Then he was pulling her up as he stood. He held her arms as her legs threatened to give out under her. She slammed back to reality and pushed away from him.
“Arden—” His voice held an edge of desperation.
“I have to check on the horses. Oh, God, if Danny is watching…if they’re hurt.” Tears stung her eyes. She closed the distance to the barn as fast as her wobbly legs would carry her.
Camo ran ahead and after Kyle picked up the shotgun, he caught up to her easily. “I think they’re okay, Arden. I was watching for you on the camera and I saw it. Jesus, I couldn’t believe my eyes.” He shook his head and anger crept into his voice. “I’m so stupid. I fucking sat there stunned, and you could have been…fuck.”
They’d reached the barn door. “Stop it. I’m the stupid one, leaving the damn door open.” She hated the shakiness in her voice. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before looking in.
No immediate gore, no pools of blood. Just scared horses whinnying in their stalls, alpacas huddled together at the very back of their enclosure on the far side of the barn. Arden clutched the doorframe and Kyle immediately grabbed her other arm and braced her. “Easy does it. Steady,” he soothed. “Adrenaline’s a bitch coming down.” He looked around. “Everything’s okay.”
“Gotta give Ripple his apple.” She sounded like a child to her own ears. “It’s past six.”
Kyle started to walk her in and she stopped him. “Danny.” Okay, now she was down to one-word sentences.
“I’m staying here.” He held up his hand. “Just in the doorway, just in case. No way I’m leaving you out here alone.”
Arden nodded.
“You okay to walk?”
She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “Yeah,” she said, standing up to her full height. “Yeah, I’m good now, thanks.” Yeah, good for someone with spaghetti for legs.
Arden pulled the apple from her pocket and gave thumbs up and okay signs to the camera as she walked to Ripple’s stall. The horse stamped his foot and tossed his head, but settled when he smelled the apple. The other horses calmed as well and the alpacas disengaged from their wooly clump. She fed Ripple then went stall to stall making sure everyone was all right. I got lucky, despite my stupidityshe thought as she circled back around to the barn door and her two protectors, Kyle and Camo.
“God, I am mortified,” she said as she approached Kyle. “I could’ve gotten Camo killed—”
Kyle was looking away, outside the barn. He held up a finger in awaitgesture. “You’re not stupid, sweetheart,” he said almost absentmindedly as something else held his full attention.
“Oh, God, is it back?” Arden got ready to pull Kyle and Camo in and shut the door. The goats in their shed and the chickens in their henhouse would just have to fend for themselves.
Kyle shook his head. Then he pointed at their tracks in the snow as Camo sniffed around them.
“What? I don’t see anything.”
“That set, the one Camo’s examining. It’s fresher than our earlier tracks.” He pointed to some boot tracks that Arden had simply dismissed as Kyle’s. But now that she was looking closer, they were different. Their edges were sharper, and the tread was different. Kyle even raised his foot to show her.
“Somebody was here and they opened the barn. I’m walking you back to the house right now. Then I’m patrolling.” He looked back at her, his eyes pure ice. “How many other guns you got?”
“What?No. Just come in with me.” She started for the house. “I can check my phone and I can back up the video. It was probably just one of the horse owners checking up.” Though they always texted or called before they came over so that they didn’t scare her. But when was the last time she’d looked at her phone? Once again, she felt stupid for being distracted by Kyle. “I haven’t checked my phone in hours.”
“Babe, this smells like all kinds of wrong.”
Wait. Babe? And did he call me sweetheart a minute ago?
Arden honestly tried to feel angry at his nerve. That didn’t work so she went for annoyed. Nope. Amused? Nada.Oh, no. Damn, now she was hoping he’d say it again. Babe or sweetheart, she wasn’t choosy. She told herself she was thinking all this to distract herself. Because Kyle was right—this did smell like all kinds of wrong.
Back in the house, Arden’s phone was blowing up. She picked it up off the counter where she’d left it and checked her texts.
“Oh, God. Oh, Danny, sweetie.” She quickly hit call beside his avatar. The kiddo had logged on just in time to see the mountain lion menacing the horses in their stalls. While she reassured him that Ripple was okay, Kyle jumped on her laptop and she showed him where to rewind the footage. Danny passed the phone to his dad, who was ready to call the police when he saw the lion, but hesitated when Arden signaled to the camera she was safe and sound.
“No, everything’s fine, I promise. The cat ran away and I’ve got everything secured. We’ll be fine.”
“We?” he asked. Great. She hated that fishing tone. The man was divorced and Arden had her suspicions that he was sniffing around her as a potential wife and a mom for Danny. Not happening.
“Yes. I have a guest staying for Christmas. He scared the lion off for me, thank goodness. He’s amazing. I’m not sure what I would have done without him. So, I’ll see you and Danny in two weeks, weather permitting.”
His voice deflated. “Oh. Okay, then. You have a good night. And Merry Christmas.”
