“I’ll always catch you,” he answered soberly, his eyes locked with hers.
There was no doubt in her mind that he meant it.
He helped her up, showing her where to place her feet into the saddle, and how to swing her leg over without tipping or losing her balance. His instructions were both comforting and confident. “Place your feet here, no, not like that. Like this.Bien.Very good. Now hold the reins…hold,Jacyn; don’tpull. You are in control, and you must let him knows this.”
It’s a long way to the ground,she thought, but then another thought comforted her:It’s okay; Alex is here.
Slowly, they began to move, with Alex right beside her, one hand on the bridle. “Good,” he kept murmuring. “You’re doing well.” She wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or the horse, but the feeling was like nothing she had ever experienced in her life, or ever even hoped for. The powerful muscles of the animal bunched and moved beneath her, sheer brute strength, yet control and gentleness. The expanse of greenery that went on and on and on as far as she could see, broken only by the line of trees in the distance. The scent of flowers perfumed the air. Both the wildflowers that dotted the grass as well as the rose and lavender borne on the wind.
And the man who walked at her side, patient and stoic.
Never in her wildest imagination would she have seen herself here, in this beautiful place, riding this amazing creature. Accompanied by such a man, who was, in essence, her jailer, but who was treating her like a friend.
***
Jacyn lay back against the sloping marble tiles of her bath, allowing the scented steam to penetrate her nostrils even as the lavish amounts of bath oils she had poured in soothed her aching muscles.
Nobody had told her that her first time on a horse would have left her feeling so sore! Her thighs felt like she’d spent three hours on a Thigh Blaster, not to mention the lingering ache in her lower back, shoulders, and wrists!
Alex had led her up and down the paddock grounds at first, then around front to the gardens, and in and out of the maze. At one point, Orage showed an unexpected interest in one of the topiary bunnies, and tried to nibble off an ear. She’d squealed in a combination of excitement and fear as the horse had lunged for the attractive snack, but a single command from Alex had brought it back into line.
He’d even stopped to snap a few shots of her, grinning proudly while seated atop the horse. Jacyn had been seated with her back straight, fingers looped around the reins just as he had taught her, feeling as if she was one lesson away from entering a dressage competition.
She’d posted her photos on social media, realizing that it had been a long time since she’d been on her favorite platforms. In fact, her most recent entries had been made back in the States. Just days ago, when her life was a humdrum mixture of going to the gym by day and hoping that Gregg would call by night.
“Take a look at me, nowwww!” she sang, in a gleeful yet tuneless imitation of Phil Collins.
Life really came at you fast, she mused. One week I’m jobless and frantic, another, I’m soaking in a marble tub the size of a small swimming pool, in a château in France.
A faint buzz penetrated her thoughts, but it was a while before she recognized it as her phone. Sadly, it was buried deep in the pocket of her jeans, which were draped over a chair across the room. She’d already talked with Sienna and given her daily report, a breathless recapping of her encounter with Brute and Orage. And nobody else worth talking to would call her. She’d blocked Gregg, and her utilities back home were paid up.
So, whatever.
She sank deeper into the warmth and continued warbling her joyous refrain.
The phone rang again. And again. And kept on ringing until her annoyance made the warm, sweet retreat no longer feel hospitable. “I’m coming, dammit,” she muttered. She stepped out, careful not to slip, warm water dripping down her body as she stomped over to the chair and snatched up the phone without looking at it. “Hello?”
“Jacyn!” The voice on the other end was raspy and abrupt, and she knew immediately who it belonged to: her father, George.
“Dad?”
“Oh, now you remember you have a family?” he sounded irritated, abrupt.
“Huh?” She removed the phone from her ear and stared at it, as if it was malfunctioning. The man who’d been in and out of her life like a distracted ghost was dropping words forherabout family? “What do you mean?”
“Delia and Teresa have been going on and on about you being in Europe?” He sounded incredulous, spitting out the wordEuropeas if it was some flea-ridden, forgotten corner of the world. “Something about you on ahorse?What the hell is that about?”
Oh, she thought. Maybe sharing her whereabouts on social media hadn’t been such a great idea after all. It’s not as if she had so many friends she wanted to impress. “That’s funny,” she said shortly, “I didn’t think your wife and my stepsister cared about my whereabouts. Or how I’m doing.” Unless it’s a means for Delia to gather intel, to steal my fiancé, she could have said, but didn’t.
“Don’t be silly,” he snapped. “You’re my daughter. You think I don’t deserve to know where you are? You think you can just up and go to Italy—”
“France,” she corrected. “I’m in France, Dad.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he snorted dismissively. “What matters is, you never said anything.”
Jacyn paused, debating whether to say what was on her mind, or to let it be. She could have talked about her father’s infidelity to her mother, or the fact that he’d chosen to marry a woman who had openly resented Jacyn’s mere existence. Her step-mother’s jealousy and interference whenever it seemed that his responsibilities toward his child threatened her own position as the center of his life.
Jacyn could have said something about Delia’s sudden interest in her whereabouts. Herdearstepsister had already muscled in on her relationship with Gregg, ending her engagement and sending her life spinning into chaos. Why did Jacyn’s life matter to her now? She’d already taken whatever she could take.