Old wounds #6
“If we were in Dubai, I’d cut out your tongue, you bitch, so you’d never again talk about things you don’t understand,” he roared and raised his hand.
What followed happened as if in slow motion to Shona.
Lord Wanker’s expected punch didn’t land – because Kendrick had grabbed the earl’s arm and bent it backwards.
At the same time, Nessie did what alpacas were said to do often but Shona had never seen her do: she spat.
Right in the earl’s face. The silence that followed felt almost louder than the shouting she expected.
Which, incidentally, didn’t materialise.
Without another word, the earl pulled a neatly ironed handkerchief out of his trouser pocket and wiped his face. When Rupert came to lead him out of the stable, he put up no resistance, leaving Shona to watch after them, still struggling to grasp what had just happened.
Kendrick seemed to feel the same way and stared helplessly at his hand, as if he still expected to be holding the earl’s arm. Eventually, he bent down to pick something up from the ground. “Is this yours?” he asked in a raspy voice and handed Shona the phone she had dropped earlier.
“Thank you,” she muttered and suddenly felt a little self-conscious.
“What do you think he was up to when he came here?” she voiced the question that had swirled around in her subconscious this entire time.
Why had the earl turned up at the stables by himself?
It was unlikely that he wanted to pay his horses a friendly visit, as other animal owners would.
Hailey had complained often enough that Jonah was absolutely indifferent to the animals themselves and saw them only as assets.
“I have no idea,” Kendrick replied with a shrug.
“And I’m not sure I want to know. But I have a feeling it was good that you were here.
” He swallowed visibly, and a pained expression appeared on his face.
Shona wondered what he was envisioning right now.
“It must have been pretty scary for you, huh?”
“I think I was too surprised to be scared. Do you think he would really have harmed me or tried to kidnap me?”
“I wouldn’t put anything past him. A man who lets innocent creatures be tortured like that probably wouldn’t think twice about silencing a witness either.”
His words found their mark. “But those sorts of things only happen in bad movies,” she feebly protested, trying to supress the sense of alarm she was starting to feel.
Kendrick didn’t say anything, but his face showed clearly what he thought. Shona was keen to change the subject. “Nessie was incredible,” she said.
“Indeed she was.” Now he gave her a little smile. “That was good aim. Hit the eye.”
“Is it too much to hope he’ll go blind?” she asked, sounding a little spiteful.
“Unlikely, unfortunately. If there had been stomach acid, His Lordship would have had a much stronger response.” The smile turned into a wide grin.
“Look at these two! I think they’re becoming fast friends,” he turned their attention to Nessie and Azzedine, who were companionably plucking hay from the feed rack.
“They are adorable together. Nessie hasn’t taken to horses before, but with Azzedine, it was love at first sight. He’s a handsome chap too. Do you think he will make a full recovery?” She leant against the beautiful black horse and gently stroked his silky coat.
“If he can stay here and isn’t rushed, I think he will.” Was she mistaken, or did Kendrick suddenly sound a little breathless?
She searched his gaze and lowered her eyes quickly when she recognised a longing in his brown eyes.
Was he thinking what she was thinking? What if she kissed him now?
If they went further than that? She took a step in his direction.
The desire welled up inside her just as fast as the fear had earlier.
And such a good way to work out the tension too …
“Cameras!” Kendrick croaked, and the word snapped her out of it like a bucket of ice water.
He was right, of course. If there were indeed hidden cameras installed – and there was no reason to doubt the earl on this one – they shouldn’t give the people watching the footage a show. She cleared her throat. “I need to get home.”
He nodded, appearing half disappointed, half relieved. “Do you want a lift?”
“No thanks. Nessie and I can walk or catch a lift with Hailey.”
“I think it would do Azzedine good if Nessie could stay with him. He’d be less lonely.” He gave her a pleading look.
“Em, sure, she can stay.” Shona briefly petted her woolly head, but Nessie didn’t show much interest in her.
As she squeezed past Kendrick out of the box, Shona caught a whiff of his scent, which had almost driven her mad back in Inverness.
“Have a good evening, and ... um ... make sure the bastard doesn’t get away scot-free,” she stammered shakily, not looking higher than at his chin.
Further eye contact was too dangerous and could only make her decide that she didn’t care about cameras in the stable after all.