Wild Horses

She shoved open her door and jumped out of the truck. Reaching into the back, she grabbed the rope they’d used to tie down the broken tools. “I’ll bring this back to the barn.”

“I’ll take it,” Wade offered. “Go get ready for your date.”

“It’s not a date!”

He took the rope from her hand, laughter making him look younger than he had in a while. “It’s my duty, as your brother, to tease you. Now go shower.”

She must really look bad if he was shooing her off to get cleaned up. “Thanks.” She turned and headed for the house.

Inside, she went straight to the bathroom. Caught in the mirror, her grim expression made her face look different. It belonged to someone older. Someone angrier. And dirtier. Grease coated her hands, and black finger marks were smeared across her forehead. Her jeans were more brown than blue and her T-shirt had a cobweb down one side. Not the look she’d envisioned for herself when she’d imagined seeing Todd again.

Staring at her reflection, she traced the vertical crease between her brows and the frown lines around her mouth, leaving trails of black grease behind. It looked like war paint. Which was fitting. Todd, the masked man, was unmasked, and he would get a lot more than a beer when he met her at the Dusty Saddle tonight.

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_2fc6c5bc-064c-5e0d-a6ee-2915234f0934)

NORA STARED INTO her glass of mediocre white wine and considered finishing the rest of it in one gulp. Like some kind of medicine for her hurt pride. Todd was standing her up. Either that or he was extremely late. It didn’t matter, because now she was reminded of how often he’d been late for things toward the end of their relationship. It wasn’t a part of her past she cared to relive.

He’d always had a good excuse, rushing in from meeting with one environmental group or another, blaming his tardiness on an issue that had to be discussed. But the truth was, at the end of college, at the end of them, he’d loved his activism way more than her. She’d notice him during their dates glancing at his watch to make sure he was on time for his next event. Their time together must have seemed boring to him compared to all that political urgency.

It wasn’t that she didn’t support his causes. She wanted people to stop cutting down the rain forest, too. She wanted wars to end and endangered species to be saved and oil spills to be stopped. But she hadn’t felt the same need to devote her entire life to protesting those problems.

Plus, she’d had her own cause back then. Wade. Maybe it was just a small cause, but it had been hers for as long as she could remember. Wade was so bright, and he was her baby brother, and she’d spent her childhood keeping him safe. When she’d gone away to college she’d been sure that if she could just keep him on track and get him through high school, he’d be okay.

So she’d worked extra jobs and sent him the money. She’d paid for cell phones so they could talk daily. And during those conversations, she tried to override the negative influence of their dad and brothers. And when that hadn’t worked, she’d driven to Marker Ranch to take him with her when she’d started grad school.

Nora took one last gulp of her bad wine and stood up, pulling her jacket off the adjacent bar stool. She wasn’t that love-struck college girl anymore. She didn’t have any reason to wait around for Todd in a dive bar.

“Nora!” Todd strode across the stained floor, bringing the scent of fresh night air with him. He wore faded jeans and leather hiking boots, and a piece of straw clung to his hair. She reached up automatically and pulled it off, then jerked her hand back when she realized what she’d done.

“I’m sorry I’m late. One of my mares is foaling. I’ve got people with her now, but I had to wait for them to get there before I could leave.”

She set her coat back down, uncertain what to do now. It was, as usual, a reasonable excuse.

“Let me buy you a drink. Please don’t go. I would have called but I didn’t have your number...” His voice trailed off and she knew he was making the connection to the previous night. The look of discomfort on his face was almost funny.

“Plus you know that I don’t have a phone. Right?”

He was silent, staring. And then she saw it...the realization, creeping across his face in slow motion. He knew that she knew who he was. And what he’d done. His eyes went wide and his bronzed skin paled a shade. “Nora, I’m...”

“Sorry you chucked my phone into the desert? I went back this morning, but I couldn’t find it. You have a good arm.”

“You know it was me.” It came out heavily, with regret and maybe some relief.

“Yes.” She studied him, trying to picture the mask on his face. Now that she knew it was him, it was hard to imagine how she’d not seen it.

“I’ll get you a new phone. I promise. Tomorrow.” He gestured toward the bar. “Stay? Have a drink with me? We obviously have a few things to discuss.”

It was tempting to leave. To leave him uncomfortable and wondering what she’d do next. But unfinished business would leave her uncomfortable, too. “Only if you order me something way better than this wine.”

He winced. “Ugh. I forgot that you like wine. This is not the place to drink it. How about something a little more foolproof? Beer?”

“Vodka.” She needed something stiffer than beer to face him. He looked so damn good and she was so angry. “And tonic.” She waited while he ordered for both of them.

“So,” he said, putting a few dollars of tip on the bar and picking up the drinks. “Maybe we should head over to a quiet corner?”

“Why, so we can discuss your criminal activity discreetly?” She wanted to shout it, but instead tossed the words quietly over her shoulder as she led the way to a booth tucked against the back wall and sat down on the scarred wooden bench. Todd took a seat on the other side of the table and slid her vodka toward her. She took a sip and waited. He’d asked her here—no way was she making it easy for him.

“I guess it could be considered criminal. I’m sorry about your phone. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Anger, hot and self-righteous, was almost soothing in its purity. “Really? You almost killed me out there and you want to keep talking about the phone?”

“Well, it’s a start.” His eyes were deer-in-headlights wide.

“I was huddled behind a rock, with the horses jumping over me inches from my head! I thought that was it. That I was going to die. And you want to talk about my phone?”

“No... I just... I’m just sorry, Nora.”

He looked so totally miserable that she felt a grim satisfaction. Enough to soften a little. “What were you thinking?”

He reached for her hand but she yanked it back.

“It never occurred to us...to me...that anyone would be walking out there after dark. I can’t apologize enough. We only wanted to help the horses. When I realized I’d put you in danger, I regretted the entire thing.”

“You knew it was me.” She’d wondered if that was why he’d looked more worried than surprised in his shop today.

“I recognized your voice, but at first I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t think straight.” He took a long pull of his beer but never took his eyes off her. He was still wary. Probably wondering if she’d tell the authorities what she knew.

“Do you usually go around grabbing strange women in the middle of the night?”

“No! Never.” He flushed red, right over his cheekbones.

“You’re lucky I didn’t just have a heart attack on the spot. First I almost got killed, then a masked man grabbed me in the dark... It’s every woman’s nightmare.” Her voice shook a little and she cursed the emotion welling in her chest. She wasn’t here to cry. It was better to attack. “You were an idiot to follow me across the parking lot like that. A complete idiot.”

“I didn’t think about how scary it would be for you. All I could think was that I didn’t want you to call the sheriff.”

“Well, I can’t say as I’m surprised. You always put your causes before anything else.”

He looked at her intently. “You’re talking about the rain forest. After college.”

Nora hid her blush in a long swallow of the icy vodka. How could she have referred to the past like that? How could it still matter? “Well, you always were preoccupied with causes.”

“I guess you’re right.” He picked up the cap from his beer bottle and rolled it in a slow circle on the tabletop. “How did you know it was me last night?”

“I didn’t. Not last night. Your voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it. But when you walked away through the gravel... Your steps were uneven. And then today at the shop...” She wasn’t sure how to mention his disability.

“You saw me limping.” He finally met her eyes. His were dark green in the dim light. “I’m so sorry, Nora. I can’t believe that after all these years, we ran into each other like this. And that I put you in danger...and scared you. I don’t know how to make it up to you.”

“I’ll just add it to the list of things you can’t fix.” The words were out before she’d thought them through. Before she realized she was digging her embarrassing hole even deeper.