The holidays had come and gone. Ever since her parents’ deaths, Tabby always wanted to get through the holidays as quickly as possible. Having the rodeo season over for the winter, until the finals in February, gave her too much time to linger in painful memories.
Trip never made that big a deal of the holidays, but his sister Brenda insisted they always have a big dinner at his house every year with her family and all the ranch hands who didn’t go home for the holidays with family. Brenda always called the hands Trips kids no matter how old they were. Tabby was thankful she’d always been welcome at the holiday dinner table. This year everyone was a little melancholy without Levon sitting there with them.
She didn’t need to wait to see Dr. Prescott tomorrow to find out that her leg had healed. She could tell it had. She was getting stronger. The best Christmas gift she could have had this year was to get the news from Sean Knight that Tenterhook’s fracture was healing. It could have been a lot worse for both of them. She knew that sometimes injuries were so bad that the horse ended up being put down. Tabby didn’t know what she would have done if Tenterhook had ended that way.
When dinner was over, she placed a few cookies and an extra piece of cake on a paper plate and wrapped it before she headed back to her apartment. She didn’t need anyone’s help getting up and down the stairs anymore. She’d mastered the walking cast quite well and without the pain she’d initially felt, she was able to have more mobility around the ranch.
Still, Trip offered. “Do you need help carrying that up the stairs?”
“I’ve got it. Besides, there is no way I’m going to let these cookies fall. They were way too good. Make sure you let Brenda know. I forgot to tell her before she and her family left.”
“I’m glad you were able to come for dinner,” Trip said.
She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I? I always come for Christmas dinner.”
“I thought perhaps you had another invitation you’d want to accept.”
“Yeah? With who?”
Trip made a face that made Tabby chuckle. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Kas. I think you’re the real reason he’s been staying in Sweet so long. I thought for sure you’d be spending Christmas with him.”
Tabby and Kas had been spending time together and it had been wonderful. She’d fallen hard for him even knowing he was only staying in Sweet for another week or two.
“Kas’s parents came home for the holidays. I told him I wanted to have dinner with you seeing how it’s the first Christmas without Levon. He’s coming over in a little while.”
“Tell Kas I’ve got a beer in the fridge with his name on it.”
He grabbed one of the cookies left on the plate. By nightfall, that plate would be empty.
“Will do. Goodnight, Trip. Merry Christmas.”
He reached out and wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a gentle squeeze. “Merry Christmas. I put some ice melt on the steps earlier but it’s been snowing. So be careful.”
“I will.”
She left the house through the kitchen door, as it was closer to the garage where her apartment was located. It was still snowing, and as she walked past the barn and the arena, she heard the horses in the stable. Oh, how she loved the sound of that. She’d just made it to the staircase at the garage when she saw headlights coming down the driveway.
Although she was cold, she lingered at the bottom of the steps. It was probably Dusty coming back from dinner at his parents’ house in the next town. But as the car came closer, she realized it wasn’t Dusty’s pickup. It was Kas’s Range Rover.
Her heart skipped a beat. She had expected to see Kas tonight. But he was earlier than she’d expected. Now that he was here, she couldn’t contain her excitement to see him.
“This is a surprise,” she said after he parked the Rover and climbed out. “I didn’t expect you this early.”
His warm smile was wide and inviting. “I couldn’t wait for a chance to kiss you under the mistletoe.”
Tabby snapped her fingers. “Too bad we’re fresh out of mistletoe.”
She noticed the bag in his hand as he walked toward her.
“Is that for Trip?”
“I don’t think it would look good on Trip.”
Her eyebrows stretched on her forehead. “Oh, really?”
“Don’t worry. It’s not lingerie or anything scandalous, although I have to admit I toyed with the idea of getting you something like that. But I didn’t want to scare you off.”
“Do I have to wait to see what it is?”
“Don’t you want to do it inside the apartment?”
She turned back to look at the barn. “The horses are talking. I really wanted to see Tenterhook first before I went upstairs.”
“Then you’ll definitely need this if you stay out here any longer.”
He opened the bag and pulled out a cowboy hat.
“Oh, I love it! I’ve felt so naked without my hat since the accident.”
Somehow, between being thrown off of Tenterhook and the ride in the ambulance, she’d lost her cowboy hat. Given her current condition, she hadn’t been able to get a new one.
He brushed off the snow that clung to her hair and placed the cowboy hat on head, adjusting it a little until he got it right.
“How does it look?”
“Beautiful,” he said in a low voice.
His gaze was intense, something she’d come to enjoy when he looked at her. He made her feel alive, like she was the only woman in the world.
And he made her feel beautiful. He didn’t need to say the words for her to feel it.
Feeling a little off balance, she said, “If you go saying that to all the girls you meet you’ll have them all falling for you.”
“The only woman I care to say that to is you, Tabby.”
Warmth spread through her, making her lightheaded. She didn’t wait for Kas to come closer to her. She moved toward him and fell into his arms. Lifting her face to him and feeling the snow hit her cheeks, she kissed him on the lips, letting her mouth linger for a brief moment before pulling away.
“Thank you for this. For everything.”
“Merry Christmas,” he said, smiling down at her. He glanced at the plate in her hand. “What’s that?”
“Cookies and cake. They’re good. I have a piece for you, too.”
“Why don’t we go into the barn and get warm. We can check on Tenterhook and have a Christmas cookie.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
She hooked her arm around his and they walked to the barn together.
“Sean Knight was by yesterday. He said Tenterhook should be ready to do some light training in a few months. Nothing big. Just enough so he can stretch his legs a little. He’s still not confident we’ll be able to compete again, but at least Tenterhook is going to heal.”
“That’s good news. What did he say about you?”
“What about me?”
“Did he say anything about your foot?” he teased.
She unhooked her arm from his and get it a light smack. “Very funny. I get my cast off tomorrow though. I can’t wait. My skin feels so itchy beneath this cast.”
“I know the feeling. When I had my halo, I couldn’t move my head at all and it drove me crazy when I was healing.”
The aisle light was on, as always, when Kas opened the barn door and moved aside so she could walk in first. She took off her new hat and shook off the snow that had accumulated on it. Kas did the same.
“Tenterhook has been stall resting since the accident. But Trip has taken him out a few times for some hand walking. I can tell he’s getting restless. He likes to run.”
“You’re wise to take things slow. I know you love that horse.”
“I do.” They walked down the center aisle. Most of the horses greeted them as they passed by sticking their necks out over the top of the gate. “It was the last thing my parents gave me.”
They reached Tenterhook’s stall, but Tenterhook hadn’t greeted her like the other horses had. Instead, her sweet horse stayed in the back of the stall and waited for her to open the gate before turning his attention to her. She put the plate of cookies and cake down on a milk crate that was outside the stall and walked inside.
“How are you doing tonight, baby,” she crooned as she stroked Tenterhook’s nose.
Nerves jumped inside her. Tenterhook seemed better yesterday when Sean had been there to check on him.
“He seems a bit lethargic, doesn’t he?” she asked, turning to Kas.
Her gaze went from the concerned look on his face to the item he was holding in his hand.
“What’s that?”
She knew what it was. But it seemed so out of place with Kas holding it.
“A syringe,” he said as he inspected it.
“Where did you get it?”
“When you put the plate down on this crate, I saw it half wedged between the crate and the wall.”
Her stomach turned. “Do you think it’s something Sean Knight dropped here?”
“Medical waste is disposed of as hazardous waste. If Sean had given something to Tenterhook, he would have taken pains to dispose of it properly. He would have told you as well. Still, I’m going to ask him about this. There’s still some liquid in here. I’ll give it to Sean in the morning if he and Cella are still in town, and see if he can figure out what this is.”
She didn’t want to leave Tenterhook. He could be tired. There could be a lot of reasons why he appeared sluggish. But something deep in her gut told her something was wrong.
“Better let him rest,” Kas said. “He’ll be okay in here tonight. In the meantime, I want to dive into the goodies that are wrapped under this foil.”
Tabby wished she shared Kas’s ability to let this go. Even if he was only letting it go for now. Her fear over Tenterhook not healing from his injury was renewed. After the vet visit yesterday, she’d actually breathed a sigh of relieve. She hoped that wasn’t premature.
* * *
“Sean went back to Las Vegas, but he called a little while ago,” Jesse Knight said.
The two of them met at the local pub to talk about test results Sean had done on the horses at the Lone Creed Ranch and on the contents of the syringe he found near Tenterhook’s stall on Christmas night.
“And? What did Sean have to say about it?”
“Steroids. All of the stallions except for Tenterhook were given steroids.”
Kas’s eyes widened. “No way! Trip wouldn’t give a stud steroids. I’d stake my life on that. He knows that would give them infertility problems.”
Jesse took a pull from his beer. “Me, too. And I’ve already turned over every possibility that this could be an accident in my mind. It doesn’t add up. None of it.”
“I’ve known Trip a long time. We’ve worked together for years as business partners with some of his stock. He wouldn’t sabotage himself and his reputation this way. ”
“No, I can’t see him doing that either. When I was a kid, he and Tabby’s father were traveling partners. They showed up at every rodeo together. I remember them both. Trip loves animals. Not to mention he’d never put Tabby in harm’s way like that.”
“What do you mean?” Kas asked.
“I mean I don’t think Tabby’s accident at the rodeo was an accident at all. I talked to Hunter Williams myself. He is a good farrier. Every farrier can make a mistake. We’re all human. But he’s good. He doesn’t do shoddy work and he’ll tell you straight up if there is something that needs attention with one of the animals.”
Kas sopped up a wet ring on the bar with his napkin.
“I talked to the farrier at the rodeo too,” Jesse said. “He said there was no way that Tenterhook should’ve thrown a shoe the way he did. Not if Hunter had put on his shoes properly. Do you know what I mean?” Jesse asked.
“I know what you getting at. And I don’t like it.”
Jessie shrugged. “That doesn’t make it any less accurate. But before we go jumping to conclusions and ruining a man’s reputation, a man both of us have the utmost admiration for, I’m going to talk to Hunter about exactly what he found when he changed Tenterhooks shoes. Tabby said Levon had suggested Hunter come out to the ranch. He found something stuck under the shoe after he’d had a sluggish ride and didn’t want to wait.”
“She said the same to me. But after Hunter had changed Tenterhooks shoes, he had a prize-winning ride at the arena on Lone Creek Ranch. I saw it with my own eyes. He was in great form. Minutes after that we found Levon dead in the barn. So how do you explain something like that?”
“I can’t,” Jesse said with a shake of his head.
“There was a lot of confusion that day we found Levon,” Kas said. “The horses were restless and Mad Dog broke out of the barn. Not to mention how it shook everyone up when we found Levon.”
“I can only imagine. I know how much it shook up Trip.”
“Tabby as well. She’s known Levon ever since she came to the Loan Creek Ranch. Did your brother happen to do any DNA tests on Tenterhook?”
“He’s still waiting on that one. Why did you ask for a DNA test?”
Kas hesitated for a minute. It was only a hunch, and initial reaction to seeing Tenterhook for the first time.
“Tabby told me on our first meeting that she bought Tenterhook from Levon. She said Levon bought the horse from a Bureau of Land Management auction.”
“Finish your thought.”
“Years ago when we were still competing there was a champion bronc named Silver Moon. Remember him?”
Jesse shook his head. “I was overseas in the military for a while and wasn’t keeping up on things back here on the rodeo circuit.”
“He was a beauty. He had markings that were very distinctive.”
“What are you getting at?”
“When I saw Tenterhook for the first time, he reminded me of that horse. Tabby said Tenterhook was a mustang and Trip and Levon worked to break him when he came to the ranch before Levon eventually sold the horse to Tabby’s father. Silver Moon was a stunning stallion and he was lost in some freak accident. The stud fees for what was left of the sperm they’d managed to capture skyrocketed. There are only a few horses who ended up being bred from his line. Only one of them is on the circuit now.”
“You said Tenterhook was a mustang?”
“That’s what Tabby told me.”
“And we can’t ask Levon. We can ask Trip what he knows about the horse, especially since he was here when Levon purchased Tenterhook, and he trained him.”
“I already did. Levon had the paperwork and gave it all to Tabby’s father when he purchased the horse. Tabby never thought to take it with her when she moved down to the ranch.”
“How is it that you know so much about Silver Moon?”
Kas shrugged. “I was hungry back then. An eager young businessman who was looking to invest while keeping my feet in the rodeo circuit. The deal never materialized because they lost Silver Moon and those who had more to invest than I did back then won the stud fee bids. I’d forgotten about Silver Moon until I came here. Seeing Tenterhook reminded me of how he died and his worth. If, for some reason, Tenterhook was part of Silver Moon’s lineage that would make for one hell of a graduation gift for her father to buy for Tabby.”
“It would also make Tenterhook’s value go up considerably.”
“That’s right.”
“That gives motive for sabotage. But why would someone want to sabotage that horse?” Jesse thought a moment and then turned to Kas. “Let’s keep this to ourselves until I can talk to some people. There’s no way to check Tenterhook’s parentage without getting someone who has Silver Moon’s DNA report to compare to Tenterhook’s.”
Kas smiled. “I had a copy of it in my office in New York and had it couriered to Sean when I asked him to check Tenterhook’s DNA. When I was interested in buying into Silver Moon’s lineage, I ordered a copy. It’s standard practice when buying into a horse line.”
“I’ll get with Sean then and see if that DNA sample has come back from the lab. Have you told Tabby about this?”
He shook his head. “There’s nothing to tell until we know something for sure. She’s spooked enough about everything that has gone on this far.”
“Better stay quiet until we have something concrete.”