Jeb opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Lou, who was standing inside the doorway behind the screen. She opened the door. “I’ll explain it to him, Jeb.”
She walked across the porch and scuffed her boot across the boards, her hands in the pockets of her jeans, her eyes focused on the floor. Her gaze rose and met his, a challenge in her eyes. “Care to take a ride with me, Brody? I want to go and check on the mare.”
“Are you going to give me some answers?”
“Why don’t you just come with me and we’ll talk?”
Brody looked toward Jeb who nodded his head slightly, indicating he should go.
Brody rose from the chair and walked side by side to the barn with Lou. They saddled two horses and Lou grabbed two bottles of water from the barn fridge to put in a saddlebag. Then she took two carrots and placed them in her back pocket.
They rode in silence for a few minutes and then Lou asked, “You doing okay over there? I worry a little about your riding skills, with you being such a greenhorn and all.”
Brody scoffed, “Greenhorn, my foot. I have been riding horses since before I could walk.”
“But last time you said you were afraid to ride alone.”
“Oh, I just wanted to rattle your cage and see if you would let me ride behind you,” Brody replied absently.
“You did not…” Lou tried to look offended.
“Don’t worry. I got the worse end of that deal. Trust me.”
“Serves you right,” Lou mumbled.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.” She smiled at him.
They loped along in silence until they saw the rock where they had eaten lunch on their previous ride. Lou dismounted, wrapped her reins around the saddle horn, and let the horse graze. Brody did the same. Lou looked toward the mountains and crossed her arms over her chest. “This is on
e of my favorite places,” she stated.
“Does it remind you of where you grew up?”
“God, no. Not at all.” She snorted indelicately. “I grew up in the city. We lived in trailer parks where there were dirty children, cockroaches, and traffic. I guess that’s why I like it here so much, because it’s so different from where I came from. We had just moved into a different trailer in the middle of nowhere the night Jeb and John found me.”
“Found you?”
She took a deep breath. “Yeah. We were watching TV one night when someone knocked at the door. My mother started going crazy about it and threw Sarah into a bag and put it over my shoulder. Sarah was just a couple of weeks old at the time. Then, my mother told me to go out the back window and run like hell, so that’s what I did. I heard her scream as I ran through the woods. I stopped for a second and that’s when a bullet hit me.”
“Bullet? Where?”
Lou lifted her bangs and showed Brody the shallow trench on her temple. He touched it lightly with his fingers, which were gentle, but firm.
Lou began to pace in front of him. “I ran through the woods and came out on a street. That’s when I fell down and passed out. Jeb and John just happened to be driving by. They stopped and picked me up, the bag with Sarah in it still hanging over my shoulder. I think they were a little surprised to find a baby. Not to mention me. They brought me and Sarah here for Sadie to take care of us.”
“She always did take care of all the wounded birds and children at Western Skies. She’s fixed up more than one scrape that I had.”
“They’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“What happened to your mother?” His eyes searched hers.
“She died.” Lou heaved a sigh. “After I had been here for about a year, I stopped being afraid someone was looking for us. I just started living my life and raising my daughter. I had almost begun to believe the past was just a dream when, the other night at the hospital, we ran into Mrs. Downy. She was our neighbor when I was younger. And I did know her but I didn’t want to admit it. Then that man stopped Sarah at the end of the drive.”
“A stranger asked about you at the hospital, too. That’s why Mom wanted to come home so quickly. She wants to be sure you’re safe.”
Lou’s eyes met his “I had no idea. If I ever thought your family would be in danger, I would take Sarah and leave. I promise. And if it ever comes to that, I will. I love them like they’re my own. I just wanted to bring you out here to explain it to you. I didn’t want you to think there is some big conspiracy to keep you out of the loop.”