go up and rest or clean up a bit.”
Translation: the other guests were not happy with her presence. And she understood that he felt it was better if they were moved away from the party. She wouldn’t complain. The sooner she was away from the angry and disapproving stares, the easier she would feel. She walked up the stairs to her room ten minutes later, Seth behind her like he was guarding her back. Which, in a way, he was.
In the hallway, a man with a cowboy hat approached from the other side. There was something familiar about him. She had probably seen him at some horse event, but had never been introduced. Odd, because she knew most of the equestrian crowd in the area.
He never even glanced at her as he was passing. But instead, with a quick side step, he knocked her into the wall with his shoulder. Pain lanced through her as she hit the wall. He dashed down the steps.
“Hey!” Seth turned, clearly intending to give chase.
“No, please, Seth, I don’t want to be up here by myself.”
He hesitated, but nodded, a grim look around his mouth. She was fairly certain that he wasn’t going give up. He’d be watching for that cowboy. And given his fantastic ability to recall details, he would be able to spot the man in an instant.
Outside her door, there was a copy of today’s newspaper. On the front page was a picture of her barn, with a police car in the parking lot. The article was circled in red. Had the cowboy left it here? Was he the person responsible for the fire?
Her breath caught in her throat. She was trapped with a house full of hostile people. And one of them was out to get her.
Seth pushed open the door to the guest room assigned to Jess and stalked inside. The anger simmering inside him demanded action, but he had no outlet for it at the moment, other than making sure she was safe. Leaving no corner unchecked, he searched her room for any dangers, hidden or otherwise. It really burned him that someone had decided to play games with her. She was an innocent, no matter what her brother may have done. Or not done. Because right now, he was feeling like there was something other than revenge behind these attacks. Not that he could make that call. He wasn’t a cop.
Speaking of calls, he pulled out his cell and glanced at it. Still no bars. He had tried to contact the police department on Ted’s landline, but couldn’t get through. He’d lived through enough flash floods and tornado warnings to know that the lines could get overwhelmed. Or that power lines in town could get knocked out easily enough. So now they were sitting ducks. Which meant that it was up to him to see that Jess was safe.
He needed to have a talk with his uncle about the dude in the hallway. His gut said the man wasn’t the same person who had been following them earlier. Why act out in the open after being so secretive? But he was definitely a threat.
“Okay, Jess. I don’t see anything,” he declared after ten minutes. “I think you can go ahead and clean up. I’m going to go downstairs and grab us something to eat. Lock the door behind me. I think we should stay up here tonight, and then tomorrow see if we can find a way out of this mess.”
She nodded, but didn’t look comforted. Her mouth opened, then shut again. He waited.
“Do you think someone is just trying to scare me? Or am I really in danger?” Her hazel eyes glistened, but she didn’t cry. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she had. The urge to comfort her and tell her everything would be fine was strong. But even stronger was his need to be honest. His father had taught him how to deceive, and he resisted any semblance of similarity to that man.
“Jess, as much as I want to tell you no, I really think you’re in trouble. Whoever this jerk is, we have to assume he’s dangerous. He didn’t hesitate to start a fire at the stables, did he?”
The last expression he expected to see cross her face was a smile. It was no more than a slight upward curling of her lips, but it was there. “What?”
She glanced down, heat staining her pale cheeks. “It’s been a long time since I felt like someone was on my side, other than Rebecca and her family. Even the other workers at my stable aren’t really people I feel I know. Cody hired them, not me.”
That surprised him. “What about your parents?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
“My parents were killed in a car accident the summer I graduated from high school. My brother became my guardian.”
Seth groaned. “He was all you had.” Reaching out, he snagged her into a hug. She resisted for a second, then accepted the embrace, leaning against him. But only for an instant. When she started to pull away, he let her go.
“I wasn’t alone, Seth. I had the Lord to lean on. And Rebecca’s family was great. They have been checking on me constantly.”
“What about the people at your church?” he asked. “Surely, you feel some sort of connection with them?”
Even her ponytail seemed to droop as she shook her head.
“No, not really.” Furrows appeared on her forehead. She brought one hand up and rubbed at them, as if she could massage them away. “To be honest, I didn’t give them much of a chance. At the funeral, I could see people staring at me, and couldn’t deal with their pity. So I changed churches. I drive to Erie each Sunday and attend there where no one knows me. Well, except for Ernie. But he doesn’t pry.”
He blinked, but didn’t ask any questions. He was anxious to move the conversation away from the topic of God. He had an itchy feeling whenever she mentioned her faith. There was even a brief moment when they arrived when he had been tempted to say a prayer. Just to see if it worked. Tempted. He didn’t succumb. That didn’t stop the feeling that he was on a slippery slope. There would be no point to it, he knew. His mother had trusted in God all her life. And she ended up cheated on and betrayed by her own husband. Not just once, but over and over. No, he was just fine as he was. God was okay for others, but he didn’t see the need for himself.
But he was saddened to see Jess abandon her church community. His mother had found support in hers.
Jess tilted her head. Probably wondering where he had gone mentally.
The flickering lights reminded them both of their situation.
“I will be back.” Seth retreated to the hall and pulled the door shut behind him. He waited until he heard the door lock click. Then he made his way down to the kitchen, hoping he wouldn’t run into anyone along the way. Answering questions or fending snide comments about Jess was not high on his list of things he wanted to do. For the first time in his life, he found himself grateful that his uncle had inherited his family’s taste for ostentation. The house he had built in the middle of nowhere, in addition to having enough bedrooms to rival a modest hotel, had two staircases leading down to the main level. Seth took the back stairs, which ended in a short hallway right outside the kitchen. Which was empty. His uncle had gone all out and had the event catered, so all the food and beverages were displayed in a fancy buffet line in the dining room. Music and laughter pounded in the air.
Efficiently, Seth put together some sandwiches and grabbed some bottles of water. He nabbed a couple pieces of fruit from a basket on the counter. Where did his aunt keep plastic bags? Opening the cupboard under the sink, he found one and stuffed the food inside.
Turning back to exit, he was dismayed to find he was no longer the sole occupant of the kitchen. The man standing in the doorway was watching him with cold eyes, a distinct sneer on his face. Great. First the man on the stairs, and now this guy. As far as Seth could recall, he had never seen him before. He was a bulky man, his beefy arms crossed over his barrel chest as he scowled at Seth.
Seth moved forward. He had done nothing wrong, and he was in his uncle’s house. This man wasn’t going to keep him from Jess.
“Where’s