here. “Edison looks like...he’s keeping them company? That’s crazy.”
Once again, the horse proves why he’s a bigger celebrity around here than me.
He glances at us and tosses his head, as if to say, damn right.
Edison kept Rosie and Stern from getting closer to the frozen lake. They could’ve broken straight through with the kind of melt we’ve had, or slipped on the ice and shattered a leg.
He’s barricaded them in by the trees, or maybe he’s using whatever weird secret signals horses have to warn them.
“Now you see why he’s a legend around here. Dallas folk say he’s half bloodhound, but I think he’s half sheepdog tonight. The way he tracked his owner, Bella, all the way to town one time...”
I don’t get a chance to finish. Grace whirls, throws her hands around my neck, and I swear to God she’s squealing.
“I can’t believe we found them!” She jerks away, flustered, leaning back in her seat. “Sorry.”
Finally, a lucky break. We’ll need a few more before this shit’s over and life can get back to normal.
An odd knot forms in my stomach as I glance at Grace, bringing the truck to a stop so we can figure out how to handle the horses.
Hell, what normal is that? My life’s never been average, and hers hasn’t, either.
Me, I was born into strange, high-stakes living, but the fact that Grace was thrown into a cauldron against her will?
That pisses me right off.
Whoever Clay Grendal is, he’s about to find out that he chose the wrong mark.
My unit in Afghanistan took down demons who’d wasted entire villages while plotting bigger attacks abroad. And I didn’t have a billion dollars at my disposal then.
One two-bit mobster from Milwaukee should be a stroll through the park.
Frankly, though, when I look at Grace again and see that wispy blonde hair tucked around her smiling face like a halo, those soft blue eyes shining like a piece of the sky, I don’t care if I have to walk through hell for her.
I’ll do it in a heartbeat.
I’ll fight the whole damn world to keep her as happy as she is right now, seeing her horses ready to come home.
It takes a few hours to get the horses back in the barn, including making sure Edison gets home to the Larkin ranch and his mare, Edna, safe and sound.
By the time Grace and I leave the barn, I can see how exhausted she is.
I also know she’s barely eaten today.
We walk straight to the guest cabin. Tobin throws the door open as soon as we step onto the porch, his expression actually readable this time. He’s full of concern.
I’d texted him when we’d left, told him to make sure Nelson never found out the horses ran off.
The old man doesn’t need a setback.
“All’s quiet on this front,” Tobin says to me, nodding politely at Grace.
She smiles softly while removing her coat.
I step up and help her out of it, and can’t resist running my hand down the small of her back.
Draping it over the back of the couch, I watch her walk straight to the bedroom to check on her father.
“Miss Owens and I were discussing sleeping arrangements,” Tobin tells me, a cautious note in his voice.
“Yeah?” I pull my eyes off Grace as she enters the bedroom and pushes the door shut. “What about them?”
“Well, she needs to stay here, in the cabin with Nelson considering the round-the-clock care we’ve agreed to. There are only two bedrooms,” Tobin says, glancing at the nurse. “She says she can sleep on the couch, however, I said there’s hardly any reason for that. We have spare rooms in the main house.”
He’s right. I nod, yet question why he’s looking at me expectantly.
“And?”
He lifts his chin in that haughty way he has, adjusting his spectacles. “I trust you’ll let Miss Sellers know gently, while I carry her suitcase over.”
Oh, shit.
It dawns on me why he’s dancing around and why he doesn’t want to be the messenger.
She’s not going to like being separated from her old man when he’s this sick, even by the short distance from house to cabin.
Still, he’s right.
The couch I’m leaning on with its cushions tucked in a rustic frame of solid cedar is made for looks, not comfort. Nobody would get any quality rest sleeping on this thing.
Nelson was only able to make it tolerable for naps with lots of blankets, extra pillows, and the fact that he’s utterly sleep deprived.