Summer on Kendall Farm(59)

Horse sense wasn’t just a cliche to Kelly. They were smart beasts, strong, loyal and intelligent. She went from one to the other providing carrot sticks and rubbing their noses. Stopping at a stall with the name tag of Stout’s Honor written on the placard, she hugged the horse’s face and took in the rich, pungent smell.

“So you’re a race horse?” she said.

“Yep, I’m a race horse.”

Kelly jumped. The sun was behind the man in the doorway, but she’d recognize Emmett’s voice anywhere.

“Emmett,” she called, already walking toward him.

He caught her in a bear hug and let loose a hearty chuckle. She felt like a kid again.

“I know you’ve been busy,” he said, releasing her. “But I hope to see more of you now that I’ll be here.”

“You bet you will.”

Kelly hugged him again, before standing back and looking at him. “Emmett, I am so glad you’re here.”

Emmett had to be in his sixties, but he looked twenty years younger. His face had few lines, some around his eyes and the parenthesis markings that framed his mouth.

“Where am I staying?” he asked, using the no-nonsense tone that was his trademark.

“You know where you’re staying. And I moved any female trappings.” Those were Emmett’s words for anything related to women. He’d been married once, had a daughter who was now living in Seattle. After his wife died, he said he could finally remove all the pink and lavender from his life. But Kelly remembered he always had a purple scarf in his pocket at races. A tribute to his late wife.

Arm in arm they strolled through the barn. Emmett already knew the horses, so they didn’t give him the same perusal they’d given her.

She opened the door to the cabin and laid the keys in a dish just inside.

“You’re perfectly capable of making your own meals, but if you want, breakfast is at seven, lunch at noon and dinner at six. There’s hot coffee, cold water in bottles and soft drinks all day. You’re always welcome at the main house even if it’s outside of those hours.”

Emmett nodded.

Kelly turned to go, then recalled something. She turned back. “We have a day when we allow the public to tour the place.”

“For a fee?”

“For a fee.”

“Good,” he approved. “I heard about your first try at that. Susan Johnson came to see me before she went back to Kentucky. Told me you’d done the house proud and made it better, in fact.”

Kelly thought of the woman who’d known her father.

“It’s open every week on Tuesday. There will be those who want to see the horses. Would you like to handle that or should I hire someone?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Emmett said.

Kelly was glad it was a job she could delegate to someone else.

“Has Jace not been back?” he asked.

Kelly looked at the floor. “No. He hasn’t been back.”

Kelly stared at Emmett for a long moment. This was a small town. Emmett must have heard something. “You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you?”

Emmett shook his head. “The rumor mill hadn’t coughed him up yet, but it won’t be long. As you said, he’s got the kid, and someone is bound to see him. You want me to tell Jace you asked when I find out?”

Kelly’s head snapped up. She did, but she couldn’t say that. “I want to thank him. Having the other horses here will help a lot with the finances and with bringing the Kendall back to where it was.”

“Is that all?”

The way he asked the question said he knew there was something between her and Jace. It wasn’t exactly true.

But it wasn’t false, either.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN

SHELDON KNOCKED OFF for the day. Going back to his bungalow, he took a long, hot shower and dressed in clean shorts and a shirt. It was wash day, so he gathered his clothing, stuffed it in a canvas bag and headed to the Laundromat. Not far from the marina was a place where the sailboat owners could wash towels and the various items that proved sea duty was a dirty business. Christian fell in step with him as he headed toward it. The marina was in the opposite direction of where he lived.

“Hi,” he said. The boy was carrying a book.

“Where are your friends?” Sheldon asked.

He knew he went to camp each weekday and that he often played with some of the kids farther up the beach.

“My best friend went away last night to visit his father. His parents are divorced.” He said it with an authority beyond his years.

“He’s not your only friend. Where are the others?”

“Most are playing video games. They say it’s too hot to do anything but swim and play games.”