Southern Heat by Natasha Madison

Chapter 22

Willow

I didn’t want to tell him any of what I just told him. I didn’t want him to know what I went through. Even if he saw me beaten almost to death, he didn’t need to know the other parts of it. He didn’t need to know the hell I lived in. That was my burden to carry and mine alone.

But with him here in the barn, looking at all the people who he helped, I wondered. Was I broken to the point where I couldn’t be fixed?

I didn’t even try to hide the tears, not after everything I just told him. His expression wasn’t that of pity, it was one of almost rage and sadness but not pity. I walk to the next stall to see the horse when his words stop me from taking another step.

"Everything." I look over at him. “You deserve everything,” he says, his own tear running down his cheek. "There is no one who deserves it more." His voice trails off at the end.

I smile at him shyly and walk all the way to the end of the stall, stopping right in front of Hope. "Hi," I whisper to her as she turns her head and looks at me. Her eyes almost matching mine, she nuzzles my hand, and I smile at her. “Good morning to you, too,” I say while her tail moves side to side.

"You can open the top of the gate,” Quinn says. "On the side is a latch." He points at the silver latch. There are two latches, one for the top and one for the bottom.

"Will it scare her?" I ask, not wanting to bother her, and he just shakes his head. I look back at Hope, who looks at me through the gated door. She is sizing me up just as I size everyone up around me.

"Just talk to her," he tells me. “As long as she can sense that you’re calm, she isn’t going to go crazy on you."

I unlock the latch and then look at her. “I won’t hurt you,” I say softly. The same words I’ve wanted said to me at least once. “It’s okay." I hold out my hand to her, and she takes a step forward but then goes back. "It’s going to be sunny today,” I say, not moving my hand as she moves her neck a bit closer. "You are such a pretty girl,” I say, and she sniffles or grunts. I’m not sure which one because I’ve never met an actual horse. I take a tiny step forward to rub her neck. “I won’t hurt you," I whisper. “I promise." She doesn’t move, but she does let me rub her neck. “What’s your story, Hope?" I ask. “What’s your story, pretty girl?" I look into her eyes, and I can swear she understands everything I say to her.

"She was left for dead,” Quinn says. "She couldn’t breed, so her owner just dumped her off at an abandoned farm." I look back at the beautiful girl in front of me. Her tail moves side to side. “She was skin and bones when we found her. She had one foot infected from an untreated cut. She had a scar on the side I’m sure she got from when they used to ride her and probably whipped her to go faster or whipped her to breed. No one will ever know."

"Oh my God,” I say, putting my hand to my heart. She comes forward, and her muzzle smells the arm in the sling. She bends her head and hits the hand with her forehead.

"She likes you,” Quinn says.

"Really?" I say, happy that she likes me. “How can you tell?"

"She’s making you touch her,” he says, coming next to me. “She is very picky about who she lets touch her.”

"Does she let you?" I ask, and he nods.

"Only because I feed her,” he says. “Do you want to ride her?"

I look at him, and I try not to show how much I want to ride her, but the smile on my face speaks volumes. “I don’t want to push her and make her do something she isn’t comfortable doing,” I say, and he smiles.

"We haven’t gotten anyone to ride her," Quinn says, turning and walking into the closet at the end of the hallway.

“It’s okay if you don’t want me to ride you,” I say, stepping closer to her and rubbing her neck. “I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” I say, and her brown eyes meet mine. "Promise."

"Let’s get the saddle on her,” Quinn says, and I move aside as he steps into the stall and talks softly to her.

"You going to let Willow take a ride?" he asks, his voice calm and reassuring. "She isn’t going to hurt you," he tells her. “And I’ll be right there." He ties the bottom of the saddle under her belly.

"Will that hurt her?" I ask. He shakes his head, grabbing the reins and walking out of the stall with her. "Let’s see if she is going to let you walk her out."

"What do I do?" I ask, and he smiles at me.

"Just walk out the door." He points at the open door at the end of the hall where we walked in from.

I hold the reins as I take a step forward, and she walks slowly beside me. Her eyes roam the room exactly as mine do when I walk into a new space. "Are you looking for a way out?" I whisper. “I do that, too,” I say as we take steps forward. When we get out of the barn, she looks around.

"She’s never done that,” Quinn says, coming out of the barn with a black horse by his side. "She trusts you." He smiles at me.

"Or she knows I’m just as broken as she is,” I say and then look at his horse. The horse looks almost purple in the light. “Is that your horse?"

"This is Lady," he tells me and touches her neck. “Let me help you get on the horse."

"Um," I say, looking at him when he walks up to me and puts his hand on my waist.

"You are going to put your foot in this." He points at the silver stirrup. “Then throw your other leg over."

"Okay,” I say, concentrating on the way his hands feel on me instead of what he’s saying. He picks me up without forcing himself. My foot goes into the stirrup, and I throw my other leg over. I sit on her, and she haws. “I’m sorry,” I say, and she doesn’t move.

"Be easy on her," Quinn tells Hope. “Don’t hurt her."

"She won’t hurt me," I defend her as I watch Quinn walk over to his horse, and he gets on her easily. His whole arm flexes even bigger than before, and I have to look away before I start gawking at him.

"Ready,” he says, and I just nod.

"We are going to go on a secret trail,” he says next to me as our horses walk side by side. I see Hope looking over at times and then turning her head to look forward.

He walks through the field into the trees, and when I look back, the trees slowly close around us. “So what are your plans?" he asks. "When you are free to leave here."

My heart speeds up when he asks me this. “I have no idea,” I say the truth. “I have nothing left of the inheritance." I look down, seeing Hope’s head go down also. “I have never been somewhere that I didn’t want to leave." Except now, I hear the words in my head. I don’t look over at him, and I also don’t tell him that staying here with him is tempting. "I guess this is as fresh of a start as I will ever get." We ride side by side. His hands never move from in front of him.

"If you could pick a place, what would it look like?" he asks, and I can see from my peripheral view that he is looking over at me.

"It would be where no one knows me," I answer honestly. “It would be where people would think I’m just someone else."

I look over at him. “Would you ever leave here?"

He shakes his head. “Nope, not for all the money in the world." He returns his focus ahead of him.

“Why?” I ask him.

“Well, for one, my family is here," he starts. “Second, my business is here. And third, this is where I want my kids to grow up. Running through the fields chasing their cousins. Going from house to house like a revolving door. Having someone have your back the whole time. I want all that for my kids."

"I’ve never had that,” I say, his words echoing in my ears. “The longest we stayed in one place was before Benjamin. It was for one whole year. I even made two friends." I smile, thinking back to the two girls who lived in the same building as me. "Rosalie even cooked dinner."

"What happened?" he asks, and I think about lying to him, but at this point, nothing he hears will have him think less of me.

"She had an affair with a married man," I start to say. “All was going well until the wife showed up at the door. It turns out, her father was like some big shot, and let’s just say we left very quickly.”

“That must have been hard,” he says, his voice soft.

"It was, but it was what it was, and nothing I could have done would have changed it." I learned that real fast. "Where are we going?" I ask, and then I stop talking when we come to an opening in the forest, and I hear the sound of water trickling.

I look at the creek ahead of me and then see a large rock in the middle of the clearing. “This is part of my grandparents’ land,” he says, stopping and getting down off his horse. “My aunt Kallie used to come here with my uncle Jacob when they were younger." He walks over to me, holding out his hand. I look at him and then the horse.

"I’m going to fall,” I say, not sure I can hold him with my one hand and then slide off.

"I won’t let you fall,” he says. “Trust me."

I look at his hand and then back in front of me. “I don’t want to fall,” I say.

I wait for him to use my fears against me. Wait for him to just yank me off the horse. But instead of all that, he says words that cut me to the core. "I promise you that as long as you’re with me, I will never ever make you fall.”