Pity about the leak.
‘Or not,’ she said, to no one in particular. Roofs and their holes, walls and their peeling paint, fences and their rusted nails were no longer her problem. And she couldn’t be happier.
‘Ow!’ Aspen glanced down at her thumb and winced. ‘Damn thing.’
She looked at her other fingers with their newly bitten nails. When had that happened? When had she started biting her nails again? She hadn’t since she was about thirteen and her grandfather had painted that horrible-tasting liquid on the ends of them.
Rubbing at the small wound, she picked up the horse rug she planned to throw over Delta and headed for her stall.
Delta whickered.
‘Hello, beauty,’ Aspen crooned. ‘I see you’ve finished dinner. Me? I’m not hungry.’
Which was surprising, really, because she couldn’t remember if she’d even eaten that day.
‘Who needs food anyway?’ She laughed. Who needed food when you didn’t have any will to live? ‘Now, that’s not true,’ she told Delta. ‘I have plenty to live for. Becoming a vet, a new beginning, adventure, never having to see Cruz Rodriguez ever again.’
She leant against the weathered blanket she’d tossed over Delta’s back. He’d told her he loved her but how could you love someone you didn’t know? And she’d nearly convinced herself that she had loved him too.
‘It’s called desire,’ she informed the uninterested mare. ‘Lust that is so powerful it fries your brain.’
But she wasn’t going to think about that. Had forbidden herself to think about it all week. And it had worked. Sort of.
Aspen took in a deep breath and revelled in the smell of horse and hay and Ocean Haven. Her throat constricted and tears pricked at the back of her eyes, her energy suddenly leaving her. She would miss this. Miss her horses. Her school. But things changed. That was the only certainty in life, wasn’t it?
‘The man who now owns you is big and strong and he’ll take care of you.’ Delta tossed her head. ‘I’m serious. He loves horses more than anything else.’
‘Is that right?’
Aspen spun around. Stared. Then swallowed. Cruz stood before her, wearing a striking grey suit and a crisp white shirt. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I think you know why I’m here this time.’
She straightened her spine. ‘Boy, that lawyer of yours works fast.’
‘She should. She’s paid enough. Now, answer my question.’
Aspen straightened Delta’s already straight blanket over her rump. Better that than looking at Cruz and losing her train of thought. ‘I would have thought it was obvious. You bought Ocean Haven so it’s yours, not mine.’
‘I told you that was a mistake,’ he bit out. ‘The whole thing happened while I was playing polo.’
Aspen shook her head. ‘You really expect me to believe that?’ she scoffed. ‘That supermodel of yours wouldn’t blink without your say-so.’
‘Supermodel?’
‘We are talking about the brunette who happened to know you were in the shower, aren’t we?’
Cruz narrowed his gaze and Aspen stared him down. Then he smiled. A full-on toothpaste-commercial-worthy smile. ‘I’ve never slept with Lauren.’
‘Like I would care.’ She jerked her head. ‘Mind moving? I’m tired of you blocking my way. No pun intended.’
Cruz continued to smile. ‘None taken.’
But he didn’t move.
‘You’re right about Lauren acting under my instructions,’ he began. ‘Unfortunately they were my old instructions. My new ones were caught up somewhere in cyberspace when her firm’s e-mail system went down.’
‘I don’t care. I’m moving on.’
‘Where to?’
‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged. ‘Somewhere exciting.’
‘And what about your mother’s horseshoe?’
‘It’s gone.’ She’d cried over that enough when she’d returned last week. ‘And before you ask I don’t know where and nor does Donny. When I came back last week it wasn’t here.’ She sniffed. ‘I’m taking it as a sign.’
‘A sign of what?’
His voice was soft. As gentle as it had been the night she had told him about Chad. It made a horrible pain well up inside her chest. ‘A sign that I’ve put too much store in The Farm for too long. I thought I needed it, but it turns out I needed something else more.’