I Cross My Heart by Vicki Lewis Thompson

I Cross My Heart by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Author:Vicki Lewis Thompson [Thompson, Vicki Lewis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-05-01T16:00:00+00:00


10

EDDIE AND ACE SEEMED to have become Nash’s charges. Emmett had sent all three of them on a short ride first thing in the morning, and Nash had managed to bring them back alive. Considering how green they were, he thought that was a major accomplishment. He was teaching them how to unsaddle the horses when Sarah walked over from the house.

A tall woman whose blond hair had gone white, she carried herself with the same regal bearing as her mother, who had been a runway model in New York. Her clear blue eyes missed nothing. Because she and his mother, Lucy, were best friends, Nash had always considered Sarah kin.

Her smile encompassed both the boys and Nash. “Congratulations on a successful outing.”

Eddie and Ace stood there in awkward silence. They’d chattered away during the entire ride, but Miss Sarah, as they called her, obviously intimidated them. Nash thought that was a good thing. Sarah deserved their utmost respect, as she also deserved his.

“They did great,” Nash said, filling the silence. “Born riders, both of them.” He was stretching the truth a little, but the kids needed confidence.

“I thought they would be from the minute I met them.” Sarah glanced at Nash. “When you’re finished here, I’d like to see you up at the house.”

“I can be there in ten minutes.”

“Terrific. See you then. Pay attention to Nash, boys. He knows what he’s doing.”

They both mumbled, “Yes, ma’am,” and stared at the ground. But once she’d left, they each had plenty to say.

Ace led off. “You are in trou-ble.” He wagged his head knowingly. “She’s calling you up there to give you a talking-to.”

“Yeah, she is,” Eddie piped in. “A boss lady like that doesn’t come down here looking for someone unless she wants to give you what for.” The boy looked worried. “I hope she’s not going to fire you.”

Nash chuckled. “She’s not. I haven’t given her any reason to do that.”

“Maybe it’s something you don’t even know you did!” Ace was getting into the spirit of this new development. “Sometimes my foster dad gets all upset when I didn’t do anything. So then I’m all like, ‘what’d I do?’ And he’s all like, ‘you know perfectly well what you did.’ But I don’t.”

Nash’s heart ached for the kid, who’d never known unconditional love and had to work within a system that didn’t often provide it. “Sarah doesn’t look for things to gripe about. And you notice she was smiling when she came down here. If she had a problem with me, she wouldn’t cover it up with smiles. She’s not like that.”

“That’s good.” Eddie nodded. “My stepmom can be smiling one minute and smack you the next. You never know what’ll happen. That’s why I like it here. You know what to expect.”

“Yeah.” Ace laughed. “You can expect them to work you to death.”

Nash raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“Okay, maybe not to death. That would be child abuse. But we work hard.”

“So do I,” Nash said quietly.



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