Escaping the Past (Wester Farms) (10 page)

Chapter
Seven

Lou turned to walk toward the house, throwing over her shoulder, “I don’t know what you
’
re talking about.”

Brody rushed forward and grabbed her by the upper arm, stopping her mad march toward the house. “You damn sure do know what I’m talking about
,
and you are going to tell me what all this is about. There’s something going on here
,
and I want to know what it is.”

Lou jerked her arm free of his grasp. “Don’t ever grab me again
,
” Lou said calmly as she turned toward the house. Her pace quickened as she walked up the drive, Brody right behind her. She stomped up the steps and slammed through the back screen door.

Brody stopped long enough to run a hand through
his hair
in frustration. As he reached to open the screen door, he was stopped by Jeb’s voice. “What
cha
in such a hurry for, boy?” Jeb sat in a rocker on the porch whittling with his knife on a piece of wood.

“Nothing, Jeb. I just need to talk to Lou.”

“That why she’s looking like a scared rabbit and you’re looking like the hungry wolf that wants to eat her?” Jeb asked with a short snicker.

“That’s no scared rabbit, Jeb.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, boy. She’s scared of her own shadow
,
most days.” Jeb nodded his head slightly, indicating that Brody should take a seat. “She hides it well and you just don’t know her
well
enough to realize it.”

Brody sat down in the rocker, his elbows on his knees. “There’s something going on here, Jeb. First, she has nightmares that are so loud they could shake the rafters on the roof. Then someone who thought they knew her stopped her at the hospital but she denied ever having met her. Then Mom insists on coming home from the hospital because someone was asking about Lou. Now, there’s a strange man stopping to ask Sarah questions at the end of the drive
,
but he didn’t hang around when he saw me and Lou coming. That seems a little strange to me
,
and
I’d like
to get some answers about it.”

Jeb opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Lou, who was standing inside the doorway behind the screen. She opened the door. “I’ll explain it to him, Jeb.”

She walked across the porch and scuffed her boot across the boards, her hands in the pockets of her jeans, her eyes
focused on the floor
. Her gaze rose and met his, a challenge in her eyes. “Care to take a ride with me, Brody? I want to go and check on the mare.”

“Are you going to give me some answers?”

“Why don’t you just come with me and we’ll talk?”

Brody looked toward Jeb who nodded his head slightly, indicating he should go.

Brody rose from the chair and walked side by side to the barn with Lou. They saddled two horses and Lou grabbed two bottles of water from the barn fridge to put in a saddlebag. Then she took two carrots and placed them in her back pocket.

They rode in silence for a few minutes and then Lou asked, “You doing okay over there? I worry a little about your riding skills
,
with you being such a greenhorn and all.”

Brody scoffed, “Greenhorn, my foot. I have been riding horses since before I could walk.”

“But last time you said you were afraid to ride alone.”

“Oh, I just wanted to rattle your cage and see if you would let me ride behind you,” Brody replied absently.

“You did not…”
Lou tried to look offended.

“Don’t worry. I got the worse end of that deal. Trust me.”

“Serves you right,” Lou mumbled.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.” She smiled at him.

They loped along in silence until they saw the rock where they had eaten lunch on their previous ride. Lou dismounted, wrapped her reins around the saddle horn
,
and let the horse graze. Brody did the same. Lou looked toward the mountains and crossed her arms over her chest. “This is one of my favorite places,” she stated.

“Does it remind you of where you grew up?”

“God, no. Not at all.” She snorted indelicately. “I grew up in the city. We lived in trailer parks where there were dirty children, cockroaches
,
and traffic. I guess that’s why I like it here so much, because it’s so different from where I came from. We had just moved into a different trailer in the middle of nowhere the night Jeb and John found me.”

“Found you?”

She took a deep breath. “Yeah. We were watching TV one night when someone knocked at the door. My mother started going crazy about it and threw Sarah into a bag and put it over my shoulder. Sarah was just a couple of weeks old at the time. Then, my mother told me to go out the back window and run like hell, so that’s what I did. I heard her scream as I ran through the woods. I stopped for a second and that’s when a bullet hit me.”

“Bullet? Where?”

Lou lifted her bangs and showed Brody the shallow trench on her temple. He touched it lightly with his fingers,
which were gentle, but firm
.

Lou began to pace in front of him. “I ran through the woods and came out on a street. That’s when I fell down and passed out. Jeb and John just happened to be driving by. They stopped and picked me up, the bag with Sarah in it still hanging over my shoulder.
I think they were a little surprised to find a baby. Not to mention me.
They brought me and Sarah here for Sadie to take care of us.”

“She always did take care of all the wounded birds and children at Western Skies. She’s
fixed up
more than one scrape that I had.”

“
They’re
the best thing that ever happened to me.
”

“What happened to your mother?” His eyes searched hers.

“She died.” Lou heaved a sigh.
“
After I had been here for about a year, I stopped being afraid someone was looking for us. I just started living my life and raising my daughter. I had almost begun to believe the past was just a dream when, the other night at the hospital, we ran into Mrs. Downy.
She was our neighbor when I was younger. And
I did know her but I didn’t want to admit it. Then that man stopped Sarah at the end of the drive.”

“A stranger asked about you at the hospital, too. That’s why Mom wanted to come home so quickly. She wants to be sure you’re safe.”

Lou’s eyes met his “I had no idea. If I ever thought your family would be in danger, I would take Sarah and leave. I promise. And if it ever comes to that, I will. I love them like they
’
re my own. I just wanted to bring you out here to explain it to you. I didn’t want you to think there is some big conspiracy to keep you out of the loop.”

Wringing her hands, Lou paced over to stand near the big rock and stopped. Then he heard it, the rattling sound that could only come from one source.
Lou
looked down at her boots and saw a rattle snake, coiled and ready to strike, about two inches from the toe of her boot.
Brody saw it at the same time.

Brody bent to retrieve a large rock. “Be very still. Don’t move an inch.”

“Don’t worry,” she breathed out slowly.

From behind the rock, Lou
felt a snort against the back of her neck
. Then the strong body of the pregnant mare
pushed her to the side and
out of the way. Lou landed on her backside in the dirt as the mare startled
. She
stomped, hooves flailing wildly as she reared. On the second strike,
her hoof severed
the snake’s head from its body. Its length continued to slither on the ground for a moment as the horse stilled. Brody quickly moved over to Lou and extended a hand. She grabbed it and scuttled away from the heaving mare. The horse approached Lou slowly
,
and Brody moved to shoo her away.

“Don’t,” she said quickly as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out the two carrots. She held them out to the mare. “She certainly earned these, didn’t she?” Lou laughed lightly as she touched the side of the mare’s face. The mare snorted and moved away from her, not ready to accept human contact, before marching off into the distance, still chewing on the carrots.

“I can’t believe she did that. I think she was just coming over to get a carrot and got caught in the wrong place,” Lou stated quietly. “I could have been killed.” She reached out and touched Brody’s forearms, her hands shaking as she did so. “Oh, God, I could have been killed
.
”
Lou’s voice caught as she looked at the snake.

Brody said quietly, “You did just great. You’re fine now.” He gently brushed the hair away from her face and wiped a smudge of dirt
from
her cheek.

Lou’s entire body began to shake. Her knees gave way under her and she nearly fell to the ground. She collapsed against Brody. He caught her before she hit the ground with a hand beneath her knees and one under her shoulders.

“You’re going to faint on me again, aren’t you?” he asked quietly as he lowered her to
sit
on a nearby boulder. He stood in front of her and held on to her shoulders. He placed a hand beneath her chin and forced her to make eye contact.

“I don’t faint,” she stated.

“Oh, yeah? Prove it.”

“I don’t know why I’m shaking so badly.”
She wringed her hands together.

“It’s from the adrenaline. The body is flooded by it when there’s a traumatic situation. Then it takes a moment for your body to catch up and realize the danger has passed.”

“Really?”

“ I’m a doctor, remember?”

“I remember. Do you hold all your patients and rub their hair when they are shaking?”

He chuckled softly. “ I’m just making an exception with you.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He continued to rub her hair as the shaking eased, her face pressed against his chest and her eyes closed.

“You’re getting way too comfortable here,” he stated quietly.

She smiled against his chest
. “Maybe.”

She leaned back
,
and her eyes met his. “We had better get back.”

He grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet, yet his fingers stayed laced with hers.

“Sure you’re ready?”

“Yep.” She gave an exaggerated nod and lifted on tiptoe to place a kiss on his cheek. He turned his head at the last moment and her lips met his. She stilled and started to retreat
,
but his hand caught the back of her neck, gently holding her head still. His lips applied pressure against hers.

Brody smiled against her lips as he whispered, “I just thought I might try to scare you out of that adrenaline rush. Is it working?”

“Yep.”

“Want me to stop?” Brody asked. She hesitated briefly. “Guess not. Lou, you took too long with that answer.” He turned his head slightly to deepen the kiss. His lips pressed gently against hers, forcing them to open.

Her lips parted and his tongue slipped inside, tangling with hers in the most delectable way. Her breath caught in her throat. Brody lifted Lou’s hands onto his shoulders, where they curled around his neck of their own accord. His larger hands moved to her waist, then dipped into the back pockets of her jeans, pulling her closer to him.
He was rock hard against her belly. She pulled back.