* * *
DANI CROSSED THE lot to where she’d parked her truck and trailer. She’d refused to allow herself to believe she wouldn’t get Lacy back, so had come prepared to haul the horse home. It would have been a lonely trip home if it hadn’t been for Mac. She owed him. Owed the horse. Seemed as if she owed everyone a small debt of gratitude—even Chad for showing his true colors before the wedding. Good of him to save her all that future heartache.
Speaking of men, her neighbor worked fast. She couldn’t really blame him, though, if he was living alone in the castle. Not much to do in the isolated place and coffee with a neighbor would have probably been welcome. Of course, he might have been talking a drink or a date, but she hadn’t given him a chance to offer anything. She was so not in the market right now, but he was damned good-looking with his dark hair and striking gray eyes and she’d felt a nice jolt of...something, when their fingers had touched. A corner of her mouth tilted up as she got her keys out of her pocket. Too bad Jolie wasn’t here. Her sister was a sucker for smoldering hot guys. While she...she’d had enough of that for a while.
Her phone rang in her pocket and she dug it out. Allie. Her oldest sister, who’d also had enough of men for a while.
“I got her,” she said as she unlocked the door to the trailer’s tack room.
“For a song?”
“Uh, no. The song part didn’t happen, but I got her.”
“That’s going to be one expensive lawn ornament, Dan.”
“I—”
“Owe her. I know. And I’m looking forward to seeing her when I come for my stuff.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to drive over tonight? Sleep over?” Dani asked, reaching into the tack room for Lacy’s old halter.
“I’d prefer not to spend the night on the ranch.” Allie spoke matter-of-factly. Too matter-of-factly. Dani pressed her lips together, wishing that her sister could separate her bitterness toward her ex husband from the ranch itself.
“I understand.” The silence that followed her comment stretched on just a moment too long and Dani’s radar went up. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
“What happened?” she asked flatly. She knew this tone and also knew that unless something was dreadfully wrong, Allie wouldn’t share without being prodded—the burden of being the stoic older sister that their mother had depended on. “Kyle?”
“Who else? I had to threaten him with a lawyer today in order to convince him to bring back Dad’s old tractor. He still insists he needs it to work around his place.”
“And...”
“You know as well as I do that he doesn’t need a tractor. He wants to sell it to a collector. In fact, from the way he was acting, I think he already has a buyer.” Allie blew out a disgusted breath. “He actually told me that he deserved the tractor in return for the sweat equity he’d put into the place.”
“Oh, yeah,” Dani said. “He was drowning in sweat. That’s why the place is falling apart.”
“Exactly! I asked him why, if he’d put in so much effort, we just paid someone a boatload of money to patch up the fences and gates so the cows would stay home. He didn’t have an answer to that one.”
“I imagine not,” Dani said.
“He is so pissed that he had to go back to work,” Allie continued in a lower voice. “He’d never planned on working again.”
Dani’s former brother-in-law was openly angry that he hadn’t received a share of the property in the divorce settlement, which was why he kept trying to lay claim on anything of value left on the ranch, like, say, a vintage tractor.
“Into every life,” Dani said drily.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Allie said and then her voice brightened. “But, hey, I didn’t call to cry on your shoulder. I called to see about Lacy. I’m glad you got her.”
“She’s changed,” Dani said.
Allie gave a soft snort. “Haven’t we all? Even Mel.”
“No kidding,” Dani said with a wry smile. Their ultra-driven sister had finally stopped dealing with her demons by never slowing down and had settled on a remote ranch in New Mexico with her new husband. “I need to call her, too. Tell her the news.”
“That reminds me—Mom phoned late last night. They’re heading off to the Great White North to fish. We shouldn’t expect to hear from her for a while.”
“Mom the world traveler.” And she deserved it. After more than a decade of living lean in order to raise the girls on the Lightning Creek Ranch as her late husband had asked, she’d remarried and was living comfortably in Florida. “I hate to cut this short,” Dani said, “but I need to load Lacy while there are still some people around to help if I have trouble.”
“Be careful,” Allie warned in a serious voice. “I’d like you to be in one piece when I see you tomorrow.”
“Will do.” Dani ended the call and dropped the phone back into her pocket. As she started for Lacy’s pen, she saw someone loitering nearby, then stifled a groan as she realized just who it was. Marti Kendall. Petite, toned and tanned, dressed in slim-fitting Wranglers and a studded black T-shirt, she looked like she’d stepped out of a Western fashion ad in Horse & Rider.
“Hey, Marti,” Dani said as she opened the gate to Lacy’s pen, “was that you bidding against me?”
“No,” Marti said with a light laugh, brushing back a hank of her beautifully streaked light brown hair. “I have more than enough horses to deal with. The last thing I need is a crazy one.” She leaned her arms on the rails, fixing Dani with a candid look. “So is it true what I’ve heard?”
“Depends on just what that was,” Dani said, coiling the halter rope. Marti had been a couple of years behind her in school and the undisputed queen of her class—no, make that of Eagle Valley High. The aura still clung to her, making it difficult for Dani to warm up to the woman. What made Marti so certain that she was a cut above everyone else, other than her perfect looks and amazing horse skills?
“That you’ve come home to start training for a living? Just like me and Dad?” she asked brightly.
“Seems like a good time to do it.”
“Wow. I hope you’ve done your research.” She spoke with a note of concern that didn’t fool Dani one bit. “You know that the market is fairly saturated here.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Dani said, trying to infuse some sweetness into her dead tone.
“I guess what I’m saying is, since you’re just starting out, don’t be surprised if you can’t get enough work to make ends meet. Dad and I are kind of the go-to trainers in the region.” She flashed her very perfect teeth. “But you know that.”
“Why,” Dani asked slowly, “would you care if I made ends meet?”
Marti seemed surprised by the question. “Because I’d hate to see you fail.”
Yeah. Right. And I have this bridge...
“I’ll be fine,” Dani said. “Thanks for your concern.”
“Well, good luck.” Marti patted the side of Lacy’s pen, the silver bangles on her arm jingling as she moved. She started for the door, then stopped and turned back. “Since you’re here, can I sign you up for an Eagle Valley Days committee? We have a lot of last-minute details to work out.”
“I need to work out a schedule before