The Gatekeeper's Sons

by Eva Pohler

  Chapter Eleven: Invitations

  A few weeks passed since Therese had identified the man she saw the day of the shooting, and, after mostly lying around in bed and spending time with her pets, she finally returned to the woods with Clifford. She didn’t go as far as usual, but she went a little ways, and Carol stood on the back deck watching her in full view. The police were no longer standing guard at the house, and Therese could finally take Clifford out to do his business without a leash and without him barking and growling and driving her mad. The wild animals, which had not come around while the officers were here, returned to eat the sunflower seeds Therese sprinkled across the deck and railing.

  Jen had called several days ago and had begged Therese to come and groom the horses with her, and Therese decided today she felt like going.

  Carol turned on to the gravelly drive leading up to Jen’s house. Clifford leaned his head out of Therese’s open window, his tongue hanging happily from his mouth, his stubby tail wagging. Clifford loved to come to Jen’s and run around the ranch, though he wasn’t allowed in the pen. He knew Jen’s family and their horses, and they knew him, and so everyone got along just fine. Therese loved to come too. She looked at the big log cabin, similar to her own, on the right of the property, and the barn and pen to the left. On the opposite side of the pen from the house, two pastures spread out to the north at the base of the mountains. A stream cut across the entire property behind the house and pen, and through the center of the pastures. Tied to the base of the front wooden steps of the house was a lone goat, which bleated as Jen opened the front door and skipped down the five steps to the ground.

  Jen’s blonde hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and she wore a white tank top and old blue jeans and boots. Therese felt a wave of jealousy at Jen’s beauty but shrugged it off as soon as Jen called to her in her friendly voice, “Hey there! You’re finally here!”

  When Therese opened her car door, Clifford sprang out to meet Jen. The goat bleated its objections, and Clifford cowered away from it.

  “Hey there, boy!” Jen pet Clifford when he greeted her with his front paws on her legs. Then Clifford ambled down to his favorite hangout: the stream at the back of the property, which was full of trout.

  Therese turned to Carol. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Sure. Call me if you want a ride home. First I’m running into Durango to get a few more groceries, but I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

  Therese stepped out of the car, but before she closed the door, Carol asked, “You sure you don’t want me to run you by the cemetery later? You still haven’t visited your parents’ graves. It’s been over a month since we buried them.”

  “I’m sure. I’m not ready to do that yet.” She wished her aunt wouldn’t have brought this up now. She’d been close to happy and excited, but now she was filled with dread.

  “Okay. Bye, sweetheart.”

  Therese closed the car door and turned to her friend. “It’s nice to be out of the house. Thanks for inviting me.”

  “Hey, listen. My mom was wondering if you want a job. The two brothers she hired this spring had a death in the family. She hired a new temp a week ago, but she still needs one more hand, just until she can find someone more permanent. Up to it?”

  Therese shrugged. It would be a lot of hard work, which could be both good and bad. “Would she need me every day?”

  “Pretty much. She pays ten an hour.” Jen led her across the gravel drive past the barn toward the partially sheltered pen where the dozen horses hung out.

  “I don’t know. If she can’t find anyone else, maybe.” Then to Clifford, who had come back to check on her, she said, “No boy, not in the pen. You know better.”

  “Please say yes. We could hang out.”

  “How early in the morning?”

  “Okay, you wouldn’t have to do the early morning stuff.”

  They reached the pen and the General greeted her with a sniff. He stretched his long gray neck over the fence for what he knew would be a soft stroke. He was the biggest of the horses, a huge gray gelding. Jen and her brothers sometimes called him the elephant. “Hey, General,” Therese said, rubbing the side of his face.

  “We bring the horses in at nine for grooming before they start their first trail ride of the day. My brothers and the new handler are in there finishing up now. We’ll need help with the grooming and tack so they’re ready to go by eleven. You could leave after that.”

  “So nine to eleven? That’s not bad. Let me think about it.” She could use some of her own mad money, and twenty dollars a day for just a couple of hours of her time seemed like a good deal, and a good distraction. She loved grooming the horses.

  Jen added, “After my mom’s trail rides, we exercise them hard before dinner, when we turn them out to pasture again till dark. We could use another rider then, too, from like four to five. Not necessarily every day. Just when you can.”

  One of Jen’s two brothers appeared in the middle of the pen from behind the shelter. He was the tallest and oldest of the Holt kids and had blond hair like his sister, which he kept short around his face like a bowl. He graduated last May and would be attending college in the fall. “Hey, Therese.”

  “Hi Pete.”

  “Oh, hey, Therese!” the other brother, who would be a freshman this year, called as he popped up from behind a horse. He wore the same blond bowl on his head as his brother, but the freckles that peppered his cheeks were more prominent.

  “Hi Bobby.”

  “Sorry about your parents,” Pete, the older one, said.

  “Yeah. Thanks.” She bit the inside of her bottom lip.

  Then Bobby asked, “Hey, have you met Than?”

  Another boy, slightly taller than Pete with dark wavy hair and a bigger build, stepped out of the shelter and into the middle of the pen and the horses.

  It was the Than from her dreams.

  Jen must have noticed the look on her friend’s face, because she asked, “Do you guys know each other?”

  “You look familiar.” Than strolled up to the fence in his blue jeans and tight white t-shirt.

  “No, I don’t think we’ve met,” Therese said. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be him. But how many people had she known named Than? Her knees felt like they might buckle.

  Than extended his hand. “Well, then, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Therese. I’ve heard a lot about you, thanks to Bobby here.”

  Bobby’s face turned crimson as she gave the new guy her hand, and she couldn’t pull it away fast enough. Than seemed to be laughing at her behind his smile, enjoying her pain and confusion and Bobby’s embarrassment. She decided she did not like him.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” she lied.

  Jen opened the gate of the pen. “We’re half way done with the grooming.”

  “Can I groom Sugar?” Therese asked.

  “Than’s finishing her up now,” Pete said. “Can you take Hershey?”

  Without warning, Clifford ran through the gate and leapt into Than’s arms. He licked Than all over his face. The General spooked back, causing a domino effect as two other horses, Ace and Chestnut, reared and snorted. Fear gripped Therese as she recognized the danger. But Than tossed Clifford to Therese, grabbed the General’s mane, and whispered something in his ear. The General settled, which calmed the other horses, and Therese finally released her breath.

  “Bad boy! Go back to the stream! Go catch a fish!” she scolded Clifford, turning him out of the pen. She said to Jen, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over him. He should know better than that.” Then she looked up at Than with suspicion and awe. Why had Clifford run to him? And how had he settled the horses so quickly?

  “Wow, Than,” Jen said. “How did you do that?”

  Than shrugged and said he had a way with horses, but Therese still felt as though he were laughing at her, as though the threat of danger had been her fault because she couldn’t control her dog, and she had ne
eded Than to save the day. She took up a brush and went over to Hershey, a mare whose coat, as the name implied, was like chocolaty brown silk.

  “Hey girl,” Therese said in a soothing voice. “Did you miss me?” Therese could feel Than’s eyes on her, but she tried her best to ignore him. He was too sexy for her, anyway, and much too arrogant and self-assured. Jen had probably already staked her claim on him, and she was probably more his type, so naturally beautiful. As Therese brushed through Hershey’s coat, she wondered if it had been a mere coincidence that Than looked like the Than in her dreams. Or, maybe he didn’t, and somehow she was now imposing the image of him on her memory.

  Therese bent over to brush Hershey’s belly, and her rear-end bumped against Than, who was passing behind her. She popped upright, the blood rushing to her face, and muttered, “Excuse me.” He said nothing, but when she snatched a glance his way, she could see he looked pleased with himself.

  Had her subconscious somehow sensed she would be meeting him? Had it been a prophetic vision? And if so, what had it meant?

  After they finished grooming and saddling the horses, Jen’s mom came out of the barn where she had been working to formally offer Therese the job and to thank her for accepting it. She was surprised to hear Therese wouldn’t be coming at dawn to help with the barn and pen cleaning, but Jen quickly explained that she planned to work every morning instead of splitting the chores with her brothers. Jen’s surreptitious glance toward Than confirmed Therese’s suspicion that Jen was interested in him, and this explained Jen’s sudden eagerness to work more. Mrs. Holt seemed pleased with the arrangement, since she paid Jen less than ten an hour.

  Jen invited Therese to stay for lunch when her mom and Pete took the first riders on the trail. “We’re just having frozen pizzas,” Jen explained, “but it would be fun to chat.”

  Clifford was splashing around in the stream behind Jen’s house chasing trout he would never catch, but perfectly entertained, nevertheless. Luckily, he was too preoccupied to bother the riders walking up the drive toward the pen. “Sure,” Therese said.

  Jen surprised Therese by asking Than if he wanted to stay, too.

  “Maybe next time,” he said. “I promised my sisters I’d eat with them today.”

  He waved goodbye as he left, on foot, down the gravel drive, where cars were now parked in a line, and south up the dirt road toward Therese’s house. Therese and Jen both watched him until he was out of sight. Even a few of the trail riders waiting to mount stole glances at him.

  Then Jen said, “Is he drop-dead gorgeous, or what?”

  Therese shrugged.

  “How can you take such a casual attitude toward his splendid good looks? Does this mean I don’t have to fight you for him?”

  “What about Matthew?” Therese referred to the boy Jen had been with most of their freshman year.

  “He hasn’t called much this summer. I think he’s lost interest.”

  “Maybe he’s just busy or on vacation.”

  Jen asked again, “So you’re not interested?”

  They walked up the steps toward the front door, Bobby close behind. “He’s all yours,” Therese said, though, as soon as the words came out, she felt nauseous.

  “Well, I won’t hold my breath,” Jen said. “He was checking you out the whole time we were grooming in the pen. I think he prefers you.”

  Bobby squeezed by Jen and went down the hall. “I’m outta here.”

  Jen laughed at her brother.

  “That’s impossible,” Therese said when they were alone. “I mean, God, look at you.”

  “Oh, shut up. You always talk yourself down. I would kill for your curly hair and pouty lips.”

  “You can get a perm and botox—not that you need it. I wish I had your boobs.”

  “You’ve got boobs!”

  “Nubs.” She cupped her hands around her half-lemons and looked enviously at Jen’s full oranges.

  “Cute nubs. And some people develop later than others. Plus, there’s always implants,” Jen laughed.

  “Yeah, right.” Therese rolled her eyes and took a seat at the kitchen table. “So, where’s Than going? Did he really walk here?” Just saying the name sent a shiver down her spine.

  Jen grabbed some paper plates from the pantry and put three around the table, though just now Bobby was watching television in the other room. “He and his sisters are renting the Melner cabin for the summer.”

  “The Melner cabin?” It was about a half-mile south up the road from Therese’s house, the third of the five houses across from the reservoir. The Melner’s had turned their home into a vacation getaway, and although Therese was used to different people staying there throughout the year, she found it upsetting that Than was one of them. She recalled the image of the Grim Reaper on her computer screen and shuddered. It was just a coincidence, she reminded herself.

  “Yeah, you guys are neighbors,” Jen giggled.

  “If his family can afford the cabin, why’s he working for your mom this week?”

  “For the same reasons you are, I guess.” The oven started beeping—it was hot now—so Jen put the frozen pizza directly on the center rack. “He said that he enjoyed working with horses and that he wanted to get in touch with nature.” She laughed. “I’m part of nature. He can get in touch with me.”

  Therese laughed with her. It felt good being with her friend like this. Jen could be bossy and stubborn, but she was so worth it.

  Jen closed the oven door and asked, “Diet Coke?”

  “Sounds great.” She took the ice-cold can from her friend and popped open the tab. The cold pop felt good going down her throat. The grooming had worked up a thirst. “So where’s he from?”

  “He said he’s from down south. At first he said ‘down under,’ and we thought he meant Australia, even though he doesn’t have the accent. But he said he meant down south, from Texas. From what we gathered, he used to work on a ferry.”

  Therese choked on the Diet Coke and broke into a fit of coughing.

  “You okay?” Jen asked, patting Therese on the back.

  Therese eventually nodded. “Wrong pipe,” she explained when she could.

  Carol dropped Therese and Clifford at the Holt ranch again the next morning. Carol had been thrilled about Therese’s new job, saying it was just what she needed to get her mind off…things. Therese was partly glad that she would be out of Carol’s hair this week and keeping herself entertained with her best friend and the horses, but she was also partly annoyed by Than’s appearance, especially since the more she thought about it, the more she was sure he looked exactly like the Than in her dreams.

  “Come on, boy!” she called to Clifford, as she climbed from the car. Then she said to Carol, “I’ll call if I need a ride.”

  As Therese walked up the gravelly drive with Clifford stopping to pee on every tree, she thought more about her discoveries last night. When she couldn’t sleep, she had gone on the Internet and googled “the Furies.” One article had this to say: “The Furies are three sisters: Alecto (The Unceasing), Megaera (The Avenger of Jealousy and Hatred), and Tisiphone (The Avenger of Murder). They are the goddesses of revenge, sometimes called the daughters of the Night. They haunt criminals until they go insane and die. The Furies are untiring and persistent in their pursuit. They are impartial and indifferent, merely carrying out their duty. They continue to torment wrongdoers even after death. In some traditions, they are the daughters of Hades and Persephone, rulers of the Underworld, and their brothers are Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death). The Furies are known for tormenting sinners under the command of Hades and for pursuing criminals on Earth until their victims have been rightfully avenged.”

  In her dream weeks ago, Than had said he was sending the Furies to the waking world of the living to help her solve her parents’ murder. Therese now shuddered at the prospect.

  Of course, it had only been a silly dream, something her subconscious must have conjured up based on this mythology she m
ust have read a long time ago and had forgotten all about.

  As she approached Jen’s house, Clifford turned around back down the gravelly drive and took off across the dirt road toward the reservoir. Boulders and short aspens made a kind of barrier between the road and the water until the road reached Jen’s house. Across from the Holts’ was a big field of tall grass, and out in the middle of the grass this morning was a lone figure. Clifford was running toward it.

  “Come back, Clifford!” Therese followed her dog into the grass. She was stunned when she saw Than, soaked from head to toe, walking toward her with his clothes bundled in his hands. All he was wearing were his wet white boxers and boots.

  “Good Morning, Therese,” he said when he got closer.

  She couldn’t avoid looking at his golden body—his golden naked body, for the wet boxers didn’t leave much to the imagination. His skin wasn’t what you would call tan, but it seemed to almost glow.

  “How are you today?” Than asked.

  She could tell he was amused by her reaction, which she hadn’t been able to disguise. Her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

  “Fine,” she said, turning away. “Come on, Clifford.”

  “That water felt so good,” Than said. “Do you go swimming in the lake often?”

  Not often enough, she thought. She’d only been a few times this summer, and that was before…her life had changed. “Not often.”

  “That’s too bad. I’d go every day if I could. I had no idea how beautiful everything is up here, how nice the sunshine feels, the water, the cool mountain air when the wind blows. I love listening to the birds, too. I think I’ve found seven different species in this forest alone.” He caught up to her now and walked beside her.

  “They don’t have those things down in Texas?”

  “What? Oh, well not like this.”

  Therese noticed that Clifford walked beside Than, putting Than between them. Clifford never took to strangers this quickly. “Come on, Clifford,” she said again, a little jealous that he wasn’t trotting alongside her instead of him. “Don’t you have barn and pen duty this morning?” Therese asked Than with a touch of hostility as they reached the dirt road and headed toward the gravel drive.

  “We finished. I worked up a sweat and thought I’d come cool off a bit before grooming the horses. You should join me tomorrow. Come a little earlier.”

  He stopped on the gravel drive to put on his shirt. Therese took the opportunity to study his tight ruffle of abs but looked away as soon as his head was visible again. Then he knocked off his boots and climbed into his jeans. Therese didn’t know whether she should stand there and wait for him or keep walking toward the pen, so she walked on, but at a slow pace.

  “Come on, boy!” she said to Clifford.

  Clifford decided to wait for Than, but, in no time, both boy and dog had caught up to her as she reached for the gate to the pen. “No, Clifford,” she warned.

  “Mornin’ Therese,” Bobby called brightly from behind the yellowish-brown horse named Ace.

  “Hey, Bobby.” Therese quickly closed the gate behind Than. “Go play, boy,” she said to Clifford. “Where’s Jen?”

  “She’ll be out in a minute,” Mrs. Holt called from the shelter. “She’s on the phone. Mornin’ Therese.”

  Therese stepped under the aluminum structure. “Mornin’, Mrs. Holt. Who do you need me to start on?”

  Jen’s mother had her gray-blonde hair cut short, like her sons, in a bowl around her leathery freckled face. She was beautiful once, but she stopped caring about her skin in the elements, and the sun had taken its toll. Plus, she smoked and looked slightly underweight, and the lines in her face were deep. “Bobby said you prefer Sugar.”

  Therese liked all the horses, but Sugar, the white mare, never resisted Therese’s requests. The General, Chestnut, Rambo, and Rusty were the most stubborn of the herd, all constantly vying for the upper ranks in the pecking order, and Therese didn’t like having to hit or kick or growl at the animals to get their cooperation. Sugar, Ace, and Dumbo had mild dispositions and seemed indifferent to rank and status. Therese took up a brush and said in a gentle, even tone, “Hi, Sugar, girl. You already look so pretty today.” She took the brush to Sugar’s withers. “You’re not nearly as dirty as Hershey was yesterday.”

  Bobby laughed, “That’s because she’s a lazy girl. She just stands around and sleeps all mornin’, don’t you, girl.”

  Therese noticed Than was just a few feet away from her, eyeing her with a smug look on his face. What had she done to give him the impression she was interested in him? She was confused by how confident he seemed to be that he had some kind of an effect on her. Well, she’d have to show him. He didn’t need to know that he did have an effect on her, that his very presence had suddenly made her more self-conscious than she could ever remember being, but she could very well control herself and make Than think otherwise. She wanted to wipe that all-too-confident grin right off his face, even though his dark wavy hair, now wet and clinging to his beautiful face, set off the crystal blue of his eyes. She took a deep breath and focused on the animal. Sugar soothed her; the contact with the warm mare and the look of her friendly eyes made a feeling of peace wash over Therese. “You’re such a good girl, even if you are lazy.”

  “Ace, on the other hand, is a roller, aren’t you boy?” Bobby said to the yellowish-brown horse. “If you could get one more weed stuck in your coat, I’d be surprised.”

  “Oh, come on now,” Mrs. Holt said. “You’re being too hard on Sugar. She’s not lazy. She and Satellite groom each other, don’t you, Satellite. That’s why you’re so clean.”

  Satellite was pure white and seemed to have a bond with Sugar. Therese often noticed them standing head to tail flicking away the flies and licking off the grass and dirt from one another’s coats.

  “Where’s Pete?” Therese asked.

  “He’s practicing today,” Mrs. Holt said. “His band is performing at the Wildhorse Saloon in Durango tomorrow evening.”

  “That’s awesome!” Therese knew Pete dreamed of making it big with his music and that, as much as he loved horses, he probably wouldn’t come back to work on the ranch after college. “I bet he’s about to pop.”

  “He’s pretty excited,” Bobby said.

  “We’re all going after supper,” Mrs. Holt said. “You’re welcome to come with us.” Then she added, “You, too, Than.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Holt,” Than said. “That sounds very entertaining.”

  Before Therese could reply, she heard Jen greeting Clifford on her way to the pen. “Good boy!” she was saying. “You go catch a fish! Catch a fish!” Then she came in through the gate and came up beside Therese. “Hey. How’s it going?”

  “Okay,” Therese lied. She couldn’t very well say she’d cried herself to sleep because she missed her parents so terribly and that she’d felt restless the whole night long. She couldn’t say what she had discovered about the Furies and how suspicious she felt about Than showing up here not long after her strange dreams. “What’s up?”

  Jen grabbed a brush and started working on Annie, a red mare who happened to be on the other side of Than from Therese. “We’re all going to the Wildhorse Saloon tomorrow night. You have to come with us. Ray and Todd might go, too.”

  “Ray and Todd are going?” Therese perked up. She loved hanging out with them. They always managed to make her laugh.

  “Yeah, I was just on the phone with Todd. Pete’s band is performing.”

  “That’s what your mom said.” Although Therese didn’t like the idea of being there with Than and his arrogance, she could use a good dose of company from her friends, a distraction from all the anguish and longing and dread, especially at night, when she had more time to think. She patted Sugar’s front leg for the hoof. Therese picked out a small pebble wedged against the shoe.

  “So are you going?” Than asked.

  He looked Therese directly in the eyes, all signs of smugness go
ne. Therese’s mouth opened with surprise. He really seemed to like her. Therese shot a glance at Jen and from the look on her face realized she had drawn the same conclusion. “Um, I’ll ask my aunt.”

  Mrs. Holt said, “Pete would be glad if you could make it. Tell your aunt to call me if she has any questions.”

  “Yes, m’am, I will.” Therese squatted down to work on Sugar’s legs.

  “Oh, and I have a favor to ask, Therese,” Mrs. Holt said. “Could you help us ride later today before supper? With Pete gone, we could use the extra hand.”

  Therese frowned. Riding made her nervous. She hated kicking and shouting the commands. But she didn’t want to let down Mrs. Holt. “I’m sure my aunt won’t mind. She’s working anyway.”

  “Great,” Mrs. Holt said. “Sure do appreciate it. We already exercised Sugar yesterday, but Dumbo’s a gentle ride. You can ride him.”

  Therese finished grooming Sugar, a little knot forming in her stomach now over having to ride later today. She rode last summer a few times because Jen had pleaded with her and then stooped to bribing, but a year is a long time. “Who should I work on now?” Therese asked.

  Mrs. Holt told her to groom Dumbo, so they could get better acquainted.

  “Stay clean, Sugar.” Therese petted the horse’s cheek and neck. “You look so pretty. Yes, you do.”

  Therese spotted Dumbo on the other side of Jen, behind Annie. Dumbo was the youngest of the males and the new stallion, added to the group after Benji was put down last summer. His ears were slightly bigger than those of the other horses, hence his name. Just now they were pointed forward and his muzzle was extended toward Therese and sniffing at her with curiosity like Clifford sometimes did with visitors. “Hi there, Dumbo. Remember me? I’m Therese.” She took the brush to Dumbo’s withers and pet his neck with her other hand. “You’re a handsome boy, and from the look of you, you’re a roller like Ace, aren’t you?” She started pulling weeds and stickers from his thick mane.

  Bobby snickered. “You should see ‘em at night before we bring ‘em in. He and Ace are like puppies the way they roll around in the grass and chase each other across the pasture.”

  “I bet that’s fun to watch,” Than put in. “I’d like to see that some time.”

  “You’re welcome to come and watch the horses any evening,” Mrs. Holt said. “Just stay outside the fence. If they see you in with them, they’ll get upset. They like their routine.”

  “Maybe I’ll come by this evening,” Than said.

  “Come just before dusk,” Bobby said. “That’s when all the fun starts.” Then Bobby added. “Therese, you should come too.”

  “I’ll have to see how I feel after riding. I haven’t done it in so long, I may be sore.”

  Mrs. Holt let out a loud guffaw that made Therese jump. “No sugar. You won’t be sore tonight. You’ll feel it in the mornin’.”

  Therese looked at Dumbo’s eyes, and he looked back at her with a knowing smile, as if to say, “You’ll be alright.” Therese rubbed his face and put her cheek against his. Dumbo nuzzled up to her and softly whinnied.

  “He likes you,” Bobby said.

  After Therese helped saddle the horses for the first trail ride of the day, Jen asked if she wanted to stay again for lunch. They were standing near the gravel drive beneath the shade of a cluster of cypresses as the cars were pulling up—the first riders of the day.

  Therese’s eyes were on her dog, who noticed the cars and was coming up from the stream to investigate. “Come here, Clifford! Come, now!” He bounded over to her like a good boy. She picked him up to avoid conflict. Then she turned to Jen. “Thanks for the invitation, but I better get some rest at home if I’m coming back this afternoon. What time does your mom need me? Four?”

  “Yeah. You’re really only riding for about half an hour, but by the time you remove the tack and turn ‘em out, an hour’s gone by before you know it.” Then Jen added, “Don’t feel like you have to do it if you’re not up to it. I don’t mind riding an extra hour tonight. I don’t think my mom knows how nervous you get.”

  “Thanks, Jen, but I’ll give it a try. I’ll call you if I chicken out. Can I use your phone to call my aunt? She won’t let me walk.”

  Than came up from behind her. “Would she mind if I walked you home?”

  She shrugged. “I guess that would be okay.” She tried to seem indifferent, but her heart was pounding so loudly that she worried he might be able to hear it. She knew she should call and ask permission, but she knew the answer would likely be no, and she wanted to walk with him. They said goodbye to the Holts and headed down the drive toward the dirt road. Clifford wriggled in her arms and then settled.

  “You have a gift with animals,” Than said, stroking Clifford. “I like to watch you interact with them.”

  “Thanks,” she said, unable to prevent herself from giving him a genuine smile. Being an animal lover was probably the thing she liked most about herself. “You’re pretty good with animals, too. Clifford has never taken to a stranger the way he has with you, like yesterday when he jumped in your arms.”

  “I don’t get to spend much time around animals.” They stepped out onto the dirt road between the houses and the lake, so Therese let Clifford down as Than continued. “I wish it were otherwise. The horses and the birds and even your little dog have brought me a lot of pleasure these past two days.”

  Therese didn’t know what to say. All of this was so unexpected. She had taken Than to be arrogant and maybe even selfish, but he sounded sincere. “I couldn’t live without animals,” she said.

  Than frowned. Then he turned to her and said, “Being around people has been a pleasant change, too. I tend to be a loner, except for my sisters’ company.”

  “That’s too bad. But you can always change.”

  He sighed, gave her a sad smile, and shook his head. “Some things never change.”

  She wondered what he meant, but she was afraid to pry, so she looked across the reservoir to the mountains on the other side. The sun was almost at high noon, and everything sparkled under its brilliant light.

  “I never get tired of this view,” Therese said. “I feel so lucky to live here.” Then she thought of who else used to live here, and the tears welled. Panic gripped her heart, but she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She wasn’t going to cry.

  “I know you must miss them,” Than said softly. “Bobby told me. I wish I could say I know how you feel.”

  “Are your parents staying in the Melner cabin with you?” Therese wanted to change the subject.

  “No. My dad had to work and my mom is visiting my grandmother.”

  They were silent for a while, both looking out over the lake and at Clifford stopping again to pee on every other tree. When they reached Therese’s gravel driveway, they slowed down and came to a stop. “What does your dad do?”

  He stuck his hands in his pockets and let out a deep breath. “Hmm. Well, my dad, he manages a large operation, and my mom helps him during parts of the year. It’s difficult to explain.”

  “So he never gets to get away?”

  “Never. In fact, this is my very first trip away from home, and I had to beg and make promises.” He laughed. “My dad’s a good guy. Please don’t misunderstand. But he’s got a huge responsibility, and, well, it’s difficult for him to be flexible.”

  Therese noticed Clifford had gone on ahead of her toward the house. “Well, I’m glad you got to come out here. It’s beautiful country and the Holts are an awesome family. And the horses are so incredible.”

  “I’m glad, too.” He took a step closer to her. “I’m glad I got to meet you.”

  Therese felt the blood rush to her face, and she looked down, shuffling around the gravel of her driveway with her sneaker. “Thanks. I’m glad I got to meet you, too.” She looked up to see him grinning down at her.

  “So I guess I’ll see you later this afternoon, when it’s time to exercise the horses.”

  “Ye
ah.” She wanted to add, “Unless I chicken out,” but she didn’t.

  “See you later.” He turned and headed toward the Melner cabin.

  She watched him walk away, enjoying the view.