Page 4

“Bitch! Come back here.!”

Heather’s heart jumped.

She’d been seen.

She bolted away, but as she ran to her truck she could hear the crunching of gravel close behind her. Looking over her shoulder, to her horror she saw Courtney had already caught up.

“Nosey bitch!” Courtney hissed, grabbing her by the hair.

“What are you doing? Let me go.”

“You say one fucking word and your horse will get messed up real bad, you hear me. One fucking word!”

“But I’m leaving,” Heather gasped as Courtney slammed her against the trailer. “I won’t even be here.”

“That won’t stop you making a call. I know where your barn is in Smoky Hill, and I swear, if anyone finds out about this you’ll be sorry. You hear me?”

“Okay, okay!”

“Stupid fucking cow,” Courtney growled, shoving her to the ground. “Remember, it will be your horse I’ll hurt if you don’t keep your fucking mouth shut.”

As she turned and marched away, Heather waited, shaking and scared, until the nasty girl had disappeared, then staggered to her feet. But her fingers were trembling so badly she could barely lift her key fob from her pocket. Finally hitting the button to unlock the doors, she climbed behind the wheel, closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath.

“Heather?”

Jumping, she jerked her head around and was shocked to see Blake climbing into the passenger seat.

“You scared me,” she exclaimed, staring at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Lookin’ for you. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s clearly not nothin’. You’ve been cryin’ and you look a mess. Talk to me.”

“I can’t. I have to get Apollo and—”

“Nope, you’re not goin’ anywhere until you tell me what’s goin’ on.”

“I want to—but I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? Heather…I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this upset.”

“Please, you don’t understand. I have to leave.”

“Okay, take a breath and try to relax. I won’t stop you, but let me drive you over to the barn and help you with—”

“No! In fact you need to get out!”

But to her shock he leaned over the console and wrapped her into his arms.

“Whatever is goin’ on I’m here for you,” he said, lowering his voice.

“You don’t understand.”

“No, I don’t, and it doesn’t matter. Tell me or not, it’s up to you, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve got your back.”

“Blake, I don’t know what to do. It’s Courtney,” she stammered, suddenly unable to hold back. “I, uh, I saw her do something and she’s threatened to hurt Apollo if I say anything. She grabbed my hair and pushed me against the trailer really hard, then onto the ground.”