected.” London strolled out of my room, leaving me to follow.

  I didn’t know how I felt about him. But London wasn’t wrong. I needed to figure it out because Asher, although never the dominant, alpha type, was definitely the alpha-beta. He was the kind of man who would open the door for me during the day and throw me against it at night. He wasn’t the type of man to walk over me, but he wouldn’t allow me to walk over him either. And somehow he found time to take care of everything. I knew once I made my decision, I better be one hundred percent positive because regardless, Asher wasn’t the type to try again. He had way too much pride.

  Feeling a sense of resolve wash over me, I joined my family. Sitting at the table with our mom was awkward, so I opted for small talk, even though I didn’t want to be there.

  “Will Braden be here?” I asked as I passed the basket of fried chicken.

  “No, he’s running late. There was an accident,” London said as she passed the basket on to Cora.

  “So, you and Asher are still friends, or should I say were? What happened?” Cora looked curious.

  “He told Paris that he loved her, and she shot him down,” Holland explained as she took the basket. “Craziest thing she’s ever done.” Holland wound her index finger next to her temple. Yeah, I got it, she thought I was nuts.

  “No. I don’t think so. I think Paris made a smart decision. Friends shouldn’t be lovers.”

  “Who asked you?” London’s voice was low and curt. “You aren’t exactly the poster child for relationships or motherhood.”

  “Say what you want, London, but some things are learned through experience. I learned that the hard way. Your father and I had been friends long before we got married, and it ruined our friendship and then ruined our marriage.”

  “But I can’t imagine being with anyone else. What would you have me do? Marry someone I didn’t love for what? Money? Or just so I can say that we weren’t friends?”

  “Fine, you’ll lose him, and you’ll only have yourself to blame. Just because I divorced your father, doesn’t mean I didn’t love him; I did. But I wanted to go back to being friends, and he wanted marriage or nothing.”

  Her words were like a punch right into the solar p
lexus. “That’s Asher. He told me that he loves me, and when I told him friendships don’t make for good marriages, he gave up on everything. He hasn’t talked to me since. Today was the first I’d seen him since, and we used to see each other every day.”

  “That’s how it is.” Cora waved her hand toward the heavens, as if preaching. “It’s probably not too late to get him back as a friend, but you never will if you try for more. Heed my warning.”

  “Will you stop?” London threw her fork down. “She’ll have nothing if she can’t stand to be around him because the guy has moved on. He isn’t going to wait around for the rest of his life. Eventually, he will get the hint that Paris doesn’t love him, or at least that she is pretending not to, and he’ll move on. But it won’t be far enough to ease Paris’s breaking heart. Because he’ll always be our neighbor and our vet. Not to mention a family friend. That means Paris will be forced to see him moving on with another woman. Marrying another woman. Being a father to someone else’s kids.”

  “Stop.” I jumped from my seat. “Just stop, will you?”

  “No, I won’t. I’m tired of you tucking your head in the sand. You’re not a fucking ostrich. You need to wake up and see what’s in front of you. Damn it, Paris. Why are you doing this to him? Hell, why are you doing this to yourself? Admit it, damn it, just admit it already.” London glared at me.

  “I love him. I love him so much, it is killing me, but I’m afraid. What if it doesn’t work out? What if I lose everything?”

  London let out a long breath, her eyes filled with a warmth I hadn’t seen in a while. “You’ve already lost everything. Without him, you are not the sister I know, you’re different. Without him, Holland and I have lost you. We are all just waiting on you to see it.”

  I planted my head into my hands, suddenly not hungry. I couldn’t stand the thought of him being with another woman. I was the only one to blame, all of this . . . this . . . whatever the hell I was feeling inside was all my fault. I’d caused it. The hurt Asher was feeling, that was mine too. In fact, while I was thinking about it, Asher was mine as well.

  I dropped my hands and looked to London. “What do you suggest?”

  “I suggest you think of something to rock his world.”