The Black Sheep and the Hidden Beauty (9 page)

“Is it because you're finding out she's more your type than you'd expected and you don't want any nasty surprises later if you let yourself get into this?”

Rafe was all set to shoot Mac's smug-assed theory down…only it made a hell of a lot of sense. “Maybe,” he said, clearly surprising Mac. “What? I'm just being honest. She's…different. Still not my type,” he added, “but not like anyone else I've ever met, either.”

“Well, well, well.” Mac folded his arms, his grin going from smug to shit-eating.

“I don't even want to hear it, okay? It's a case to me at the moment. Nothing more. Not at this point, anyway.”

“After the reams of grief I had to endure from you over Kate, if you think I'm not getting some back, you're crazy.” Still smiling, he snatched the file from Rafe and slapped it on his desk. “All's fair in love and war.” He walked to the door. “Rafe and Elena, sittin' in a tree…wait, sittin' on a horse. Yeah, that's it.” He was humming as he walked down the hall. “Hey, what rhymes with
horse
?”

“Go to hell.”

Mac's laughter echoed until the door at the other end of the hall snapped shut.

Rafe started to pick up the file, but wandered over to his office window instead, his gaze drawn unerringly down to the stables. He wished he could say for certain it was just his self-protective instincts kicking into gear. But something was all wrong about this Geronimo thing. He felt it. Too many coincidences. And too many coincidences, no matter how logically explained, usually meant trouble. Trouble that seemed to have more to do with the Vondervans, and nothing to do with Elena, but he couldn't make that go away, either.

He punched the intercom that linked most of the main buildings on the property. This one went to Mac's office. “Hey, what do you think about the timing of her leaving?”

“What do you mean? It was a couple months later. A bunch of employees left after the fire.”

That got his attention. “Really?”

“File's right there. Might try reading it.”

“Why bother when you already have? For a guy who wasn't going to get involved—”

“Kate's involved, peripherally anyway, so maybe I'm a little interested.”

“And? How many employees left?”

“Well, Geronimo was a beloved champion, and when his death hit the news, Charlotte Oaks was inundated with media attention from all around the world. Mostly within the horseracing industry, but there are a lot of soft hearts out there. And this was a huge human-interest story. The stables became a media madhouse. And then, with all the talk of arson, investigators crawling all over the place, media trucks everywhere, things got hairy. But when word broke about the negligence on the part of the employees, the media had a field day with that. Some employees left right then, to keep their good names intact. Which might have been enough for Elena by itself.”

“Except she didn't leave right away.”

“Seven or eight weeks. Not all that long, really.”

“How many employees left of their own volition?”

“The farm as a whole employs seventy-some-odd people. According to the report, at least a half-dozen left within the first few weeks after the fire. Add to that the four who were fired, and you get—”

“An almost twenty-percent attrition rate.”

“Plus, if Elena was worried about her horse's pregnancy, that was another reason to leave sooner rather than later. If she wanted peace and calm for Springer, I'm sure Charlotte Oaks was anything but. From what she told Kate, I think she was on her way out, anyway. Not advancing as she wanted to.”

Rafe absorbed that, and, again, it all made sense.

“Feel any better about it now?”

“I want to,” he said, quite honestly.

“So, dig some more, make sure. Still can't say I'm feeling it, but I'm not as close to her as you are. You've met her, you seem to respect her and like what you know of her.”

“So far. But I haven't even scratched the surface.”

“Speaking of which, I heard the two of you were in the stables for a pretty long time the other evening.” The intercom crackled a little when he chuckled. “You sure nothing else was…scratched?”

“If you can manage to pull your mind out of the gutter for just a moment—”

“Why would I want to do that? It's fun down here. You should think about joining in.”

“Thanks. I'll keep it in mind. In the meantime, can we stay on topic here?”

“What topic? So far, we've got nothing.”

“Maybe your instincts have just gone soft because all that sex with Kate has addled your brain.”

Mac's laugh had Rafe leaning back from the speaker. “If that's the case, I don't want the cure, man. Love is a beautiful thing.”

Rafe rolled his eyes. “Oh, brother.”

“You know, envy doesn't become you.”

“Very funny.” Rafe clicked off and started looking through the report again.

A few minutes later, Mac popped up at his door. “You're going to keep on this, right?”

He was serious now, as was Rafe. He sighed as he kept flipping through the file. “Yeah. For now.” He shrugged. “I know she says she's here so her horse can rest, but it doesn't feel like she's resting. And she doesn't strike me as the resting type. She's spent a lot of years building her career—seems to me she could do that and find a peaceful place for her pregnant horse at the same time.”

“What does it feel like, then?”

Rafe looked up then. “It feels like she's hiding.”

“From what?”

“I don't know. But that's what I plan to find out.”

E
lena stifled a yawn behind her hand. She still had a good couple hours of work ahead of her, and then some time spent with Springer after that. All she really wanted to do was curl up somewhere and sleep.

But the dreams were back. In the past week, she was averaging three or four hours a night, tops. As tired as she was when she crawled into bed at the end of each day, falling asleep hadn't been much of a problem. Staying asleep, however, had once again become a challenge. The nightmare usually woke her up around two or three in the morning. And there was no sleeping after that.

She should be past it by now. And she had been. Since coming to Dalton Downs and settling in, the nightmares had pretty much gone away, even if her need for caution had not.

She wanted to believe it was just Springer's impending due date resurrecting everything, but she could pinpoint exactly when they had come back. The night of Rafe's first, and so far only, lesson. Couldn't be a coincidence.

She just wasn't entirely sure why. Yes, she'd been nervous about him sniffing around, but other than the inferno-level physical attraction between them, nothing had seemingly come of it. And, apparently, nothing was going to come of the combustion between them, either. It had been over a week since their lesson, and he'd yet to even make contact to set up another one. As far as she knew, he hadn't been watching her in any way, either. And after the way he'd affected her during their initial lesson, surely she'd have sensed it if he was.

But while it was true that the way she'd responded to him had made her feel more than a little vulnerable, it shouldn't have been enough to trigger the nightmares. At least, she didn't want to think so. She'd finally convinced herself she'd come to grips with all of it, even if she hadn't exactly figured out a game plan about what she was going to do after Springer finally gave birth. Now, she felt like she was, if not back at square one, certainly not as safe and secure as she had been feeling.

She'd thought about seeking Rafe out, pinning him down on a second lesson time, just to settle the…unsettled air. One way or the other. But what if her prodding pushed him to take another lesson that he might have otherwise never scheduled? She had quite a lot on her plate at the moment. So, far be it from her to encourage him.

But working herself to the point of exhaustion wasn't doing the trick, either. She was going to have to do something.

“All set.”

Elena whirled around to find Tracey standing there with Bonder. Crap. She'd forgotten all about her scheduled session with him. She wanted nothing so much as to tell Tracey to take him back to his stall.

But with two sets of puppy-dog eyes staring at her, there was no way she was going to be the bad guy.

“Okay, I'm ready. Thanks for getting him. How was he?”

Tracey rolled her eyes. “Well, he's a real pro at not wanting to come out of his stall. I had to bribe him. Again.”

Elena sighed. “I really don't want him getting used to—”

“He settled right down. I, uh, only had to use one.”

She looked from Tracey to Bonder, who was still smacking his lips. And whose tongue was no doubt purple in color at the moment. “I thought we agreed we'd switch him to healthier snacks.”

“Grape Popsicles aren't the worst thing in the world—” Tracey began.

“But the begging situation it creates is unhealthy, and he's facing enough of an uphill battle as it is.”

Tracey's shoulders slumped a little as guilt colored her face, but Elena saw the way she looked at Bonder and relented. A little. “We need to wean him onto something else,” she said, as sternly as she could. Which wasn't all that stern, given the way Tracey perked up immediately. “Try apples. Real grapes. Anything that's not processed sugar.”

“I will. I promise.” Tracey looked up at the horse and stroked his mane. He shied a little, but tolerated the gentle attention.

He was improving, and at a better rate than Elena had hoped, and part of that was due to Tracey's assistance. She had a touch that was both natural and gentle, both of which were perfect for a horse like Bonder. With the classes picking up as the weather grew increasingly warmer, Elena hadn't had as much time to work with him, but the daylight hours were growing longer, so her schedule could expand accordingly.

“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 the 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.