LISA HAD HOPED everyone would be asleep when she arrived home just before midnight, but the light was on in the living room and the door was unlocked. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She’d been told locking the door wasn’t necessary in Covenant Falls, but having always lived in a big city, the need to lock doors was an automatic reflex.
She looked back. Jubal was still there, waiting for her to go safely inside. Apparently he didn’t subscribe to the rather loose safety standards of Covenant Falls, either.
She closed the door quietly behind her. Automatically locked it.
Then she started for her bedroom when Susie started barking upstairs. She winced, saying a quiet prayer. She really didn’t want to answer questions from inquiring minds tonight. Apparently the dog had good hearing.
She arrived at the door of her bedroom when she heard Kerry’s voice at the top of the stairs. “Lisa?”
Lisa couldn’t ignore her. She went to the bottom of the steps. “Hi, kiddo. Everything’s fine. I just got caught in the rainstorm and was delayed. Go back to bed.”
Instead, Kerry came down the stairs and her eyes regarded her anxiously. “I was a bit worried.”
Thank God Gordon slept like a log. Unfortunately, Kerry didn’t and usually read until late.
“The rain,” Lisa said again. “It was a downpour.”
“What happened to your blouse?
Lisa looked down at her still-damp and wrinkly shirt. Once Kerry got a question in her head, she didn’t stop until she was satisfied with the answer.
“Mr. Pierce took me over to see the bench your brother built. While we were looking at it, the skies opened up and I got soaked. We waited until it stopped raining so hard.”
“At his cabin?” Kerry had a gleam in her eyes.
“Yes, and he was a perfect gentleman.” In her thoughts, she almost added a ‘dammit.’
“Do you like him?”
“I do, but not the way you probably mean.” Liar.
“He’s handsome in a rugged way,” Kerry observed.
“We’re just acquaintances. He’s only going to be here a short while, and we’re going back to Chicago.”
“Do we have to?”
The question shocked Lisa. Kerry had been as adamant as her brother about not leaving Chicago.
“I thought you liked Chicago, your friends, your school.”
“I really like the choir here, and Mrs. Ames, the choir teacher. I already made a few friends. I have a dog and a job, well, kinda. And Mrs. Manning is teaching me to ride. I love her horse, Beauty.” She paused before asking, “You didn’t forget I have a lesson tomorrow, right?”
“I wouldn’t forget that,” Lisa said, relieved that the subject had changed. What young girl didn’t want to ride horses? She had as a child, but Chicago hadn’t offered affordable equine opportunities. She was thrilled Kerry had one now.
The old bubbly Kerry was back after being on hiatus for the last eighteen months. What would happen when they returned to Chicago?
“Maybe you’re not ready to go back to bed, but I am,” she said. “Oh, how’s Gordon?”
“He was studying, but his light is out now.” Miracles. Did Jubal have anything to do with it?
“Okay, well, good night,” Lisa said.
“Good night.” Kerry scooped up Susie and ran back up the steps.
Lisa went into the kitchen. It was clean, no dishes in the sink. She looked in the fridge, and leftovers had been put in containers. She poured herself a glass of water, went into the main floor bathroom and looked in the mirror. As Kerry had noted, her shirt was a wrinkled mess and her skirt was still damp and clinging to her legs. Her lipstick was entirely gone. Tendrils had fallen from the twist in back and tumbled along her cheekbones.
She winced, took the pins out and let it fall past her shoulders so she could brush it. Then she examined herself critically. Her hair was too straight, her brown eyes too serious, her cheekbones too prominent and her mouth too wide.
She’d never had a fire and storm romance. She always thought she would know when someone was right, and if it didn’t happen she could live with that. She’d never expected all the bells in her to ring, especially with a man so completely different from anyone she’d known, with a background she couldn’t understand and a future even he didn’t see. It was crazy.
She crawled into bed, still trying to analyze her feelings the way she analyzed a medical problem. It didn’t work, because nothing made sense.
* * *
JUBAL WOKE DRENCHED in sweat.
The sheet that had been covering him was twisted into knots as if he’d been fighting it.
He had.
His body was rigid from trying to escape the chains binding him to a wall. He heard them coming. He knew what had happened from the wailing outside. The terrorist he was supposed to heal had died. The door opens and the blows fall...
The room swam into focus. Not a bare hut in Africa. A streak of sunlight made it through the shutters in the room. He hadn’t closed them last night.
His body was shaking, remembering the pain. Or was it all in his mind? He looked at the bed and knew he had thrashed around. Had he moaned, too? The nightmare, the visions, were all too real. He knew all about PTSD, how it would sneak up on him and hit when he least expected it.
It was the first full night he’d slept inside the cabin. Even then it had been more like a series of short naps than a real night of rest. He’d had those nightmares in San Diego, too, as he’d served out his last few months as a SEAL. He had been debriefed and studied, tested and retested. Every moment of his captivity and escape was explored and documented to be used in training. He’d relived those years over and over again. The mistakes. The failures. He’d hated it, but he knew it might be useful someday to another SEAL.
Another reason to avoid the pretty doctor. How could he ever go to bed with her not knowing if he would wake thinking she was the enemy?
And yet, he’d brought her to the cabin like that. So much for his self-discipline. It had saved him during those dark two years. It failed him last night.
Error number one: he never should’ve asked her to see the bench. He’d wanted her to see what Gordon had built. He’d wanted her to have the same pride in her brother that he did.
Error number two: he never should’ve taken her inside the cabin. He should have tried to squash the attraction that had grown stronger since they’d first met rather than feed it like dry wood to a fire.
At least he’d pulled back before making it worse. And then he’d spoiled that effort by blurting out what he really wanted to do. Idiot! No way could he continue playing with fire without one or both of them getting badly burned. The simple fact was that they had nothing in common outside that attraction. He’d sensed she wasn’t totally comfortable with the military, and that had been his life. And she’d made it clear she was here one year before returning to the big city and a career that had taken her years to reach. There was no room in that picture for him.
Having made that determination, he made coffee, dressed in his trunks and went out to the lake. He needed the frigid water this morning to cool off.
Still, as he stroked out to the middle of the lake, he couldn’t forget how adorable she’d looked in his shirt, or the wondering expression on her face as he’d kissed her.
He swam faster, telling himself he’d be wise to leave today. He’d done what he could for Gordon. He should end it now.
If it wasn’t for Luke, he would. In return for lessons, he’d committed to staying an indeterminate time. He was pretty sure that meant longer than a few days. The pull of ranch life was strong. It was the only occupation that had interested him, and he realized he was clutching to it in desperation. After nearly twenty years as a SEAL, fruitless wandering did not actually appeal to him.
The little colt had cinched the deal. He still needed a name. He had no idea what to call him.
He bet Lisa would.
He swam back to shore, took a hot shower and pulled on his oldest pair of jeans and an old plaid shirt. He drank a large cup of coffee, ate three pieces of toast and drank a large glass of orange juice, then grabbed his keys. It was early, but he was pretty sure Luke would be watering and feeding the horses.
Luke was outside. So was the mare with her foal. In the sun, the baby had the same rich markings as his mama. He was actually trotting around with her in the corral, staying close as she kept turning her head to make sure he was there.
“Glad to see you,” Luke said.
“Making up for yesterday, if that’s okay.”
“Sure. You’re more than welcome anytime. Can’t stay away, huh?”
Jubal looked at the colt. “Not from him. He’s out in the big wide world already?”
“He’s an eager little guy. He’s got great breeding. A championship on his sire’s side.”
“I didn’t expect him to be running so quickly.”
“Hell, he was running yesterday. Horses are a prey animal,” Luke said.
The mare came over to the fence and the foal followed. Luke took an apple quarter and gave it to her. “Good job,” he said, and ran his hand down the mare’s neck. The mare chomped on the apple.
“Gets to you, doesn’t it?” Luke said. “As I said the other night, this is what makes all the long hours and financial risks worthwhile. You watch them grow, become confident.”
The foal’s big chocolate eyes regarded Jubal curiously, like it was thinking “maybe I should know you.” He took a tentative step forward, then stopped when his mother nudged him back to her side.
“Could he remember me from the night he was born?”
“I doubt it. He’s probably just curious.”
“What’s his schedule now?”
“Leave him with his mama at first. Accustom him to the herd across the fence, then when everyone calms down, move both mare and colt in with the others. We’ll start imprinting today by putting a foal halter on him and letting him know we’re friends. Ground training starts in about a year and a half, and real riding a year later.”
Jubal was mentally counting the years before there could be a profit.
“If you want to sell early, you can put promising youngsters with good confirmation and top-notch breeding into one of the big auction sales as yearlings. You keep the best to train and sell yourself when they start bringing in some ribbons and prize money.
He looked at Jubal. “It takes several decades to build a horse ranch from scratch. The other option is to buy a going ranch with a good reputation and hire good trainers. We make it because we’ve built a reputation. Tracy is a former barrel racing champion so she’s in demand as a trainer and coach.”
Jubal watched the colt for several more minutes, then said, “I’d better get started.”
“Why don’t you start with Jacko. I think he missed you yesterday. He’s been stomping around in his stall. As I said, I can’t leave my horses out at night, not with this rustling going on.”
“Has there been any more instances?”
“Not in the last few days, but we’ve alerted all the ranches within a hundred-mile radius. Bastards,” he muttered.
“Mind if I bring the new doctor’s brother to see the little guy?”
“Bring the whole family if you wish. I met Dr. Redding at the reception after the pageant, and I’ve heard good things about her.” He gestured toward to the foal. “Come up with a name yet?”
“Not yet,” Jubal said.
“Well, you’d better hurry up and give him a name or Nameless is how he’ll go down in the registry.”
Jubal grinned. “I’ll do better than that. Promise.” He went inside the barn and found Jacko.
He gave him the expected carrot, watched as he munched it, then led the buckskin to the washrack, saddled and bridled him. “You and me, kid,” he said as he swung up in the saddle.
Seven hours later, he headed to the cabin. He’d had lunch with Luke and Tracy, then went back to riding. There would be some new horses added to his list tomorrow. Luke said he was ready for them.
Graduation of a sort. Accomplishment. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed that...
He thought about calling Lisa regarding visiting the ranch, then reconsidered. He really should stay away from her. He’d barely been able to keep his hands off her the previous night. It had taken every ounce of self-control not to deepen the kiss.
He was way out of her class. He’d kicked around in some of the worst places in the world and had seen things no human being should see. He had nightmares and sometimes woke up screaming. He’d almost seriously hurt a woman he’d slept with in San Diego. He’d thought she was the enemy.
Lisa was a healer. He had no doubt she’d seen terrible wounds in her career, but that wasn’t the same as causing them.
No, it was better to stay away, and stay away from Gordon, as well.
Better for all three of them.