MILLIONAIRE'S SHOT: Second Chance Romance Page 8

  Like now.

  He pressed off the ignition and stepped from the car.

  “Good morning, Mr. Sutherland,” a groom called brightly. “Would you like a horse saddled?”

  “Not today, thanks,” he said. He rarely rode now that Grace had quit riding, and he never lingered around the stables when Rachel was around. “Is Grace inside?” he asked.

  “No, I haven’t seen her all morning. Rachel and Santiago are still here though.”

  He glanced around the paddocks, rather puzzled. When he’d left earlier for a meeting, Grace had been with the housekeeper, but he’d assumed she intended to go the stables. Now that school was out, she spent all her time here, playing with the kittens and whatever horse the grooms deemed gentle enough for her to handle.

  Her love for animals wasn’t surprising. Generations of Sutherlands had been raised on the estate, and they’d all possessed a deep appreciation of fine horseflesh. It was a little disappointing Grace didn’t want to ride with him anymore. He was careful not to push her, but sometimes she looked so wistful when she watched Rachel.

  He remembered that look. It was the same one he’d worn when he was a kid, when all he wanted was his parents’ attention. He’d been determined to excel at everything, from schoolwork to equestrian events and eventually the family business. But they’d barely noticed. His father had been interested in Alex’s riding only as a cover for his extramarital affairs while his mother had been absorbed with luncheons, travel and her Fortune 500 friends.

  Naturally, self-centered people were focused on their own gratification. He understood that now. His parents had been happier when they were pursuing their own interests…and not listening to his mundane little problems. His mother had never once asked about the horse show weekends with his father, and he’d learned to keep his mouth zipped. Keep the family intact, protected at all costs.

  And now, protect your child.

  He strode into the barn, his jaw tight. Keeping Rachel supplied with a barn full of polo ponies made her a more tolerable mother, one less inclined to take out her frustrations on Grace. He and Rachel both knew the operating rules. But yesterday her spitefulness had surfaced. Grace had been upset about Ginger’s cuts…and so had Cassie.

  He swept into the office without bothering to knock.

  Rachel was posed prettily on the sofa, still in her riding clothes. Santiago lounged in a leather chair, legs propped on the mahogany desk. The man straightened, his boots hitting the floor with a thud.

  “Darling,” Rachel said, rising gracefully. “We were just talking about the team and how we’d benefit from better practice players. The grooms are okay but not good enough. Perhaps we could bring up some more players from Argentina?”

  Alex ignored her hand on his arm and glanced at Santiago. “Give us the room please.”

  Santiago’s eyes met his. Then the man nodded and bolted from the office with a pleasing amount of speed.

  Alex waited until the door clicked shut. “The Sutherland polo team will be disbanded,” he said, “if I ever see spur marks like I witnessed last night.” Rachel gave him an innocent smile. He still marveled at how angelic she could appear. No doubt about it, she was a physically gorgeous woman. But one who left him cold. Fortunately he now knew what was inside that calculating head.

  “Perhaps I didn’t have my best game yesterday,” she said. “But that mare was disobedient and needed to be taught a lesson. Besides, she’s an unknown. She’ll never step foot on any polo field again.”

  “Are you pretending your treatment had nothing to do with the owner?”

  “Whatever do you mean? Who is the owner?” Rachel batted her long eyelashes and gave a puzzled pout. But that maneuver no longer worked with him.

  “You’ll notify the Club,” he said grimly. “Let them know Jake Edwards’ mare is talented and highly trained. And that your poor riding was the real issue.”

  She jerked in horror and finally there was genuine emotion on her face. “But I can’t do that. I’m working toward my plus three rating.”

  “You’ll be working in an empty barn if you don’t rectify this,” he said.

  “You wouldn’t do that. We both know Grace would hate a barn without horses. She might be afraid to ride but she enjoys being around them.” Rachel’s voice turned wheedling. “Besides, it’s the one thing my daughter and I share, the only place where we can spend quality time together.”

  “And where is Grace now?” he asked.

  “Maybe with the kittens,” Rachel said. “Or out by the paddocks. You know how she loves puttering around with the grooms.”

  “Who told me Grace hasn’t been here all morning.”

  Rachel gave a careless shrug, completely missing his point. Her hand tightened on his forearm. “Maybe you could play again? With you on the team, we’d be invited to the British Beach Championships. I’ve always wanted to do that. And this fall—”

  He shook off her hand and strode from the office. She hadn’t even noticed Grace’s absence. Wasn’t at all concerned. But that only meant he had to be a better parent to compensate.

  He called Grace’s cell but there was no answer. And she hadn’t responded to his earlier text. The housekeeper confirmed she hadn’t seen Grace since breakfast.

  He gripped his phone, trying to remember their conversation the night before. After they walked Cassie home, they’d turned on a movie. Neither of them had been very interested. Instead, Grace had peppered him with questions about horses and films and what it was like to jump off a horse’s back into a brook.

  He’d slipped into his office a few times, once to call his mechanic and arrange for trailer tires and a tow. And the other to call the President of the Polo Club, ostensibly to check on his regular donation, but really to see if Rachel had trashed Jake Edwards’ mare. Which she had, of course. He knew his ex-wife all too well.

  Perhaps Grace thought he hadn’t been listening last night. And maybe he had been a little distracted. Hell, yes, he’d been distracted. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Cassie, about their walk in the dark, about her infectious laugh…and how incredibly, her left hand was still ringless.

  No doubt Grace had noticed his preoccupation. And thought she had two parents who didn’t give a damn. She’d been unusually quiet at breakfast too. Not sad though. Nothing like her terrifying episodes last year when she’d stopped eating and psychologists had advised that the best way he could help Grace was to love her mother.

  While loving Rachel was impossible, outwardly cordial relations were not. And having both parents reside on the estate had always seemed like the best solution.

  He glanced down the L-shaped aisle. Grace had to show up soon. There weren’t many places a young girl could go, especially one who didn’t ride. She wouldn’t leave the kittens alone for long. But the only person in sight was a stocky groom, soothing a gray horse as she applied some ointment to a cut fetlock.

  He dragged a hand over his jaw. Then he strode into the tack room and lifted the lid of Grace’s tack box. It was crammed full of her usual paraphernalia: brushes, boots, sunblock and the overpowering smell of horse liniment. Her latest riding helmet still had the price tag attached. There were sunglasses and ointments and a variety of colorful bandages.

  But the tack box didn’t look as full as usual. There was a yawning gap in the middle. Then he realized…her pink backpack was missing. And he had the sinking suspicion he knew exactly where Grace had gone.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Alex drove up Jake Edwards’ rutted driveway and turned off the car engine. Two horses stared curiously from their paddocks. Nothing else moved.

  The house and barn were the same weathered gray, but Jake had invested in a big blue mounting block. It could be for training purposes or maybe the old guy was stiffening up. Otherwise, everything appeared unchanged. Even the wheelbarrows looked the same: dented, oversized and awkward. They’d been much too unwieldy for a little girl to handle, and Alex had pushed a lot of
them.

  He walked toward the barn, politely calling hello before stepping inside. But the aisle was empty. A horse shuffled in the straw, then stuck her pretty head over the stall door.

  “Hey, Ginger,” he said, recognizing the mare. He paused to scratch her jaw. She pressed at the door, eager to join the horses outside. She smelled of ointment and wore a purple mesh flysheet with the Sutherland initials monogrammed on the side. Clearly, Grace had been here.

  Relief flooded through him, quickly replaced by an odd ambivalence. He didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to see Cassie. Didn’t like to acknowledge that every one of his senses had kicked into a higher gear. Leaving him feeling totally alive.

  He turned away from the horse’s stall. Grace must have walked across the fields, following the route they’d taken last night. He should have anticipated she’d want to check on the mare. But she couldn’t be allowed to visit here again. Rachel had always resented his friendship with Cassie. She’d have a fit if she knew of this visit. And Grace would be the one to suffer.

  He remembered Grace’s horror when she discovered all her goldfish floating belly up in the aquarium. Rachel had denied unplugging the filter but the fish had died a day after Grace’s questions about his favorite instructor…and he’d talked a little too much about the Edwards.

  Sighing, he stepped from the barn and walked toward the house.

  Three mismatched chairs sat on the porch. He remembered the day Jake had pulled the third wooden chair from the back of his truck. “Cassie saw this at the dump. And thought you needed a place to plant your royal ass.”

  He’d tried to act cool. It was only an old wooden chair that someone had tossed. But his chest had swelled two sizes that day. He’d been so proud to have his own spot on Jake’s porch. A place he belonged. They’d relaxed there at the end of every day, talking about the horses, what training had worked, and what hadn’t.

  He’d even carved his initials on the back with Jake’s pocket knife. And then helped Cassie, who insisted on printing her entire name and had cut her finger in the process. The words were still on her chair: ‘Cassie Edwards.’ And maybe his initials were still on his chair too.

  He yanked his head away and impatiently rapped on the screen door. He didn’t want this shit. Besides, he was a little annoyed. Cassie should have called, told him Grace was here. Or at least sent her home.

  And that was so patently unfair, he felt a prick of shame.

  “Hey,” he called, clicking open the screen door. No one was around. The den and kitchen were empty. Nothing was on the table except the little wooden rooster they had all rubbed for horse show luck. Amazing that they still had it.

  His gaze shifted to the left and his breath stalled. Jake was lying on the faded sofa, sprawled on his back. His face was so pale for a moment Alex thought he was dead. And then the man’s thin chest lifted and it was clear he was simply sleeping.

  Alex pulled in a relieved breath and edged back outside, careful to keep the screen door from clicking too loudly. Dammit, Jake didn’t look well. Or maybe it was just odd to see him napping. Still, if he’d suffered a heart attack it was good he was sleeping, taking it easy.

  Alex walked back toward the barn. Jake’s truck was here but there were four dirty stalls and only three horses. Cassie might be riding the fourth horse in the field but that still didn’t explain where Grace was.

  Unless she was already walking back home.

  He pressed Grace’s number, part of him hoping she’d answer and confirm she was on the way back. That way it wouldn’t be necessary to see Cassie. However, Grace didn’t answer; in fact he heard the distinctive ring tone of her phone. And his mouth lifted in an involuntary smile. Grace was still with Cassie.

  He followed the ringing around the barn and spotted Grace’s backpack, hanging on the hitching post beside a well-worn saddle. He put away his phone and checked the saddle pad. It was damp with sweat but drying in the sun. So Cassie had ridden the fourth horse and was presently cooling him out.

  She sometimes rode bareback down to the brook. On a hot day, it was a treat for both horse and rider. No doubt, Grace had gone with her, curious about the old swimming hole.

  He swerved to the left of the elm tree, easily picking up the trail. Hoof prints cut the ground, marking the path like road signs. It was rough ground though and after all the walking Grace was going to be a very tired girl. No doubt, she’d be happy to climb into his car and drive home. And on the way back, he’d tactfully suggest she not mention this outing to her mother.

  One thing for sure, Grace couldn’t come back here. Rachel would be furious, and it wasn’t worth the hassle.

  He needed to find out how long Cassie was staying. Once she returned to California, he’d arrange for a groom to come over and help Jake with his animals. That should ease some of Cassie’s concerns. She’d have to smooth it out with her grandfather first though. Jake was a proud man and had scorned all previous offers of help until Alex had just quit trying.

  Rachel was still annoyed that he’d assigned the south field to Jake, doubly bitter when he informed her she could no longer ride there. Grace had been a newborn at the time and Rachel had almost dropped her on the cobblestones. She’d seen his incredulity, his utter terror, and realized then that their child was the perfect weapon.

  He snapped off a low-hanging branch, automatically clearing the trail for riders. Yes, it was critical to avoid any more contact with Cassie. He was impervious to Rachel but Grace wasn’t. And she idolized her mother. Even though she refused to climb back in the saddle, she lingered around Rachel, trying to help with the horses, desperate to earn the smallest crust of affection.

  Just as he’d done with his parents. And seeing Grace’s wistful face made him ache.

  “I want to see her happier,” he’d warned Rachel. “Pay Grace more attention. Or there’s no reason for us to continue this charade.”

  Rachel had dutifully nodded and set aside Tuesday evenings for mother and daughter shopping and Grace’s clothes had become a little more chic. And Grace had smiled a bit more.

  But it wasn’t real emotion, not like Cassie’s giggle whenever he’d tickled her or the horrified squeals when he dunked her in the brook or her challenging grin when she galloped fearlessly across the field. And maybe that was the problem. He was always remembering, wishing...

  He shook his head, his stride turning more purposeful. He’d hustle Grace out of here, let Cassie know he’d help Jake in any way possible. But Grace couldn’t be allowed to return. Besides, Cassie was busy with her grandfather. She didn’t have time to entertain a solemn young girl who barely smiled and was terrified of riding.

  Laughter bubbled from the brook. And then a telltale splash. He knew that sound—clearly a cannonball. So there were other kids here. He rounded the corner and jerked to a stop, staring in disbelief.

  His daughter—who refused to swim in their pristine pool because she thought she was fat—was dripping wet. Her hair clung to her face and she was laughing uproariously. Best of all, and most unbelievable, she was sitting on a bay horse’s back.

  “This is the most important thing,” Cassie said, her voice bubbly and full of fun. “You want Digger to think this is a good place to come. That standing quietly in the brook brings rewards. Like another handful of grass.”

  She stepped from the water, stooped and plucked a handful of grass. And Alex’s throat dried. She’d stripped down to her panties, and when she bent over he could see the delightful curve of her ass, the outline of each rounded cheek, the tapered smoothness of her thighs.

  “Remember how he fidgeted when I first rode him into the brook?” Cassie asked, smiling up at Grace and waving the grass.

  She must have been underwater too, Alex thought blankly. Her shirt clung to her breasts, and her bra was a lacy white, revealing the pointed outline of her nipples.

  He gulped and dragged his gaze back to Grace. She’d swiveled around on the horse’s back, both legs hanging on o
ne side, appearing surprisingly relaxed.

  “Digger’s sure standing good now,” Grace said.

  “He learned that it’s easier to stand in the brook and eat grass, than to neigh and jump around on the bank and have to trot circles,” Cassie said. She was back in the water now, the water lapping around her chest, not quite covering the swell of her breasts.

  “This is how we train them for the movies,” Cassie said. “Very gentle and consistent, just making sure they’re rewarded at the proper times. And you helped me train him today, so thank you very much, Grace. You’re a natural.”

  Alex’s heart kicked. Cassie loved kids, had frequently taken time at shows to linger and let children pat her horse, often letting them sit in the saddle if she thought it safe enough. He’d warned her she was a lawsuit waiting to happen but she’d just pointed to the kids’ delighted smiles and said some risks were worth it. Thank God for that because today Grace was the one benefiting from her generous nature.

  His gaze shot to the horse. The animal didn’t appear to lack spirit. He looked like a Thoroughbred, probably one Jake had picked up cheap from the track and brought in for retraining. The horse’s ears were tilted forward, his attention on Cassie. He wore a bridle but no saddle, and his black mane was soaked. But he looked content to stand in the brook, surrounded by two soaked and grinning girls.

  And such longing shot through Alex, it hurt to breathe.

  He waited another moment then turned and retreated up the path. No way was he going to intrude. His daughter was in good hands. She was safe, having fun with Cassie. Best of all, Grace was laughing.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Water dripped from Cassie’s hair, plastering her shirt to her skin. But the wet T-shirt kept her wonderfully cool as she climbed the rough path from the brook. Both she and Grace had pulled off their jeans before taking Digger into the water so at least she wouldn’t have to change before riding the next horse.