Authors: Barbara Elsborg
“I…I need—”
“Calum, you need to come here,” Vera shouted from near the house.
Calum jumped to his feet.
Jasper looked up at him with those big eyes. “Saved by the bell?”
Calum hesitated. Jasper’s sad face made his stomach clench.
Tell him I’ll talk to him later.
But he walked away without saying anything.
Coward, coward, coward.
Vera waited by the door and beckoned him inside. “Suz is here.”
“I know. I’ve been trying to find Dad. Did he call her?”
“No.”
“I don’t believe you,” Calum snapped. “Christ. That’s it. I’ve had enough of the controlling bastard.”
He stalked off and Vera dashed after him. Calum halted outside his father’s office as Vera jerked at his arm.
“Don’t,” she pleaded. “You’re not going to get him to see sense, just make things worse. And there’s something you need to know.”
“I’m thirty years old. He can’t tell me how to live my life. I tried to be what he wanted and look what happened.”
Vera fixed him with her gaze. “Calum, this guy will be gone at the end of the week. You’ll still be here.”
He removed her hand from his arm. “Maybe I won’t.”
Vera paled. “You don’t mean that.”
“Don’t I? I’m beginning to think this is a simpler choice than I’d imagined. Stay here and be miserable or leave and give myself a chance of happiness.”
Oh God, could he?
“You don’t know this guy.”
Calum sighed. “This isn’t about Jasper. It’s about me. It’s about what I want. My life.”
“There’s something else you need to know. Suz—”
“I don’t give a f—damn about Suz. She cheated on me, walked out of here with all my money and I hoped never to see her again.”
His father came out of his office. “What’s all the noise?”
“What’s Suz doing here?” Calum demanded.
“Suz is here?”
The surprise on his father’s face looked genuine and pulled Calum up short for a moment.
“Suz arrives and Jasper’s leaving. How about that? Are you going to apologize to Jasper before he goes?” Calum asked.
“What the hell for? The guy’s a wimp. I heard one of the calves kicked him and he ran off. Didn’t want people to see him sniveling.”
“He had a fucking asthma attack,” Calum snapped. “I had to get his inhaler. For Christ’s sake give the guy a break.”
Vera put her hand on his father’s arm. “Don’t let the man leave like this. If any of it gets in the papers, that a guest’s been bullied, what chance—”
“If he wants to go, I’m not going to stop him.” His father went back into his office and slammed the door.
Calum yanked it open again. “He’s not at fault here. You could at least apologize to him for what happened with Angie.”
His father glared and slammed the door again.
Vera caught Calum’s arm. “Leave him be.”
Calum pulled away and leaned against the wall. “He has no respect for me at all.” And deep down Calum wondered if he ever would. The pain of it choked him.
“He loves you.”
Calum gave a humorless laugh. “He has a strange way of showing it. Is Suz another weapon in his arsenal? He still trying to make me not-gay?”
“He doesn’t understand.”
“He’s living in the dark ages and I’m not staying in there with him.”
Vera took a deep breath and put her hand on his chest. “There’s something you need to know, something you need to see. Come with me.”
Calum followed her to the private lounge and stopped in his tracks, his stomach sliding to his feet. Suz held the hand of a tow-haired boy with bright blue eyes.
Oh fuck, fuck, fuck.
The kid looked about two years old and Calum knew what Vera was thinking, but she was wrong. If Suz had told this kid he was his father, he’d fucking kill her.
Well, no he wouldn’t but still… Calum stared straight at Suz. “Don’t say one word in front of him. The two of us need to talk.”
Jasper called the cab company in Jackson to see what the delay was and learned the driver had broken down. Another vehicle had set off. He didn’t want to sit in his room, waiting, so he headed for the stables. The guests and most of the wranglers would have embarked on the overnight trip by now, which suited him just fine. As Jasper approached the barn, the sound of a horse whinnying in pain and fear set his teeth on edge.
Gunner and the vet were in the corral with a horse Jasper didn’t recognize. The brown mare danced around while the vet tried to calm her down.
“Lucy, it’s okay. No one’s gonna hurt you,” Gunner said.
“Good girl.” The vet ran his hand down her flank and the horse shied away.
Jasper thought about Ben’s horse. His brother wasn’t the only one hurt in the accident. Jasper had looked on helplessly as the ambulance crew dealt with Ben, listening to Samson’s screams. No one could do anything until the vet came and those long minutes after Ben had been whisked away, Jasper had sat with Samson’s head on his lap, stroking the horse’s neck, trying not to look at the blood, at the way the bones in his back legs protruded through his black coat.
He swallowed hard and leaned against the rail, watching as the vet tried to examine Lucy while Gunner struggled to keep the horse still. Even as Jasper was thinking of climbing in to give them a hand, the animal reared up, jerked the reins out of Gunner’s grasp and knocked him to the ground before cantering with an awkward gait to the far end of the corral. When the mare got there, she almost fell but then turned and raced back. Gunner was right in the horse’s path, pushing himself to his feet. Jasper vaulted over the top rail of the corral and ran toward the old man.
“Careful,” the vet shouted. “I think she might have rabies.”
Oh fuck.
Jasper stood between Gunner and the advancing horse and held up his hand.
Christ, as if that’s going to stop her.
“Stop,” Jasper snapped. Then he said it again. Louder.
The mare staggered as she pulled up and Jasper grabbed the leading rein. “Hey, Lucy. It’s okay. You’re safe.” Jasper spoke quietly to the horse and stroked her flank. He waved his right hand in front of Lucy’s left eye and she tried to rear away. “Okay, okay, girl,” Jasper whispered. He fumbled in his pocket for a mint and she snuffled it.
“Did you hear what I said?” the vet asked.
He and Gunner stood a little way away.
“I don’t think it’s rabies,” Jasper said.
“Increased saliva, excitability, disorientation, running blindly?” the vet barked.
“She’s supposed to have been vaccinated.” Gunner brushed dust from his clothes.
Lucy yanked her head to try and pull away.
“Shh, you’re fine,” Jasper said to her. “Good girl.” Except she wasn’t fine. “Don’t make any sudden movements on her left side. It’s upsetting her.”
“I’ll take another look. You’re the one who spotted the laminitis, aren’t you?” the vet asked Jasper. “Are you a vet?”
“I didn’t qualify,” Jasper muttered. “I didn’t do the final year.”
“So what do you think it is?” the vet asked, his tone more reasonable.
“Any other symptoms?” Jasper asked.
“Suddenly spooking for no reason,” Gunner said. “She’s tried to climb out of her stall a couple of times. And just like she did now, she runs flat out from one end of the pasture to the other.”
“She’s usually calm and affectionate?” Jasper asked.
“Yep, she’s a charmer.” Gunner scratched his head. “I can’t figure it out.”
“It could be West Nile virus, equine herpes, EPM,” the vet said.
“It might be neurological.” Jasper had been thinking equine protozoa myeloencephalitis, EPM for short. “But it looks like she has a problem with the vision in her left eye.”
“There’s no sign of cancer,” said the vet.
“I did a case study of a horse like this. The owner thought he was blind in one eye, tests showed he wasn’t, but the vision came and went. So did the crazy behavior. The horse had a CT scan and there was a massive circulatory blockage in his brain. When he got excited, the blood supply was cut off to the front lobes. It caused intermittent blindness and erratic behavior, things like trying to climb out of his stall and racing around like a creature possessed.”
“Brain tumor.” The vet sighed.
“That’s not good,” Gunner muttered. “Explains why she’s been getting worse.”
The three of them stared at the now docile horse.
“I might be wrong,” Jasper said. “It’s just my unqualified opinion.”
“I could do tests, but I think you’re right. No point throwing money away. I’ll go speak to Erik.” The vet turned and then swiveled back. He held out his hand. “We were never introduced. I’m Frank Hess.”
“Jasper Randolph.”
“Why didn’t you finish the course?”
“A change of heart about my future.”
Frank frowned. “You threw away eight years of study?”
“Five in the UK. I studied for four but I needed a job that paid more.”
Frank shrugged, disapproval clear on his face. He turned to Gunner. “Take Lucy to your back barn.” Then he stalked off.
“You just disappointed him,” Gunner said. “Money ain’t everything.”
“I know, but I had obligations and little choice. Are you okay with her now?”
“Yeah, she’s good as gold again. Poor girl. Come on, Lucy.”
Gunner walked the horse away and Jasper knew the likelihood was that she’d never see the sky again. Brain tumors in horses were basically inoperable. Medicine might help, but the cost made it likely Erik would have Lucy put to sleep today.
Christ.
He’d come out here to cheer himself up and now he was even more depressed. Five years since he’d walked away from what he thought would be his future. His reasons were personal though he’d told the truth to the head of the school of veterinary medicine who’d tried to dissuade him, but Jasper had made up his mind.
He headed back to the ranch and saw Angie walking toward him holding the hand of a small blond boy, who looked no more than two. Jasper had no idea whether Angie was going to play nice or nasty, but relief hit him when she walked up with a broad smile on her face.
“I’m going to show Misty to Seth.”
“Don’t let him get too close,” Jasper said and wondered if Seth’s mother knew Angie had him.
“I know. Are you still wearing your bracelet?”
Jasper pulled back his cuff and showed her.
“I made that,” she said to Seth. “Do you want one?”
The little boy shook his head.
The pair entered the barn and the thought that followed hit Jasper like a spear in the chest and he sagged. Calum’s ex-wife had arrived a little while ago. What if this boy was hers and Calum’s?
Christ.
Even more of a reason for Jasper to leave.
He went back to his room to wait for the cab.
“Where are we going?” Suz asked.
“Someplace private,” Calum muttered.
Unfortunately, the only place that was really private was his room. He opened the door and gestured Suz inside.
“Still playing with mud?” She picked up one of his figures.
Calum took a deep breath. Her parting gift, apart from the quick divorce, was the smashing of his clay models. Not all of them, but enough to hurt.
“Seth is two years old. His birthday’s March 28. Do the math.”
“He’s not mine,” Calum said.
“He’s the image of you.”
Calum snorted. “Like I’m the father of every blond-haired, blue-eyed kid?”
Suz crossed her arms. “You are this one.”
Calum’s heart cartwheeled. “In the handful of times we had sex, I always used protection.”
“Accidents happen.”
“But they didn’t. Even if it’s true, why keep quiet about it until now?”
Her mouth curved in a smile. “Spite.”
Calum sucked in a breath. That at least sounded like the truth.
Suz sat on his bed and leaned back on her elbows. “I wanted to punish you.”
“For what? We both agreed the marriage was a mistake. I gave you every cent I’d saved. The agreement was that you went away and didn’t come back.”
“I need money to look after Seth.”
Calum didn’t believe this, neither that Seth was his son, nor that she’d wait until now to ask for money. He suspected his father had engineered Suz’s visit as a way to break him from Jasper. Had he poisoned the sandwiches too?
Jesus Christ.
“How much did he offer you?” Calum asked.
Suz wrinkled her brow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you slept with at least one of the wranglers. Why should I accept the kid is mine?”
“Because he is. And because if you don’t, I’ll go to the local paper and tell them why we broke up.”
Calum wished he could shake some sense into her. “Won’t that defeat the purpose? How thrilled will people be with you that you want a gay guy as your son’s father?”