* *
THE IDEA OF having a dog had sprung itself on Cass. It wasn’t until she’d announced her intention to Bill that she realized it had been preying on her mind. She hadn’t even thought about owning another dog since Bud, but maybe she had finally come full circle.
She drove slowly back toward Little Dale, allowing her mind to wander back to the day her little ginger terrier cross had run out in front of a car. Bud had been a present from her parents on her ninth birthday and her constant companion from the day he arrived until that terrible day in the lane that changed her whole focus on life. Even now, a lump caught in her throat as she imagined his bright face. With her parents constantly busy in the shop and no siblings, she had spent hours with Bud in the fields around their village. Losing him had left a huge shadow over her life, especially when she found out that she could probably have saved him if she’d known how to staunch the bleeding. That was the day she decided to become a vet, and she had never swayed from her purpose.
Feeling the sudden weight of sadness, Cass pulled over and cut the engine, looking down into the valley far below without, for once, taking in the beauty of the scene. The memory of Bud’s trusting little face broke her heart. Did she really want a dog again, after all this time?
The sound of hooves brought her out of her reverie as they clip-clopped hollowly along the lane behind her. Twisting around in her seat, she saw a horse and rider trotting toward her. A big gray, its hatless rider sitting tall. Jake Munro! He was the last person she wanted to see, but it was too late to start her engine and pull out. The hoof beats grew closer and she leaned down to fumble in her bag, trying to look busy while wondering why she should care if he saw her sitting idly by the side of the road.
“Having trouble?”
His voice was just as she remembered, deep and melodic. Why did she feel like such an idiot?
She glanced up, not quite meeting his eyes, cursing the blush she could feel spreading on her face. “No, thanks. Just looking for something.”
“I saw you driving out of Sky View.”
Jutting out her chin, she regained her confidence. “Yes,” she said, determined not to be daunted by his sheer masculinity. “I’ve just rented a cottage from your dad.”
The icy glint in his blue eyes could have pierced her soul, but she held his gaze without faltering.
“Don’t worry, though—it’s quite far from the farm, so you won’t have to see me.”
He swung his mount away.
“It makes no difference to me where you live.”
The angry set of his jaw belied his pronouncement, and Cass found herself hoping he wouldn’t give poor Bill a hard time.
“Look,” she called after him. “I needed somewhere to stay, and your dad had the perfect place going begging.”
Jake reined in, turning his prancing horse back to face her. The wild-eyed gray mare tossed her beautiful head and foam flew like snowflakes.
“I already told you,” he repeated drily. “It means nothing to me where you live.”
“If this is still about Rosie, then I’m sorry, but you know it had to be done.”
Across the short distance, she could see the pain flashing across his face. “I just like my own space, that’s all.”
He hesitated then, as if searching for the right words.
“And...and I do know you did the pony a favor.”
As he rode away, Cass couldn’t help watching. Man and horse moved as one. She felt a rush of empathy. He, too, understood the joy of the companionship with animals and appreciated their uncomplicated affection.
CHAPTER FOUR
CARLOTTA SIDLED, OBVIOUSLY disturbed by her rider’s mood. After four years, the mare was used to Jake’s ways—today the tension in him must have buzzed like an electric current. She moved out into the road, prancing sideways and snorting, taking his attention for a moment. His firm hand on the reins calmed her at once.
“Okay, easy, girl.”
However angry he felt inside—and he felt angry, foolish even, about the fact that his father had gone behind his back like that—he tried to make a point of never allowing it to spill over into his riding. Just being on a horse usually took his mind off everything life seemed determined to throw at him, but the woman had managed to play havoc with that simple rule. Anyway, it shouldn’t have been her telling him that she’d rented the cottage, it should have been his dad. And for that matter, it would have been nice to have been consulted in the first place. A hollow laugh eased his tension. Since when had his father ever consulted him about anything?
A vehicle approached from behind, and Jake ran his hand down Carlotta’s arched neck. There was no way he was going to let a vehicle squeeze past on this narrow stretch of road. It would just have to wait. Moving into a jog trot he glanced back, noting the green hatchback following them...her hatchback. Had she been sent here solely to annoy him? With another brief look at the pale face over the steering wheel, he turned Carlotta onto the grass verge, dug in his heels and urged her into a canter. Only too happy to oblige, the mare bunched up her quarters, sank into her hocks and sprang, clearing the wall at the side of the lane as if it was nothing and landing with an ecstatic buck.
A sudden rush of adrenaline released his mind, if only momentarily, from the pain of reality. Jake turned back, raising a hand toward the woman before heading off at a gallop. The look of amazement on her face brought a sense of satisfaction, and he leaned forward, absorbing the sheer elation of the power beneath him.
Horses had long been his escape when things went wrong. He had used the challenge and excitement of competition to try to get his life back on track after Tara’s defection, but riding hadn’t been nearly enough to fill the void left by Lucy and his mum. Reining in, Jake stared down into the valley, watching the green vehicle snaking its way down to the village. Nothing could ever fill that gaping hole in his life, or assuage the guilt and pain that constantly clawed at his gut.
Slowly, he turned Carlotta homeward. When she dutifully obeyed, moving quietly across the steep hillside, he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to stifle the sob that rose inside him.
* * *
CASS DROVE SLOWLY back to the village. After hearing about Jake Munro’s loss, she wouldn’t have been human if she hadn’t felt some sympathy for him. His attitude, however, did him no favors. Many people lost loved ones without taking their bitterness out on the whole world. And what was that crazy jump all about? It was foolhardy, to say the least. Perhaps losing his family had sent Jake over the edge. And what about Lucy’s mother? No one ever mentioned her. Did Jake have a wife tucked away somewhere perhaps?
Jake Munro was still invading Cass’s thoughts as she pulled in outside the B and B and cut her engine. There was no denying his skill with horses—he and the high-strung gray mare had seemed to move as one entity. Pity he didn’t have the same connection with humans.
Grabbing her bag from the back of the car, she ran up the steps to the square white guesthouse where she’d been staying since arriving in Little Dale. She had discovered it when she came for her interview at Low Fell Animal Clinic a couple of weeks earlier. The owner, Clare Biggins, had made her so welcome that Cass had booked in there as soon as she heard the job was hers. It was only fair to let Clare know as soon as possible that she was leaving tomorrow. She would pay her until the end of the week, but she couldn’t wait that long to move in to the cottage. Her own place, at last, and the start of a brand-new life.
* * *
TO CASS’S RELIEF, Clare was almost as excited as she was about the cottage. “I know Sky Cottage,” she exclaimed, her round face shining with genuine delight. “Even its name is magical, and it’s so pretty, like something out of a storybook. Won’t you be a bit nervous, though, living in the middle of nowhere on your own...not