Chapter 8 #2
“Tell me about them,” he said, sitting back down. They spent the next half hour talking while the rain whipped and beat down on the windows. But then there were several more cracks of lightning, like two storms were fighting for attention.
“That one seemed too close,” Renn said, standing to look out the side door. But he couldn’t see much between the torrents of rain.
“I hope Andy is doing okay out at the Sutton Ranch. I’ll bet her horses are spooked.”
Just the mention of Miranda had his pulse quickening.
“Your neighbor, is she out there all alone?”
“No, but she’s the muscle. Her stepmother has MS and her brother is only fifteen.”
Another loud roll of thunder and crack of lightning had him standing up from the table again to look outside.
Something was wrong—Renn could feel it in his bones.
As he opened the side door he could smell smoke in the air.
“I’m just going to do a quick walk around the property to make sure that lightning didn’t strike closer than we think. ”
“Alright, but use one of the raincoats by the door.”
Renn walked to the side door where he’d left his boots and grabbed a raincoat that seemed a size too big.
A reminder his half-brothers were huge men.
Outside the rain was still coming down in sheets and the sky had turned dark even though it was technically still daytime.
He walked the length of the porch to the front of the property, when he heard the distinct sound of a horse neighing.
Sure enough a beautiful black horse stood with no saddle or bridle next to his truck.
It was Miranda’s horse he’d seen her riding earlier that day.
If he didn’t get a rope on him, the horse would probably bolt off with the next strike of lightning.
He had rope in his truck, but would the animal let him get close enough?
The smell of smoke was thick in the air and if he had to bet that last strike of lightning set something on fire.
First, he needed to let Mrs. Hart know what he’d found, so he slowly moved back to the side door where Mrs. Hart stood twisting her hands with worry.
“There’s a horse in the driveway.”
“Miranda’s? Oh no, that is not a good sign.”
“Call Wes. I think there’s a fire somewhere close by. I know they can’t do anything yet, but as soon as the storm passes maybe they can head this way.”
“Right.”
“I’m going to try to rope the horse, see if I can I’ll ride him back over to the Sutton property.”
“Okay, you be careful and have Miranda call me once you’re there.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Each time Mrs. Hart, his grandmother, showed him affection, the ache in his chest since his mom died seemed to expand. As if he’d missed out on something he never knew he needed his entire life.
Heading back toward the front of the property Renn took the hood of his jacket off his head.
He didn’t want the horse to get scared of him.
The rain quickly drenched his head and ran down his neck, but he needed the horse to trust him.
He wished he hadn’t let his hair get so long and unruly now that it was plastered down onto his forehead.
“Alright, boy, I know you’re scared in this storm, probably don’t love this cold rain on you either, so I’m just going to grab a rope, and we’ll get you home.
” He knew using a soothing tone was crucial.
All the things his mama would tell him about horses started to flood back into his mind.
“You sure are one beautiful horse. My mama would have loved to get her eyes on you. She’d say, ‘That horse right there is one in a million.’”
The horse bounced his head up and water sluiced down, but he didn’t walk away. Just stood there, anxious, but stayed close to Renn’s truck.
“She’d also say, I better show you the respect you deserve.
” He retrieved the rope from the storage box in the back of his truck and made a simple slip knot.
Next he turned toward the large black stallion and looked him in the eye.
“I’m going to get you home, boy. You don’t want to be alone in this storm.
” Then he slowly slipped the rope up the horse’s snout over his proud pointed ears and let it hang loose around his neck.
“You’re a ten out of ten for sure, boy. What’s your name, I wonder? We don’t have a barn here, so I’ll need to walk you back to yours.”
Mrs. Hart appeared on the porch in another raincoat. “Wesley said the Suttons called about a fire on their property. Said they were sending the fire trucks.”
“I’m going to take him back home now and see if I can help.”
“It’s at least a mile. Can you ride him?” Mrs. Hart said.
“I guess I’d better. Are you sure you’re okay out here alone?”
“I’ll be fine. You be safe.”
Renn stroked the large horse’s head. “I’m going to have to ride you without a saddle, boy.
Let’s hope neither of us regrets this.” Then just like his mama had taught him, he gripped the horse’s mane and propelled himself up on the drenched animal.
He was already soaked wherever the rain slicker didn’t cover him, so it didn’t matter his pants were drenched now too.
The horse didn’t seem to mind his weight and was easily guided toward the pasture.
He wasn’t exactly sure where the Sutton house or barn were, but he had a feeling the horse would know the path, once he got on the sandy dirt road he’d seen Miranda riding earlier.
Sure enough, he was right. He could hear the sirens as he got closer and the horse tensed.
There wasn’t a flame anymore, but it looked like a huge tree had split in half and landed on the barn and some fencing.
There were several other horses outside in the rain, tied to the portion of the fence that was still up.
A fire truck was parked on one side of the barn and there were several firemen starting to clear some of the damaged wood away from the entry to the barn.
As he got closer Miranda came running out of the barn and charged toward them.
“Thank God, you found him.” She walked up to the horse and stroked his face. “Is he okay?” she said but immediately started running her hands over the large animal, checking each of his muscular legs and moving around Renn.
“I think he’s fine. He was just standing next to my truck. Seemed spooked but didn’t give me any trouble. He let me rope him and ride him back,” Renn said over the rain still pelting down, then swung his leg over and slid off the large animal.
“Thank you for bringing him back. He could have been hit by a car or God only knows.” She was clearly upset but relieved.
“Looks like that lightning damaged your barn. Must have spooked him?”
“Most of the paddocks are still usable, all but Beast’s. That’s how he got out. I’m just glad he didn’t get struck.”
The rain finally started to lull to a drizzle and droplets hung from her eyelashes. Renn had the overwhelming urge to reach out and try to catch them, but he knew that would be futile as the rain continued. Not to mention he doubted she’d welcome the intimacy right now.
“You must be cold. Why don’t you go back inside. I’ll stay with the horses until they clear the barn.”
“No, I’ll stay with them. Poor beasts.”
Renn laughed. “Do you call them all beasts?”
She smiled. “Sort of—it’s a holdover from childhood when my dad would lecture me to always remember how powerful they were. I’d call them my beautiful beasts.”
One of the spotted mares was shaking her head in agitation and Renn walked over from the side of her so she could see him. Using a low tone, he spoke to her before he smoothed his hand down her neck.
“Where’d you learn to sweet-talk horses?”
Before he could respond the sheriff’s cruiser pulled up. “Hey, Andy, I’m really sorry about the barn,” Wes said, and nodded at Renn. “I’m going to see what we need to make things safe. Everyone, okay?”
“Yep, although Jeremy is already over in the barn asking the firemen a million questions.”
“Renn you wanna hop in? We might need more hands with the fencing.”
“I better walk. I’m drenched.”
“Alright.”
“Thanks, Wes,” Miranda said.
Once he drove off, she turned her inquisitive green eyes on him. “Earlier you said you were visiting the Hart family, but Wes didn’t seem too happy to see you.”
Renn just nodded. “We’re new acquaintances.” He wasn’t sure how much he should say to the Harts’ neighbor, even if she was the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about.
The rain had finally stopped just as a young man near the firemen whistled and waved them over.
“Looks like we can walk them back over. Do you mind taking two? And I’ll take the other two?” Miranda asked.
“Sure thing.” Renn just followed her lead, ready to follow her anywhere if she’d let him.