Chapter 1
Present day
Haven, Texas
Freedom tasted like ambrosia.
It almost made her dizzy with joy.
For the first time in her life there was no one telling her what to do. What to wear. Who to be friends with. What to eat and drink.
Who to marry.
She sucked in a deep breath at that thought. She no longer had to live in terror about what scheme her father was going to come up with next.
Maybe she should feel bad that she wasn’t more upset about his death. But it was like she’d been locked away without light or sound and now she was suddenly free.
Part of her still couldn’t believe that he’d jumped. That he’d killed himself. But there were two witnesses. Plus, the cops had later found a suicide note that he’d left in his office.
She guessed she hadn’t been paying close enough attention to notice that he was spiralling.
Arabella tightened her hands around the steering wheel as she drove toward Haven. She’d gotten caught up with saying goodbye to Pop-Pop and hadn’t left Austin until close to three. It was only a three hour drive so she could still make it before dark.
But she’d had to let the rental agent who was meeting her at her new house know that she’d be late.
She hadn’t sounded too impressed.
Let it go.
You can’t please everyone. You offered to get a hotel room and meet her in the morning.
The other woman hadn’t wanted to do that, either.
Arabella wished Pop-Pop was coming with her, but he’d wanted to stay in Austin.
With his two girlfriends.
So she was headed to Haven alone. Thankfully, after selling her father’s cars and jewelry plus the credit she’d built up, she had enough money to pay for Pop-Pop’s nursing home for the next two years.
Pop-Pop had given her plenty of advice before she’d left.
Be brave. Be fierce. And make sure you find a sexy cowboy to ride.
Don’t settle for the first man that comes along. Play the field.
Sometimes she worried about her grandfather. Ride a cowboy? Really?
What if Cole didn’t want her there, though?
She tightened her hands around the steering wheel again, feeling her anxiety rise.
You can’t control someone else’s feelings.
A few hours later, she pulled over as she saw the sign for Haven.
She’d just take a photo for Pop-Pop.
As she got out of her car, she had to take a second look at the sign.
Welcome to Haven, Texas.
Population: We’ve given up counting.
A snort escaped her and she put her hand over her mouth, glancing around as though she expected her father to pop up out of nowhere and berate her for sounding like a pig.
He’s dead.
You don’t have to worry about him anymore.
Turning around, she positioned herself in front of the sign and held her phone up to take a selfie. Just as she did a car drove past. She sent the photo to Pop-Pop. He replied quickly with a smiley face emoji and an eggplant.
She groaned. Her grandfather was terrible.
“This isn’t a good place to pull over,” a male voice said gruffly.
With a gasp, she looked up, dropping her phone.
Damn it!
She picked it up and took a hasty step back from the man standing by her car.
Wait. Two men.
Two very similar looking men. Were they twins?
Arabella gulped. What was she thinking pulling over on the side of the road to get a selfie?
She was an idiot.
Not to mention that it was growing darker. Anything could happen to her. Who were these men? Why had they stopped? Why was this road so quiet? Was no one else going to drive past?
She ran her gaze over them. They looked fit and muscular. One of them was wearing a pressed white shirt with dark jeans. The other wore a dark blue shirt with a jacket over the top. Both of them had short dark hair.
Who were these guys?
And what did they want with her?
The one wearing the jacket nodded. “I think you get it now. You’re alone, on a quiet road, it’s getting dark, and you stop to take a selfie? You didn’t even notice that we’d turned around, did you? Or that we parked and got between you and your car?”
“What do you want?” she asked suspiciously. Because she couldn’t decide if they were threatening her or warning her.
The guy without the jacket sighed. He looked her over with a cool gaze as if he couldn’t believe they were bothering to talk to her.
She straightened her shoulders.
Arabella wasn’t going to let other people make her feel small. Not anymore. Her father had constantly called her weak or stupid.
Maybe she had been. But she was trying to change that now. Starting with being more independent. Doing things she wanted to do.
Perhaps she’d make some friends and take up a hobby. Maybe Shaw still lived there, he might want to be her friend. She didn’t know. But it was her choice to make.
And right now she was choosing not to stand here and put up with these two glaring at her. One with clear disapproval. The other with cold dismissal.
She pulled on her haughty mask. The one that had gotten her through a number of scary situations and social functions.
“I don’t know who the two of you are or why you stopped to give me your opinion about what I’m doing. But I didn’t ask for you to do any of that and now I’m leaving.”
“Someone could have crashed into your car,” the one in the jacket said. “They could have pulled over and assaulted you. No one would have known. And you clearly have no idea about watching your surroundings. You need more situational awareness.”
Situational awareness?
Who talked like that?
“Come on, Eli. Let’s go.” That came from the quieter brother. The one with cold, brown eyes.
So the bossy one was Eli?
Eli narrowed his gaze at her. “Next time you want to stop on a quiet road when it’s nearly dark with no one else around. Don’t.”
Her temper stirred. She was doing nothing wrong. In fact, if anyone was in the wrong here it was these guys.
“The next time you decide to stop and scold someone for doing nothing wrong and just minding their own business. Don’t.”
With a huff, she moved around them toward her car. It took a lot to turn her back on them and she had to concentrate on her steps, not wanting to make an idiot of herself by tripping. By the time she made it to the car, she was trembling.
She sat behind the steering wheel and watched them get into their late-model SUV.
Eli gave her car a once over and shook his head.
Now he didn’t approve of her car, either?
Jeez. What gave him the right to judge? Yes, it was an older model sports car and a bit rusty, but she hadn’t wanted to spend too much money on a car.
Shit. What if people judged her by her car choice?
It’s not your problem. People will think what they’re going to think and you can’t change that.
The other man just shook his head and shrugged.
Obviously he didn’t care what she drove.
Urgh. And why do you care? You’re never going to see either of those guys again. They didn’t look like they’d live in a small town in the middle of nowhere.
Although they had headed the same way as her . . . no. They were probably just driving through.
That was all.
Shaking off her nerves, she restarted her car. But just as she started driving again, something raced past the front of her car, causing her to slam on her brakes.
Her heart nearly burst out of her chest and she put her head down on the steering wheel as she attempted to catch her breath.
Then she realized that she’d stopped on the road and was going to cause an accident if she didn’t move.
But what was that? An animal? It had to be, right?
She didn’t think she’d hit it.
What if it was hurt, though?
Consumed by worry and knowing that she wouldn’t sleep tonight unless she checked, she pulled off the road and got out.
“Hello? Anyone there?”
Now she sounded like an idiot. Was she really expecting it to reply to her? Arabella ran her hand over her face, letting out a huff of breath. But as she turned to get back into her car, she heard a whimper.
Was that a dog?
“Here, pup-pup,” she crooned. “Are you still there? Where are you? Come here.”
Her hand shook as she held it out. Arabella didn’t have much experience with dogs, but there was no way she could leave it here.
“Here, pup-pup.”
To her shock, a fully grown but skinny dog shuffled out of the grass. It wasn’t the most attractive looking dog she’d ever seen. It looked a bit scruffy and worn.
But when she stared into its eyes, she saw something that she’d seen in the mirror too many times.
Hopelessness.
Sadness.
The dog didn’t expect her to help. In fact, it likely thought she’d lash out. So despite her fear, she sat down on her bottom and called out to him or her again.
“Come on, baby. Come here. It’s all right. I won’t hurt you.”
It took a few minutes, but then the dog grew closer. It lunged and she nearly screamed and ran. But all it did was lick her hand and move back.
They stared at each other for a long time.
“Okay, buddy. I’m guessing you could use some dinner and so could I. So how about we get in my car, get to Haven, and then I’ll figure out what to do with you?” She got slowly to her feet.
The dog whimpered again and she froze. But it didn’t move. Didn’t lunge.
Just gave her those sad eyes. She opened her back door and patted the seat. “In.”
The dog didn’t move.
“Come on, buddy. We need to go or the agent will leave and I will have to sleep in a hotel room tonight.”
She swore the dog understood her. Or maybe he or she didn’t want to be left behind. Because it got to its feet and jumped into the car.
Arabella let out a deep breath, relief filling her.
She didn’t know what she would have done if he . . . yep, definitely a he, had refused to move. At least he hadn’t looked like he was in pain.
Although she did wince as she saw how dirty he was. Oh well, she could clean her car. However, that stench . . . holy. She opened a window. That was bad.
He sat in the backseat and looked out the window. “Hope the house is pet friendly. Maybe there’s a pound here.”
Another whimper and he placed his face behind his paw.
Jeez. There was no way he understood the word, pound. Right?
She still felt terrible for saying it.
For thinking it.
But she couldn’t keep him. Maybe he belonged to someone.
“Perhaps you’re lost. Are you lost? Shall we find your owners?”
Was it crazy to talk to a dog?
No crazier than picking up a stray, she guessed. Or having two men stop to tell her off for taking a selfie in front of a sign.
Sheesh.
As she drove through the main street of Haven, she saw that everything was pretty much the same as she remembered. Other than the fact that there were now fall decorations out.
“This place is so pretty,” she said. “I can’t believe we get to live here.
Well, I am going to live here. I’m going to be safe here.
I get to be in charge. I can do whatever I like and no one can tell me differently.
Perhaps I should feel bad that my father is dead.
But he was also my jailor. My abuser. Abuse isn’t always physical, you know. ”
Arabella followed the directions to the house and drew up out front.
It was further out of town than she’d thought.
She’d been so grateful to find somewhere to stay that she hadn’t noticed bothered to research where it was located in Haven.
There was only one house close by and woods on two sides of the house.
A late-model convertible sat in the driveway.
An older woman leaned up against it, glaring out at Arabella. This must be the rental agent. Ravina Parks.
She wore a short, tight black dress, high heels and her hair was sleeked back in a bun.
She climbed out with a forced smile. “Hi! I’m Arabella.”
“You’re late. I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes.”
“I’m so sorry. I had a bit of an emergency. See, there was this dog—”
Ravina’s eyes widened and she stepped back. Turning, Arabella saw the dog standing behind her.
Wow. Somehow, she hadn’t quite taken in how big he was. Maybe because she’d been so worried about him biting her. Or that he might be hurt. But he was huge. Skinny, though.
Poor baby, she could see every one of his ribs.
“What . . . what is that?” Ravina asked.
“Um, it’s a dog.”
“It’s enormous. Is it yours?” the woman demanded.
“Well, no, not exactly.”
“You never said that you were going to bring a dog. Dogs aren’t allowed on the property. My aunt would never allow it.”
“Your aunt?” Arabella asked.
“Yes, my aunt that owns this place.”
Oh, right. Arabella had only dealt with this woman, but the owner had signed the rental agreement.
“Listen, I’ve got other places to be. That thing can’t live here with you.”
“He’s not a thing.” Arabella moved back to pat the small horse’s head.
Hmm. Horse.
Well, that would work for a name for the moment.
“Whatever he is, there’s a strict no pet policy,” Ravina told her.
Why did she look happy about that?
“It would only be for a few days. A week at most while I try to find his owners.”
Ravina sneered down at Horse. “No. It’s the house or the . . . dog.”
And that was how Arabella found herself parked on the side of the road in the town that she thought would be the answer to all of her prayers, trying to find somewhere to stay for a few nights.
The only hotel in town was pet-friendly, but they had no availability all weekend. Apparently there was a rodeo in the next town over and everything was booked up.
“What am I going to do, Horse? I’m really sorry. Don’t be upset with me. But you can’t live with me. And I really want that house.”
She searched online for an animal shelter and let out a groan of frustration. “Of course it’s shut until Monday. Shit. I’m an idiot.” She sighed. “All right, let’s grab a bite to eat and have a think. You hungry?”
Horse let out a small woof that she was going to take as a yes.
Perfect.