Ignoring the wave of nerves that implied otherwise, Ella studied the quaint clapboard buildings that lined the street.
From what she could see, this place had a ton of untapped potential. Ella couldn’t help wondering how different the town might look if the island’s founders had seen fit to build a causeway. Without that link to the mainland, Sanctuary Island was a butterfly trapped in the sticky amber glow of times gone by.
They drove slowly past a grass-covered square in the center of town. A white gazebo perched in the middle. People went about their lives, strolling the paths of the square and the wide sidewalks lining the streets, chatting in pairs or singly holding shopping bags. A lanky young man on a bicycle pedaled past Merry’s window with a cheerful grin and a wave.
In fact, everyone they passed smiled and waved, as if Ella and Merry were long-lost friends returning home. Ella wanted to find it creepy, but she couldn’t. It was nice. Friendly. Welcoming.
And the work-obsessed corner of her brain lit up with possibilities. A good developer could do a lot with raw material like Sanctuary Island.
“I don’t know what I was expecting,” Merry said as they circled the town square, complete with pavilion and bandstand. “Maybe I thought it would look like Virginia Beach or something, kind of cutesy fakey touristy? But this place feels … real.”
Ella knew what she meant. Part of her wanted to stop the car and get out, explore the town and all it had to offer. But instead she said, “Do you still need me to find a gas station or a rest stop?”
“I’m okay.” As if to prove the words a lie, Merry’s fingers clutched at the map in her hands, crinkling the paper. Giving Ella a rueful smile, she smoothed out the page and said, “I kind of just want to get there, you know?”
Trying to resign herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to be able to put it off much longer, Ella made the turn off Main Street as Merry directed her, driving deeper into the island.
The car emerged from a section of road shaded by tall pines, and the sudden brightness blinded Ella. She slowed the car, shading her eyes against the glittery splendor of the marsh laid out before them. Raindrops sparkled on the tall grass waving in the breeze. Everything had been washed clean by the recent storm, even the air.
“So pretty,” Merry said, delighted. “In the city, rain just means cabs splashing you with dirty water every time they hit a deep puddle.”
“Yeah, but even our old neighborhood didn’t have potholes like this,” Ella said, clutching the steering wheel tightly as they followed the winding road deeper into the trees. “Is your seat belt still on?”
“You are such a worrier. I’m perfectly fine!”
“Your navigation skills might be less than fine.” Ella made a grab for the map in her sister’s hand, but Merry held it teasingly out of reach. “Are you sure we’re going the right way? This looks like the middle of nowhere.”
“Of course I’m sure! At least, I think this is the right way. We might have made an extra turn somewhere, but Ella, come on, look where we are! Who cares if we’re lost? We should be soaking it all in, and … oh my God, pull over, pull over!”
“What?” Ella cried, slamming on the brakes. Her arms reflexively spun the wheel to get the car onto the side of the road while Merry scrabbled at the buckle of her seat belt and pushed open the passenger side door.
Merry’s boots were squelching in mud before Ella had even thrown the car into park, and by the time she managed to wrestle her way free of her own seat belt, all she could think was that her sister had gone into premature labor or something.
But no. Standing a few feet away from the car, Merry stared out over the marsh with her hands clasped rapturously under her chin. Her eyes were shiny, with joy or tears, Ella couldn’t quite tell, but she definitely didn’t appear to be in any pain.
“What on earth are you doing?” All of Ella’s fear and worry exploded out of her in a burst of exasperation.
“They’re just so beautiful,” Merry whispered, staring off into the distance. “I had to get a closer look.”
Trying to get her heart to settle back into her rib cage where it belonged, Ella wrapped her arms around herself for warmth and stood next to her sister. Merry pointed, and that’s when Ella caught her first glimpse.
A band of half a dozen wild horses foraged through the scrub grass on the other side of the marsh. Still shaggy with their winter coats, the horses ranged from darkest black to white spotted with big brown splotches.
“I was afraid we wouldn’t get to see them,” Merry whispered.
“The entire island is a nature preserve for the wild horses that live here,” Ella said, quoting the sparse encyclopedia entry she’d memorized when that first letter from Jo arrived. “We were bound to see horses at some point.”
And personally, this was about as close as Ella wanted to get to them.
Looping one arm through the crook of Ella’s elbow, Merry leaned her head on Ella’s shoulder and sighed. “Oh, Princess Buzzkill. Can’t you just enjoy the moment?”
Ella pressed her lips together and went back to watching the horses pick their way through the grass. It wasn’t as if she was completely unaffected by the sight—there was something tantalizing and exhilarating about the animals. They’d look amazing on the cover of a brochure.
But it was breezy out here, Merry didn’t have her jacket on, and Ella couldn’t shake the knowledge that their mother was waiting for them.
However, Merry was determined to immerse herself in the moment, so Ella decided to give her a few minutes to get it out of her system.
While they watched, the largest of the horses raised its head and perked its ears. Wind caught and tangled in its flowing black mane as the horse scented the air for a long, breathless moment before taking off at a loping canter, tail streaming behind like a pennant.
The other horses, cued by their leader’s sudden flight, raced to catch up, and even from a hundred yards away, Ella felt the drumbeat of their hooves reverberate through the earth and up into her chest.
Her breath caught as the horses galloped free and unfettered across the freshwater marsh. They crested a hill, and the big, black horse paused for a moment while the rest of the herd streamed past and out of view.
Ella stared, transfixed, as the black horse turned and disappeared over the swell of the hill. Beside her, Merry hummed appreciatively, then did a little shimmy with her hips.
“You know what? Since we’re stopped anyway, I’m going to sneak behind a bush and pee.”
“What? You can’t do that! Merry!”
Ella made a grab for her sister, who danced out of reach. She was surprisingly light on her feet for an about-to-pop pregnant chick.
“Back in a sec,” Merry called out. “Keep watch for me!”
Closing her eyes, Ella turned her back and scanned the stretch of empty road. The echo of the horses’ hooves still pounded through her chest, setting a rhythm for her heartbeat.
Whirling back to face the marsh, Ella nearly stumbled against her car as a rangy, reddish-brown horse paced along the edge of the meadow and up to the side of the road.
This wasn’t part of the band of wild horses, though—this one had a rider.
A very tall, very broad, very male rider.
And he was heading straight for her.
CHAPTER 3
Ella backed against her car door as the horse paced closer. She willed her gaze not to dart around searching for Merry—no need to draw attention to her sister, who might or might not be baring her behind to the breeze at this very moment.
The man made a soft clucking noise in the back of his throat, and the horse stopped walking.
“Are you lost?”
The man’s voice was as rough as his stubbled cheeks, low and deep in a way that reached into Ella’s chest and messed with her breathing.
He was big. Broad through the chest and shoulders, with powerful thighs that gripped his mount’s flanks, effortlessly controlling the huge, snorting animal he rode. Most of his face was shadowed by the brim of a battered white baseball cap, the fringe of hair spiking out from under it dark gold, like antique coins.
Ella flinched when the horse stomped one massive hoof and blew out a loud breath. Large animals made her nervous. Heck, big men who appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere, made her nervous.
Falling back on her tried-and-true method of dealing with nerves, Ella swept the man with a swift, assessing gaze, sizing him up in a single glance.
She couldn’t get much of a read on his expression under the cap, but his honeyed Southern drawl had sounded … carefully neutral. Not particularly friendly, but not threatening, either. His body language was noticeably loose and relaxed, especially considering he was sitting on top of two thousand pounds of rawboned muscle.
So he was comfortable in his skin, comfortable in the outdoors—but even as she thought that, she noticed the way his leather-glove-clad hands were clenched tightly around the horse’s reins.
Interesting. Maybe he wasn’t as comfortable as he seemed. But that was a mystery she didn’t have time to solve.
Shooting for a sunny smile, Ella found it best to appeal to the manners hopefully ingrained in this Virginia gentleman since he was a much littler boy.
“As a matter of fact, I’m a bit turned around. If you could point me in the right direction, I’d be so grateful. And then you can get back to your ride.”
He crossed his arms casually and leaned forward over the horse’s heaving neck. The morning light caught a gleam in his shadowed gaze that sent a shiver of awareness down Ella’s spine.
“Well, ma’am, I surely do appreciate you giving me permission to keep riding on this land, but I’m not the one who needs it.”
Ella blinked at the edge in his tone. Wow, it had been a while since she misread someone so completely. “Needs what?”
“Permission. Fact of the matter is, you’re trespassing.”
The rustling sound from the bushes behind her had Ella stiffening. Willing Merry to have the sense not to come charging into this tense little standoff, Ella said, “I’m just passing through.”
A slight sneer twisted his mouth, drawing Ella’s attention to the sensual, masculine curve of his lips. “Is that right?”
He sat up tall in the saddle once more, his gaze moving to something over Ella’s shoulder as he went on, voice bland as butter. “That’s not what I heard. Jo Ellen said you and your sister were coming to stay a while. Get to know the island. And her.”
This man knew their mother. The knowledge struck Ella like a blow to the head.
As if he could read the complex stab of emotion under Ella’s ribs, he shrugged and sat back in the saddle. “Then again, maybe I heard wrong. And maybe that’s a good thing. God knows, Jo doesn’t need any more trouble than she’s already got.”
He was sending out waves of disapproval strong enough to nearly knock Ella off her feet. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Just a friend of your mother’s. And I have to tell you, darlin’…” One leather-gloved finger tipped up the brim of his ball cap, and for the first time, Ella got a glimpse of his handsome, hard-jawed face and burning green eyes.
Those eyes skewered her, pinning her in place as he told her, “You look like big trouble to me.”
“Well, hello, gorgeous!” Merry’s delighted voice shattered the tense, shocked silence as she sidled up next to Ella, her lips parted in a happy grin.
The man’s dark gold brows winged up, a maddening smirk twisting his lips. Ella clenched her fingers against the itch to slap that mocking half smile off his face.
“She’s talking to your horse,” Ella said in the most withering tone she could muster.
“I am,” Merry agreed, with stars in her eyes, all her attention zoomed in on the big, dark reddish-brown horse. “What a beauty. Not that you aren’t nice-looking, too, mister.”
“Hey, don’t do me any favors,” he said, clearly amused.
Merry had worked her magic once again. Since they were kids, people had been drawn to Merry’s bubbly personality, the vivid, reckless sense of fun and life that beamed out of her bright blue eyes. Within moments of meeting most people, Merry had them eating out of her hand.
A thin sliver of something oddly like jealousy pierced Ella’s belly. Reminding herself she didn’t give two shakes if this unfriendly stranger fell all over himself for Merry, Ella turned determinedly away from him.
“We need to get going,” Ella told her sister. “Apparently, we’re trespassing on this man’s property.”
“I never said it was my property.”
“Then what, exactly, is your problem?” Ella couldn’t help the sharpness of her voice, even when it made the horse eye her nervously and prance in place.
“Shhh,” Merry cooed, before the man could respond. She held out one calm hand, green-tipped fingers curled under to let the horse bump its nose against her knuckles.
Ella fought the urge to snatch her sister’s hand away from the horse’s whuffling nostrils and big teeth. Merry had always loved animals. The horses on the island were a huge part of the draw for Merry in coming here, Ella knew. This was part of the plan—the sooner Merry got her fill of the horses, the sooner they could go back to D.C.
“You must be Merry. You’re good with him,” the man observed.
“Is he a gelding?” Merry was all eagerness, the unguarded innocence of her voice at odds with the sullen darkness of the makeup ringing her eyes, the streaks of punk-rock red highlighting her brown hair. “What’s his name?”
“Yep, he’s a gelding. I call him Voyager. Do you ride?”
Merry shook her head, hand still outstretched and that enchanted look turning her pixieish face soft and dreamy. “Never had the chance to learn.”
Ella squeezed an arm around her sister’s shoulders, a pang hitting her heart.
“It’s not too late,” the man observed, watching them. “I’m sure your mom would love to teach you. Or I could.”
Time to take control of this encounter. Sending the rider a frosty smile, Ella said, “Oh, I think we’ve taken up enough of your no doubt valuable time. Just tell me how to get to Jo’s house, and we’ll be out of your hair.”
With a reluctant sigh, Merry gave the horse’s nose one last stroke and said, “Guess I’ll start the ten-minute process of squishing this blimp of a body back into the car. Nice to meet you and Voyager.”