Chapter Fifteen
“So, how far along are you?” Nick’s voice cut through the interior silence of the tack room like a knife, making Jenna jump.
“Sorry didn’t mean to scare you,” he said from behind her.
She knew he was standing in the doorway. She hadn’t heard him come in. He’d been so quiet.
And how did he know she was pregnant? Guessed it?
Jenna sat on the bench, clutching a metal pail after having been sick. To her dismay, she could feel his presence as he quietly stepped inside.
Suddenly the room felt so small with him in it. He was a big, tall man and he made her feel safe as he knelt down beside her, offering an unspoken comfort.
She hesitated, hoping she had misheard him, even though she knew exactly what he meant.
She glared at him, trying hard to keep herself from losing eye contact. She needed to stay strong. To show him she was the boss.
“Excuse me?” Jenna asked, her voice betraying her discomfort.
“Ten weeks? Eleven weeks? Your prenatal vitamins gave it away.”
Another wave of nausea hit Jenna before she could reply. She bent over the pail, retching again, feeling awfully embarrassed.
Nick, without hesitation, reached over to hold back her hair, making sure she didn’t get sick on herself. It was the same gesture Axel had done. Twice. The gentle sweep of Nick’s hand was unexpectedly comforting, the kind of care she hadn’t felt in a long time.
Afterward, Jenna finally felt some relief from the nausea and a bit stronger.
She considered telling Nick to mind his own business, but his bright blue eyes were filled with an empathy for her that both surprised and unsettled her. The man barely knew her, yet he looked at her like she truly mattered to him. Why would he care so much for someone he barely knew.
“Please, don't tell Axel,” she whispered. Her voice cracked, the plea slipping out raw and unguarded.
“I won't. But he'll be noticing soon enough. Unless he already suspects.”
“Just...not now.” She needed more time.
She studied Nick, suspicion creeping in. Had he been snooping? Was he a thief? How did he know about her prenatal vitamins?
“And exactly what were you doing in my purse? That's the only place I keep my vitamins.”
“I was looking for some baking supplies when I opened up the kitchen cupboard and your purse dropped out onto the counter. Then the prenatal vitamins rolled out of your purse and fell onto the floor. I wanted to give you my condolences too about your neighbour. Sally told me she had bad news to share with you, but I didn’t know what until she told you. ”
“Thanks,” Jenna said, feeling grief rip into her.
“Did you find her?” Axel’s shout ripped through the barn and made her jump. She could tell he was outside, but still far enough away that it would take a couple of minutes to reach them.
“Oh damn! I don’t want him to see me like this again!” she hissed.
“Easy, I’ll handle him,” Nick said softly as he placed a reassuring hand on her left shoulder. She was surprised by the comfort she found in his touch, craving the warmth and connection that left her wanting more.
“You better make sure you stay in sight or he’ll be on you like a dog on a bone. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes,” Jenna replied sharply, the phrase ‘a dog on a bone’ echoing in her mind. She wished she hadn’t snapped like that, and when his hand left her, she wanted it back there again.
“Okay, I shall go out and distract the enemy,” Nick said with a chuckle and then he was gone.
A reluctant smile tugged at her lips. Even now, he could make her laugh.
She was relieved when Axel didn’t enter the barn and true to his word, Nick distracted him, calling out as he left the tack room.
She overheard Nick telling Axel that she was at the back of the barn brushing the horse taking advantage of the cool interior.
Jenna held her breath, expecting Axel to come inside and catch Nick’s lie. But soon, both men’s voices faded away, and she allowed herself to relax.
When she finally felt better, she gazed out the tack room window and saw Nick and Axel working together outside, carrying shingles and supplies to the side of the house. She couldn’t help but notice Axel glancing toward the barn, his concern obvious.
She bristled at the feeling of being controlled. Both men seemed to be dictating her actions, confining her to where they could see her.
She understood their concern, but it grated on her nerves to be treated like a child who needed constant supervision. The protective vigilance that had felt comforting yesterday now scraped against her nerves.
And in that moment, Jenna knew exactly what she needed to do.
* * * * *
“Heads up!” Jenna shouted from behind them.
The shout cracked through the air like a whip, sending a jolt of adrenaline straight through Axel. He’d been keeping an eye on her, noting her movements since Nick had found her in the barn.
A few minutes earlier he’d watched her ride up to the back of the house on a horse. He figured she was going inside to go to the bathroom or get a snack and now here she was.
At her shout, his attention was drawn away from the box of metal drip edging he’d been opening, and he couldn’t believe his eyes at what he saw.
For a heartbeat, he forgot how to breathe. She looked like a damn outlaw queen, fierce and blazing in the sunlight as she sat about thirty feet away, on a black horse.
She wore her cowboy hat and in one hand she held a yellow walkie talkie and in the other hand she held a rifle pointed in the direction of Nick and himself.
Well, actually it was aimed at Axel. Of course she would point it at him first. And by the way she was staring him down, she was pissed.
“Woah! Don’t shoot!” Nick muttered under his breath, raising his hands in surrender.
Nick’s surrender pose almost made him laugh, but the fire in Jenna’s eyes kept him rooted to the spot.
“Shit,” Axel muttered, realizing she had finally lost her patience with him keeping such a close eye on her.
“Consider this your hearing aid, gentlemen. I want you two to back off watching my every move,” she declared and wiggled the rifle back and forth.
Her words hit harder than the rifle ever could. Yup, he’d pushed her too far.
“Is the safety catch on?” Axel called out.
He kept his voice steady, but every nerve in his body was on alert.
One wrong move and this could go sideways fast. He sure didn’t want that rifle shooting off parts that he valued.
His muscles tensed with the urge to take control, but he forced himself still.
She wasn’t his to protect like that anymore.
She was a grown woman who’d taken care of herself over the years while he’d been behind bars. He couldn’t just come around and be protective of her the way he’d been in the past. They were older now. Both of them had changed. He could see that now.
Nick, hands still raised, added, “I hope you know how to use it.”
“Yes, the gun is loaded. The safety catch is on, and I have had training on how to use my weapons. I am not afraid to use this if I need to. I have all the required licences to carry this rifle. I just wanted to let you guys know that I don’t need a babysitter.
I will be taking my horses on trail rides.
I will be out of your sight. I am very capable of protecting myself with a gun if need be.
If someone dares to cross me, I will shoot first and I will ask questions later.
I refuse to be held prisoner on my own property by that intruder or by you two. Is that understood?”
Her fierce gaze was fixed on Axel, making him feel as though he was the one being scolded. The words sliced through him. He’d meant to keep her safe, not cage her.
“Understood,” Nick replied quickly.
“Axel?” she prompted.
Her eyes locked onto his, fierce and unyielding, and something hot and dangerous curled low in his chest. He felt the old pull. The instinct to argue with her, to push back and tell her it wasn’t safe, but he swallowed it down. She needed autonomy, not a man telling her what to do.
Her independence was on full display for him, and he remembered this side of her well.
Damn, but she turned him on so bad when she got mad at him.
“Just be careful,” Axel warned. The words tasted like a compromise, but it was all he could offer without crossing her boundaries. He returned to ripping open the box.
He knew she had expected him to argue, but he felt reassured knowing she was armed and capable.
Obviously, he’d pissed her off and that’s the last thing he wanted. She was the boss. She’d pretty much said it last evening when she told him they had to be professional.
“Okay, then. Here’s the walkie talkie. Catch!”
Jenna tossed it the instant Axel straightened.
He caught it easily, the gesture oddly intimate. A truce wrapped in plastic and static.
“If you need to get ahold of me, or vice versa. Just push that black button. The walkie talkie is small enough to put into your back pocket. In case of emergency I’ll be on the green trail today. Just follow the green colored signs.”
“Can I put my arms down? You won’t shoot a poor, defenseless man?” Nick asked, the laughter evident in his voice.
“Yes, you may. Just don’t follow me. I will be fine. Thanks for caring. See you two later,” she replied in her no nonsense voice.
Then, the leather creaked as she slipped the muzzle of the rifle into the scabbard by her saddle, the butt of the rifle close to her thigh and within easy reach. And as she turned her horse around, he spied her walkie talkie peeking out from her back pocket.
She rode off like the wind, her red hair flying out from beneath her cowboy hat, leaving the two of them behind. Watching her disappear moments later into the trees sent a mix of pride and dread twisting through him. She was unstoppable, and that terrified him.
“Man, she is one serious woman.” Nick chuckled beside Axel.
He couldn’t help the slow smile. She was serious, stubborn, impossible and she was still the only woman who could unravel him with a single glare.