Erica loved the silence, loved the peace of it. Being out in the open under a great star-filled sky made her at one with nature and helped to blunt the hurt of watching Hank walk away with another woman.
She gave Sebastian his head after they passed the stream where she and Hank had eaten lunch, and as he moved from a trot to a gallop, her sadness and disappointment at Hank’s defection evaporated, giving way to elation and a sense of power and freedom, which she was sure Sebastian felt, as well. The steady pounding of his hooves on rock and sand soothed her ruffled emotions.
Before long, Sebastian slowed his pace and trotted along a curving path that ascended a long easy grade toward the mountains. The snowy caps of the mountain peaks gleamed in moonlight that slivered the tips of the leaves on the native sage and creosote bushes.
This ride would be much more romantic if she was with Hank. She could picture the two of them, their low laughter ringing out over the landscape, perhaps dismounting to kiss and touch, then riding on to the inevitable conclusion of the evening. Which would include a lot more than touching, she was sure.
Once they’d reached the road that connected with the highway, she walked Sebastian briefly so that he could blow for a few minutes, then patted his neck. “Okay, fellow, it’s back to the stable for you and to bed for me. Take us home.”
What she didn’t anticipate was that Sebastian preferred the long way home, not going back the way they’d come. The long way meant passing the adobe hacienda where she and Hank had stopped today.
This gave her a good opportunity to stop off and look for the necklace she thought she’d lost earlier. She pulled Sebastian around near the stand of tamarisk. He didn’t seem to understand her purpose and kept trying to head toward the ranch, but she insisted they stop. He blew out an impatient huff, taking her to the edge of the veranda and eyeing her distrustfully after she dismounted.
“Look,” she said as she led him around to the back of the house. “Nice cool water for you and for me.”
She drank deeply from the tin cup, wondering how late it really was. She had lost track of time, knew only that the ride had helped purge her of the pain and sadness she’d felt earlier. She looped Sebastian’s reins over the hitching rail beside the trough and went into the hacienda through the back kitchen door.
Her flashlight illuminated the big kitchen table and then the front room, but its beam revealed no glimmer of gold, no necklace. She wasn’t eager to prolong her stay, so she moved on to the room where she’d photographed the jumble of antiques. Almost immediately she spotted the reflection of light on metal between two boxes. She pushed one aside and picked up the necklace, noting that the catch was broken. Not a problem; it could easily be mended.
Suddenly she heard the swift approach of hoofbeats and, alarmed, she switched off the flashlight and hurried to the front room. She clutched the broken chain in her hand in sudden apprehension, knowing she was vulnerable here.
At first she thought of hiding in the darkness, but that was pointless. Anyone who entered would spot Sebastian out the kitchen window in back and know that someone was in this deserted house.
She heard the thud of boots across the wide wooden floor of the veranda, and the door was flung open wide. A solid figure blocked the doorway, features indistinguishable. “Erica? What the hell are you doing here?”
It was Hank! Her heart pounding in her chest, she switched on the flashlight beam and focused it on the figure standing there.
Hank’s fists were clenched tightly at his sides, and his face was flushed with anger. “What do you think you’re doing, taking Sebastian out like this? Don’t you realize that he’s a lot of horse, too much horse for you? You have no business riding him, none at all.”
His tone infuriated her, but her annoyance was overlaid by relief that he wasn’t with Lizette. The thought gave her a jubilant feeling that far outweighed her chagrin at being caught in a lie about her experience as a rider.
“I, um, know how to ride pretty well,” she allowed, staring at him through the beam of light.
He stared back. He wore a down vest over the blue plaid shirt she recognized from the dance.