The Chase (16 page)

Elizabeth smiled and bowed in his direction. “Thank you.”

Jake handed Casanova’s reins to Margaret and tipped his hat at the boarders, then ambled in their direction. “You girls looked like you were solving all the problems of the world a little while ago,” he said, hopping over the ring railing to join them.

“Yeah, I guess we kinda were,” Elizabeth said.

Jake nodded at Kendall. “Hi, Kendall.”

“Jake.”

“How’s camp going?”

“Fine. In fact, we were just getting ready to get back to it.” Kendall gestured towards the kids.

“Don’t let me hold you up. Try to stay cool.” Jake took his hat off and wiped his forehead on his sleeve as he walked towards the barn.

“Oh, Jake, Kendall, wait a minute. I want to ask you something,” Margaret called as she opened the gate to the ring and led the horse through.

Jake stopped and turned around.

“Is there any chance the two of you could pick up a horse for me this afternoon?”

Jake shrugged. “Sure.”

“I have to take Samantha home after camp,” Kendall said. “But I could pick the horse up after that. Where is it?”

“He’s at High Meadow. The Worthingtons have generously offered the use of their retired show horse, Patches, for the summer camp. They wanted to trailer him over here for us because he can be a bear to load, but they had to take their van in for service. I told them I’d be sure to send competent horse people so we’d be able to get old Patches loaded on the trailer. That’s why I’d like the two of you to go. And I invited Todd to go along. I thought he’d get a thrill out of seeing High Meadow.”

“Can I go, too?” Elizabeth asked, holding her hands in a praying motion.

“I don’t see why not.”

Elizabeth jumped up and down. “Thank you, Mrs. Southwell. I’ve always wanted to see the stables at High Meadow.”

Jake turned to Kendall. “What time do you want to leave?”

“High Meadow is in the same direction as the Cummings’s farm, so we can drop Samantha off at her house on the way. Why don’t we plan on leaving here right after camp ends, say around four o’clock?”

Jake nodded. “That’s fine by me. I’m going to hop on Cloudy now, and then I’d like to go pay a visit to Chancellor. I’ll make sure I’m back before the end of camp, and I’ll have the trailer hooked up and ready to go.”

“All right. Why don’t you give me your cell phone number, just in case there is a change of plans.”

Jake frowned at her. “
What?”

Kendall gestured towards the cell phone clipped to his belt. “Let me get your cell phone number, so I can call you if the plans change for any reason.”

“Oh, right.” Jake took the phone off his belt. “Sorry. I’m still not used to having a cell phone. I just got this yesterday. It’s one of those prepaid deals.”

Kendall glanced at the phone. “Oh? Did you leave your cell phone in Oklahoma?”

“Nah. I never had the need for one before. But I figured if I’m going to be staying around here for a while, I’d better break down and buy one.”

A
nne put the phone receiver back on the base just as Doug walked into the study.

“That was Kendall on the phone. She’s on her way. I warned her about the guard at the gate. Hopefully, Samantha will be so excited that you’re home, she won’t be too frightened when she sees the guard.”

Doug sat on the couch and pulled Anne down next to him, gingerly lifting his arm around Anne’s shoulders and drawing her close. “You worry too much. I think Samantha will be just fine.”

Anne nuzzled his neck. “Mmm, you smell good. How was your shower?”

“It felt great.” He let out a long sigh. “God, it’s good to be home.”

Anne rested her head on his chest. “It’s nice to have you home. Even though you left the hospital as a persona non grata. What did they call it?”

“AMA. Against medical advice.”

“Right.” She pulled back so she could see his face. Doug had removed the Steri-Strips from the cut on his forehead, and the skin around it looked raw and tender. “I’m going to hold you to your promise to go to the doctor tomorrow.”

“I know.” There was a note of exasperation in his voice. “Let’s not get into that discussion again.”

Anne took a deep breath and bit back a reply. “Do you still have a headache?”

“It’s not too bad.”

She ran her hand over his cheek. “You even shaved.”

Doug pulled her close again. “Anne, we’ve got to talk.” He smoothed her hair back and kissed the top of her head.

“About what?”

“About who tampered with my brakes and put the dead deer outside the door.” He let out a slow breath. “I know it may sound crazy, but I can’t shake the feeling Zeb McGraw is behind this, even though he’s in jail. It just smacks of something he’d do.”

She nodded. “I agree.”

“I’ve asked Patrick Talbot at Manse Security to hire an investigator to look into it.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

“I’ve also hired a bodyguard to accompany you wherever you go. And one for Samantha.”

Anne pulled away. “What about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You hired bodyguards for Samantha and me, but what about you? You almost died in the accident, Doug.
You’re not invincible
. You’ve made all these great plans, but you failed to mention who’s going to protect you.”

“I’m not trying to play hero, Anne. I’ll be careful.”

“I don’t want you to be
careful.”
Her voice cracked and she took a deep breath. “I want you to be protected.”

“All right, don’t get upset.” Doug slid his hand over hers. “If it will make you feel better, I’ll take a guard with me, too.”

“Thank you.”

Doug smiled and moved his hand to her belly. “How’s our baby been handling all this turmoil?”

“Kicking up a storm, as usual.”

She heard the sound of tires outside on the gravel drive. “That must be Samantha.” She stood and extended her hand to Doug. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. The guy who helped rescue Chancellor is with Kendall. Apparently, they’re going to pick up a horse after they drop off Samantha. You probably don’t feel up to meeting him now, but I’d like to go out and thank him.”

“Nonsense; I may be bruised and battered, but I’m not an invalid. Of course I want to meet him. I spoke with Ned Carey this afternoon, and he told me that Chancellor wouldn’t have survived without this guy’s help.”

They reached the front door just as someone rang the bell, and Doug swung the door open.

“Daddy!” Samantha rushed into Doug’s arms.

Doug winced and Anne could tell from his expression that it hurt when she hugged him, but he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up.

He set her down on the hall table. “How’s my princess doing?”

“I missed you so much, Daddy.” Samantha kept her grip tight around his neck. “You have a big owie on your head. Does it hurt?”

“Nah, I’m a tough guy. You know that.”

Anne reached over and gave Samantha a kiss. “How was camp today, sweetie?”

“It was so much fun. Can I tell Mommy and Daddy what I did, Kendall?”

“Of course you can.” Kendall had been standing just outside the door, and she stepped inside and gave Doug a light hug. “You look great. I’m so happy you’re home.”

“Thanks.”

“Tell us, Samantha,” Anne said. “What did you do in camp today?”

Samantha grinned. “I cantered.”

“You’re kidding,” Doug said.

“Nope. I cantered all by myself.”

“Were you scared?”

“Kind of, at first, but then it was really fun.”

Doug tousled her hair. “That’s my girl.”

He turned to Kendall. “Anne told me the guy who rescued Chancellor is with you. I’d love to meet him.”

“Oh, that’s Jake,” Samantha said. “He’s really nice and he’s a real cowboy.”

“Really? Would you introduce me to him?”

“Sure.” Samantha hopped down off the table and grabbed Doug’s hand. “Come on.”

Anne noticed the color had drained from Doug’s face. She put her hand on Samantha’s arm. “Samantha, why don’t we invite Jake inside to meet Daddy? We can offer him something cold to drink, and I’ll bet if I look hard enough, I might even be able to find some cookies in the kitchen.”

“Okay. Can I help you put the cookies on a plate?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll go get Jake,” Kendall said.

Anne looked at Doug. “And you go sit down.”

“Good idea,” Doug replied, turning stiffly towards the study.

When Anne and Samantha returned, Doug and Kendall were seated on the couch, and a tall blond man wearing cowboy boots, blue jeans, and a white T-shirt stood by the fireplace, with one foot on the raised stone hearth. He straightened up when they approached.

Anne set the tray on the coffee table and extended her hand. “You must be Jake. It’s so good to meet you. Thank you for all you’ve done to help Chancellor.”

“It was my pleasure, ma’am. Chancellor’s a real special horse.”

“Jake was just telling me he went to see Chancellor this afternoon,” Doug said.

“Is Chancellor still in the horse hospital?” Samantha asked.

Jake nodded.

Samantha turned to Doug. “Why didn’t Chancellor get to come home when you did, Daddy?”

“Because sometimes it takes longer for horses to get better than it does for people to get better.”

“But Chancellor’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”

“You bet he is, darling,” Jake said. “He’s doing just fine. In fact, when I was there this afternoon, they let me take him out to graze, and he just about ate all the grass in the pasture.”

Samantha giggled and held out the plate of cookies. “Would you like a cookie?”

“Thank you.” Jake reached for one. “How’d you know Oreos are my favorite cookie?”

She smiled shyly and raised her shoulders in a shrug. “I didn’t know. They were the only cookies we had.”

Anne passed out the glasses of lemonade. “Samantha thought lemonade sounded refreshing on such a hot day.”

“The perfect choice,” Jake said.

Samantha climbed onto the couch between Kendall and Doug. “We were so hot at camp today that Kendall let us squirt each other with the hose. It was really fun.”

Kendall smiled at her. “I’m glad you had fun, Samantha. Say, speaking of camp, Jake and I had better hit the road. We’re supposed to pick up a horse for Margaret.”

“Do you work at Fox Run, Jake?” Doug asked.

Jake shook his head. “Nah, not really. I’m just passing through and I agreed to ride some horses for Mrs. Southwell.”

“Well, I’m certainly grateful for what you did for Chancellor. If there’s ever anything I can do for you in return, I hope you’ll let me know.”

Jake shifted uneasily. “There’s no need to thank me, Mr. Cummings. I was just in the right place at the right time. I have no doubt you’d have done the same thing under the circumstances.”

T
he gates to High Meadow were closed when they arrived, and Kendall pulled to a stop and lowered the driver’s window. She pressed a series of numbers on the keypad at the gatepost, and the gates glided open.

“Wow, that’s cool,” Todd said from the backseat. “How do you know the code to open the gate?”

Kendall looked at Todd in the rearview mirror. “Margaret told it to me.”

Todd snorted. “That’s great security. What’s the point of a code if you give it to everyone?”

Jake cast a glance at the backseat. “I don’t think Margaret and Kendall exactly pose a security risk, Todd.”

Kendall smiled. “Besides, I don’t think they keep the gates closed for security. It’s not exactly a high-crime neighborhood. The gates are kept closed mainly to prevent the horses from getting out on the road if they should get loose.”

Todd stared out the window. “Mr. Cummings doesn’t live in a high-crime neighborhood, but he sure has security guards all over his farm.”

“That’s different. Doug’s had some incidents where people have targeted him and his family. He has every right to be cautious.”

They rounded a bend in the drive and a three-story white-columned redbrick house came into view.

Todd whistled. “This place looks like a freaking hotel.”

“It’s like something out of a movie set,” Elizabeth said.