Page 54

T wo weeks later…

Kage

“You’re early,” Ben said as he leaned against the barn wall.

“Like my mama used to say, the early bird gets the worm.” I laughed at the insanity of me making a joke. I was terrible at it. He rolled his eyes in response.

“Then you might as well get to work, boss man.” He handed me the usual paperwork to sign off on.

I took a deep breath as I looked over the pages, enjoying the crisp mornings more than I had before.

I’d come to love working at the sanctuary, feeling like I had a purpose again.

Plus, I’d finally managed to sleep a whole night through.

There was nothing like being too tired to think or eat to achieve that.

Alongside freeing myself of several ghosts. Although there was one that would never stop haunting me.

“Thanks, Ben.” I handed the clipboard back to my facility manager and stretched my back. “When are we expecting him?”

“Majesty will be arriving tomorrow. Just so you know, he’s in pretty bad shape.”

“The injuries?” I asked. I’d watched the goddamn video of the horse taking the horrible fall on the last lap of a race he should have never been entered into several times.

The fucking owner should be shot. At least instead of being sent to a glue factory, a patron had purchased the incredible horse with our sanctuary in mind.

It was our job to try to make him spiritually whole again. And who knows? Maybe the local vet would work her wonders physically with the prize winner as she’d done with every other semi-permanent and permanent resident.

“Emotionally. Won’t eat. Testy with all humans. You know the drill.”

I’d come to know it far too well, spending several anxiety-riddled nights in the barn with Tank keeping me company.

“Well, fuck. Maybe Tank will bring him out of his shell.”

Ben grinned and looked down at the pup. “If anyone can, Tank can do it. Right, buddy?”

Woof. Woof.

Tank was ready for anything. When Ben pulled a tennis ball from his jacket pocket, tossing it out of the barn door, I shook my head.

“Why does everyone spoil my dog?”

“Because he’s lovable. Unlike his owner.”

“Very funny,” I snarked. “You mind having him as company for a little while? I want to take Sadie out for a ride.”

“Sure thing. Tank isn’t tough to love.”

Ben had figured out I wasn’t as much of an asshole as I’d portrayed myself for the first couple of weeks. With zero clue what the fuck I’d been doing, I’d used my snarly attitude as my defense mechanism.

Something Juliette would never have allowed me to get away with.

There I went again, thinking about her.

Maybe because of the last post she’d made that I’d looked at just the morning before. It was of the New York City skyline. The byline?

New life. Here I come. Look out world and stay tuned.

She’d finally moved on. Not that I blamed her.

We’d bantered back and forth with me using my private profile for a few days. Then she’d stopped commenting altogether.

As of the last couple of days, so had I. Maybe she’d navigated to my business profile. Maybe she hadn’t. I had to stop worrying or caring. It wasn’t doing me any good.

I’d ridden Sadie to work that morning, taking her down the pathway I’d created between the two properties. She loved being in the corral with the other horses. She’d taken to being the queen bee, which had allowed her to come out of her shell.

The only difficult things about the location of the pathway were the reminders of Juliette. Both good and bad. But with enough time, maybe I’d stop thinking about the moment I’d thought she’d been shot. Or finding her prepared to launch into me because someone was abusing horses.

I cracked a smile as I grabbed Sadie’s saddle. Tank was already running after Ben, determined to get into some mischief.

The snowstorms had taken a reprieve, allowing for a much easier ride every other morning or so. It was good just to be able to clear my head.

As I placed my foot in the stirrup, I thought about the second conversation I’d had with Maddox. The first had been terse, neither one of us saying much, but thankfully last night, we’d laughed about a couple of old stories.

Just like we’d done before.

Maybe we were both finally ready to heal.

If only I had a chance to tell Juliette she was right after all. Of course, then she’d never let me live it down.

Chuckling, I adjusted the reins and patted Sadie on the neck. “Come on, girl. Let’s go for a ride.”

My sweet girl was happy to oblige.

The ride cleared my head, at least enough I could get on with the rest of my day.

As always, I ended up at the lake. Only the shallow water by the shore was lightly frozen, allowing for a crystal-clear view of the fish and other wildlife. Just being on the plot of land was peaceful.

I eased onto the ground, tying the reins around a tree trunk, although Sadie wasn’t going anywhere. The sky was beautiful, light colors splashing across it as the sun rose. I made my way to the lake’s edge, enjoying the peace and solitude.

This is how I saw Mr. Nobody, a quiet man living a peaceful, unencumbered life. I had Henry to thank for that. Even my parents had complimented me on the sanctuary. Who knew there were still miracles left?

I leaned against a tree, doing nothing more than enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

It was exactly what I did every time I came here, spending twenty minutes, maybe a half hour staring at the water and making peace with myself.

Something was different today. Maybe because I was missing Juliette more than I had before.

The small connection we’d shared online had given me hope.

What an idiot I was.

She’d gone on to live a new life.

Laughing softly, I pulled out my cell phone to take a few pictures, capturing the beauty of the morning just for the hell of it. This had nothing to do with the sanctuary, but everything to do with the moment of happiness.

“You’ll need a more expensive camera with interchangeable lenses and the ability to zoom in on the moment if you expect to capture the full beauty of the mountains. Or anything else for that matter.”

I froze, sucking in my breath. When I blew it out, Sadie whinnied. “Oh, yeah? You think you know everything about photography, huh?”

“Enough to know whoever is taking the photographs for the Horse Whisperer Sanctuary should be fired.”

Snorting, I took another picture on purpose. “Let me guess. You think you can do a better job?”

“Absolutely.”

I slowly turned and instantly the ache in my gut returned. The light breeze flowed softly through Juliette’s long hair and she tugged the strands, trying to keep them behind her ear. Her eyes were misted over, her soft, rosy lips pursed. As she studied me, she took several shallow breaths.

When I took a step closer, she made herself as tall as possible. “So what you’re saying is that you’d like a job?”

“Only if it pays well and I get free room and board.”

“I don’t know. I heard the owner and boss is an asshole.” I took another step closer, the pounding in my chest increasing.

From where I stood, I could tell she was trembling, her face flushed as she searched my eyes.

“You mean Mr. Nobody? Oh, hell. I can tame him easily. Soon, I’ll have him wrapped around my pinky.”

“You just think you will. I know the man. He doesn’t take disobedience lightly.”

Her snort brought a smile to my face. Now we were only inches apart, close enough I gathered a whiff of her perfume, the same incredible floral fragrance infused with a hint of musk.

No longer was it haunting.

“He’ll learn I’m a tough girl.”

“Yeah, but even tough girls need discipline.” I closed the distance, gingerly cupping the side of her face.

“He’s too much of a softie. I found his marshmallow center.”

I lowered my head, both of us taking gasping breaths. “Don’t tell anyone. That might ruin his gruff reputation.”

“I doubt anything will. Except for me.”

“Are you looking for a long-term engagement?”

She gripped my shirt with both hands and nodded several times, a single tear slipping past her long lashes. “How’s forever sound?”

Another breath escaped me as my heart seized.

“Let me think on it.” I captured her mouth, pulling her onto her toes, the taste of her like sweet spring cherries.

As she clung to me, I realized she was absolutely the reason I could look into the face of my demons head on.

Maybe I’d yet to conquer them, but with her touch and support, maybe I’d become a better man.

We both heard a sound and I pulled back, her laugh floating into the morning sky seconds before Tank leapt off the ground, pummeling into us. As we thudded against the earth, he dragged his long tongue across her face.

Her giggles mixed with his happy growls and for the first time since she’d left, I felt complete.

“Now,” she whispered between licks, “it feels like I’m finally home.”

Home.

A place to hang my hat and dream of the future.

With warmth to ease the chill and food to nourish the body.

And the most important ingredient of all?

Love.

To conquer all evils.

Just like the love of my life had conquered a man hell-bent on destruction.

The End