The Thorndykes 1: Dispossessed by Lynne Connolly

Author:Lynne Connolly [Connolly, Lynne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Paranormal; Vampires; Shifters; Suspense
Publisher: Loose Id LLC
Published: 2014-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Ryan?” An unaccustomed spike of alarm struck Lucille when she realized Ryan and not Jay was waiting for her outside her barn. “Did you want something?”

“Just to see you.” He stood as he always did, at ease, his thumbs stuck in the front pockets of his jeans. He watched her with a lazy appreciation she didn’t object to, but it didn’t send sparks racing through her body the way Jay’s regard did.

Dusk had fallen, but just before sunset, an odd sound had brought her out here to the barn, where she’d climbed the ladder and found a surprise waiting for her. A stray cat and her kittens. After scrambling down to find a basket, returning to the platform, and stowing her discovery, she’d accidentally knocked the ladder out of the way.

Remembering Jay’s warnings she had tentatively spread her mind and discovered Ryan’s. While the contact should have been cursory, impartial, she found herself lingering. She wanted to make sure she was right, but what she saw told her he was a mortal, with a mortal’s pattern.

His thoughts were a reassuring jumble. He was wondering what she was doing up there. But he had a concern about one of the horses on the ranch, and a guest was harassing him. He’d come out here to get some peace, and yes, to see her. Other notions churned around like the need to get his car serviced soon, the bachelor auction next month at a swanky Houston hotel that he’d been asked to do. More. She didn’t delve any deeper, but breathed a sigh of relief. While she’d never been attracted to Ryan and his persnickety ways annoyed her at times, he was basically a good, kind man, or she’d always believed.

“Can you get the ladder? I knocked it aside when I came up. I should have one permanently affixed, I guess.”

He smiled up at her. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Lucille. Maybe I should just climb up and join you.”

She had no doubt he could. Alarmed, she said hastily, “No, I have some babies here that needed rescuing.”

“Babies?”

“Kittens and their mother. I don’t want Digger to find them.” The dog wasn’t vicious, but he was playful, and a bunch of furry, squirmy things might give him ideas she didn’t want to see put into action. The kittens were moving, at the exploration stage, and she daren’t leave them. Digger could climb a ladder if the incentive was strong enough.

“What do you plan to do with them?”

She hadn’t thought that far. “I don’t know, but they can’t stay here. Put the ladder up for me, will you? And stand back.” She was wearing a dress tonight.

After Jay had gone to the ranch to pick up a few items, she’d come outside, after promising him she wouldn’t quit the house. Well, the barn counted as part of the house as far as she was concerned. More accurately, it was an old, ramshackle building that had belonged to one of the stores, but nobody used it.

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