Hold Me Until Morning (Time River #4)

24. Hailey

EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD

TWENTY-FOUR

Hailey ran the brush down the mare’s back.

Rhythmically.

Methodically.

The horse was due in a couple weeks, and Hailey had taken to giving her company each day, soothing her, letting her know she was safe.

Besides, the stables were her favorite place in the world.

She didn’t want to be anywhere else, and she knew this was the way she would spend her life.

She settled into the calm of it, the cadenced sound of the brush whispering over the mare’s dark black coat, a silence all around, her thoughts drifting into the solace.

“There you are.”

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the voice hit her from behind, and she whirled around to find her best friend poking her head over the top of the gate.

“What is wrong with you, Brooke? You scared the crap out of me.”

Brooke’s brow shot so high it was a wonder it didn’t touch the arched, soaring ceiling. “I scared the crap out of you? I’m the one who had to wander down here to the stables to find you, and you know how I feel about that.”

Brooke overexaggerated a shiver.

Hailey giggled. “These horses are harmless.”

It was a little ironic Hailey’s best friend was terrified of horses, and Brooke never let her forget it since she was spending the summer here with Hailey before she would leave to attend college in South Carolina.

They were always glued to each other’s sides, and they wanted to spend as much time together before Brooke left.

Wistfulness dampened Hailey’s mood, though she kept it concealed.

It was going to be rough, being separated from Brooke that way.

She was her person.

The one she was constantly with.

Her confidant.

The one person who she was ever truly open and honest with, especially after Hailey’s Lolly had gotten remarried again and moved two hours away, and Hailey had again found herself living alone in a mansion with her father.

Hailey and Brooke were basically opposites. Hailey was verging on shy and unquestionably plain, hoiden through and through, jeans and tees and messy braids, and Brooke looked like she should be gracing the cover of a fashion magazine.

“Are you kidding me? I just saw a beast over there in a pen that clearly was gunning for me. Rearing back then pawing at the earth.”

Hailey giggled again. “Um, yeah, you’ll want to stay away from that one.”

The stallion knew he was surrounded by mares, and he didn’t take too kindly that he was cooped up behind metal, and he had a bad temper because of it.

“You don’t have to worry about me going anywhere near that monster. No thank you. And there you are, in there with one of those things. Gross.” Brooke curled her nose playfully.

Covering the mare’s ears, Hailey scowled at her best friend. “Shh. You’re going to hurt her feelings.”

“The only feelings that thing possesses is a thirst for murder.”

“So dramatic.”

“Hello. I am going to be a drama major. Do you expect anything less of me?”

“It’s definitely fitting.” Hailey’s smile was wide.

“So, are you done in here, or what? You’ve been out here for hours, and this girl is bored.”

A sigh pilfered between Hailey’s lips. “Sure, I can be done. What did you have in mind?”

“A little fun.” Brooke shimmied her shoulders.

“I’m not sure I’m up for the kind of fun you have in mind,” Hailey drawled. Brooke was always dragging her into trouble, far more outgoing than Hailey ever would be. Hailey’s experiences were nil compared to when she was standing next to her friend.

“Sure you are.”

She gave the horse another pat before she put her tools away and headed back for the gate, slipping out and making sure the latch was secure. “Fine. Take me away from my first loves.”

Brooke weaved her fingers through Hailey’s and started to guide her down the long aisle of stalls within the enormous stable. “But you love me most.”

A soft giggle got free, and she knocked her shoulder into Brooke’s. “You know I do.”

They pushed out through the main door and into the sunlight that covered the ranch.

Wagner Ranch was tucked deep in the woods beneath soaring pines, and there were four different groupings of stables, one for the stallions, two for the mares, and another for the horses that were for sale but hadn’t been purchased or delivered yet.

The ground was a dark soil, damp and covered in leaves, and the two of them tromped up the trail that led to Hailey’s house in the distance. It was a rambling, rustic cabin that most considered a mansion, even though Hailey found it warm and cozy.

Home.

“So what do you actually want to do?” Hailey asked.

“There’s a party tonight out in the cove.”

A scatter of nerves rattled through Hailey.

She’d been trying to stretch her wings.

Attempt new experiences.

But she felt more comfortable covered in dirt or on horseback rather than being surrounded by a bunch of strangers.

Brooke sensed her hesitation, and she shifted to link their elbows together, angling in conspiratorially. “It’s time for my bestie to let loose. Dress up and test out the waters.”

Hailey groaned. “And what kind of waters might those be?”

“Hot ones. Steaming hot.” Brooke wagged her brows.

Hailey laughed, trudging up the trail, though she felt herself slowing.

Tripping on something that changed in the air.

A charge.

An awareness.

One she couldn’t pinpoint because she’d never felt anything like it before.

Her gaze collided with someone who was off to her right, digging a hole with a shovel on the far side of a corral.

A boy.

Okay, a man.

One she’d never seen on the ranch before, but it wasn’t like hands and contractors weren’t constantly coming and going.

He was crazy tall and scarily wide, a trucker’s cap on his head and a worn tee stretched over his massive, oppressive frame.

She couldn’t quite make out the details of his face, the sun glinting down through the trees and striking over him in a glare that blinded, though she swore she could feel the piercing of his eyes.

Eyes that cut and slayed and flayed her wide open to some secret place that she hadn’t known existed.

Her stomach twisted and her heart was suddenly beating manic.

“Oh my God,” Brooke was suddenly whispering in a thrill. “That’s him.”

Jarred out of the stupor, she looked back to Brooke. “Who?”

“The guy I was telling you about. The one I fucked in his truck the other night. Talk about hot.” She drew it out, her dark chocolate eyes widening in emphasis.

“Oh.” It wheezed out of Hailey.

And she hated that it sounded like disappointment.

Brooke took it all wrong. “Don’t worry about me. I mean, I know he’s way older and that he comes with a reputation of being a player, but I can totally handle that wild boy.” Then she leaned in closer to Hailey’s face. “And I fully intend on taming him.”

A peal of laughter sprang from Brooke as she shifted and started to race up toward the house, tugging at Hailey as she went. “Come on, we need to get ready. This girl needs to look her best.”