Lost and Found Family by Jennifer Ryan

Luke’s surly mood simmered for the next day and a half. He didn’t know what to do with the information it took Dean only a few hours to obtain and send to Luke. Sarah’s adult record was clean. No arrests. No parking or speeding tickets. She’d been an upstanding citizen as an adult.

But apparently sixteen-year-old Sarah Anderson had indeed burned her uncle’s ranch to the ground and stood there and watched it go up in flames until the police arrived and arrested her at the scene. She didn’t deny doing it. In fact, she’d confessed to the crime to the responding officer.

The only explanation in the police report for why she’d done it was because she was angry her uncle had sold their horses.

The reason on the surface didn’t warrant her retaliation.

He didn’t know what to make of the information.

He thought of a thousand scenarios that would set her off and make her rage at her uncle and burn the place down. None of them was as benign as the sale of some horses.

He didn’t think she had a quick-trigger temper. He’d never seen her even raise her voice with the boys. Margaret hadn’t mentioned any fights she knew about between Sarah and Sean. She hadn’t called to tell him Sarah had done anything disturbing during her visit.

So what really happened? What provoked that kind of rage?

It ate away at him and consumed his thoughts.

Everyone knew the boss was in a bad mood and they avoided him. So it was surprising when Jerry sought him out in the barn and stood in the doorway. Luke had let several of the horses, including Ace, out into the pasture while he cleaned a few of the stalls. He’d been working out some of his frustrations since before dawn, same as he’d been working himself to death the last couple days.

“Luke, you better come out to the pasture.” Jerry stood back, giving Luke space, but he had a look in his eye that worried Luke.

“What’s going on? Is Ace all right?”

“He’s fine. Agitated, because the men got too close to his prize.”

Luke’s eyebrow shot up. “What?”

“Come take a look.”

Frustrated, he pushed the pitchfork handle against the stall wall. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

“You have to see it to believe it. None of us can get close enough, but I think Ace will let you.”

“That damn horse is going to be the death of me. Can’t he behave?”

They made their way out to the pasture. Luke counted three men with seven horses, Ace among them, all standing around something in the field.

“What’s that on the ground inside the circle of horses, and why won’t they let the men get close to it?”

“You’ll see. It’s the strangest thing. I couldn’t get past any of them animals. They’ve turned into guard dogs.”

Luke’s worry rose the closer he got to the horses. He was finally getting a clear picture of what the horses were doing. Seven horses surrounded a body on the ground. Luke’s heart pounded; he was sure the horses had trampled someone. They wouldn’t allow anyone near whoever had been hurt or killed. Luke quickened his pace until he was right in front of Ace, trying to get past him. The huge animal wouldn’t budge. Ace shifted and blocked Luke again, but he caught a glimpse of the woman.

Sarah.

His heart stopped. He had no idea if she was alive. The devastating thought made his heart pound so hard and fast, he couldn’t catch his breath. He needed to get to her.

Since Ace wouldn’t let him pass, he stopped in his tracks, thinking about the best way to get to her through the horses.

“Did anyone see her get trampled?” Luke held on to his control by a thin thread.

“I don’t think she’s injured,” Jerry called out. “We just can’t figure out what she’s doing out here.”

So far, she hadn’t responded to any of the noise around her. Terribly pale, she didn’t move, but he caught the slight rise and fall of her chest.

“I don’t think she’s hurt,” Jerry called again.

Saying it didn’t make it true.

Luke was about to lose it. He’d never lost control in any situation, but seeing Sarah lying limp on the ground nearly did him in. Sarah needed help, but if Luke didn’t keep a rein on his emotions, he was going to make things worse.

Luke ran a shaking hand through his hair and kept his eyes on Sarah. He took a deep breath and approached Ace, standing a few feet in front of him with Sarah a good ten feet behind her guard horse.

He reached up and stroked Ace and gave him some soothing words. As he stroked Ace, he moved with him closer and closer to Sarah. Although he was talking to Ace and running his hands down his long neck, he kept his gaze on her.

Her arms lay on the grass above her head and her knees were bent and laying to her left. Her long dark hair spread about her head and arms. She looked peaceful, but for the exhaustion etched on her face.

She wore a white tank top and blue plaid flannel shorts. There didn’t appear to be any dirt on her clothes, or her bare legs, so he assumed she hadn’t been trampled. God, he hoped she was all right.

He hadn’t seen her since he’d yelled at her in the training ring, but he hadn’t really stopped thinking about her either.

The closer he got the more worried he became and the knot in his stomach wouldn’t let up. He couldn’t remember ever being this scared, not knowing if she was okay.

What would he tell her boys?

The thought squeezed his heart.

About five feet from her now, Ace stood still right beside him, trying to keep Luke away. Luke wasn’t having any of it and kept walking, using his weight and strength to finally push Ace off to the side.

Finally close enough, he fell to his knees beside her. Ace nudged at her legs with his nose and Luke swatted his big head away. With one shaking hand, he brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and said her name as a fractured, ragged whisper. He laid his palm on her forehead. So cold, goose bumps covered her arms and legs. He wanted to take her in his arms, warm her soft skin, and hold her, safe and protected.

He gently laid his palm across her abdomen and leaned down to her ear. “Sarah, wake up. Are you okay?”

She didn’t stir. She simply lay there breathing evenly, but not moving. He didn’t realize that he gently stroked her hair and held his palm over her heart, feeling its steady beat.

“Sarah, come on, wake up. You’re scaring the hell out of me. Open your eyes.”

Sarah came awake with a start, her eyes wide open, surprise and uncertainty filling the depths. “Are you okay, Luke?”

“Am I okay? No, I’m not okay!” In the blink of an eye, fear, relief, and finally anger settled in his mind. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Am I sleeping on your kitchen table?” With her lying below him, his face inches from hers, she couldn’t see the sky behind him.

“My kitchen table would be an improvement. You’re sleeping in the middle of my pasture with several horses ready to trample you! How the hell did you get here?” He didn’t mean to yell, but she’d put him through a hell of a lot the last two days. Including a few erotic dreams that kept him up at night and left him aching with a need he couldn’t slake.

Her cold hand settled on his wrist. He’d laid his hand on her stomach earlier to feel her heartbeat and the soft, shallow rise and fall of her ribs.

Her cheeks pinked and her eyes turned shy. “Help me up?”

He took her hands in his and hauled her up, but kept her at arm’s length, resisting the urge to crush her to him and give in to his relief that she was okay.

She slowly surveyed her surroundings and did something he didn’t expect at all. She laughed.

“What the hell is so funny?”

“Well, I was just thinking this isn’t a bad way to wake up. I’m surrounded by horses and men. Two of my favorite things.” She gave him a brilliant smile, obviously trying to alleviate the tension in the air.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, while the guys around him let out a crack of laughter. Unable to reconcile his emotions, he wanted to shake her for scaring him. He also wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her and hope that some of the brightness of her smile warmed up all the cold, dark places inside him.

Instead, stupid reigned and he snapped at her for making him crazy. “Start talking.”

Her chin tilted up, all beauty and defiance in a tiny, taut package. “Sometimes when I’m under a great deal of stress, and I haven’t gotten enough sleep, I sleepwalk.”

He didn’t expect her to say that either. “That’s how you got here?”

“Yep.” She looked him right in the eye, daring him to . . . He didn’t know what.

“That must be . . . scary.”

“I’ve woken up in some odd places,” she admitted. “And yes, sometimes it’s scary. At home, I take precautions so I don’t leave the house or hurt myself.”

Luke’s eyes swept from her head down to the gruesome bruise on her leg. She’d been lying on her left side, so he hadn’t seen the bruises that covered almost her entire thigh and disappeared under her shorts.

“What the hell happened to your leg?”

He knelt, grabbed her knee, and gently ran his fingertips over the dark bruises, studying them and the all too familiar pattern they made. A horseshoe.

“Your vet spooked Ace.”

Damn. He had no idea and wanted to kick the doc’s ass. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”

“You were too busy snapping at me for being reckless with your prize horse and telling you how to run your ranch. Remember?”

He stared up at her, hoping she saw the remorse he couldn’t hide and the apology lodged in his throat because words didn’t seem enough.

Her eyes softened. “It hurts like hell, but I’m fine.”

“I really don’t know what to say.”

Jerry stepped forward. The other guys had already abandoned the pasture to get back to work. “Why’d you ask Luke if you were sleeping on his kitchen table?”

Sarah relaxed her stance and turned her attention to Jerry. “On one of my sleepwalking . . . adventures, I woke up to my neighbor cooking breakfast for her family. I had fallen asleep on their dining room table. The funny part is, it was their daughter’s seventh birthday. I had taken her beautiful birthday cake out of the fridge and used it as a pillow.”

Jerry busted up laughing.

Luke felt sorry for the little girl.

“What did your neighbors say when they found you?”

“Good morning.”

Anything could have happened to her. Where were the boys? Home alone?

Jerry went along with the amusement of it all. “Just, ‘good morning’?”

“It was the third time they’d found me on their property. Of course, this was the first time I’d picked the lock on their door and ended up on the dining room table with cake in my hair.” She waved that all aside. “They took it all in stride. I had a beautiful cake delivered that afternoon for the party. Pink roses and blue and lavender butterflies, just like their daughter wanted. Later, I also had a crystal-covered cake dish made for them with a Sleeping Beauty handle on top that looked like she was sleeping on top of the cake. They got a huge kick out of it.”

Jerry smiled, obviously a little in love with Sarah. Which irritated Luke to no end. “That’s a great story. The cake thing was clever and thoughtful.”

Luke thought so, too, but he wanted to know about something else she’d said. “How’d you know how to pick the lock?”

“Contrary to what most people think, you can do just about anything when you’re sleepwalking. I’ve even heard of people driving. Picking the lock was a snap. I acquired a great many unseemly talents as a teenager.” She eyed him. “I’m sure Margaret gave you all kinds of juicy tidbits about my sordid teenage years.”

And he’d learned a lot from her sealed juvenile records. They painted a dark picture. But her record after living with her uncle remained spotless. Because she got what she wanted from Sean? Did financial security change her? Maybe it was having the boys.

Whatever it was, it didn’t change the facts.

“I’ll add criminal to the list of things she called you, including arsonist, master manipulator, and gold digger.”

She fell back a step, then caught herself. “Do you believe all that?”

He shrugged, and said, “Jury’s still out,” without thinking.

Sadness filled her eyes.

Why the hell did he say that?

To protect himself from being disappointed by yet another woman? By her?

He owed her yet another apology, but before he could find the words, Ace stuck his head between them, demanding her attention. He’d waited for her to wake up and had kept her safe and now he wanted his reward.

“Jerry, how about a leg up.”

Jerry cupped his hands and Sarah stepped into them with her bare foot and he lifted her to Ace’s back.

She grabbed Ace’s mane and before Luke protested, she gave Ace a kick in the sides, and they took off across the field.

“She sleepwalks into my field, scares us half to death thinking she’s been trampled to death, and now she steals my horse.” He threw his hands up and let them fall and slap his thighs. He took a step toward Jerry. “And why the hell didn’t you tell me about Ace kicking her! Did you see her leg?” A punch of regret replaced his waning fear.

Jerry gave him an incredulous look. “What the hell is the matter with you? Couldn’t you see she was embarrassed? She couldn’t help what happened this morning any more than you can help being a stubborn ass. I didn’t tell you about her getting kicked because I thought she was okay. The kick looked bad, but she got right up.” He shrugged and admiration shown in his eyes. “That girl’s tough.”

“Yeah, she is.” He felt terrible that his horse hurt her. “Can you believe she broke into her neighbor’s house?”

“You know just as well as I do that people who sleepwalk have no control over what they do. Sounds to me like she more than made up for it. She gave the little girl a decorated cake and the mother a fancy cake dish to make things right.”

“That doesn’t excuse that she broke the law.”

Jerry’s hands went up and dropped. “You’re impossible. Stop looking at her like she’s every other woman you have coming and going in your life. What did you see when you found her?”

The wash of fear came back again. “I thought she was dead.”

“Yeah, she was pale as a ghost, has dark circles under her eyes, and probably hasn’t slept more than a few hours a night for weeks. She’s exhausted. That is why she sleepwalks.”

“You think I didn’t notice all of that. She brought several computers with her and plans to work while she’s here. Hell, she hadn’t even been at Margaret’s more than fifteen minutes when she took a business call.”

“Really? So, she brought her kids to see a woman who hates her, by your account, continues to keep up with her work, comes over here and tends to your prize stallion, has been doing God knows what for the last couple days, except sleeping, and all you can think to do is insult her and yell at her because she didn’t tell you your horse kicked her while she was doing you a favor. I know you’re better than this. But so far, you’ve been ungrateful and insulting to the lady and all she’s done is take care of your horse and sleep in your pasture. Seems to me, in addition to the thank-you you already owe her, now you owe her an apology, too.”

“I wonder what a thank-you and an ‘I’m sorry’ is going to cost me.”

“If you’re smart, it’ll only cost you a little of your pride. Take a good look at that girl. She’s not what you think she is, and she certainly isn’t anything like any of those other women you’ve kept company with. She’s special. If you can’t see that, you’re more stubborn than I ever thought. If I was ten years younger, I’d snatch her up if she’d have me.”

The spurt of jealousy came out of nowhere. “Don’t even think about it, old man.”

“Is that so?” Jerry turned and walked back to the stables and left Luke to ponder what he’d unwittingly admitted out loud.

He wanted Sarah.