Here Comes Trouble (17 page)

A mechanical squeal echoed through the trees
over by the horses, and they whinnied in agitation. Dylan's voice
crackled over the radio, then he repeated, "Joel, someone is up
here at the house to see you...you might wanna come back
quick."

Joel had forgotten his radio in his saddle
bags, he'd brought it just in case someone at the house needed him.
It looked like it was a good thing he had.

"We better get dressed and go see what's up,"
he told her and reached for his jeans, which were under her shirt.
Terri picked up her own clothes and quickly got dressed. He was
finished before she was and they sat on a fallen log to put on
their boots. Joel stood, then he grabbed her hand and helped her
up, then held it as he led her through the trees to the horses.
While Terri gathered up the blanket and their uneaten dinner and
stuffed it back in the saddle bags, Joel snuffed out the
fire.

Dylan had sounded kind of frazzled, so Joel
knew they needed to get back to the ranch fast. Terri riding would
slow them down.

"You can ride back with me, so we can go
faster," he told her over his shoulder, while he tied Ace's reins
to the saddle horn.

"What about Diamond?" she asked and rubbed the
horse's neck. Joel thought she had developed a soft spot for the
gentle smaller horse, and he was glad.

"Diamond will follow us," he assured her, then
put his hands on Terri's waist and dropped her onto his saddle.
With ease, he swung up behind her, then put his arm around her
waist and picked up the reins. "Hold onto the horn, sugar," he
instructed then kneed the big gelding forward.

When they broke into the open pasture, Joel
kneed Ace again and his arm tightened around Terri's waist as he
leaned over her back and the horse shot forward. Terri was afraid
at first, and she clutched the saddle horn with white knuckles.
Soon though, adrenaline pumped through her as the wind lifted her
hair and stung her cheeks exhilarating her. With Joel, riding
was
fun, she discovered, she was enjoying their race for the
house, enjoying being close to him.

Her calves were near the horse's shoulders and
she felt Ace's powerful muscles flex as he widened his stride to
please Joel. At this pace, the horse didn't bounce at all...maybe
she needed to try it on Diamond, instead of the trot. She was kind
of partial to the trot now though, Terri thought with a chuckle.
After learning to do it properly with Joel. The thought sent
tingles shooting through her body.

They made it back to the barn a lot quicker
than they made it to the creek earlier, and he pulled up to the
fence by the bunkhouse. He got down and opened the gate then led
Ace and Diamond through, before shutting it behind them. Joel
remounted behind her and put his arm around her again, but now he
walked the animal, instead of galloping.

Stopping at the big barn he dismounted again,
then helped her down. He untied Diamond's reins and handed them to
her, before leading Ace down the long concrete aisle to hooks
mounted on the wall. He went inside a room, then came back with
what looked like a household cleaning toolkit and a couple of
towels.

Setting the kit on the floor, he passed her a
towel, and threw another over his shoulder. With practiced ease, he
unbuckled and uncinched the saddle on Ace and slid it and the
blanket from his back. He pulled the towel from his shoulder and
rubbed it over the horse's body. Next, he took out a big squeegee
looking tool from the kit and ran it over the horse's sweat-slick
black coat, before he gave him a pat on the butt.

Lastly, Joel removed the headstall and bit,
and scratched Ace's cheeks, the horse nudged Joel's hip and he
chuckled then reached into his pocket and pulled out a brown square
treat then gave it to him. "Good, boy," he praised as he flattened
his palm and held it out to him.

Terri, who had been standing there like a bump
on a log thus far, admiring both horse and cowboy, woke up and felt
bad about not helping. Although she had no idea what she was doing,
she fumbled with the buckles on Diamond's saddle trying to imitate
what she'd seen Joel do. His rich chuckle had her looking over her
shoulder at him.

"I'm trying," she told him and huffed out a
frustrated breath, when the buckle wouldn't cooperate.

"I see that, darlin'. I'll show you how to do
this tomorrow," he promised. "Right now though, we need to get back
to the house before morning."

Joel nudged her aside and quickly had the
saddle off of Diamond, and repeated the process he'd just performed
with Ace. He was quick and efficient, but he didn't give Diamond
the treat, he handed it to Terri.

She looked at it like it was a foreign object,
because it was, and she was a little afraid of feeding the horse
the treat. Those big even teeth scared the shit out of her. One
chomp and it would be her finger instead of the treat the horse
got.

"Flatten your palm, and put the treat in the
center," he instructed. "She can't nip you that way."

Terri did as he said and the horse's soft eyes
met hers. Slowly the mare lowered her head and her big tongue
flicked out, grazing Terri's palm as she took the treat politely.
Terri giggled and wiped the horse spit onto the leg of her jeans.
Joel chuckled and dropped his arm around her shoulders then hugged
her to him.

"You're a mess," he told her with an
affectionate chuckle. "But you still have ten fingers, so you did
good."

"Do I get a treat too?" she asked and turned
into him, sliding her palms up his chest.

Something flickered in his eyes that Terri
couldn't identify and didn't particularly like. It quickly
disappeared though and was replaced by a sexy smile, as his mouth
lowered to hers and he kissed her gently.

The soft intimate kiss set more than her body
on fire, her heart squeezed in her chest as emotion overwhelmed
her. That should be a warning signal to her, but Terri ignored it
and slid her arms over his shoulders to loop her hands behind his
neck. Pushing up on her tiptoes, she leaned into his kiss and
deepened it, and he supported her by gripping her butt and pulling
her flush against him.

"Well, I'll be damned...it certainly didn't
take you long did it?" a snotty female voice said, echoing through
the barn, breaking the sensual haze that had overtaken Terri. She
eased back down on her feet then tried to step back from Joel, but
his arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her to his side
firmly.

"Karen, what the fuck are you doing here?"
Joel grated in a hard voice that Terri had never heard him use
before. She glanced up at his face and saw a muscle was ticking in
his jaw and his face was a deep red.

The harsh yellow lights in the barn made the
woman's red hair look like it was on fire. Her green eyes were
narrowed and glittering as she dragged them from Joel's to give
Terri a hard look. Her lip curled nastily, then she said, "Um, you
might want to rebutton your shirt
slut
, I think you missed a
few holes. And get your
fucking hands
off of
my
husband
."

Anger shot through Terri as she finally put
two and two together and came up with this was Joel's
ex
-wife. Terri's arm dropped from around his waist and she
started to take a step toward her, but Joel's hand on her shoulder
stopped her.

Sizing up the taller woman, Terri wondered
what woman in their right mind came into a barn in sky high heels
and a tight bandage dress? Oh, yeah, this woman
wasn't
in
her right mind, she remembered. She was Joel's crazy ex-wife, a
cold bitch who had callously hurt a faithful, caring man who'd
loved her. Just like Terri's husband had done to her.

A double dose of anger heated her blood and
Terri shook off Joel's hand then stepped closer. The woman was a
lot taller, but thinner than Terri. Terri wasn't a fighter, but if
she tried anything Terri would take her out at the knees, then
Katie bar the door, she was gonna be on her like white on
rice.

Pointing a finger in Karen Rhode's direction,
she hissed, "Listen, bitch...you had him, you threw him in the
garbage. Joel is
not
garbage, but I can't say the same about
you
. The best thing you can do is haul your trashy ass out
of here and don't come back!" For emphasis, while she spoke Terri
swirled her finger at the woman and got some southern girl neck
action going.

She wasn't sure, but Terri thought she heard a
choked laugh from behind her, right before Joel stepped between
them, blocking her view of the woman. "I didn't invite you here,
Karen...I don't want you here. Anything you have to say to me, you
can communicate through my attorney," he told her with the same
hard edge to his voice.

"The final divorce decree isn't filed yet, I
had my attorney hold it. I'm going to contest it, I want to
reconcile," she told him baldly. "I'm sorry for what I did, Joel,
but I think we can work this out...without interference," she told
him and glared at Terri who had stepped to his side.

Joel's shoulders tensed and his fists
clenched, then he spat, "Ain't happening, Karen...I'll get my
attorney to file it tomorrow. I thought it was done."

"Then I'm not signing the property settlement.
We need to renegotiate it," she said harshly, before adding, "I
want the spousal support, Joel. I need it...Larry and I broke up.
I'm broke and since the house sold, I don't have anywhere to
live."

"Try getting a job then...you made your bed,
now sleep in it, with or without Larry," Joel told her, then
grabbed Terri's hand and dragged her toward the front of the
barn.

Outside the door, he glanced at Dylan who was
standing by the golf cart with his arms folded. "Put the damned
horses in their stalls," he told him roughly, then continued toward
the house.

CHAPTER NINE

Joel walked through the front door dragging
her behind him. When he slammed it behind him the guests who were
mingling in the living room turned to stare. It looked like they'd
all come back from the bonfire early to get some rest for the
cattle drive tomorrow.

Letting her hand go, Joel walked directly
across the room, bypassing them without a word. He stopped at the
liquor cabinet, and pulled down a glass and a bottle. His hand
shook as he filled the glass, then tossed it back.

"Joel, you okay, buddy?" The older
distinguished looking man in the group asked with concern wrinkling
his brow.

"No, I'm not okay, Judge--Karen is here," he
told him bluntly, and refilled the glass.

The man groaned, then asked, "Anything I can
do to help?"

"Not unless you know a hit man," Joel told the
man with a dark brittle chuckle. "I'm just kidding, Judge...forget
that."

"Forgotten, son...isn't your divorce final?
What's she doing here?" Everyone in the room had the same shocked
expression on their face, so she figured out quickly she was the
only one behind. They all evidently knew who Karen was and what had
happened in Joel's marriage. That had to be humiliating for
him.

Joel turned toward the man he called Judge,
then lifted his glass, before he tossed it down and told him, "She
had her attorney hold the final decree...she thinks we're going to
reconcile."

"That's crazy," Judge told him with a shake of
his head. "She and Larry--"

Joel held up the glass again and cut him off.
"Broke up, so she wants alimony and is using contesting the divorce
as leverage," he informed.

"I'll call the judge who signed the decree,
he's a friend...it'll be a done deal tomorrow," he assured Joel
angrily.

"Thanks, sir...I appreciate anything you can
do."

The front door was flung back on its hinges
and Karen walked in wild-eyed and disheveled. "You need to fire
that damned hand of yours. He almost killed me in that golf cart!"
she screeched and put her hands on her hips.

"Remind me to give Dylan a raise," Joel
muttered and tossed back the rest of his drink, then sat the glass
down on the cabinet. The group who had been talking and joking
before Joel came in, scattered toward the stairs, evidently not
wanting to witness a showdown. It sure looked to Terri like Karen
was wound up for one.

Terri walked over to Joel and put her hand on
his arm. "Let's just go to bed, darlin', you don't have to do
this," she told him, hoping he'd come with her.

Joel's phone chimed from his pocket, and he
stepped away from her then pulled it out to connect the
call.

"Yeah?" he said gruffly, his glittering eyes
fixed on Karen. His face paled and Terri saw him swallow before he
said, "Is she okay? What hospital?" After that he disconnected the
call and looked down at her.

"That was Chase. Jenny's in labor...she's
having some problems," he told her with extreme concern in his
eyes. If the look on his face were any indication, things didn't
look good at all. He looked as sick as she felt.

Fear shot through Terri and her stomach
lurched. "What's wrong?"

"He wasn't really coherent, we just need to
get to the hospital fast," he told her. "Can you drive?" he asked
and Terri nodded, then ran to her room to get her purse.