Wild Horses

“So you don’t live here. I mean, permanently.”

He seemed relieved. That stung. Nora willed a carefree note into her voice. “Nope. My work usually keeps me moving every few months.”

“Great.” Todd shifted uncomfortably and looked out into the parking lot, probably hoping some other customer would show up and rescue him.

There was another pause, and then Wade came to their rescue. “So where do you live—in town?”

“Actually I’ve got some land south of town.” Todd smiled and the enthusiasm in his expression made something inside Nora’s heart hurt. “I love it out there. I spend a lot of time working with horses, hiking, fishing and snowboarding come winter.”

“This area’s amazing for all of that. Do you fish?”

“Hell, yeah!”

Nora listened in disbelief as her brother and her ex started talking about the various local streams, the best trout and the best flies to catch them at this time of year. It all seemed so surreal that Nora stealthily reached down and pinched herself on her leg. It hurt, so, yes, this was really happening.

She stole a glance at Todd. He seemed taller, though that was hardly possible. Maybe it was the bulk on his frame now. He’d been slim in college, and he still didn’t seem to have an ounce of fat on him, but his thighs and arms were thick with muscle, his chest broad and his shoulders square. His face was different, as well. New lines were etched where there had previously been none. Smile lines crinkled around his eyes, and a faint furrow formed between his brows.

He’d worn his hair long in college, almost shoulder length. Now it was cropped pretty short, though still visibly shaggy and sun-bleached an inch or two below his ball cap in the back. It was eerie to see the ghost of the boy she’d known so well underneath the man—the stranger—he was now.

He glanced her way and caught her staring. So what? She had the right to stare after all these years. The last time she’d seen him, he’d dropped by her house on the way to the airport, his backpack slung over his shoulder, bulging with the supplies he was taking to the Amazon. He’d been off to save the rain forest, excited for his trip. She’d been miserable, so sad to say goodbye.

And now here he was. Laughing and ingratiating himself with her brother. Of course this moment was a lot easier for him. He’d headed off to Brazil happy. His heart hadn’t been blown to bits by their breakup. It was rude to interrupt but she did so anyway. “I don’t get it. Why here? Why Benson? Why my hometown?”

His voice was calm and rational, and she remembered how he’d always been like this. Easygoing to a point where it seemed as though nothing ever really touched him. Including her. “I didn’t know it was your hometown, Nora. You never told me where you lived—not exactly.”

She turned away, toward the parking lot, hoping she looked bored, not as if she was blinking back the tears that prickled unexpectedly.

But he sensed her emotion. He always had. His low voice gentled. “Anyway, you’d always told me you’d never go back home again.”

That was supposed to make her feel better?

Wade was glancing from Nora to Todd and back again. “Just to clarify...you guys dated?”

“Yes.” Todd let out a heavy sigh, as if the thought pained him. “For three years.”

“Right.” Wade glanced at Nora, one raised eyebrow signifying a whole lot of questions she’d have to answer later. Then he turned back to Todd. “Well, we’re hoping you could take a look at all these tools. If they can be repaired fairly cheaply, we’d like to do it. Otherwise, maybe you can point us to the nearest junkyard.”

Todd smiled. He was probably thrilled to get back to business and avoid further conversation with his crazy ex-girlfriend.

She didn’t blame him. She must look a little wild right now. Between getting run over by wild horses last night and meeting Todd today, Nora was starting to feel like coming home to Benson had been an even worse idea than she’d feared.

“Why don’t we get your truck unloaded and I’ll take a look,” Todd said. The two men started toward the pickup, but Nora stayed where she was, studying the interior of the shop as if it mattered, trying to slow her pulse and gather her thoughts. The oily smell was actually kind of soothing. The smell of everyday reality. She breathed it in, hoping it would restore her sanity.

She heard Wade and Todd returning. Wade was saying something about trying to remove some rust. She forced herself to join them as they headed back to the truck again, trailing a few steps behind, so she wouldn’t have to join their conversation. After a few miserable trips, they set the last of the tools down on the ground.

“Nice to meet you, Todd.” Wade shook her ex-boyfriend’s hand. “Come on by the ranch if you want to go fishing sometime.” He turned to Nora. “You want to stay and talk with Todd for a bit? I can do a couple errands and then come back.”

“I’m ready to go now,” she said quickly. No way did she want to be left alone with Todd.

“Nora, could you stay a minute?” Todd fixed his green gaze on her, and she silently, sternly, forbade her knees from weakening. “It’s been years. It would be great to catch up.”

Catch up? As if they were old buddies who could just have a chat, share their latest news and then go on their way? As if there hadn’t been emotions between them deeper than anything she’d ever known before?

“Wade and I have a lot of chores to do, so we should probably get going.” It wasn’t a lie; their to-do list was easily several feet long and the day was nearly over.

“Tonight,” Todd said. “Can we meet for a drink?”

Nora glanced at Wade for some kind of rescue, but her brother just shrugged his shoulders in a singularly unhelpful way.

“Sure.” She sighed. So many years of thinking about Todd made it impossible to say no. She was still so full of questions. “I’ll meet you at the Dusty Saddle. At eight.”

The Dusty Saddle was a dive bar on the edge of town. Not a place anyone would want to linger and a good way to keep their drink short. Which was perfect because seeing Todd again was wreaking havoc in her heart. Hell, the way she was feeling right now, she could down a beer in about thirty seconds flat. She’d fit right in at the Saddle.

“Sounds fine.” Todd smiled and she recognized the faint curl to his lips when he did. She used to tease him that he smiled as if he was in on some private joke. He’d always answered that it wasn’t a joke—he was just smug because he knew he’d gotten the best girl. She wondered how he explained it nowadays.

“Okay,” she mumbled. “See you then.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” Todd leaned down and grabbed a couple of their dilapidated chain saws. He held them as if they weighed nothing. “See you around, Wade. I’ll give you a call with an estimate. And I’d like to take you up on that fishing invite soon.” He turned and started toward the back of the shop.

Nora watched him walk into the shadowy interior, trying to ignore the way his worn jeans fit him perfectly, and the slight swagger in his stride that she didn’t remember from when she’d known him before. It took effort to turn away, but she followed Wade to the truck, her brain tumbling like a clothes dryer, each random thought twisting and turning as it cycled around. And then one image came to the surface, clearly separate from the emotional tangle. The image of Todd, walking away just now. It wasn’t a swagger that she’d seen. His footsteps were uneven. Todd walked with a limp.

And then she knew, with a thud in her stomach, why the voice of the masked man had sounded so familiar. It had been Todd’s voice in the dark last night. It was Todd who’d chased her and grabbed her arm and thrown her phone. Todd Williams was the masked man who’d freed the wild horses.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_83f11cc0-359f-510a-bdfc-c52d3dcf80f3)

NORA LEANED OUT of the truck window, staring at the blue-gray blur of sagebrush rushing by, letting the hot afternoon breeze snap her hair in every direction. It was a good thing Wade was at the wheel, because her hands were shaking and her stomach heaved.

Anger was bubbling inside her like lava, flowing over her initial surprise and leaving sharp edges and disjointed thoughts in its wake. Todd had freed the horses. He was the idiot who’d terrified her in the dark. He’d almost gotten her killed. He lived here, in Benson. Her mind jumped between topics, between their past and the present, as she tried to make some kind of sense of what she’d learned.

Wade stopped the truck in front of their shabby ranch house. Nora stared at the peeling paint and sagging porch, seeing it with new eyes. Todd’s eyes. She’d always hid her impoverished, messed-up past from him. But soon he would know. Moving back here and facing that past had been hard. It would be harder with Todd Williams in town to witness her struggles.

A shutter banged in the late-afternoon breeze. The amount of work the house needed was overwhelming. And when you combined that with what the ranch required, it was mind-boggling. Luckily Wade was fearless. Nora wasn’t sure she’d ever take on a project as large as revitalizing this ranch on her own. But the impossible nature of it seemed to spur Wade on and give him a focus as he got used to life outside the army, life away from war. And for that she was grateful. So grateful she’d offered to help him out. To move back to the childhood home she’d vowed to never set foot in again.

Now she wished that she’d let him return home on his own. That she’d just offered financial support—a check in the mail from someplace far away from Todd.

She realized, suddenly, that Wade hadn’t moved, either. They were sitting in the truck in silence—except for the noise of Wade’s fingers tapping restlessly on the steering wheel.

“You’re angry.” She stared at him in surprise. Wade rarely got angry with her. Or anyone.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Her brother looked straight ahead, not at her.

“Why?”

“Because you never told me about him.” He turned to face her then, his dark brown eyes narrowed in frustration. “He dumped you, didn’t he? Right after college. Right before you took me with you to Nevada.”

“So?” She didn’t want to talk about that time. Didn’t want to remember how lost she’d felt. “It was none of your concern.”

“Yes, it was. I’m your brother. We lived together. You think I didn’t notice how sad you were? That I didn’t wonder why you got up every morning with red eyes?”