Page 44 of The Breakdown

“Well, it’s over now. He’s gone and I haven’t heard from him any.” She began trimming the frog and Vaughn watched as she worked, always amazed at Kim’s calming effect on the horses. Vaughn had been keeping an eye on Holly since she’d first noticed the thrush and Holly hadn’t exactly been too keen on her checking her frog a few times a day.

“Wish he would leave us alone,” Vaughn said.

“Aw, he will. He’s just ticked off at ya. He’ll eventually move on.”

“I was hoping this business with the police investigation would send him and Ricky in another direction completely, but I haven’t heard anything, and the damn officer we reported to is Ricky’s cousin.”

Kim paused and looked over at her. “You kidding me?”

“No, ma’am, I am not.”

“Wow.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I can see why you’re so concerned.” She refocused on Holly’s foot. “But they haven’t done anything since the fence, have they?”

“Other than hang on to my missing mare, Miracle, no.”

“Wait, they have Miracle?”

“Best we can figure. Benny and Greer and I followed her tracks well into the desert and they just disappeared as if she’d been loaded up into a trailer.”

“Oh my God.”

“And like I said, we haven’t heard anything from the police since we reported everything.”

“Geez, Vaughn, I’m sorry. But if I were you, I’d be calling that police department up and asking some questions.”

“Yeah, I’m going to call this afternoon after our midday interview with a potential employee. Gram and I have been interviewing like crazy. My head’s spinning with all the applicants we’ve talked to.”

“See anyone promising?” She moved on from the frog and began trimming the hoof itself of bacteria.

“A few. They’ll be coming by this weekend to meet the horses.”

“Any women in the bunch?”

“One.”

“That’s it?”

“Uh-huh.”

She finished and carefully placed Holly’s foot in a chlorine-based solution. Then she cleaned her hands and leaned on the stall to talk to Vaughn.

“So, who’s the woman I saw as I was driving in? It wasn’t Suzanne.”

“Oh, that’s Natalie. She’s staying with us for a while in the guesthouse.”

“She’s cute. She single?”

“I don’t think you’re her type.”

She grinned. “Vaughn, honey, I’m everyone’s type.”

Vaughn couldn’t help but laugh. Kim was a looker, she’d give her that. With her shoulder-length flaming red hair and wicked light blue eyes, she definitely turned heads. Not to mention her wild ways. Vaughn had heard stories about her numerous seductions of men and women alike. She’d even tried to get Vaughn’s interest at one point. But Vaughn had told her they were better off as friends and Kim had agreed and moved on.

“So, can I meet her?”

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