Page 4 of Deadly Attraction
Running footsteps sounded outside the barn. “I’m here!”
Jane Sheppard ran in, her black vet bag in hand. She pulled up at the sight of the foal, wobbling its way to a standing position. “Well, will you look at that.”
At the arrival of the veterinarian, Will’s gaze went to the ground. He climbed over the fence, wiping his hands on his overalls. “I’ll get some fresh straw.”
They watched as he hustled out, Lady slowly getting off her haunches and following.
“He always leaves when I show up,” Dr. Jane murmured to Emma, coming into the stall. Her straight, black hair was pinned back, her face devoid of makeup except for some bright red lipstick. “Did you tell him I bite or something?”
“He likes you.” Emma watched Second Chance continue to clean the foal. “It scares him. He won’t let himself get close to anyone for fear his bad luck will rub off on them.”
“He’s close to you.”
Depends on your definition of close. “I don’t believe in luck, and I certainly don’t believe a person can bring bad luck. We create bad luck because of poor choices. I don’t let him get away with hiding behind his perceived unworthiness.”
Dr. Jane watched the foal do a wobbly dance around Second Chance. The mother horse stood protectively blocking her baby from Emma and Jane. “You did good tonight, Em. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here faster. My waiting room is swamped with people fleeing the fires with their pets. Many of them can’t take their pets with them, and they’re dropping them off at my place. We’re maxed out.”
“I have extra dog kennels behind the barn. You’re welcome to use them if you need to.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that. No telling how long it will be before people are able to come back for some of them.”
Emma stayed while Jane did a quick check of Second Chance and the foal, keeping Second Chance calm. The mare delivered the placenta a few minutes later and Dr. Jane gave Emma the all-clear.
“Everything looks good,” she declared, closing up her black bag. “What are you going to name her?”
The foal danced and kicked, enjoying her new legs. The adrenaline was wearing off, but Emma’s happiness wasn’t. A new life to celebrate. Maybe this Christmas would be different. “Hope, I think.”
“I like it.” Dr. Jane smiled as the two of them left the enclosure. “Fits the season and the horse.”
Emma walked the vet to her SUV and waved her off. Dr. Jane still had a long night ahead of her. Emma’s wasn’t over yet either.
Will returned and the two of them finished in the barn and said goodnight. Will headed for the tiny cabin on the far side of the 21-acre farm that he rented from Emma.
As the two wandered off, Emma heard Will talking to Lady about Hope. She hoped the successful birth of the foal would change Will’s mind about his bad luck.
The farmhouse was dark, Salt and Pepper, her other two dogs, waiting for her on the porch. She scratched their heads, apologized for making them wait for their dinner, and all three entered through the mudroom. Emma chucked off her dirty boots and stripped down to her underwear.
Flipping on the kitchen light, she heated water to make a cup of tea. A chill swept over her skin, but she didn’t want to put on her robe or any other clothes while she still smelled like blood, hay, and sweat.
Her first client appointment tomorrow wasn’t until ten. She’d have plenty of time for her morning chores as well as time to prep for their session. The young girl incarcerated for starting a house fire that had killed her mother had been granted Emma’s special brand of therapy by the state. Horse therapy and psychiatry went hand in hand with many kids, especially juvenile delinquents. Emma couldn’t wait for Danika to see the new foal. The girl had a good heart, she’d just made a poor choice—one that would affect her for the rest of her life.
While the water heated, Emma fed the Labs and threw her clothes into the washing machine. She’d just put her tea bag in a cup of hot water and started up the stairs to the bathroom when she saw headlights coming through the gate and around the bend in the long lane leading up to her house.
Dr. Jane must have forgotten something.She couldn’t possibly have gotten to the clinic and returned that fast.
Emma hustled up the stairs and grabbed her robe, slipping it on, then peeking out the upstairs window that overlooked the drive below.
It wasn’t Dr. Jane’s vehicle. Emma didn’t recognize the truck or the dark-haired man who unfolded himself from the front seat and scanned the area as if looking for someone.
For half a second, she wished she’d had Will close the gate at the bottom of the drive.
Closed and padlocked it, in fact.
But she didn’t do that anymore since Will worked for her. They never had trouble of any kind and if someone wanted onto her property, there were plenty of unfenced areas along the tree lines and by the creek on the far side to access it.
The man beside the truck was tall, his long legs filling out faded blue jeans under the outside light. The black shirt he’d thrown over his T-shirt and left unbuttoned did little to hide his muscled arms, broad chest, and tapered waist.
What she did recognize was the blue police strobe on top of the truck and the way he carried himself across the open ground to her front porch.
Downstairs, the Labs set off a ruckus.
The memory ofthatnight flashed through her head. Police, federal agents…blood everywhere. She closed her eyes for a moment and forced it away.Not now.
But there was no denying it. The man walking up her front stairs meant only one thing…
Bad luck might just exist, and if it did, it was coming for her.
