Page 60 of Rolling Thunder

CHAPTER 24

Evan pulled Trent’s ratty El Camino out of the barn and parked it behind the jungle of the driveway loop. The growl of Jake’s bike caught his attention, and he looked up toward the front gate. Jake and Bill were back, and Officer Nicole had met them head-on at the front gate. After a moment, she opened the door and stepped out of her cruiser. Evan started up the driveway. Why couldn’t Jake leave well enough alone? If he antagonized this woman, she would arrest him!

As she drove away, he returned to the barn, where Kayla sat calming down. He sat beside her on a tack trunk at the edge of the hallway. The ruckus was over. They could breathe now.

The horses contentedly munched hay and rustled about in their stalls. A breeze blew the scent of the flowering trees by the pond into the barn. The perfume mingling with the scent of horses was a unique and beautifully earthy combination. This place, this life, and this woman were worth fighting for.

“You did it,” he said quietly.

She looked up at him, and he could see it in her eyes. Pride. She’d stood her ground, she’d fought for her new life, and she’d succeeded.

Two uneventful weeks went by. Working horses under the pressure of current events felt impossible, but the nickers and stomps and friendly faces in the barn were also a welcome respite from it all, just like when Kayla was a child. No matter how crazy her mother had ever acted, Grandma Kay, Canyon Bill, and the horses were always there. The horses were predictable. They just were what they were.

She put Joey on the cross ties to groom in case anyone called for a trail ride and ducked into the tack room for a moment.

He’d gained weight and looked half his age. That alone gave her a greater sense of accomplishment than she’d ever had in her life. When she came back out, her rubber currycomb was gone. She looked up in disbelief, and sure enough, there was Abbey at the other end of the hall. The dog stood still, stolen comb in her mouth, eyes twinkling, tail wagging furiously.

“I’m not going to chase you around, you brat!” Kayla exclaimed.

The dog took off. Kayla sat down on a tack trunk in despair. For a moment, the world rushed in on her, and she felt like giving up. She cradled her healing face in her hands, looking at the floor, defeated.

But then a cold wet nose nuzzled her arm. She looked up into the smiling face of the mischievous dog. The slobbery currycomb lay deposited at her feet, and Abbey sat, making moon-rimmed eyes at Kayla. Kayla couldn’t help but chuckle at her.

“Just so you know, I was about to give up on life because you stole my curry. Maybe today’s not the day for your nonsense, Abbey.”

The dog scooted slightly closer and put her chin on Kayla’s knee as if she understood every word.

“It must be bad if you’re gonna let me pet you,” she said. She felt inexplicably honored that the dog finally sat still and allowed herself to be touched. Kayla rallied, mentally grabbed herself by the bootstraps, and stood up to groom the horse.

Abbey took off like a shot, almost taking Canyon Bill out at the knees as he turned the corner into the barn.

“Goddamn dog!” he muttered.

“That would have been a much more fitting name for her,” Kayla remarked.

A loud splash indicated the dog had just done a belly-flop into the pond in front of the barn.

Kayla shook her head.

“I can’t ride no more, but I can round-pen that bay for you,” Bill said.

Kayla looked up at him. There had never been a day she needed reinforcements more. She nodded. “That would be great.”

She watched Bill lead Joey out of the barn. Finishing chores before “hot o’clock” had just become possible. Having a family had just become possible. Her heart squeezed with an unfamiliar rush.

Was it too good to be true? She couldn’t count on Canyon Bill to stay. She didn’t know if Evan would get in trouble for beating up Trent. For that matter, she didn’t know what might happen to her if Trent got out of jail. She’d just fought back against the one person who had done more damage to her than anyone except her mother. She’d never dared to fight back.

She looked down the hallway at the bright green grass around the wash rack, and again, the ghostly memory of her grandmother came to her mind.

She recalled herself as a child being dragged by some stubborn lesson pony determined to eat grass rather than get a bath. Little Kayla stood no chance on the other end of the lead rope as the determined pony pulled her around.

“He’ll keep doing that as long as you let him get away with it,” her grandma advised wisely from the shade where she was hosing off another horse.

“He’s stronger than me!” Kayla had cried.

“But who is more determined?” her grandmother asked, still without offering her any physical help.

Angry now, little Kayla gave a stern yank on the lead rope and demanded the pony come with her. And he did.

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