Forgotten Dawn (Forgotten Book 2)

Chapter 3

"That makes two of you? What the fuck is wrong with me?" Chad growled. He planted his fist into the pillar between two stall doors, startling the dapple mare in the neighboring stall. "Sorry, sweetheart," he apologized, shaking out his hand.

He felt the blood running down his fingers and said a few more words his mother would never have approved of. Finding a cooler from the reception that had a bit of ice still floating inside, he dunked his hand into the frigid water. Luckily there were a few napkins on one of the serving tables that still sat in the middle of the open space, so Chad used them to dry his hand.

Normally the open space in the barn held a couple tractors and pallets of feed. But in their place were several tables covered in white table cloths with folding chairs. Each table had centerpieces of lavender and white lilies in canning jars. Chad walked to the end of the six stalls that made up the right side of the barn to the tack room. He pulled open the doors to the metal cabinet that stood inside amongst the saddles, halters, and leads. Rummaging through rows of bottles on the shelf, he found what he was looking for.

He poured the rust colored liquid across his knuckles and hissed when the iodine stung the open cuts. He found a roll of vet flex bandaging that they used to wrap the horse's legs in the event of an injury. He wrapped it around his knuckles a few times and used his teeth to tear it away from the roll. It was self adhesive, so he smoothed the end across the layers on the back side of his hand. It had been a long time since he had lashed out and done something as stupid as punching an unyielding wooden post.

His plan to avoid his new sister's best friend was proving to be more difficult than he had anticipated. He was surprised to see her up so early when he caught sight of her watching him work with the mare. With his adrenaline pumping from the excitement of taming the horse, he instinctively winked and grinned at her.

After it occurred to him that she may construe that as flirting, he decided he would completely ignore her. Something that was more difficult than he had anticipated after seeing her tanned legs and midriff. The denim shorts were barely longer than underwear, and he'd stake his life on the fact that if she raised her arms to get something off a high shelf, he'd get a view of the underside of her breasts.

When he had emerged from the back of the barn after brushing down the new mare, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The woman sat atop the gate with his horse cautiously coming closer. Soldier was not the curious type. He shied away from everyone except himself. So, when the stallion had approached the stranger, Chad felt a jolt of jealousy that was quickly followed by curiosity.

Soldier had been abused by a mean old bastard. Chad had witnessed it first hand. At the age of seventeen, he marched up to the man and offered him two hundred dollars for the malnourished chestnut. It was all the money he had earned that week bailing hay. The man took the cash, and Chad called Chase to bring a trailer. It had taken him months to get him settled enough to ride. From that moment on, he trusted nobody but Chad. Until today.

He hadn't meant to startle her. In fact, he thought she had heard his footsteps as his boots crunched on the loose gravel. Thankfully, he had waited until he was close, so he was behind her and able to catch her before she hit the ground. When he went instantly hard feeling her bare skin under his palms, he should have set her down right then. Instead, he stood staring at her.

He'd only really looked at her briefly the day before, and then her face had been done up with a lot of makeup. She was much prettier without the makeup. She also looked much younger than he had originally thought. With her eyes closed, he wanted nothing more than to know what color was beneath her lids. Thick black hair and tanned skin had him guessing dark brown. When she opened them, he got lost in the pools of caramel. He probably would have stood there all day holding her had she not interrupted his thoughts by commenting on his own eyes.