she wouldn’t give up. She’s strong. She’ll get through this.” He took a bite of eggs, not tasting them, but knowing his body needed the food.
Sally finished eating and burst out of the kitchen heading for the stairs. Jack knew exactly where he’d find her later. He checked the impulse to follow.
Summer and he finished their breakfast in silence, watching Beth put together her soup in a huge pot on the stove. She got the fixings out to make bread. By the afternoon, the scent of fresh baked bread would fill the house. Jack’s mouth watered thinking about a slice with hot melted butter.
Jack gulped down another cup of coffee before he stood to go upstairs and shower and walk down to the barn.
Before he left the kitchen, he asked his sister, “Where’s Lily?”
“I sent her down to the barn with her daddy to see her pony. I’ll pick her up and take her to preschool on my way to work.”
“Okay. Don’t let her upstairs. I don’t want her to see Jenna.”
“She’s curious about the ‘lady upstairs’ and wants to meet her.”
“Not now. When Jenna’s better.”
“I agree. I’ll come by after work and check on you guys before I head home. I’ll see you later.”
“Tell Caleb I’ll be down shortly.”
“I will.”
“Beth, come get me if Jenna stirs.”
“Count on it. Get cleaned up. Go to work. I won’t let you down.”
“You never do.” Beth’s eyes glassed over at his praise and confidence in her. Jenna had made a big impact on his life. He’d been a hard, cold man for too long. Jenna was bringing him back to his true nature and it showed this morning. It took her arrival and knowing she’d spent the last couple of years isolating herself from everything and everyone around her to make him see he’d done much the same in his own life.
Sure enough Sally lay on the bed next to Jenna, watching the door. Jenna hadn’t moved. He passed her door and went down the hall to his own room. He pulled his shirt over his head and made his way to the bathroom. He sat on the toilet and worked off his boots and socks. He got up and turned on the water in the big marble shower. Steam filled the large bathroom. Jack stripped off his jeans and boxers and stepped into the shower washing away his hard night. He wished it could wash away the images of Jenna’s beaten body from his mind.
Chapter Twelve
* * *
JACK ARRIVED TO the barn later than he normally would any other day. His crew took care of the stalls and fed all the horses. Many of the horses were being groomed. Others were out in the pastures and up in the hills, ridden by his crew checking on the cattle. Caleb stood by Jack’s horse’s stall.
Blue was a huge gray stallion Jack couldn’t pass up at auction last year. Ornery as hell, mean to everyone but Jack. He’d bitten several of Jack’s men. Anyone close enough to him better watch he didn’t get kicked. Jack couldn’t explain it. He loved Blue’s defiance and spirit. They suited each other. Jack’s crew thought he should shoot the beast. It just made Jack laugh.
“This horse is going to hurt someone one of these days. He snapped at the groom and it took two people to move him out of the stall so they could clean it.”
“He’s not so bad. Just a little cranky is all.”
Caleb laughed. “That’s how I’d have described you over the last year. How is she? Better yet, how are you? You look like crap.”
“I’m fine. And thanks, you look like horseshit yourself, but that’s normal.” Jack put all teasing aside and turned serious again. “She’s sleeping. The fever hasn’t gone down. Beth will keep an eye on her. I’ll stay close to the house, check on her when I can.”
“Summer thinks you have a thing for her.”
“Summer’s a smart woman.” He did have feelings for her. He just wasn’t sure what they were exactly, besides a tangled mess with his anger toward the person who had hurt her. The one thing he knew for sure, when he saw her, touched her, something inside him eased and reached out at the same time. Like the way he felt about Blue, he admired her spirit and grit.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
“I already am.”
“Is it serious?”
“I don’t know. Something inside me broke loose yesterday when I met her. Every time I look into those green eyes .