River's End (River's End Series, #1)(31)

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Jack was finishing up some invoices in the office when he heard the stomp of horse hooves and loud yelling. He stood up and ran out of the office, through the barn and into the yard to find Joey riding hell-bent down the driveway towards him with Georgie right behind him, saddled and riderless. What the hell?

Joey stopped his horse. In a rush, he yelled, “Erin’s up on the mountain, Jack. She had some kind of freakout and nearly fainted. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with her, but she refuses to move. She’s really freaked out right now and I don’t know what else to do.”

Jack grabbed Joey’s mount and held Commander’s head still. “You left Erin up on the mountain?”

“She refused to come down.”

Jack glanced at the saddled horse. “You took her up The Horn? On Georgie? What the hell were you thinking? She’s never even been in a corral with a horse before.”

Jack swore as Joey swung his leg and dismounted. “Maybe I could get the four-wheeler up there.”

“It’s too steep. Trail’s too small.”

Joey looked stumped. “I didn’t know what else to do, Jack.”

Jack swung his leg up and over Joey’s horse. “I’ll be back.”

He left without another word to his little brother to clean up yet another mess. What the hell was Joey thinking? Jack ran his horse up the mountain at a swift canter, leading Georgie behind. He slowed when he hit the trail across the rim of the mountain called The Horn.

Jack spotted Erin about a third of the way across the mountain, in the worse spot of the trail, from her point of view, of course. He glanced down. The trail was skinnier there, merely old game trails that stretched across the sloping pasture and ended with the rocky drop-offs that plunged towards the valley below. It was one of Jack’s favorite spots. He and Lily used to ride up there a lot. First as kids, then as teens, and finally, young and married. They came there to get away, and be alone, or make love, talk, and share their lives. Jack sighed as the happy memories revisited him.

Now, however, he saw Erin Poletti curled up into a small ball off on the side of the trail. She looked miserable. Her head was down and her eyes were scrunched tightly shut like a small child who imagines the monsters in her closet.

He slowed his horse and Commander reacted to the slightest pressure. He dismounted and dropped the reins. All of his horses were trained to stay when their reins were dropped. It was essential to trail-riding that he trusts his horses to stay put if he had to get off to cut a tree limb, or adjust his gear. Or, as in this case, to save a girl.

He stood over Erin and she turned towards him, opening her eyes finally. Tears streaked her cheeks and she was ghastly white. He put his hands on his hips as he tried to figure out what to do and glanced off towards the horizon.

He eventually walked towards her and sat down. He was pretty sure rushing her wasn’t going to help her predicament.

Sitting down, he stretched his long legs out before him and leaned back on an elbow. Then he picked up a strand of grass and ran his fingers over it. He was quiet as he waited for her to get past her panic attack long enough to talk to him. Lately, it seemed like all he’d been doing was fixing Joey’s mistakes. What was Joey thinking by bringing Erin up there? He told Joey she’d never even touched a horse before now. Why would he drag her up there across the mountain? Despite his distrust of her, he was pretty sure she wasn’t faking it. But he was not so sure how he could get her down.





Chapter Ten


The snorting and stomping of horses alerted Erin that Jack was coming for her. He appeared around the corner with his horse going way too fast over the too narrow trail. She closed her eyes at the pitch of her stomach and pictured him simply falling off to the side and tumbling to his death. He stopped his horse and jumped down. She was mortified at being caught up there, but even more afraid to look up at him. She couldn’t stand to look out towards the horizon. She stared at her feet, anticipating his derogatory words to her for being such a wimp.

But… he didn’t speak. He came closer to her, and sat down, stretching his long, muscled legs out beside her as he leaned back on his elbow. After several long moments without a word to her, she finally peeked at him from the corner of her eye. His hat was pulled down low, and he was chewing on a blade of grass while looking out towards the valley. He seemed as relaxed as one might be sitting on the couch watching a favorite movie. She concentrated on his dark blue–jean-clad legs that stretched a foot past her own, and the boots that he wore so often, she wondered if he took showers with them on. They seemed as much a part of him as other men might wear a watch.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I can’t get on that horse again.”

“Okay.”

“I can’t walk either.”

He nodded and his gaze finally shifted to her. His startlingly bright blue eyes stood out against his red hair. His eyebrows that now arched up over his eyes were a darker auburn to his red hair. He had a few freckles that seemed almost lost in the tan he managed to hold onto throughout the winter. He grabbed the blade of grass from his mouth and tossed it. “So what do you have in mind?”

To cry. That’s why she was almost physically ill. She didn’t have anything in mind and didn’t know how to get down. She sucked on her lower lip while trying to hold back her tears. She could not spill them in front of Jack. It would only emphasize what a pointless, worthless, weak girl she was.