Putting the Heart Before the Horse Read online

  Rick picked his way through the wreckage that Josh had left in his wake and walked around to Harry’s side. When he was sure Rick had a good hold on Harry’s arm, Josh pushed himself up off the ground. He grabbed Harry’s other arm, and together, he and Rick pulled Harry to his feet.

  “You got him?” he asked Rick, barely waiting for confirmation before rushing over to Hope. She’d shaken off the broken pieces of the chair, but the rope still bound her arms and legs. Pulling his pocket knife, he cut through the ropes and hissed with dismay when he saw the marks the rope had left on the fine skin of her wrists.

  “I’m fine,” she reassured him. “Really.”

  He wrapped her in a desperate embrace, which she returned with fervor, her hands clutching the fabric of his shirt. Her breath puffed against the skin of his neck. Surely she could feel the pounding of his heart, a heart that belonged only to her. “Thank God,” he murmured. “Thank God you’re okay.”

  “I’m okay,” she repeated, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as well as him. He fought the urge to hold her even tighter.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said, lips pressed to her hair.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “You would never have been in this position if it wasn’t for me.”

  “That doesn’t make it your fault.”

  He shook his head, knowing that he’d never be able to forget the sight of her tied to a chair, pale with fright, with Harry Armstrong looming over her.

  They clung to each other until Rick cleared his throat to attract their attention. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think it’s definitely time to get the sheriff involved.”

  Josh released Hope and helped her to her feet. He didn’t want to let her go, but he contented himself with just holding her hand. “Allison,” he called to his aunt, “can you call the sheriff? Tell him to get out here immediately.”

  “You got it,” Allison replied.

  Rick was only holding Harry by the arm, but even though Harry was only a few inches shorter than Rick, the older man was substantially broader. Harry wasn’t going anywhere. Plus, it didn’t look like he had the heart to fight back. Instead of glaring at them defiantly, he was staring at the ground, looking lost. Josh turned on him in a rage.

  “What the hell did you think you were doing, you idiot? Someone could have gotten killed!”

  “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Harry mumbled.

  “You’re lucky no one did!” he yelled. Harry flinched, and despite himself, Josh felt some of his anger ebb away. He made a pathetic figure, with his torn jeans and dirty face. “What were you thinking?”

  “I just wanted to get the ranch back.”

  “What?”

  “The land that you stole from my grandfather.”

  Josh met Rick’s gaze, and he was just as confused as Josh was. “No one stole anything, Harry.”

  “Your family did! Everything used to belong to my grandfather and his family until you stole it!”

  Rick shook his head. “I have no idea what he’s talking about. We’ve owned the Golden Horse for four generations.”

  “Liars,” Harry spat out.

  Josh tried to get him to explain, but Harry refused to say anything else.

  “Fine,” Josh snapped. “You can wait until the sheriff gets here.” He refused to spend any more time focusing on Harry when his attention should be on Hope. His concern for her outweighed anything else.

  He guided her away from Armstrong and wrapped his arms around her again. When he thought about losing her, never again having the chance to hold her softness against him, it tore him up inside. He wanted to shift and run for miles. He wanted to stay and take it out on Harry. He wanted to hide Hope away so she’d always be safe.

  Flashing lights outside the barn signaled that Sheriff Mills and his deputies had arrived. And promptly, unlike the other times they’d called him. Josh guessed that the words “aggravated assault” might have had something to do with his response.

  Mills headed to Rick rather than Allison or Josh, but Josh was just as happy that he didn’t have to tell the story. He stayed with Hope while the one of the deputies handcuffed Harry. Rick and the sheriff shook hands, and Rick laid out the bare bones of the story, gesturing at Hope and then Harry. Mills strolled over to where Josh and Hope were standing.

  “Ms. Callahan? Joe Mills.”

  Hope freed an arm from Josh’s embrace to take the sheriff’s hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Sheriff Mills.”

  “Call me Joe,” replied Mills.

  Josh stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Mills was pouring on the charm, trying to do damage control on a situation he’d ignored for far too long.

  “Rick explained what happened here tonight, but I’d appreciate it if I could hear it in your own words.”

  “There’s not too much to say.” She straightened, and Josh reluctantly released her from his embrace.

  “I was out for a walk a few hours ago, and someone grabbed me from behind. A few people, I guess. They put me into a van and drove me out here. When they pulled me out, they tied me to this chair.”

  The sheriff had a pad out and was taking notes in messy, cramped handwriting. “Did they say what they wanted?”

  Hope shook her head. “Not at first. After they brought me here, they argued for a while. Harry seemed to be the one in charge, and he came over to me and said that he wanted to talk to someone from the Golden Horse, because they’d stolen his family’s land.”

  Mills motioned to his deputy, who guided a reluctant Harry over to where they were standing.

  “You want to explain yourself, son?” he asked Harry.

  “They stole it.”

  “Yeah,” Josh snapped, at the end of his patience, “you keep saying that. What the hell do you mean? Why in God’s name do you think we stole your land?”

  “My grandpa told me about it!” Harry shouted. “There was some court case. We lost, and you guys won. All that land you have used to be ours.”

  Josh looked over at Rick. “Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?”

  Rick rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. “If I remember correctly, there was a border dispute back in ‘55 or ‘56. The two families went to court over it, and it was pretty contentious. Eventually, a surveyor researched everything, and the judge ruled in our favor. I only heard about this years later, but it didn’t seem like that big a deal.”

  “Yeah,” Mills agreed. “I do remember hearing something about that.”

  Josh scoffed in disbelief. “A border dispute over what, a few feet of land?”

  “More like a few thousand,” Rick replied.

  “That’s still not the same thing as our parents and grandparents stealing the whole ranch from the Armstrongs.”

  Harry fought against the deputy restraining him, the two of them scuffling around until Mills and the deputy got him back under control. “That’s not what happened! That’s not what he told me!”

  Mills heaved a deep breath. “It’s not widely known, but Joe Armstrong was showing some signs of dementia before he passed away. I wonder if maybe he got confused, and a simple boundary dispute turned into something bigger in his mind.”

  “And then he told that story to Harry, who knows how many times,” Josh said, finally starting to understand Harry’s thinking. “And when Joe died, Harry decided to try and get the land back.”

  “Is that what happened, son?” Mills asked Harry. “You tried to make things right by driving the Farris family off their land?”

  “I tried to do it without hurting anyone.”

  “You broke the fences, set the fires,” Rick prodded.

  Harry nodded. “But it wasn’t working. So I thought if I took one of you, you’d sign over the farm to get them back.”

  Rick glanced over at Josh, and Josh knew exactly what that look meant. He’d seen variations of it when he’d done something particularly stupid. Harry wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. But it di
dn’t matter whether or not he was a criminal mastermind. He’d put Hope in danger.

  “Look,” he said to Sheriff Mills. “It’s late, and Hope’s been through a lot. Can I take her home now?”

  “I think we’re done for the night,” Mills agreed. “I’m sure we’ll have some more questions in the morning.”

  Rick stepped closer, preventing Josh from telling the sheriff where he could stick his questions. “After Hope gets some rest, of course.”

  “Of course,” said Mills.

  “Come on,” Josh said to Hope, helping her walk around Mills, Harry, and the debris on the ground. She clung to him at first, then lessened her grip on his arm until she wasn’t touching him at all.

  He’d thought things were going well with Hope, that they were growing closer. His family already loved her, and she’d seemed happy. But would she really want to live next to the Armstrong family, with every day a reminder of what she’d been through? Or would she be more comfortable back in Chicago, in the life she knew? The safe, quiet life she’d lived before meeting him.

  He could only pray that this ordeal wouldn’t drive her away from him for good.

  Chapter Nine

  The rest of the night was a long blur of noise and activity that Hope only remembered in flashes. The sound of sirens outside. Harry Armstrong being guided into the backseat of a police car. Finally feeling warm when someone wrapped a blanket around her. When they returned to the Golden Horse, and Allison walked Hope to her room, she collapsed into bed and immediately fell into an exhausted sleep.

  By the time she woke up, it was well into the morning. Aside from being a little stiff, she felt none the worse for wear from her adventure. In a few years, she’d probably be able to recount it at parties as a funny story. Oh, you want to hear a fun fact about me? Once, I was mistaken for a member of a horse shifter family and taken hostage! Crazy, right? But at the moment, she could only remember the glint of light on the gun in Harry Armstrong’s hand and the look on Josh’s face as he’d tackled Armstrong.

  She dressed slowly, hissing as the cuffs of her long-sleeved shirt brushed against the rope burns on her wrists. A knock on the door came as she was brushing her hair.

  “Come in,” she called.

  Josh opened the door, took a half step forward, and leaned against the doorframe. “How are you feeling?”

  “Okay, all things considered. You?”

  “I’m not the one that got kidnapped.”

  “Good point.” He seemed reluctant to come any farther into the room, and she suspected that despite her reassurances, he blamed himself for what had happened. She moved over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, letting herself enjoy the closeness. He let out a sigh that seemed to relax his whole body.

  After a few moments, he released her. “The rest of the family’s anxious to hear the details of what happened last night. Are you up to coming into the living room to talk about it?”

  “Of course.”

  Most of the family was gathered in the living room, crowded onto sofas and chairs, with some of the younger members sitting on the floor. Everyone’s attention focused on Hope as soon as she walked in. Tammy rose to her feet and offered Hope her chair, moving to perch on the arm of one of the sofas next to Mark. Hope sat down and hoped in vain that her self-conscious blush wasn’t too obvious.

  “I feel like I should apologize to you on behalf of the family. You’re our guest, and what happened to you—we’re all just glad it wasn’t any worse.”

  “Oh, please don’t apologize!” Hope exclaimed. “It wasn’t your fault, and none of you could have prevented it. If it hadn’t been me, it would have been someone else.”

  “When we think about what could have happened to you....” Allison trailed off without completing her thought. “Sorry. That’s probably not very helpful.”

  “I’m serious,” Hope said. “What if it had been Ian? Or Eva?”

  “You really think Harry would have grabbed one of the kids?” Lisa asked.

  “I think so,” Josh replied. “You didn’t see him last night, but he was pretty upset. I think that once he decided to go through with this, nothing would have stopped him. It was just a question of opportunity.”

  Eva wasn’t in the room, but Ian was, and his father wrapped an arm around him. The adults shared a look and silently agreed not to pursue that train of thought any further.

  “I just can’t understand how Harry got everything so wrong,” Lisa said.

  “I tried not to stick my nose in too much,” Rick said, “but based on what I’ve heard around town, Harry didn’t handle it well when his dad left. Understandably. He started spending his time around Joe instead, and it sounds like Joe was having trouble remembering the details of things. Somehow, between his dementia and Harry’s anger, a minor boundary dispute turned into a theft.”

  “Poor kid,” Tammy sighed.

  “Poor kid?” Mark echoed furiously, turning to glare at her. “That poor kid cost us thousands of dollars with all of his sabotage, and then he kidnapped Hope! He should be in jail.”

  “No, I think she’s right,” Hope said. She worried at her lower lip with her teeth as she tried to organize her thoughts. “I can’t speak for what he’s cost you, but it’s not entirely his fault. His grandfather lied to him, and he didn’t know the truth. And it sounds like his grandfather’s death really got to him. His father left, and then his grandfather died. It sounds like he didn’t really have anyone left.”

  “That’s no excuse,” said Josh.

  “No, it’s not. But putting him in jail for years won’t help me, and it won’t help him either. If anything, it’ll just push him further down the wrong path. He’s just a kid, and I don’t think he should lose his whole life.”

  “Hope, this isn’t just a question of a few childish pranks. Not only did he kidnap you, but he used a gun. That’s aggravated kidnapping.” Josh crouched next to her chair and took her hand in his. “I don’t even want to think about what could have happened.”

  “Well,” Rick interjected, “it’s up to the district attorney, not us. But it’s his first offense, so Hope might be able to speak on his behalf, and maybe they’ll make a plea deal with him on lesser charges. The good thing is that he and his family won’t be bothering us anymore.”

  As people dispersed into smaller groups and separate rooms, Josh remained by Hope’s chair, a warm presence at her side. Several people stopped to talk to Hope as they passed, and each time the message was the same. They hated what had happened to her, but they were glad she was safe. She hadn’t known this unusual group of people for that long, but here they were, going out of their way to reassure her and let her know that they cared for her. It was something Hope had never experienced before.

  Rick was the last to leave the room. Towering over her where she sat, he should have looked frightening, but she remembered him charging in right behind Josh to come rescue her. She envisioned him like the foundation of the house, solid and reliable, and crucially important to the whole structure. “You’re always welcome here,” he said, in his rumbling voice. “And if you want to be part of our family, we’d love to have you.”

  “Thank you,” Hope managed, blinking back tears.

  Then Rick was gone, and they were alone. Probably not for long.

  “I’m not normally so emotional,” she said to Josh, brushing the tears from her eyes, “but I think I’m still a little frayed from last night.”

  Josh crouched next to her. “You’ve got a good heart. Maybe too good.”

  “Harry lost the most important person in his world. I think we can both understand how that feels, and how it might make him do stupid things.”

  He stood up and held his hand out to her. “Do you want to go for a walk? I promise nothing bad will happen this time.”

  “Can we go back to that spot by the creek?”

  “That sounds perfect,” he said softly.

  ***

  Josh should have felt calm. Ev
eryone was safe. The sheriff had Harry in jail where he couldn’t bother anyone. And Hope had clung to him last night as if she never intended to let him go. But that wasn’t the same thing as a commitment. What if she didn’t want to stay on the ranch? What if it had too many bad memories for her? He wanted to promise that he’d follow her anywhere, but he couldn’t live anywhere he didn’t have room to shift and run on a moment’s notice. He’d thought there was nothing worse than never finding his mate, but loving her and not being with her would be ten times worse.

  The sun beat down from almost directly above them, so when they reached the creek, he led her under the shade of the cottonwood trees. From there, they could hear the water rushing over the rocks in the creek. They stood there, quiet and still while he held a running debate with himself. Should he say something and risk hearing an answer that broke his heart? Was it better to ask and get the bad news right away, or should he just be content with whatever she was willing to give him?

  Before he could speak, Hope beat him to it. “So much has happened in such a short time. It seems like weeks ago, when you told me about how you loved to come out here and be alone.”

  “This isn’t my place now. It’s ours. Whether you decide to stay or not.”

  “Josh—”

  He kept talking, afraid to hear what she might say. “The ranch can be a little challenging in winter, but we’ve got a lot of people to help with the shoveling, and I’m sure you know what it’s like to wake up and see a pure white blanket over everything outside.”

  “Josh, listen. I know I freaked out on you the night we met.”

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a half-hug. “I shouldn’t have mentioned marriage so quickly.”

  “Maybe,” she admitted. “But I shouldn’t have panicked. I should have trusted you.”

  “You barely knew me.”

  “That doesn’t matter.” When he didn’t reply, she continued. “Does it? I’ve never felt like this about anyone in my life, and I don’t think you have either.”

  “You know I haven’t,” he said huskily. He raised his hand to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear, and when he touched her skin, he felt it jolt through him.