The Black Sheep and the Hidden Beauty Page 10

  “You’ve done a great job helping me with him,” she told Tracey. “I really appreciate it.”

  The girl beamed. “It’s my pleasure, really. I know he doesn’t look like much, but—” She trailed off, looking up at him again, her heart in her eyes.

  “I know,” Elena said, sighing a little at the sight of the two mooning all over each other. It was an all-too-familiar feeling for her, but one she wasn’t totally happy to see in her young assistant. “I felt the same. Something about this guy is different from the nutjobs that normally evolve from the type of treatment he received.”

  Tracey looked like she was going to say something, but paused.

  “Something on your mind?” Elena nudged. “It’s okay, you can speak freely. I’m a good listener.”

  “It’s just…I know I’m in school, and so I can’t even consider having my own horse right now. I’m grateful just to be here, and thankful to work with Kate’s horses. Her program is such an important one and so I know I’m doubly blessed. But…has she said anything? You know, about her plans? For Bonder?”

  Elena had expected as much, so she wasn’t surprised by the direction of Tracey’s thoughts. “I haven’t given her an update on him recently, but I can ask the next time we talk about him. Any particular reason?”

  “No. Well, yes. It’s just…I like working with him, and I know it’s highly improbable he’s ever going to be right enough to be a class horse with the kids here, so…” She trailed off.

  “I’ll find out what Kate has in mind for him. But you’re right—I don’t think he’d ever be trusted with the kids. I have to be honest and tell you that I doubt, regardless of his progress, I’d ever recommend otherwise.”

  “No,” Tracey agreed. “I know. That’s why I wanted to know, you know, what she’s going to do about him. Well, anyway. Thanks. For finding out. I—I appreciate it.”

  Tracey had handled Bonder so well, Elena had already planned on asking Kate if Tracey could start assisting in her training sessions when she could work it into her schedule, the idea being to eventually turn some of his basic training over to the younger girl. It would serve Elena’s need to lighten her load a little, especially if Rafe ever did come back around—not that she was planning around that or anything—and it would be a good working experience for Tracey. She was a natural with all of the horses—all animals, most likely—and had the kind of fundamental calm essential to working with a horse like Bonder. It was something you couldn’t teach a person—she’d simply been born with it.

  Not only that, but it would keep Elena from getting any more attached to the poor beast. More entanglements she didn’t need. Of the two-legged or four-legged variety.

  Now, however, Elena wasn’t as sure of her plan. It appeared she wasn’t the only one grappling with ill-advised entanglements. Seeing just how much Tracey had come to feel for the horse, she wasn’t so sure it was wise to encourage that particular love affair. At least not until she found out what Kate’s eventual plans were for him.

  “I’ll let you know what I find out,” Elena told her. “Thanks for getting him ready for me. I’ll take him from here.”

  Tracey reluctantly turned over the reins, and with a final gentle pat, stepped back as Elena walked Bonder out toward the paddock. She also really didn’t need to get personally involved with the other employees, especially when it came to forming any kind of emotional ties. Even so, she knew she’d be talking to Kate sooner rather than later.

  Once in the paddock, she did her best to switch mental gears from Tracey, her neverending list of chores, and her eventual time with Springer, to working with Bonder. She couldn’t afford to be anything less than completely focused with this one. And he knew it.

  “Come on,” she said in a soft, even tone. “Around the ring a few times—let’s see how we’re doing today.”

  She used a lunge line, standing in the center of the ring and working him along the fence. To his credit and her relief, he didn’t balk, which was promising. If anything, he seemed almost eager. That was a positive sign, too, as long as his eagerness didn’t include being so eager to get back to the coveted security of his stall, that he got a wild hair and dragged her there. You had to really read him carefully. With him, panic was easily mistaken for enthusiasm. Another reason not to be out here when she wasn’t one hundred percent, mentally.

  As well as another reason not to be too quick to adopt Tracey into the training program. The girl had natural gifts, but she was still young and inexperienced, a combination that could be dangerous around a horse as mercurial as Bonder. She rounded along the far end of the paddock…only to discover Rafe leaning against the fence as they came around the other side.

  Another male who needed to be read carefully, she thought. Not something she wanted to deal with at this particular moment. She was having a hard enough time working with Bonder.

  The man really did pick his moments.

  She wondered at his timing, but adopted what she hoped was an open smile as she worked Bonder closer to where he stood.

  She moved Bonder off the fence slightly, and nodded to Rafe as they passed, letting him know that she didn’t mind his presence, but that by saying nothing, she was hoping he remembered from his last visit during a Bonder session that chatting was out of bounds.

  It was as good an excuse as any to avoid conversation, and she shamelessly took advantage. In fact, she’d stay in the ring with Bonder all night if it put off another round with Rafe. She needed more sleep—any sleep—before dealing with him again.

  She spent far too much time thinking about him as it was. And the fact that simply laying eyes on him again was enough to set her pulse racing. Not an encouraging sign. Bonder tugged on his lead, pulling her attention back where it belonged.

  Another time around the ring, and Rafe was still there. Watching.

  He nodded, but there was no smile lurking at the corners of his mouth—a mouth she realized now she’d dreamed about.

  When she wasn’t dreaming about fire.

  She murmured encouraging words to Bonder as he leaned heavily toward the stable gate when they passed, while flickering images of dreams lost played through her mind.

  Images of Rafe. Of Springer, and Charlotte Oaks. Of Dalton Downs. And fire. Sirens, screaming in the night. Running, sweating, despite the chill of the night air. Working hard, so hard, not to panic, not to do anything foolish that would draw undue attention her way.

  Somehow, in the nonsensical way of dreams, she ended up deep in the woods, though there were none on either farm, as heavy gray smoke clung in the higher branches of soaring pine trees. Screaming when Rafe snagged her by the arm, stopping her headlong plunge with the strength of that one hand. Swinging her around, anger blazing from his black eyes as brightly as the fire had from Geronimo’s stables.

  She tried to explain, in gasping breaths, that it wasn’t her fault, that she’d been long gone by the time of the explosion, but he wasn’t having any of it. Then, also in the way of dreams, the reality of events past entwined with desires for the future. His passion was fueled, not by lust, but by confusion, seemingly against his will. As if he’d had to fight against it and wasn’t happy that his control had snapped, losing him a costly battle.

  Or perhaps those were her feelings. She was too panicked by the shock of the fire, too overwhelmed by her response to him, to know the difference. Or care.

  Then Bonder suddenly reared his head back, and Elena, too lost in her thoughts to react quickly enough, was a split second too late.

  His sudden lunge snapped the lead tight in her grip, yanking her forward, off her feet. She landed hard on her knees and hands, then went sprawling in the dirt as Bonder took off. Had she not let go, she’d have been dragged face first.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Rafe clear the fence in one high hurdle and quickly, instinctively, lifted her hand to warn him off even as she was scrambling to her feet. She took off after Bonder, who was stampeding toward the end of th
e ring and the stable gate.

  She didn’t have time to look to see if Rafe followed her command, and could only pray that he had. The last thing Bonder needed in his current state was a stranger chasing him.

  “Please, don’t jump,” she murmured over and over under her breath, knowing the horse wasn’t physically fit enough yet to clear the fence. God knew how much damage he’d do to both the fence and himself if he tried.

  Just then Tracey came out of the end of the barn and froze, with Bonder pounding straight toward her, with only the stable gate between them.

  “Move!” Elena shouted, knowing that yelling right now was not a good idea, but having no choice. She was running full-out behind the horse, with no hope of catching him. It was like watching a train wreck about to happen and being helpless to stop it.

  Or watching a fire burn out of control.

  Tracey moved, but toward Bonder, not away. She didn’t run, but moved steadily toward the gate, her hands raised, palms out, not waving them around, but holding them steady.

  At the last possible second, Bonder seemed to falter and pull up just slightly. Even in his panic, perhaps he’d realized it was Tracey and it made him pause long enough to forget why he’d bolted.

  “Good boy, Bonder, that’s the way,” Elena called out, keeping her voice as calm as she could, even as she called out to him. She slowed as she came up along the fence beside him, keeping well clear of his hind legs.

  Tracey stopped on the other side of the gate, hands still up, as Bonder dug in and tried to slow down, balking now as the gate drew closer.

  Elena whistled for him, which, in his distracted state, made him swing his head, slowing him further, as was her intent. Unfortunately, he was still going too fast to handle the sudden move, and she watched in horror as his front leg buckled slightly.

  As Bonder stumbled, Tracey came over the gate, much as Rafe had.

  Rafe.

  Elena had forgotten about him, but didn’t look behind her to see where he was. Her gaze was transfixed on the horse as she moved closer.

  Bonder rebounded enough to keep from falling, but it was highly likely he’d given his foreleg a good wrench in the process. Slowed sufficiently by the stumble and recovery, he trotted a few steps past the stable gate, then danced sideways a bit into the center of the ring, scared still, and more than a little disconcerted about what had just happened. She couldn’t tell right off if he was lame or not, as he was still pretty highly strung. The adrenaline could mask a number of things, at least initially.

  Tracey had already eased inside the ring, talking to him as she drew closer.

  “Careful,” Elena called out as she caught up, but Tracey was already doing the right things, approaching the horse slowly, using a calm, steady tone, talking continuously, gauging his reaction so he wouldn’t bolt again. But it was the grape Popsicle she drew from a Baggie in her jacket pocket and began unwrapping that finally got Bonder’s complete attention. He calmed a bit more and ambled closer, head down, eyes not as wild, clearly hoping the treat was for him.

  Elena stopped a good ten yards away and let Tracey work. Bonder was still breathing heavily through his nose, but his ears were twitching toward Tracey, no longer pinned back, and he was clearly listening to what she was saying.

  “Some ride.”

  Elena startled at the sound of Rafe’s voice, and turned to find him walking up behind her. At least he was moving slowly.

  “My fault. I was…” She trailed off, looked back at Bonder and Tracey. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

  “You hurt?”

  His question surprised her into looking back at him again. “Me? No.” She looked down and halfheartedly brushed at the dirt and muck that covered the front of her overalls. Lovely. “Well, my pride a little, maybe, but I’m more worried about his stumble. He’s probably given that fetlock a pretty good twist. I only meant to slow him down, keep him from coming in too fast at the gate. Tracey—”

  “Pretty bold stunt,” he commented. “I was torn about whether to get over to you, or run like hell and tackle her out of the way.”

  “You’d never have made it.”

  “I know. Scared the shit out of me. She’s either the bravest girl I’ve ever met, or the stupidest.”

  Elena smiled at that. “You work with animals this size, you have to be a little of both, I suppose.”

  He shook his head. “Well, there’s crazy, then there’s…” He gestured to Tracey, who was presently hand-feeding Bonder the Popsicle. “That, I suppose.”

  Elena smiled. “It takes a lot of that to want to work with a horse like this one. She’s got a gift, that one.”

  “I guess you’d know.”

  She turned to him, surprised again. “I—uh, thanks. I think.”

  “I meant the gift, but I’m pretty sure you bring the crazy as well.” He lifted his hand, put his finger and thumb close together. “A little, anyway.”

  She laughed before she could think better of it. Not that she worried about distracting Bonder. But she should be worried about letting Rafe distract her. Again. “I won’t argue that one. But thanks for giving me credit for having something to balance it with.” She looked back to Bonder. He’d finished his treat and Tracey had recovered the lead line and was presently just letting him stand by the gate and gather the rest of his wits.

  “Don’t walk him yet,” Elena called over to her, keeping her tone steady. “We should have that leg looked at before he puts any more weight on it than he already has.”

  Tracey nodded, but kept her full attention on the horse.

  Yeah. She’d have to talk with Kate. As much as she didn’t want to involve herself here any more deeply than absolutely necessary, Tracey had earned some support in this, and Elena wouldn’t feel right unless she did whatever she could to help figure things out.

  “If you’ll excuse me,” she said to Rafe. “I need to go see to a horse. We’ll probably have to get the vet out here.”

  “Anything I can do?”

  She looked back at him. “No, but thanks for the offer. And the willingness to stick your neck out like that. I appreciate your trusting me—us—to handle the situation. You racing in there would only have made things more complicated and potentially dangerous.”

  His lips twitched then. “I sort of figured that out.”

  She smiled in return. “Yes, well, you did the right thing.”

  He simply nodded, touched his imaginary brim again, which did foolish things to her pulse and had her turning her back on him again, before she did something even more foolish. It had been her mooning over him, or her dreams about him, that had allowed the crisis to occur in the first place.

  So why she paused, and turned back one last time, she really didn’t want to examine too closely. “Why did you come down here, anyway?”

  “Set up another lesson.” He nodded toward Bonder. “Preferably not on that horse.”

  She smiled. “Not to worry. No one rides Bonder. As for a lesson, uh, sure. But I really need—”

  He raised his hand. “Go do what needs to be done. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  She nodded, turned back, and walked away. Wondering just how much later “later” was going to be.

  And why she was looking forward to it, rather than dreading it.

  Chapter 9

  It was past nine when he approached the outer stables. The stars were beginning to peek out, making him want to slow down and appreciate their beauty. It was one of the things about living in the Virginia countryside that he never tired of—the vastness of the sky above and the endless twinkling of them that lit up the night. Growing up in the city, he’d never known so many stars existed until he’d gone to summer camp upstate in the mountains. Those were the best times of his youth, those long, lazy days spent with Mac and Finn around Lake Winnimocca. And the nights under that huge, starry sky.

  He remembered feeling both incredibly insignificant and, at the same time, somehow strangely empowered. As
if the very endlessness of it was a reminder of how big the world really was, and that he didn’t have to be trapped into one tiny part of it if he didn’t really want to be.

  The night sky still had the power to make him feel that way.

  He shifted his gaze to the stables ahead, and the glow of light emanating from beneath the wide, sliding doors that made up most of the end wall. There was the urge to turn around, to put off the conversation he was about to have, along with all the subterfuge it would require.

  He liked Elena, and was admittedly intrigued by her. She was a no-nonsense woman who was good at what she did and didn’t look for confirmation of that fact. She seemed wholly at ease in her own skin, which, he realized, most of the women of his acquaintance, regardless of their beauty, did not. And, by not embracing her femininity, or remotely playing on it, she had somehow managed to seem all the more sensual and attractive. Which should make absolutely no sense, but the fact that he couldn’t get her out of his mind was proof enough.

  He’d rather believe it was the case that kept her front and center in his thoughts, but he was presently working on a number of preliminary files and found it increasingly difficult to keep his mind on any of them for longer than an hour or two. He’d be studying reports, making notes, and his attention would regularly wander to the windows of his office, which happened to provide a view of the rolling hills behind the mansion, leading directly down to the main stables. Where, as he’d come to discover, Elena spent a good part of her day, always hustling here and there, working with this horse or that, overseeing a delivery or working with the barn help.

  It was his attraction to her that had kept him from pinning down another lesson time. He’d wanted—needed—to create more distance. Mentally, anyway. He wasn’t used to his thoughts being so clouded, and he knew his judgment would be off because of it. He simply had to find an edge and hold on to it.