Cowboy Country (74 page)

He didn’t say anything, just stood a moment looking at her. Because his face didn’t register anything but shock, she tightened her grip on the whip, ready to attack.

He reached up and rubbed the welt on his neck and turned away. She let him walk to the entrance of the barn before she followed him, the whip still held in a death grip. At the entrance of the barn, she stopped and watched him get into his vehicle and drive away. When his taillights disappeared, she dropped the whip and burst into tears, knowing she had looked into the face of a desperate, mad man and survived. She was tempted to call the police and report a drunken driver but couldn’t find the energy.

She dragged her body up to the house, locked all of the doors and windows, turned on all of the lights and collapsed on her bed. She cried herself to sleep, visions of Kip’s mad eyes filling her dreams.

She squeezed her eyes against the noise that interrupted her sleep. She felt like she’d only been asleep for an hour and she wanted to fall back into her black slumber but once her phone stopped ringing, a moment later it would start again. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced at her clock and became alarmed when she saw it was already a quarter till nine.

She stumbled out of bed and threw on her clothes, rushing down to the barn to get her chores done. Othello was pacing his stall, tossing his head in apparent frustration at having to wait for his breakfast.

“Sorry, big guy. I slept in.” She quickly fed him before moving on to the other, equally impatient horses. She moved through the barn, her familiar routine soothing her soul but unable to stop the memories of the night before. Her whole life had been so close to ending tragically and she felt relieved that she was able to enjoy the simple task of feeding her horses and smelling the sweet feed and green hay. She heard a car approach and she felt a panic well up in her stomach. She found the riding crop next to the door and grabbed it as she walked out to see who had pulled up. A mixture of relief and confusion filled her body as she saw the sheriff’s deputy pull up. She walked up to the car as the deputy who had taken her first report, stepped out of the cruiser.

“Hi, Deputy Heather, wasn’t it? Is everything alright?” Rebecca smiled genuinely, relieved it wasn’t Kip.

“Well, you tell me, Miss Gordon. I got a call from a very worried Mr. Grayson and you meet me holding a riding crop like you’re ready to attack.
Is
everything alright?”

Rebecca looked down and saw her death grip on the whip and she forced herself to loosen her grip on it and dropped it down by her side. “Everything is fine. Just a little jumpy being out here by myself.”

Deputy Heather looked around the property before frowning at Rebecca. “Okay but you might want to give Mr. Grayson a call because he called us in a panic saying Kip dropped the lawsuit this morning and he couldn’t get a hold of you. Funny thing, it just so happens that we picked him up last night for DUI and he had a very nasty lump on his neck. He told the trooper that arrested him that it was from his seat belt when he stopped quickly, trying to avoid hitting a deer. I saw it myself when he was released and it’s a little high for a seatbelt. Kind of looks like something that would occur from being hit by a riding crop.”

Rebecca cringed mentally and wished she’d taken her cell phone with her when she flew out of the house this morning. She could have talked with Luke and eased his mind that she was fine.

It took a moment to realize what Heather had said. Kip dropped the lawsuit. She shook her head and smiled. “Everything is good. Thank you so much for checking on me. I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”

“As long as you are fine, it’s not a waste of my time. I would rather pull up and find that a person is all right than have to call in a homicide. I’m here to protect
you
, regardless of how silly you think a call would be. Do we understand each other?” Deputy Heather smiled grimly.

“Yes, ma’am. I understand. I’m hoping things will be smooth sailing from here on out.”

“I sincerely hope so for both of our sakes but my experience has been that things tend to escalate before they get better. Just be cautious and don’t hesitate to call us.”

Rebecca felt tears threaten her eyes and she blinked them back quickly. “I will, I promise.”

“I’ll let you go then. Oh, and don’t forget to call Mr. Grayson, he sounded pretty worried.”

Rebecca watched Heather pull away and raced back to the house to retrieve her phone. She saw Luke had tried to call seven times and hit the programmed number. She knew the time difference but according to the caller ID, the times he called indicated he wasn’t asleep. She felt slightly guilty knowing she was the cause of keeping him from sleep but when he answered, she felt relief, hearing his voice and she allowed the tears to fall.

“Rebecca, where have you been? Is everything okay? Why haven’t you answered your phone?”

The worry in his voice touched her and she broke down, telling him everything that had happened with Kip. He didn’t say anything as she told him what had happened and she started to worry that he was angry with her for not calling the police last night. She finished with telling him about what Deputy Heather had told her and that’s when she had realized she had left her cell phone in the house.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t answer my phone, Luke. I didn’t mean to make you worry.” She heard Luke sigh before he spoke.

“I obviously have reason to. Kip may have dropped the lawsuit but he’s clearly unstable. You shouldn’t be there by yourself. You shouldn’t be there at all. How about an early vacation? You could fly over here and finish out the tour with me. You can see Ireland, and then Scotland followed up with London. We will have an amazing time seeing part of the world together before heading to Hawaii.”

She smiled, knowing he was trying to protect her and she felt her love growing because of it. “I can’t. I have world championships, remember?”

“You can do it next year. With an additional year of practice, you’re sure to blow the competition away.”

“It’s every four years, not every year and Othello will be too old for this age group. Luke, I know and appreciate what you’re trying to do but I can’t. I’ve worked so hard to get where I’m at. If I wait four more years, it will actually set me back and I already have almost half of my stud bookings filled based on my presence at the show. I
have
to go, my career depends on it.”

“But what about your life? You can’t go if you’re dead and at this point, with everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t put it past Kip.” he argued.

She blew out a frustrated breath. “Grayson, I thought you, above everyone else, would understand. You get one chance at hitting it big and this is mine. Othello and I have worked for years for this show. I’m
not
going to miss it. I will be careful, I promise.”

“Oh, it’s Grayson now? Is that what you’re going to call me when you’re mad at me?”

She heard the amusement in his voice and grinned. “Depends. Are you going to frustrate me a lot?”

“Probably.” he laughed, then sobered. “At least let me send out some security to keep an eye out on your place. I’ll feel better.”

She paused, thinking about it but felt uncomfortable at the idea of strangers lurking around her property. “Thank you, but no. I don’t feel that’s necessary.”

“Rebecca, I’m not letting you stay out there by yourself.”

“Oh, you’re not letting me?”

“Bad choice of words. Let me rephrase. I don’t feel
comfortable
with you being out there all by yourself. You don’t want me to lose sleep and mess up my tour because I’m worrying about you, do you?”

She laughed, knowing he was turning the tables on her. “No, I don’t want to be responsible for that. Let’s make a compromise. If Kip comes out again or even calls, I’ll call you and you can send out your goons.”

It was Luke’s turn to laugh and she felt her pulse hitch, loving the sound of his laughter.

“They’re not goons but I’m willing to accept your compromise. If he even looks cross-eyed at you or shows up on your property, call Deputy Heather first, then me. Deal?”

“Deal. Now go get some sleep so you can sing your heart out.” she laughed.

“Oh, Rebecca, don’t you realize? You already have my heart. But I’ll let you get on with your day. I’ll talk to you soon.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The day went by as normally as any other day but her mind was on Luke, Kip and how her life had changed so dramatically within the past year. She wondered how much more her life was going to change with the upcoming months. She knew the show was going to change it even further, but hopefully for the best. She’d planned and dreamed of it her whole life and she could finally see it coming to fruition. All of her years of dreaming and planning had never included a man like Luke Grayson. It still seemed like a fantasy but she welcomed the unknown possibilities with him. Her professional and personal life was turning into a living fairytale and she welcomed it. She knew there were no guarantees in life, including her and Luke’s, but she was a dreamer and was willing to risk her heart to see how it played out.

The understanding and compassion he gave her made it easy to risk it. She’d never experienced that before. She hoped it played out in her favor. Right now, though, she had to focus on her closest dream. Winning the world grand championships.

She got Othello out and saddled him, unaware of the watching eyes from the tree line next to the barn.

***

October fifteenth dawned brisk and bright, the air cool and the leaves on the trees brilliant oranges, reds and yellows. Fall was one of her favorite seasons. The smell of the falling leaves and the crisp air invigorated her. Pretty soon the snow would fall, the showing season was coming to an end and winter would be a time to take a break. She had her wood in for the long, cold season, her barn was filled with hay and her freezer was filled with the beef from her family’s fall butchering. With the help from her mother and Megan, her shelves were restocked with jars of fruits and veggies they had canned together. Although she still worked with Othello, she spent the last couple of days cleaning her show tack and packing her horse trailer.

Her truck had both gas tanks filled, the trailer hooked up and almost everything loaded. She saved the hay for the night before she left, in case they got moisture, so she wouldn’t have to worry about spoiled hay.

She walked through her barn, taking pleasure in the layout she had planned so carefully. The front of the barn held her tack room on one side of the aisle and her feed room on the other. The feed room held about a third of her hay while the second story of the barn held the rest. Walking down the center aisle, there were six stalls on the right that led out to twenty-foot runs, where she kept her mares and her geldings. On the left, there was Othello’s large, box stall, then the opening to her indoor arena. Walking toward the end of the barn, two large sliding doors opened up to her acreage. She often let her horses loose to graze on the grassland but she always kept it closed in the winter months. It was her perfect barn and knew that potential clients would appreciate the care and details she had demanded of her contractor.

She got her evening chores done and decided to take an early shower and enjoy a beer on her deck before bed. She luxuriated in a hot shower, recalling memories of her and Luke enjoying each other under the water. She dressed in a heavy flannel shirt and sweatpants, knowing that the evening air would be frigid on the deck. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, put on her slippers and started to grab a beer from the refrigerator when she smelled the acrid smell of smoke.

She kept her windows open during the day since they were so nice but it was too early in the season for a fire. She felt the hair rise up on her neck before she heard the first scream from her horses.

She raced out of her house to see the front of her barn engulfed in flames. Knowing it would breech where her horses were, she raced to the barn, swinging the doors open, choking on the smoke that filled the aisle way. Coughing, she stumbled towards the stall doors, sliding them open to allow her horses to flee from the burning structure. Othello, three of her mares and two of her geldings raced past her, disappearing into the darkness. As she swung open the last stall, she didn’t sense her mare with foal rush by and she called out for her. The smoke was so thick and the circuit breaker must have blown with the heat so she wasn’t able to see anything. She felt her way into the stall, searching for her horses. She heard the foal scream out in fear and found the mare pressing her baby against the far wall, trying to protect her foal. Choking, Rebecca tried to soothe the frightened mare.

“C’mon, girl, trust me. I’m trying to help you.”

The mare refused to move, terrified of the flames that were moving closer. Rebecca’s eyes were watering from the smoke but there was a dull glow as the flames lit up the burning barn. Instinctively, she ripped off her shirt, dunked it in the water tank then wrapped it over the mare’s eyes.

“Come on, Sadie, follow me, trust me.” she pleaded. She put an arm around Sadie’s neck, grabbing her mane as she often did in the pasture to bring her in, leading her through the stall door. Sadie’s colt nervously followed and when Rebecca had led them to the barn opening, she pulled the shirt off of the mare’s eyes and watched both of them run off into the darkness of her pastures. Her shirt caught in Sadie’s mane and ripped out of her hands. Choking, she moved to follow them but heard shouts at the front of the burning barn. Stumbling around the outside of the barn and away from the paddocks, she started to call out to the voices but her throat was burned and scorched from the heat and smoke. She coughed and kept moving blindly around her perishing barn. She ran into someone when she was halfway to the front and she blinked rapidly to try and clear the smoke from her eyes.