The Place I Belong (5 page)

The rest of the meal passed smoothly, with a dessert of chocolate pots de crème bringing moans of ecstasy from all but one of the diners. Matt made no comment, but Hannah noticed he swirled his finger around the empty bowl and licked it when he thought no one was watching.

As everyone rose amidst a general surge of gratitude for the spectacular meal, Adam leaned down beside Hannah and murmured, “May I speak with you alone for just a minute?”

She nodded and signaled Sonya to take Matt out of the room with her. The door closed behind them and Adam turned to her, his smile vanishing like snow in June. “I know you’re busy so I’ll just ask. How is Matt doing?”

“Fine,” Hannah said, putting conviction in her voice. “He’s a smart young man. He gets the message. He seems genuinely sorry Trace was injured.”

“You don’t think it was deliberate?”

“Definitely not. It was pure carelessness that he covered up with bravado.”

She could see the tension in Adam’s posture ease. “You seem to know humans as well as you know animals.”

The gross inaccuracy of that made Hannah shake her head emphatically. “I’m a vet for a reason. People lie. Animals don’t.”

Surprise flashed across his face before speculation took
its place. “One of the less impressive attributes of higher
intelligence
.”

How had he found that crack in her carefully maintained professional façade? Irritated with herself for revealing too much, she checked her watch. “Matt and I have to get going on my farm rounds. Thanks for a delicious lunch.”

“I’ll take Matt home with me,” Adam said. “I’ve imposed on you enough already. If I hadn’t been at the end of my rope, I never would have asked you to do this.”

Relief swept through her. Matt had been unenthusiastic about visiting the large animals, and now she didn’t have to drag him along with her on her farm rounds. Then she remembered his admission of guilt over Trace. She’d breached his defenses for a minute there.

Some impulse of charity made her say, “He might prefer to go with you, but I’d like to find out more about his interest in dolphins.”

He scanned her face with a questioning gaze. “You must be trying for sainthood. Thank you.”

His comment shocked a short laugh out of her. Maybe she did have a yen for martyrdom, considering her recent personal and professional history. Except people didn’t usually bring it out in her. Just Matt with his air of a half-wild dog, wanting to trust someone but afraid of having his trust betrayed.

Hannah started toward the door.

“Dr. Linden, I’d like to ask another favor.”

Dismay zinged through her as she stopped.

“Would you have dinner with me Monday and tell me what you
learn about Matt and the dolphins? It might help me talk to him.”

What was he up to with the dinner invitation? His refusal to take no for an answer was causing flashbacks to her ex again. Ward had kept asking her out until she finally accepted.

No, this was different. She’d seen how Adam watched Matt at lunch. He wanted so badly to connect with his son that he was bribing her with food to give him any tools he could use. The charmer routine was just a way to cover his desperation.

“You don’t have to feed me,” she said. “I’ll meet you at Moonshine on my way home from work. You can buy me a glass of wine.” That would keep their meeting short, as the wine bar didn’t serve meals. She didn’t want to get drawn any farther into Adam’s situation than she already was.

“Feeding people is what I do,” he said, “but they have some excellent cheese at Moonshine. Five o’clock?”

She nodded, knowing she was crazy to think he seemed disappointed when she turned down dinner. The same thought prompted her to say, “I’ll drop Matt off at your house when I’m done with my farm visits. We’ll be driving around in the truck anyway so it’s no trouble.”

“Do you need directions?”

She snorted. “Everyone knows where The Aerie is. The hard part is getting reservations.”

He laughed before he turned serious. “For you there will always be a table.”

His dark eyes were locked on her, and she felt wrapped in the sensuousness of black velvet against her bare skin. The sensation was so vivid she had to give her head a tiny shake to bring herself back to the reality of standing in Tim’s office in her polo shirt and khakis. “See you later,” she said and fled.

Adam stowed the dishes in the insulated bags without conscious thought. He was contemplating the enigma of Dr. Hannah Linden. There was a kindness in her that extended beyond the animals she cared so deeply for. Yet she didn’t seem to warm up to him. He wasn’t offended, just puzzled. His job required the ability to make his customers feel as though they were the center of his attention, and he’d gotten good at it. Most people enjoyed it, yet Dr. Linden kept backing away.

Maybe he’d scared her with his anguish over Trace and his desperation over Matt. He’d twisted her arm into mentoring a surly boy, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising she wanted nothing further to do with him.

Although when he’d offered her the perfect out for the afternoon, she’d rejected it. She actually wanted to spend more time with his son.

“What does that say about me that she prefers Matt’s
company
to mine?” he muttered, zipping up a bag.

Despite that, he wanted to comb his fingers through her straight, corn-silk, blond hair, an impulse he had squelch every time he bent down to serve her a dish. He wondered if her blue eyes would widen in shock or flutter closed in pleasure. He’d only had a few glimpses of her standing without her lab coat, but it looked as though there were some interesting curves there. Maybe it was because he was a chef that he liked women whose figures showed a certain appetite.

He shook his head. Given her reaction to him, he shouldn’t bother to speculate on her body. Although he would see her again Monday.

He piled the bags into a big plastic carrier and hefted it in both hands.

He would just have to be more charming at their next
meeting
.

Chapter 3

H
ANNAH DROVE THROUGH
the gates marking the
road to Healing Springs Stables, Sharon Sydenstricker’s
world-class breeding and training facility and horse rescue center.
Sharon spent all the money she made from her high-paying clients on the horses she saved from bad situations. “Have you been here before?” Hannah asked.

Matt shook his head.

“Ms. Sydenstricker is an Olympic gold medalist.” Boys liked athletes, didn’t they?

“Cool.” His voice was devoid of enthusiasm.

Hannah had tried at least six different topics, including dolphins, and Matt had refused to participate in any conversation. She pulled the truck over to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes, making Matt brace his hand on the dashboard and swing his gaze around to her. “What the−?” he said.

“Enough with the silent treatment,” Hannah said, twisting around in her seat and crossing her arms.

He dropped his gaze. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m tired of getting one-syllable answers from you. It’s rude and annoying.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” He put the tiniest bit of emphasis on the last word, and Hannah felt an unwelcome admiration for his slyness. He was using good manners in a way she had specifically asked him not to.

“Two points for the inverse courtesy,” she said, raising a finger to mark the score in the air. “Now lose the attitude or I’ll tell Sharon you love to muck out stalls.”

He sighed. “It’s not an attitude. I don’t like farm animals.”

“Because why?”

“I dunno. They’re big.”

“Did you grow up in a city?” Hannah had no idea where he’d come from before he’d landed with Adam.

“I guess so.”

She cast a weary glance at the roof of the truck. “Does that mean yes or no?”

“I lived in a bunch of places,” he said, giving her a sullen scowl. “A couple were cities.”

She gave up, deciding it was too much trouble to drag the information out of him. “Dolphins are big too,” she said, reverting to his original complaint about farm animals. “People don’t realize that because they’ve never been in the water with them.”

“I have,” Matt said abruptly.

Progress.
“Where?” She kept her tone lukewarm. Too much enthusiasm might scare him off the topic.

“Disney World.”

Back to short answers. She tried a more open-ended question. “What did you think?”

He shrugged. “They were bigger than I expected. And strong. You could tell even though we didn’t swim with them.”

Hannah noted the “we” and wondered if he’d been with his mother. “So what did you do with them?”

“We stood on a platform in the water and they swam up to us.” He turned toward her, his left leg bent at the knee and flat on the seat. “The trainer would signal and the dolphins would let us hug them or they’d roll over so we could scratch their bellies. They’d even open their mouths so you could touch their tongue and their teeth. I was pretty nervous but my mom got into it.”

Hannah wasn’t sure how to keep him talking so she just told the truth. “That’s an amazing experience. I’d like to try it myself.”

“The hugging part is when I realized how big they are. The dolphin came right up and kind of put his chin on my shoulder. My arms went about half way around him and I could feel his tail moving to keep himself in position.” Matt curved his arms as though the dolphin was in them, and all his surliness dropped away. His blue eyes were alight with remembered excitement. “That’s when I realized how strong he was.”

“So that’s how you got interested in dolphins?”

He let his arms fall onto his lap. “Yeah. We were supposed to go back there when I was old enough to swim with them.” A shadow passed over his face, and he turned to look straight ahead through the windshield.

Hannah tried to bring the animation back. “How old were you then?”

“I forget.”

She’d lost him. She could see it in the stiff set of his shoulders; he had closed down on the memory, maybe because it reminded him his mother wouldn’t be taking him to Disney World again.
“Hey, you’ll get back there for that swim,” she said, unable
to resist reaching out to give him a brief comforting touch on his arm.

He didn’t acknowledge the contact but he didn’t jerk away, either.

“Maybe you could just think of horses as dolphins on land. With hooves,” she said, putting the truck in gear and pulling back onto the road.

“Sure. Thanks.” His tone was sarcastic but not hostile, so Hannah figured she’d done all right.

She spent the few minutes it took to reach the barns explaining what vaccinations she would be giving the horses and why. Matt nodded occasionally but made no comment.

Parking the truck in the gravel lot, she jumped out and walked around to the back. Matt surprised her by following. “Want me to carry one?” he asked, as she flipped down the tailgate and reached for the cases she’d packed at the clinic.

“That’d be great,” Hannah said, handing him the smaller case. His mother had raised the kid right.

He slouched along beside her as they walked through the barn toward Sharon Sydenstricker’s office. The place was bustling with stable hands leading glossy horses of all colors and sizes in and out of stalls. One young man passed with a wheelbarrow loaded with bags of feed, and Hannah inhaled the sweet, thick scent of molasses-infused grain. The hollow clomp of hooves, the musical jingle of metal buckles, and the occasional throaty whicker or irritated squeal of a horse brought back memories of her summer internship at a rural veterinary practice during vet school. She’d considered specializing in racehorse medicine because she’d enjoyed that summer but decided it was more practical to go for small domestic animals. It meant she could live in a city, which seemed desirable at the time.

That had led her to Chicago and Ward.
She should have stuck
to the Thoroughbreds
. She turned her attention back to the boy just
as a large black stallion was led past them. Matt veered sharply away from the horse and bumped into her, making her stagger.

“Sorry,” he said, keeping a wary eye on the big creature’s muscular haunches as the groom walked him away. “That one looked kind of mean.”

“And you wouldn’t want to get your foot under one of those hooves,” Hannah agreed. “That would grind a few bones.”

Matt gave her a look of gratitude. He must have been expecting her to scoff at his nervousness.

“Here we are,” Hannah said as they walked up to a human-sized door at the end of the barn. She walked inside the office to find the stable’s owner hunched in front of a computer screen, scowling.

“Thank the lord you’re here, doc,” Sharon said, spinning
her desk chair around and leaping to her feet. “I can’t abide
bookkeeping
.”

“Sharon, meet Matt McNally. He’s my assistant today.” Hannah
stifled a smile as Matt gaped at the six-foot tall horsewoman with her flyaway mop of flaming red hair. Every inch of Sharon Sydenstricker was in shape under the polo shirt and riding britches she wore. When she stepped around the desk to shake Matt’s hand, there was no mistaking the fluid motion indicating an elite-level athlete.

“Nice to meet you,” Sharon said.

“Nice to meet you too, Ms. Sydenstricker,” he said. Hannah felt an absurd spurt of pride at his manners.

Sharon gave her an I’m-impressed-and-surprised look before she said, “So Dr. Tim left you to do the heavy lifting while he’s off gallivanting in some foreign country? Lordy, I can’t keep track of where he and Claire are going next.”

“It’s lucky for me he wanted to gallivant,” Hannah pointed out. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have hired me.”

“Didn’t you come from some big city?” Sharon asked with casual friendliness as she led the way into the barn. “Sanctuary must seem real different.”

“In the best possible way,” Hannah said fervently.
No political rallies, no charity galas, no reporters manufacturing scandals, and no Ward Miller to stomp on her heart.

“So Matt, where’d you live before you came here?” Sharon asked, clearly wanting to include him in the conversation.

Hannah held her breath.

“California,” he said, surprising her with his immediate response.

“That’s a trip and a half,” Sharon said. “I go out there a lot to pick up racehorses no one wants anymore. Some of ‘em make great jumpers.”

“What do you do with the rest of them?” Matt asked.

Sharon shrugged. “Give ’em a place to live.” She stopped in front of a stall. “Here’s your first victim, doc.”

The nameplate on the stall’s half door read: Don Diego’s Favorite Son.

“We call him Sonny,” Sharon said.

Remembering the boy’s fear of big animals, Hannah said, “Matt, maybe you should wait out here, just in case Sonny doesn’t like having so many people in his stall.”

“Nah, he’s a good horse,” Sharon said. “He won’t give you any trouble.”

Hannah saw the boy swallow hard and tried to think how to rescue him. “You know, I left my tablet in the pickup. Tim likes me to keep notes on the animals I see so I really need it. Would you mind getting it for me, Matt? You can help with the n
ext horse
.”

“No problem, Dr. Linden,” he said, practically singing at the reprieve. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as he was out of earshot, Hannah lowered her voice, “He’s afraid of horses.”

“What in tarnation is he doing here then?” Sharon asked, amusement and exasperation in her face.

“It’s a long story,” Hannah said, walking in the stall to find a handsome bay gelding with black points gazing at her, his eyes bright with affable curiosity. “Sonny, my boy, how are you feeling today? We’re just going to give you a quick check up and a vaccination. Nothing to worry about.”

As Hannah ran her hands over the bay’s body, probing for any
sign of discomfort, Sharon said, “He’s Adam Bosch’s boy, right?”

“Yup,” Hannah grunted, leaning over to pick up Sonny’s hoof. It had been awhile since she’d dealt with an animal this large. She really needed to work out more.

“Poor kid, he’s had a tough time of it.” Sharon shook her head. “Having his mother drown and all. Rumor has it Matt had never met his father until the mother died.”

Hannah straightened. “That’s heart-breaking. How could someone not want to meet their own child?” Even if she didn’t trust Adam’s polished façade, he still didn’t seem like the sort of man who would abandon a woman who was pregnant with his child. Maybe he was more like Ward than she thought. She was pretty sure her ex-fiancé would have claimed not to know how reproduction worked if he’d gotten another woman pregnant during his election campaign. And he would have convinced the media it was true.

“Adam has his own problems,” Sharon said with a shrug. “Maybe he didn’t want to involve Matt in them.”

Hannah’s interest in Adam got the better of her and she glanced out over the door of the stall to make sure Matt wasn’t approaching. “What kind of problems?”

Sharon tucked her hands into her breeches pockets. “Well, maybe I’d better let the man tell you himself. That way you can form your own opinion.”

Consumed by curiosity, Hannah made a mental note to ask Estelle about Adam’s issues. Then she went back to examining Sonny, loving the feel of the big, solid bones under his smooth coat and the warmth of his body in the enclosed stall. She’d forgotten how solid and reassuring the presence of a horse could be.

She finished Sonny’s checkup and gave him his shot, making sure to reward him with a horse treat for being such a good patient. She was feeling more confident about her large-animal skills now.

As she and Sharon walked out of the stall, Matt pushed himself off the wall where he’d been leaning. “I didn’t want to interrupt you,” he said, holding out the tablet.

“I appreciate that,” Hannah said, although she knew he was just making an excuse not to come into the stall. She made a show of tapping in some notes on Sonny so Matt’s pride wouldn’t take a hit.

Sharon strode down to another stall and turned. “This mare’s a bit touchy, so it’s best Matt not come in with us. She might get spooked.” She rubbed a finger against her chin. “You know if you want to go out back, there’s a few benches by the riding ring. You can hang out until we’re done.”