River's End (River's End Series, #1)(25)

Then he opened the front door and stepped out. She finally came through while putting an arm in his coat. He clicked the flashlight on and scanned it over the ground, picking up movement.

“Oh my God. Was that a snake?” Her voice sounded close to a shriek.

“Yeah. Still want to run across alone?”

She didn’t answer, but hovered closer to him. Too close. Her long hair brushed his hand.

He chuckled. “You really don’t like snakes, do you?”

Her body shuddered with revulsion. “No. I really don’t. They don’t bother you?”

“No. Snakes don’t bother me.”

“I didn’t realize there’d be so many here.”

“We can go weeks without one, then find several in a row. Seems to be the way of it.”

“Is there anything else I should worry about around here?”

“Black widow spiders. The females are poisonous. They are shiny black with a crimson mark of an hourglass on their bellies. They’re pretty hard to mistake.”

She was quiet after hearing that, but finally sighed. “It’s a good thing you told me. I usually pick up spiders with my bare hands and take them outside.”

Jack stopped. “You pick up spiders? But you run from snakes?”

She shrugged. “They don’t bother me. I know they eat bugs so I don’t see the point in killing them. I pick them up and throw them out. Guess that would be a mistake with a black widow.”

“I assumed your unreasonable fear of snakes expanded to all critters.”

“No. Just a freakish fear of snakes.”

Once at the trailer, she turned towards him and slipped the coat off. She handed it back to him. “I was wondering if it’s all right if I sometimes went into the barn just to visit the horses.”

Jack stepped back, needing space from her face looking up at him. She had big eyes, and her small frame caused him to feel an urge of protectiveness. A normal reaction, which he’d have to any pretty girl. She wanted to pet his horses? Well, she wasn’t exactly turning out to be whom he thought she was. She was exceedingly polite and strangely respectful; while her brother would prefer to spit on him and his horses than ask permission for anything.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just don’t mess with any of the stalls.”

“I would never. Thank you, Mr. Rydell.”

He waited a moment and then asked, “You like the horses?”

“I do,” she said with a smile that set off a dimple on her chin, and made his heart start racing. Damn it. Why did he react to her like that?

She opened the door and went inside the trailer as he turned and headed back to his house. Now he had a feeling Erin wasn’t what he thought; and that might mean she was going to be trouble for him and his brothers that extended far beyond what he first estimated.





Chapter Eight


Erin spent all of her free time in the barn. Jack wasn’t sure what to make of her. He found her there first thing in the morning in her now familiar outfit of jeans, sneakers and his brother’s coat. She looked up at him as her hand stroked Georgie and quickly exited when he started to work. She also seemed hell-bent on staying out of his way, which was good, because he wanted her out of his way. It was bad enough he had to experience her presence with Joey. He didn’t need her in his space too.

But every moment he wasn’t in the barn, she was there. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with her. Each day she asked new questions: about the horses, their care, and the specific personalities of the different horses. She watched him too. He could feel her eyes on him as he worked through their training. She would stand at the fence and watch him quietly. If he felt even remotely friendly towards her, he would have been flattered over her interest in his job and the horses. But since he didn’t want her to be here, and didn’t want her to like being on the ranch, he never encouraged her to talk to him.

After school, Ben always made a huge effort to find Erin and hang out with her. Jack would see them at the fences or in the barn, talking and laughing. It irritated the hell out of him. Did she have to flirt with his son too? The last thing Ben needed was a crush on the girl his uncle was screwing. Jack felt his muscles pinching in his neck at the thought of that. God, she was nothing, but one more headache to a ranch that was, at best, a migraine of worry to him.

Glancing past Erin and Ben, towards the pasture beyond, Jack saw Chance walking towards him. The screw-off was supposed to be loading up one of the flatbeds to pick up some extra hay bales he ordered from another farmer down the road. Jack could so easily fire him. He’d had enough, no matter what Joey thought. Why then did he still hesitate? Why wouldn’t he just fire him?

Erin. He simply didn’t fire him because of her. Because she was Joey’s business right now, so he couldn’t just kick her off his land along with her ne’er-do-well brother.

Jack pressed a hand on the aching in his neck. He glanced at the numbers before him. Not only did the physical demands of the horses never cease, neither did the bookkeeping, or the staggering amount of money it took to keep the horses fed and well cared for.

He glanced up when Chance finally spoke. “Need money for the hay.”

“Where’s the flatbed?”

Chance shrugged. “I’ll gets it. But I need some petty cash.” Chance nodded towards the metal box beside Jack’s elbow. He kept a small amount of money for employees to run errands for him. The box was kept locked inside his office.