Second Chances (5 page)

All
around animals crunched and ate. April soaked up the sounds and the feeling of
peace and contentment. A slower time when life boiled down to the basics, free
of the rat race, and full of the small things that made the day a bit brighter.
She savored the moment and realized the special place she’d found.

Her
eyes landed on Dusty as he plopped down on a bale of straw next to Ben. He
rubbed the dog’s back and glanced up as if sensing her gaze. They stared at one
another before April’s attention turned to a still hungry mare looking for a
few more kernels of grain from the baby’s breakfast.

Something
in his eyes touched her. A flash of pain, a sparkle of hope. The man had
suffered in his past. Lois’ words came back to her.
Dusty doesn’t care for women.
For a man who looked like he did,
surely he didn’t lack offers or feminine attention. Most likely because he
found himself on the losing end in one or more relationships. She could
empathize.

Glancing
up, she found him still looking straight at her. Her belly flipped in sensual
delight as her breathing hitched. His eyes could reach into her very soul while
his tempered voice could soothe a raging demon. A heady combination.

Wounded,
he might be, but deep down, she knew he had so much more to give. Anyone who
worked with horses like he did couldn’t be cruel or mean. No. He just withdrew
from the social scene like she’d done years before.

Maybe,
like her filly, he needed someone to believe, to trust, and to show him not
everyone in this world was out to cause harm. Maybe she needed to step up and
be the one.

Like I have any experience with
men.
She
snorted to herself.
Make that any good
experience.
Perhaps if they stood on the same footing with a difficult
past, they could learn from one another?

Yeah, right. With my luck?
Pigs had a better chance of
growing wings than she did of finding a great man and living happily ever
after.

The
foal finished eating. She collected both buckets, and paused to study Dusty
once more as he ran his hands down Ben’s back in a gentle caress.

Lonely
and hurt. He looked like a man who could use a friend, of the two-legged kind.
How could she turn her back on him?

I can’t.

Friends it is.
Decision made, she left the
stall, and paused when she heard a latch rattle loudly. Locating the sound, she
watched in amazement as the lock on her horses’ stall door slid back and the
door opened wide. Mischief stepped out and whinnied.

She
burst out laughing as the mini found obvious delight in his accomplishment.

Dusty
shook his head and chuckled, the humor lighting up his face and eyes, making
him all the more handsome.

April’s
breath caught at the difference in the man. Straight white teeth flashed as
amusement washed over him. Delectable.

“Why,
you little escape artist.” As if hearing his name, Mischief trotted over to
Dusty and nuzzled him with his nose.

What
Dusty whispered in the horse’s ear, April couldn’t hear. Yet, the sight moved
her. Such a strong man who so far showed little happiness, now laughed and
whispered to a small horse as if sharing age old secrets. She felt a bit
jealous of her little troublemaker.

April
gathered up the lead ropes after taking her horses to the pasture and releasing
them. They had sniffed around the couple of other geldings, then started
grazing as if nothing new had happened over the past twenty-four hours. Despite
the dry summer this far, grass still remained and huge trees stood along the
far fence, broadcasting plenty of shade for all the horses to ward off the heat
of the unrelenting sun. If she thought things were hot right now, wait a few
hours. Temperatures had passed the century mark most days for the past month.

Her
stomach growled, reminding her she’d skipped breakfast in order to arrive early
at the stable and the noon meal came on fast. “What sounds good for lunch?”

Dusty
turned toward her, his brow furrowed. “It’s only ten.”

She
nodded. “Yep. But, I have some errands to run in town. Figured I’d pick up some
food and bring it back.”

“Thanks
for the offer, but no thanks.” He turned and started back for the stable.

Perplexed,
she hurried after him. “What do you mean no thanks? It’s just food.”

He
stopped and stared down at her. A severe frown marred his handsome face while
intense anger snapped in his brown eyes. “Listen lady, I don’t know what your
game is, but I’m not playing.”

His
gruffness hit her like a slap in the face, causing her to bite off each word.
“There’s no game. I figured since I was going for food, it would be hospitable
to bring you some as well.”

“I can
take care of myself. Have for years.” Dusty’s back straightened, his hands
tightened on the lead rope in his hand. After taking one more second to glare
down at her, he strode forward, long steps eating up the distance.

April
sputtered, completely bumfuzzled by the moodiness and abruptness. She thought
they had bonded a little just a couple of hours earlier. Grumbling under her
breath, she made her way back to the stable. “Care to tell me what’s wrong with
lunch?”

He
swung around with a scowl. “Don’t get any fancy ideas in your head about me,
lady. I don’t date, don’t care to hang out with women at all. In fact, the only
way I want a woman these days is on the bed with her legs spread for a couple
hours of hot and heavy fucking.”

The
caustic and crude words shocked her, then fed into her anger. She clung to her
patience with steely determination, recognizing his motive of trying to drive
her away before she got the wrong idea in her head.
Message received.
Too bad her stubbornness refused to back down.
She loaded and fired.

“First
of all, I didn’t have anything in mind besides actually eating and perhaps
learning more about horses from you. Secondly, I don’t do one-night stands. As
far as I’m concerned, men suck in the relationship department, so why would I
want to waste my time?” Hands on hips she glared back at him, daring him to
argue.

For a
long moment he stood silent, but gradually a ghost of a smile crossed his face.
“Men suck, huh?”

She
narrowed her eyes. “You have no idea.”

“Yeah,
I do.” He spun around and ventured farther into the stable.

She
bobbed her head in understanding. “So chicken, fish, or beef?”

“I
said—” His voice increased in decibels.

She
waved her hand dismissively. “I’m bringing food. Eat it or not, I don’t care.
You might as well choose instead of find something you hate in a bag.”

He
pinned her with his gaze, before puffing out a long breath. “I’ll pay you—”

“No
way. My treat. Don’t complain, just say thanks.” She shot him a quick grin,
trying to ease the tension between them.

He
paused to look at her for another long moment, then his shoulders lowered, and
he shook his head. “Chicken and thanks.”

With a
winning smile, she walked back out the door. “Was that so hard?”

“Yes,”
the word pried from his lips.

She
laughed and slid into her vehicle.

“You
and Ben seem so close.” She looked down at the dog resting at his feet.

Dusty
bit into his biscuit, chewed, and glanced at Ben. “He saved my hide more than
once.” The statement slipped out. Immediately, he wished the words back as
April’s face lit up with curiosity.

“You
were a soldier. Afghanistan?” She sipped her drink.

He’d
grudgingly invited her into his home when she arrived back around noon with
their food. For her thoughtfulness, he couldn’t take the food and send her on
her way. Nor could he relegate them to sitting on rough hay bales for the
duration of their meal. Instead, he led her inside, where they plopped down at
his small kitchen table across from one another. Close. Personal. A setup made
for conversation.
Damn it.
As much as
he preferred to ignore her questions, he found himself answering, although
vaguely. “Yeah.”

“Wow.”
Her head tilted this way and that. “Come to think of it, you do have that
soldier look to you.”

He
bristled at the term. “SEAL.”

Her
eyes widened all the more. “That explains a lot.”

He
arched an eyebrow and took a hearty bite of his mashed potatoes.

“The
way you move. Graceful. Confident. It’s hard to explain. It’s like you know
everything about yourself and your capabilities and know exactly what’s around
you at all times.”

He
understood her meaning. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL. Fear registered way down on
the priority list and hadn’t cropped up since the war zone. SEALs work through
their fear because that’s just what they do, for their team, for the mission.
Not to mention the worst the world could throw at him now paled in comparison
to what he’d already faced.

Growing
up, he figured out two things fast. First, he always idolized the Navy SEALs
and more than anything wanted to become one. Secondly, wealth possessed its own
drawbacks. His father, a prominent lawyer, earned more than enough to keep his
family in all stages of luxury. A sprawling ranch filled with purebred cattle
and the best quarter horses around made up a small part of the yearly budget.
Dusty fell in love with the country lifestyle, enjoying each day no matter the
weather, no matter the hours. He felt at home on the farm, especially with the
horses.

Unfortunately,
due to his family’s assets, he and his brothers quickly became chick magnets.
Women flocked to them, threw themselves at them, and did just about anything in
a bid for marriage and a chunk of the family’s money. Dusty found the situation
humorous until his own particular castle began to topple. Women became an
instrument of stress release, until he met and fell in love with Colette. War
took him away and his relationship became a casualty by the time he returned
home. His next conquest proved the ringer his family warned him about over the
years, but he’d been too blind to see.

“Dusty?”

April’s
voice pulled him from his thoughts. “What were you saying?” He forked another
bite of fried chicken.

She
looked at him with softness, respect, and caring. His gut clenched in reaction.

“I
asked if the military lets all handlers keep their dogs.”

He
shook his head. “The dogs may change handlers through their career, until they
become too old, injured, or unable to do their job. Then, they’re returned to
the States and made available for adoption. I got lucky. Due to his age and
arthritis, Ben became available at the same time I resigned. We came home
together.”

As if
sensing the topic of conversation, Ben looked up from his soft oversized pillow
near the table. Dusty picked a hunk of meat off the bone and tossed it to the
dog that caught the food and chewed with gusto.

“Thank
you.” The soft words pulled his attention back to her.

“For
what?”

“Your
service. The sacrifices you undoubtedly made. For doing what the great majority
of people wouldn’t do.” Her blue eyes, full of respect and admiration, met his.

The
praise and her expression warmed his heart, but sent up a red flag as well. The
last thing he needed was some woman deciding she wanted him bad enough to be
forever under his feet and conniving ways to trap him in a marriage. If he
ignored her, she’d soon get the hint.

Like
she took the damn hint earlier? He’d purposely spat out phrases he’d never used
in the presence of a woman before. If his mother heard him, she’d have a bar of
soap in one hand and a switch in the other. She raised her boys to respect
woman and show them kindness with manners. Yet, he couldn’t think of a better
way to throw her off his trail. Unfortunately, instead of sending her dashing
off, she now sat across a small table from him, talking about his recent
history, and bolstering his ego with her easy to read face.

He
focused on eating, wanting to hurry up and end this somewhat awkward meal. At
least she only pressed a couple of his buttons. Too bad they were his curiosity
and his libido.

She
cleared her throat and took another drink from her cup. “Have you heard
anything about rain?”

He
recognized the change of subject for what it was. An olive twig. “Nowhere in
the near future. We haven’t gotten anything measurable for three months. Add
that in with last year’s dry weather and we’re in a severe drought.”

“That’s
going to make it tough, no pasture. The grain and hay prices will soar.”

“They
already have.” He cringed recalling the total feed bill from last month. This
coming month would prove worse, whittling away at his margin of profit. Once he
began to sink into the hole, he didn’t have a clue how to dig himself back out.
Sure, he could raise the prices to the boarders, but that step would only help
somewhat. He couldn’t take on a part-time job as the stable kept him more than
busy. Besides, he didn’t dare leave the horses unattended for long. His
liability if something happened wouldn’t climb higher than his inner guilt. No,
he had to stay the course and hope things worked out. They always had before.

“I know
things are bad all around. Even the hospital is feeling the crunch.” She
spooned a bite of potatoes. “With the economy and lower reimbursements, the
hospital is trimming off any and all fat.”

He
hadn’t realized health care would be affected. “Layoffs?”

She
shook her head. “No. Not yet. Supposedly, administration says it’s not going to
happen. But, at the same time, they aren’t replacing those who leave and
they’re not hiring anyone new. We just have to make due with what we already
have.”

“Just
like everyone else.”

“Yeah,
I think so.”

She ate
for a minute before speaking once more. “Times are hard all over. I wonder what
the next big blow will be.”

“There’s
always something.”

“The
strong survive, though.”

He
shook his head, remembering all his fellow military brothers who fell in the
line of duty. “Not always.” Finished with his meal, he slurped the soda
container empty. “Thanks for lunch.” In a flurry, he gathered up the trash and
threw everything away.

April
followed suit. “You’re welcome.”

He
stopped and eyed her for a long moment. She didn’t deserve his brashness, not
when she obviously tried so hard to become a friend. “I’ve got a horse to
break. Then, later, I want to handle your filly some more.”

She
nodded. “I know you’re a busy man. So, I’ll head home, but be back later to
help you feed my horses.”

“It’s
not necessary. After all, that’s what you’re paying me to do.”

“I want
to. Besides, I’ve got a ton of treats to bring over. Can’t run out of snacks
for those two.” She met his gaze, turned, and showed herself out.

Dusty
sighed. Why did she have to be so understanding? So pretty? So accommodating
and caring?

He
could easily reject a selfish woman. Yet, for the life of him, he couldn’t keep
up the snarky persona to shove April away. Earlier the hurt on her face cut him
way too deep.

Face it, SEAL. She’s got your
number.

With
that thought, he left the one bedroom house attached to the stable, and headed
for the pasture.

“I
still can’t believe she’s taken to you so quickly.” April grabbed up a bucket
of feed and headed toward the nearest stall.

She’d
returned earlier to not only find Mischief and Miracle already in their stalls,
but Dusty actually rubbing the filly’s head with soft and tender touches.
Amazed, she could have been knocked over by a feather when the filly nuzzled
his chest, as if asking for more. Her spirit soared seeing the huge step a
single day made with Miracle and a man who knew horses like he knew his own
body.

“There’s
a long way to go. But, with a bucket of feed, some space and understanding,
she’ll come around.” He carried containers of feed from stall to stall, passing
out dinner to the animals.

“You’re
amazing. I’ll have to email Lois to let her know. She’ll be thrilled. After
all, she sang your praises before.”