Chapter One

“Mr. Delaney, I presume?”

Dusty glanced up from his seat on a bale of straw, where he was repairing a halter. Ben, his Belgian Malinois, sat beside him. He told the dog to stay before answering. “Yeah.”

A woman stood at the entrance to the stable with the sun at her back, outlining her like a bright angel. As she strode closer the glare receded, allowing him to see details of his visitor.

She wore jeans and a T-shirt, a common enough outfit in this part of the country. Her oval face spoke of curiosity and determination, while her movements snapped with contained energy. Medium-length dark-blonde hair, which had been pulled back into a ponytail, bobbed with each step. Wispy, short bangs that curled slightly at the ends fluttered in the light breeze, adding to her youthful and innocent appearance. Grace defined each movement, as if she were well versed in physical activity. Considering her slender form and the toned arms he glimpsed, she probably spent her fair share of time working out. A runner, most likely, with that lithe yet athletic build.

With a few more steps, she drew closer. He scented a light floral fragrance, noted the feminine curves of her body and felt his cock sit up and take notice. Intelligent blue eyes the color of a morning sky met his gaze.

Grumbling under his breath, he berated himself for reacting so quickly to the fairer sex. As if he hadn’t been badly burned by women in the past.

“What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for a stable to board my horse and I hear you’re the best.”

He stood, uncomfortable with her standing over him. Primitive instincts made the position unacceptable. He topped her by nearly a full head and probably doubled her in weight, yet she didn’t appear nervous or back up an inch.

He ignored the compliment. He enjoyed his job, loved the animals and pampered them like prized pets. Horses were in his blood. The ‘best’ treaded the line of subjectivity, but he didn’t really care what others thought. He did what he’d always dreamed of doing and left it at that. “What do you want to know?”

She glanced around the airy room, where several stalls sat empty. After feeding the horses their morning meal, he’d put them out to pasture for the day. Horses needed room to stretch their legs, grass to graze on and simply to do what nature intended—be a horse.

“Let’s start with what you charge.”

He placed the halter down on his makeshift chair. “Two hundred per month per head. That includes everything—feed, grooming and farrier service. The only extra expense you might incur is a vet bill. I cover the basic vaccinations, but anything over is yours.”

“I see.” She glanced around the room before her gaze landed on him once more. Interest and intrigue sparked in her baby-blue eyes. He found the sight somewhat captivating. “Do you offer training?”

“Yeah, but that’s extra, depending upon what you’re interested in. Anything from basic saddle breaking to specialized advanced training. I can do just about anything with a Western saddle, but draw the line at dressage and jumping. Since I have no experience in such, I don’t feel comfortable trying to teach a horse how to do all those fancy maneuvers.”

“I’m just looking for trail riding, at most. Nothing fancy.”

“That’s doable then.” He appreciated her professional questions, much preferring to clarify particulars now rather than after the fact. His contracts spelled out everything, but he’d noticed that few boarders ever bothered to read the detailed pages. Not his problem. He put forth the information, so legally he was covered.

She gestured to the stalls. “How much stall time versus pasture?”

“I bring them in at night, unless you want them to be on full-time pasture. They’re grained twice a day. Pregnant mares occasionally three times, depending on their needs.”

“Oh, I won’t be getting one of those. I’m going to adopt from the Humane Society farm. In fact, I’m going there next to choose one.”

Her revelation shocked him. Not that she appeared wealthy and uppity, but he rarely ran into anyone who wanted less than a gently raised horse with perfect manners. Though none of his business, curiosity prodded him to pursue her reasoning further. “Why would you want one from there? Hell, there’s plenty of well-bred animals around here with rich bloodlines and sound training. With the Humane Society it’s a crapshoot.”

The woman straightened her spine and pinned Dusty with her gaze. “Some of them have seen the worst the human race has to offer, yet they persevered and triumphed over the odds, able to find trust in the wake of inconceivable torture. To me, those horses are diamonds in the rough and wear badges of courage. I’ll take a battle-tested and scarred horse over a paddock raised one any day.”

He studied her face for a long moment then nodded slightly. Give her credit for standing up for the underdog and for a kind heart. He’d seen too many instances of abuse and neglect in his lifetime and each situation had disgusted him to no end. Sometimes he’d been able to step up and help. Other times his hands had been tied. Yet he commended the little lady for her beliefs and for opening her door to a rescued horse.

The words replayed in his mind, hitting home with power. ‘Battle-tested and scarred’. Not just in relation to her pick of animal, either. Unwilling to dwell further, he drew his attention back to the business proposition. He headed through his office door, grabbed a couple of pages of paper and quickly returned to her. “Here’s the contract. Pick out your horse, lady, then have them drop it off here.”

“My name is April, not lady.” She met his gaze steadily while taking the paperwork.

He inclined his head in acknowledgment.

“Thank you.” She smiled victoriously. “I know this will be the most wonderful home a horse could hope for.” With those final words, she walked out of the stable and back to her car.

The action, combined with the sassy sway of her hips, sent a sharp jolt straight to his groin. Don’t get your water hot, SEAL. You’ve learned your lesson about women the hard way. With one more look, he turned away and went back to work.

* * * *

“Oh my. So many choices.” April glanced over at her host, the director of the Humane Society farm, then back to the pasture full of a whole herd of beautiful animals. Horses of all colors grazed peacefully, dotting a vast field. While the sizes varied, their predicaments remained the same. All were homeless and looking for a special person to adopt them and love them for the rest of their lives. Sad but a common enough reality, not only with horses, but with other animals as well these days.

“I’m afraid so. Seems the poor economy hit horses pretty hard. People could no longer afford to keep them. Some were simply dumped to range free on their own, while others were abandoned when their owners moved away.”

“So frustrating and irresponsible.” April’s gut clenched at the woman’s words. She, of course, knew such things happened, but to see in person the animals that had been abandoned made everything more real.

“There’s worse. We’ve had several neglect and starvation cases. Those really make you want to cry for the animal and beat the person responsible for such horrible conditions.”

“I can imagine.” April shuddered. She’d seen pictures of gaunt horses on the Humane Society’s website as before pictures. Never did she want to see another animal so starved that they could hardly stand. She respected the workers at the farm even more for their caring and for the emotional toll such cruelty had to take on their souls.

Needing to change the morbid subject, April gestured toward the animals. “Can you give me some recommendations? I’d originally thought about Duke, but now that I’ve seen other horses, I’m indecisive again.”

Lois, the director, nodded. “This is just a few of them. There’s another pasture to our left and the stables to the right. Let’s go visit some of them and see if anything clicks.”

“Great.” April followed along.

An hour later, she still teetered on the fence. All the horses had their own attributes, yet none of them stood out from the crowd. She’d heard numerous stories, petted many noses, but couldn’t seem to narrow down her choice any more than when she’d stepped out of her SUV earlier.

“Nothing yet, huh?” Lois asked with a knowing look.

“No. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. All of them are sweet and wonderful.”

“Don’t worry.” Lois patted her arm. “It’s always hard to choose the right one. In my experience, the horse chooses you.”

“Okay.” The words only provided a hair more hope for her quickly sinking spirit. After scrimping and saving for years and finally deciding to take the leap to horse ownership, she couldn’t settle on a single one. The potential of leaving empty-handed loomed like a dark cloud of failure over her head.

“Come on. There’s a few more horses to see.” Lois led the way back toward the stable. “Maybe one of them will catch your eye. If not, you know, we’re always getting more in. Some people visit several times before finding their match.”

April nodded, but pressure to choose that day weighed heavily on her shoulders. She’d set up everything, including the stable space. The last thing she wanted to do was call the stable owner and tell him to put her space on hold for another six months or longer. Her heart ached at the thought of waiting weeks more for her lifelong dream to take flight.

As they headed toward the main area, April noticed a round pen to the side. A pure white miniature horse stood in the center. “How adorable.”

Lois paused and grinned. “That’s Mischief. He’s quite the ham and definitely lives up to his name.”

April moved toward the round pen, noting another horse in the enclosure. She stepped up to the gate and peered over. Sure enough, Mischief lifted his head and turned toward her as if sizing her up. He whinnied and trotted right to her, a large-boned dapple gray filly at his side. Both snuffled her, Mischief at her waist, the taller horse at her neck. April rubbed both of their heads and giggled when the filly tickled her neck with a whuff of air. The three rails allowed plenty of room for the mini to stick his head through and the taller filly to put her head over the top board.

“That’s amazing.” A new voice carried to April.

She kept stroking the horses, yet turned to find a middle-aged man staring at them in astonishment.

“Yes, it is,” Lois answered with a wide grin, and turned her attention back to April. “What do you think of them?”

April couldn’t wipe the happiness from her face as both horses begged for her to scratch their heads. “They’re wonderful. So pretty. And friendly.” Using her short nails, she rubbed under the filly’s halter as she leaned into the touch, a signal that she definitely wanted more.

“That’s just it. Miracle, the gray filly you’re petting, is leery of everyone.”

April blinked at the oversized pet. “You’re kidding.”

Lois approached slowly. “Nope. If you look over her flanks and rump, you’ll see some small white marks.”

April squinted, and made out several lines nearly blending in with the pretty colors of Miracle’s hide. “Now I see them.”

“Whip scars.”

April gasped. Miracle lifted her head, stared at her and stretched her neck in order to lip at her hair.

“She was one of the worst abuse cases we’ve ever seen. Starved nearly to death. Could barely stand. Full of parasites, rain rot. You name it, she had it.” Lois leaned on the fence and played with Mischief’s forelock. “We thought we were going to lose her a dozen times. Yet each time she rallied, partially in thanks to Mischief here.”

“They’re bonded?”

“Yep. Came from the same place, actually, only she was in much worse condition. We couldn’t separate them without both of them becoming very upset. So they’ve stayed together all along. Even share the same stall.”

Her gaze raked the two horses even as her heart bled at what they had both suffered. Something inside clicked. No way could she turn her back on such needy animals. If the filly truly was as skittish as Lois indicated, she might be Miracle’s only hope of finding a suitable and happy home for the rest of her natural life. Decided, April lifted her chin. “I’ll take them.”

Lois looked at her with a serious expression. “Miracle isn’t broken to ride. In fact, the vet says she might not be sound for more than a quick ride around the pasture now and again. The starvation probably left permanent physical issues. Her best option might be as a companion horse or pasture pet, a friend and beautiful creature to crop grass in your pasture.”

April swallowed. She’d wanted a horse to ride, but had no plans on showing or jumping. Simply saddling up and hitting a trail or toddling around the pasture. No matter. Miracle had picked her and April wasn’t about to turn her back on the gray filly. “That’s okay. The most I would do anyway is trail ride. Trotting through the pasture works just as well.” She laughed when Miracle nudged her with her head, blatantly asking for more attention. Lightly caressing the horse, she knew no matter what, Miracle would come home with her. She’d never forgive herself if she ignored their cause and walked away.

“You mentioned you’re stabling her.” Lois rotated to face her.

“Yes.”

“There’s something you need to know. Miracle isn’t just leery of everyone, she’s afraid of men. Put her in a corner and she’ll bite and kick at a man just for being near. I won’t lie, she’s put the fear of God into some of the workers around here. Kicked a couple who weren’t paying enough attention.”

The puzzle pieces snapped together. “A man beat her once.” April whispered the words, understanding easily why the filly would act up.

“That’s what we think too. But that lends another problem for you. How is she going to tolerate a man at the stable?”

The heavy weight of worry about a nearly impossible issue settled over April. She’d come this close, finding the horses she couldn’t leave without. Now a big monkey wrench was jamming her dream from coming to fruition. She frowned and racked her brain. “There’s only one man that runs the stable. Maybe she can learn to tolerate him?” Surely someone who worked around horses each and every day would possess the skills needed to deal with a frightened filly?

Idly she considered the other boarders, but quickly dismissed the concerns. Those people would come and go. It’ the owner Miracle would see every day. He’d care for her individually when she had to work. Thus, her trust rested on him.

“Which stable, dear?”

“Delaney Stable in Sunset.”

Lois glanced back at the man still standing there watching them, then met April’s anxious gaze and nodded. “Dusty Delaney has a reputation.”

“I’ve heard he’s the best around with horses.”

Lois laughed. “Oh, he’s wonderful with horses. It’s women he doesn’t care for in the least.”

April blinked. Not that his personal life interested her. Yet her inquisitive nature pushed her for a clarification. “He’s gay?”

“Nah. Just got a hold of a couple of piss-poor women is all. Soured him on the rest. But with horses, he’s as good as they come.”

“So that means…”

“If you want them both, we’ll let you adopt them.”

April kissed Miracle’s nose in celebration. “Did you hear that? You’re coming home with me.”

Mischief snorted and rubbed his head against her thigh, as if he’d known that all along.