Hunted Love (A Dangerous Kind of Love Book 2) (9 page)

Sarah followed her. She leaned against Jack’s stall and watched as Phoebe continued to clean up. “Why did he get left behind?”

“His uncle was my dad’s best friend. He wanted Jamie to do something that day and Jamie refused to do it. I don’t know what it was. I just remembered that his uncle and my father were so mad at him when they left.” She chuckled lightly. “They changed their tune when they came back and saw what he did.” She turned to look at Sarah. “So, you see, I know Jamie didn’t kill Robin. He couldn’t. He’s a hero.”

Sarah felt the tension in her lessen a bit as Phoebe confirmed what she already knew. She didn’t know what Jamie did in the past when he was young but she was certain of one thing, he wasn’t a monster. He wasn’t cruel or vicious or evil and when Sarah needed him more than she ever needed anyone in her life, he came through for her.

He protected her from the monster that wanted to hurt her and her sister.

He was her hero.

Phoebe returned to brushing her new horse. “I think that was the day Robin fell in love with Jamie. Really fell in love with him. She always flirted with him before—she flirted with all the boys—but something changed that day.”

Jack pushed his face into Sarah’s neck. She turned and lightly stroked his head.

Phoebe glanced over at Sarah. “Do you ride?”

“Not anymore. I did when I was younger. My sister, Cassidy, was the Champion horse rider though. Like you,” she said looking at other pictures hanging on the walls of Phoebe in competition. “I always thought I would be too someday. I would tag along whenever our mom took us to her lessons. I even started taking a few lessons.”

“Why did you stop?”

Sarah grinned. “I was a bit of a troublemaker too. There used to be this big horse farm near my grandparent’s place where mom would take Cassidy and me for riding lessons. One afternoon, I got bored waiting for Cassidy to finish her lesson, so I decided to go exploring.”

“Uh oh.”

“Yeah, I got lost. It wasn’t my fault though. I was playing hide and seek with the owner’s kid and,” she said with a laugh, “it turned out I was really good at it.”

Phoebe grinned.

“I ended up going a little too far from the farm, got lost and stumbled across a rattlesnake. Luckily, I was rescued just in time. I had never been so happy to see anyone in my life. Mom was furious though. Made my other two sisters watch over me at home after that. I would probably have been better off with the rattlesnake.”

“What farm was it?” Phoebe asked walking over to Jack’s stall.

“Oh, I have no idea.” Sarah made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Royal something or other. I couldn’t have been more than seven years old at the time. The only thing I remember really clearly was the rattlesnake. I know it was on the Red River Gorge, further south from here.” She glanced out the window towards the woods. “How far are you from the river?”

“Not far at all. In fact, our property is surrounded on three sides by the Daniel Boone National Forest.” Phoebe brushed her hand along Jack’s neck. “Hey, you should come horseback riding with me. I’d love to have some company sometime,” she asked with a hopeful smile.

“Really? Oh, I would love that,” Sarah said excitedly.

“How about this weekend?” Phoebe asked as she opened Jack’s stall and stepped inside. “Maybe Saturday afternoon?”

“Sounds perfect,” Sarah said as the door closed. She laid her arms across the stall door.

“Hopefully,” Phoebe said, “I can convince my fiancé to join us. He’s a bit busy nowadays. If not, I’m sure Kristen would like to go.”

“I didn’t know you were engaged,” Sarah said her gaze immediately going to Phoebe’s left hand.

Phoebe followed her gaze and held up her hand. She wiggled her fingers. “It’s not quite official just yet. Wanna see my ring?” she asked with an impish grin.

“I’d love to,” Sarah said.

Phoebe pulled her dress out away from her bust. With her other hand, she pulled on the long gold necklace around her neck. She held up the end of the necklace for Sarah to see the beautiful emerald and diamond heart shaped ring that hung from the bottom of the necklace.

Sarah gasped as she looked the ring over. “It’s gorgeous.”

“Thank you. I can’t wait until I can actually wear it.” Phoebe’s pretty face clouded. “Please don’t tell anyone you saw it. I shouldn’t have shown you but I’m so tired of hiding it.”

“I won’t tell,” Sarah quickly reassured her. “But why do you have to hide it?”

Phoebe sighed as she tucked the ring back into the bosom of her dress. “It’s a secret. He doesn’t want anyone to know. He’s waiting until everything quietens down around here and he can get financially settled. It’s just as well,” she said resuming her brushing. “Although, I initially had my heart set on getting married today.”

“Oh, how sweet,” Sarah said. “That would have been such a nice birthday gift.”

Phoebe smiled softly. “You’re a bit of a romantic, aren’t you?”

Sarah’s eyes twinkled. “A little bit.”

“I was too until I started thinking about it. That’s when I realized how impractical getting married on Valentine’s Day would be.”

“How so?”

“Well, I would be essentially merging three gift-giving holidays into one.”

Sarah laughed.

“And it suddenly occurred to me that that was such a bad idea—” Phoebe’s face lit up as Brian walked in the stable, his hands behind his back. “Finally! What kept you?”

“I had to run back to my car.”

Phoebe gave him a look as she opened up Jack’s stall and walked over to Brian. “It doesn’t take that long to get from here to the parking lot.”

He brought his hand from out behind his back and handed her a big red heart-shaped candy box. “Don’t eat them all at once.”

“I’ll do my best,” Phoebe said as she kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “So, do you forgive me?”

Phoebe pursed her lips together. “You lied to me, Brian.”

“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you what happened.”

Phoebe still didn’t look pleased. “I’m not a child anymore.”

“I know that.”

“I’m a grown woman.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

“I’m not some fragile thing that you have to tiptoe around lest I shatter in a million pieces. You can be honest with me. I can handle the truth.”

“I know, Phoebe. Trust me, I know. What do you want from me? Jamie swore me to secrecy. If you’re going to be mad, be mad at him.”

“He’s not here,” Phoebe said, “you are.”

Brian raked a hand through his hair. “I was completely honest with you and Kristen tonight, Phoebe. I told you both all that I know. Jamie’s probably going to kill me when he finds out, but I did it anyway.” He smiled tightly. “For you, Buttercup.” His smile disappeared as he gestured to Sarah. “If you want more details talk to Sarah. She’s the whole reason he got shot in the first place. He had to protect her from some lunatic trying to kill her and her sister. Ask her about it.”

Sarah cleared her throat. “There’s not much more to tell,” she said softly, looking away. “What exactly did Jamie say about me?”

Brian waved his hand. “Not much. He just told me the basic facts and that was it,” he said before glancing towards the door. “Well, we better get back to the house.”

“Why all the secrecy?” Phoebe asked opening the candy box and looking inside.

“Oh, you know Jamie,” Brian said. “The man’s very protective of his privacy. He hates to share.”

Phoebe glanced at him out of the side of her eye in irritation. “He’s not the only one. I wouldn’t have even known Jamie was out of prison and back in town if I hadn’t walked into the pub just before Christmas and seen him sitting at the bar.”

Brian scratched at his cheek. “I figured your sister told you he was out.”

“No, she didn’t.”

“Oh,” he said as he reached for a piece of chocolate. She slapped his hand away. “Ow.”

“Don’t be rude,” she said holding the box out to Sarah.

Sarah held up her hands to ward off the calorie-laden box. “I filled up on those cupcakes I was handing out earlier.”

Brian reached in and snatched a chocolate before Phoebe could take it away. He popped it into his mouth and made a face before tossing the rest of the chocolate in the trash. “I hate maple.” He slipped his hands into his pocket as Phoebe closed the box. “Almost everyone’s gone and your sister’s about to have a fit. You better head up to the house.”

Phoebe looked like she’d rather do anything else but finally linked her arm through his. “Are you going to stay with me?”

“You don’t need me,” Brian complained as they all walked out of the stable and back toward the house.

Sarah glanced to the woods, hardly paying attention as the other two chatted with one another. When they reached the gate, she stopped to look around for her shoes.

She frowned as she turned around in ever widening circles, certain she had kicked her shoes off right near the gate. She glanced up surprised to find that Brian and Phoebe were almost at the house now.

She glanced back to the woods. Deciding she could pick up her shoes some other time, she hurried to catch up with the other two, while looking around nervously for that green light.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she made it to the back veranda without any difficulty. When they reached the back of the house, they separated, Brian and Phoebe heading for the door to the living room and Sarah turning towards the kitchen.

She stepped inside the pantry and picked up her purse, gasping in surprise when everything fell out onto the floor.

“I thought I had zipped it up,” she muttered as she gathered everything together and dropped them one by one into her purse. She picked up her wallet, checking to make sure her credit cards were still there before slipping it back into her purse.

“
Sarah
.”

Sarah raised her head. She didn’t recognize the voice. It was pitched too low to get a good idea who had said her name but she answered anyway. “I’m in the pantry.” She bent over looking for her lipstick. Finding it, she dropped it into her purse.

“
Cinderella
.”

This time she froze. The voice was the barest whisper but it sent chills up her spine. Still kneeling, she peeked around the corner of the door.

When she didn’t see anyone behind the door, she turned her attention to the darken sunroom off the kitchen. A strange feeling crept over her as she kneeled there. She carefully rose to her feet and peered into the darkness, trying to make out the various shapes in the dark little room. “Hello,” she called out.

There was no answer.

The eerie feeling she had grew stronger. “This has got to be the worst Valentine’s Day of my life,” she muttered, spinning on her heel and hurrying to the hallway. She kept glancing over her shoulder, as she walked down the long hallway towards the foyer, almost certain that someone was behind her, but each time she looked, the hallway was empty. When she reached the foyer, she practically skipped on her way to the coat closet.

Once there, she thought she heard her name again and looked behind her.

Still, there was no one there.

She turned around and gasped when she ran into someone.

Brian reached out to steady her. “Whoa there, didn’t mean to startle you. Leaving so soon.”

Sarah glanced behind her shoulder. “Did you just call my name?”

“What? When?”

“When I was in the kitchen. Were you calling my name?”

“No.” His eyes narrowed and a look of concern passed over his face. “Are you all right? You look rather pale.”

She opened up the coat closet, took out her coat, and put it on. “I’m okay, just tired.”
And scared out of my wits
, she thought but didn’t say. “If you speak to Jamie—”

A scowl crossed Brian’s face. “Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Everyone wants to know about Jamie. I haven’t got a clue where he is.”

She held up her hands. “If you speak to him just tell him I said hi and that I’m doing fine.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “All right. Are you sure you’re okay? Your hands are shaking.”

She stuck them into her pockets. “I’m fine,” she said plastering a smile over her face. “Goodnight.”

“Night, Sarah. If . . .” he hesitated for a moment before saying, “if you need anything, call me.”

“Sure,” she said, surprised at his sudden concern. She pulled open the door and stepped outside already reaching for the key to her car.

Nathan stood off to the side with his back to her speaking to Holly in low hushed tones. He ran a hand through his light brown hair pushing it off his forehead. “I know Jamie killed her, but Kristen and Phoebe are convinced he’s innocent. Which is actually good for us. Those guys are promising us a lot of money for our story.”

Holly whispered something back, and then Nathan said, “No, no, it’s totally worth it. We just need to find Jamie and get him to agree to talk to them and it’s a done deal.”

Holly said something, again too low for Sarah to catch.