Second Chances (11 page)

Dusty
followed suit, his heart in his throat. Great black clouds pushed closer, reminding
him of the short time left before they would be overtaken. He couldn’t leave
Ben, but he didn’t have much time to waste, either. “Ben! Come back here!” His
dog rarely disobeyed and always for a good reason.

By the
time he ran through the paddock and into the back field, Ben trotted back,
dragging his leash, and herding a goat.

April
turned to blink at Dusty. He shrugged, having absolutely no clue where the
animal came from. Since the goat wore a collar, he decided they must be
someone’s pet that was lost or perhaps left behind. The thought turned his
stomach.

The
goat pleated and trotted right up to April. She grabbed its collar. Ben rushed
to Dusty, leaping in his arms. “You did good, boy. Took a decade off my life,
but did good.” He patted the dog and walked back to the others waiting beside
the trailers. “I suppose we have room for one more.”

They
shook their heads, but collectively grinned. “Can’t leave such a cute thing
behind.” Brand took the goat from April, lifted her up in his strong arms, and
deposited her in the back of the nearest trailer.

“Anything
else?” Brand shut the trailer and secured the door.

“That’s
it. We just need to swing by April’s house for a minute to pick up her bags.”

“Okay.”

They
divided up the water, each taking a couple of bottles.

“I
don’t mind pulling your spare horse trailer, Dusty, but I’ve never drove with
such a thing before.” April looked at her SUV, then back to him. “Do you mind
to drive? I’m afraid of taking turns too sharp and the thought of backing up
gives me heart palpitations.” The corners of her mouth hitched up.

He
shared her smile. “Sure. Evan can drive my truck.” He dug through his pocket
and frowned.

“Still
have the keys, bro.” Evan shook them in the air, and trotted to the large black
dually.

Dusty opened
the door of the SUV, placed Ben inside, then slid into the driver’s seat. April
settled beside him and closed the door securely. Both sat for a moment in
stillness looking at the place.

“It’s
in God’s hands.” Dusty shoved the key in the ignition and turned the engine.
With ease of long practice, he maneuvered the vehicle complete with trailer
around, and hit the road.

“Where
do you want them, Dusty?” Archer strode over to the gathering group of people.
“There’s stable space, but not enough stalls for each of them. The front
paddocks are empty right now. It’s close and there’s enough room with the
divided areas to separate them into groups.”

Dusty
sighed as he looked over the ranch. Three long years since he’d seen not only
his brothers, but the house and land they’d been raised on. Home. When he
pulled into the driveway the word popped into his mind and stuck. He’d come
home.

He
looked over the trailers and people, noticing someone was missing. “Where’s
Brand?”

“Brand
called just as we started back. A highway patrol officer noticed his empty
trailer, stopped him, and sent him on a rescue mission to help out a lady with
her animals not far from your place. He was delayed but should be here soon,”
Archer answered.

“Okay.”

“I
imagine you want the stud by himself?” Colt asked.

The
question jolted Dusty back into the conversation. “Yeah. As much as he would
enjoy hanging out with the girls, I’m not sure they’d be as thrilled.” He
glanced over the area once more. Lush green grass spread across the acres for
as far as he could see. Envious at the obvious abundance of rain to the area,
Dusty knew the horses would be thrilled with this temporary home. “Let’s put
him in the east section. It’s smaller, but still roomy enough for him. The
mares and foals, let’s go with the western most paddock. In the center area,
we’ll put April’s filly and the geldings.”

“On
it.” Archer walked to the nearest trailer, unlatched the back gate, and swung
it open.

“I’ll
get them.” April hurried over, Dusty on her heels.

She
stepped into the trailer, spoke softly to the filly, and attached the lead rope
before doing the same with the mini. Clucking, she led the pair out. Until
Mischief dug in his feet and refused to exit the trailer.

Dusty
shook his head. “Stubborn cuss.”

April
shushed him with a frown. “Now, Mischief. We’ve had this discussion before.”
She tugged on his halter. Miracle, already out, turned around and stared at her
friend. Mischief didn’t budge.

“I’ll
give him a shove.” Before Dusty could take two steps, April held up her hand.

“Okay,
Mischief. I have one carrot left.” She pulled the treat from her pocket. “If
you don’t get out of that trailer this instant, I’m giving it all to Miracle.”

The
mini stretched as far as he could without actually moving his feet.

She
pulled the carrot back farther. “No way, buddy. If you want it, you have to
come and get it.”

He
squealed, then jumped down with excitement.

Dusty
chuckled at the horse’s antics, joining in with the rest of his brothers.

“Pretty
damn cute.” Archer slapped him on the back.

Dusty
grinned. Whether his brother spoke about the horse or the woman, he wasn’t
sure, but, in his mind, they both fit the description. “Yeah.”

April
stepped out, leading her two horses. As Miracle came abreast of Archer, she
stopped, flattened her ears, and reached out as if to bite.

“Nasty
tempered beast.” Archer quickly moved out of range.

The
gray filly bumped into April, then sidestepped as she walked forward at her
owner’s bidding, yet kept an eye on Dusty’s oldest brother at the same time.

“Don’t
care how pretty that filly is, that attitude isn’t something I’d deal with,”
Archer grumped, his eyes on the horses.

“You’d
have the same attitude if you went through what that filly did.” Dusty sobered
in remembrance of the pictures of Miracle the humane society sent with her
records.

“What
happened?” Colt paused with one of the geldings in hand.

“Somehow
she ended up in the hands of a bastard who not only beat her, but starved her.
By the time the neighbors called and the sheriff stepped in, several horses
were dead on the property. The few who survived were in horrible shape.
Parasites, long hooves, so thin you could see through their bodies. Miracle had
to be assisted to even stand. They didn’t think she’d make it as she’d lost
half her body weight. The humane society worked for a year to get her back to
the condition she’s in now.” He sucked in a breath, rage boiling in his gut at
the thought of such cruelty. “She still carries whip scars on her body.”

“Shit.”
Archer looked at him. “Did they arrest the bastard?”

Dusty
nodded. “From what I understand, he hired a big-time lawyer, and managed to get
the charges dropped.”

“Get me
the information.” Archer’s lips thinned.

Dusty
arched an eyebrow.

“What?
I’m just going to look into the case.”

“Uh-huh.
I don’t think you have jurisdiction.” Though Archer happened to be a district
attorney, Dusty doubted he could do much about a case in another state.

“Doesn’t
matter. When it comes to a bastard that would not only beat an animal, but
starve it to death, I’ll find someone who can prosecute him.”

“Thanks.”
Dusty tilted his head. “April will adore you forever.”

Colt
looked across the pasture, then back to Dusty. “How’d she end up with that
filly and the mini?”

“Mischief
and Miracle bonded at the place they were rescued. The rescue couldn’t separate
them without them getting very upset. Mischief was in better shape, from what I
understand, and the staff believed the only reason Miracle survived is because
of Mischief. They refused to adopt them separately. When April went to the farm
to pick out a horse, she fell in love with the filly, and ended up bringing
them both home.”

“Can
you even work with her?” Colt asked.

“Yeah.
She’s gradually settling down. She’s not mean, just scared of men. With April,
she’s an angel.”

Dusty
watched as April released her horses, fed them the carrot, gathered up the lead
ropes, then closed the gate.

“Do you
have a chain or rope for that gate?”

“Yeah,
why?” Archer shut the trailer door.

“That
mini is a little Houdini.”

“Lives
up to his name, huh?” Colt chuckled and walked toward the pasture April just
vacated.

“You
have no idea.” Dusty shook his head, grinned, then strode toward the next
trailer to collect his stud.

Ten
minutes later, all the horses had been unloaded, leaving Colt holding the
collar on the small goat. “Where do you want her?”

Archer
shrugged and looked to Dusty. “Brand said he was bringing in a herd of llamas
or some such. Seems to me those might be a bit more goat sized than the horses.”

Dusty
looked over the land. “How about let’s put her in the foaling area? Everything
else is filled, it’s close, and I imagine about the right size for smaller
stock.”

“Sounds
good to me.” Colt tugged on the collar. The little brown animal balked so he ended
up gathering her in his arms and carrying her.

Dusty
grinned as the little goat nipped at his brother’s hair, clamped her teeth on a
mouthful, then gave a sharp tug.

“Ow!”

“I
think she likes you.” Evan laughed as Colt managed to juggle his load enough to
flip him off.

The
sound of a vehicle pulled Dusty’s attention back toward the long driveway. He
found Brand’s black truck, complete with stock trailer slowly navigating the
gravel drive and a white SUV in his wake. He drove by them, heading straight for
the small foaling shed with a downsized pasture. By the time he backed the
trailer up to the gate, a woman parked her vehicle, and hurried over.

Dusty
and his brothers walked over to meet them.

“I
thought you were picking up animals, not a pretty little lady.” Archer grinned
and tipped his hat at the woman.

She
smiled up at him. “I’m Tess, by the way.”

Evan
opened the gate while Brand and Tess took care of the trailer exit. Colt waved
in greeting, standing to the side of the pasture, still holding his newest
friend. “We didn’t think your animals would mind one lonely goat.”

“I
think she’ll fit right in.” Tess eyed Colt’s armful for a minute, then stepped
around the gate.

“You’ve
got quite the menagerie.” Dusty blinked at the smorgasbord of animals in the trailer.

“They’re
my pets.” She cooed to the animals, trying to get them to exit the trailer.
None of them bothered to move.

Tess
climbed in, untied the tallest occupant and led him out. The llama stopped at
the end of the trailer, turned toward Brand, and spit.

“Bogart!”

“Damn
llama.” Brand wiped his face with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket.

“I’m so
sorry.” She shot him an apologetic look, and tugged hard on the lead rope.
“Come on, you ornery cuss before Brand spits back.” The long legged pack animal
jumped out of the trailer. The alpacas bolted after him.

Evan
shut the gate behind them. Dusty smirked at Brand, noting the flashing eyes of
anger toward the ill-tempered llama. Yet, he didn’t miss the softening
expression as his brother watched the redhead. They might have just met, but
his brother liked what he saw in the woman, mean pet or not.

A
brunette trotted over and threw herself into his arms. Dusty caught her and
hugged her tight. “I was wondering if you remembered me.”

Carrie
smacked lightly at his chest. “Remember? How could I forget you?”

Out of
the corner of his eye, he spied April with confusion plastered on her face. He
released Carrie and turned to face April. “April, this is Carrie, Archer’s
wife. Carrie, this is April.”

A true
smile replaced curious concern. “It’s good to meet you. I can’t thank you guys
enough.”

Carrie
looked at Dusty, then back to April. “No thanks necessary.” She waved her hand
dismissively. “I better get to cooking. These men are bound to be hungry soon
and, boy howdy, can they put away the food.”

“I’ll
be glad to help. Besides, I need to grab Marmalade and find somewhere for her
to stay for the duration.” Hurrying back to her vehicle, April pulled out the
cat carrier and a large shopping back filled with cat supplies. April met
Dusty’s gaze for a split second before hustling to catch up with the other
woman, Marmalade meowing pitifully all the way.

Colt
elbowed him in the ribs. “You decide to move on to greener pastures, let me
know. I’ll be glad to take a shot with that pretty blonde.”

Dusty
shook his head, too relieved and happy to see his brothers again to get the
least bit upset. After the hurt feelings between them, he couldn’t have
scripted a better reunion. They’d stepped up to save his ass and he wouldn’t forget
it. “She’s like her filly, bro. A bit skittish around men.”

Colt
only grinned. “I’m charming.”

Archer
snorted. Evan coughed.

Colt
frowned. “I am.”

“Uh-huh.
You remember something about having too many girlfriends and getting their
names mixed up?” Evan nudged Colt in the back.

“He
didn’t!” Dusty’s mouth fell open.

“Oh,
yeah, he did. Hilarious!”

Again,
Dusty truly realized how much he’d missed in the long months of separation.
Evan, his youngest brother had grown up and filled out, a dramatic change from
the gangly teen he’d been when Dusty left. He didn’t have a clue about any of
the happenings in his family’s life over that period of time.

Well,
he had nothing but time on his hands waiting to see if the fire engulfed his
place or not. Until then, he could catch up with his brothers and see if they
were still the troublemakers he remembered.

“I’ll
just find a local motel.” A woman’s sweet voice, laced with determination, cut
through the air.

Dusty
turned to find Brand and Tess leaving the small pen, arguing as they walked
side-by-side.

“No
way. There’s plenty of room in the ranch house. Hell, there’s six bedrooms. I’m
sure we’ve got more than enough space for someone your size.”

She
tilted her head to stare up at him. “My size? Are you calling me short?”

Brand
scowled. “No, if I wanted to call you short, I would have said short. I was
saying you won’t take up much space, so you’re going to stay here, close to
your livestock.”

“I
refuse to be a burden.” Her tone grew haughty.

He
threw up his arms in frustration. “You aren’t a damn burden, all right?” He
sucked in a breath. “Why don’t you go in and meet April. You girls can share a
bedroom.”

She
opened her mouth, but closed it again. A long moment passed before she nodded.
“Okay. I’ll stay. Just for a short time, though.”

“Whatever
you want.”

Tess
started toward the house, then stopped. “Thank you, Brand. For coming to my
rescue.” With a small smile, she continued toward the large brick house.