The Riding Master (29 page)

At the double doors to his home, she put her gold key in the lock.

“Trent?” she called out as she opened the doors.

The short entrance hall was dark, but the lights were on in the grand living room and she could hear the strains of soft music coming from within. Entering the living room, she found a CD player in a recessed wall to the far right of the stone hearth filling the home with a mellow jazz tune. Rayne searched the connecting kitchen and dining areas, but when her eyes went to the open patio doors, she froze. Draped over one of the cedar chaise lounge chairs, beside the rectangular pond, was a pair of black riding breeches, a black T-shirt, and black, lacy underwear. Rayne’s fist closed over the key tied to the panties in her hand. A wave of nausea came over her as she began to jump to a number of conclusions.

“Rayne?”

When she reeled around, Trent was behind her, clutching a white envelope in his hand. The smile on his face held not the slightest hint of deception.

“You used your key.” He came up to her and kissed her cheek. “I’m so glad. I didn’t know if you—”

The sound of splashing and hurried footsteps outside made him turn toward the patio doors.

Rayne followed his eyes and recoiled when she spotted the reason for his sudden loss of words. Standing outside on the deck, and naked as the day she was born, was Lisa Shelby. Her long brown hair was wet and clung to her shoulders, and although she pretended to be embarrassed and hide her nudity, Rayne could tell by the evil grin on her red lips that she was more delighted than upset at being seen that way.

“What in the hell are you doing?” Trent shouted.

“I was waiting for you to join me in the pool.” Lisa came into the house, leaving tiny wet footsteps on the bamboo floor.

Trent jogged out the patio doors. “Are you mad?” He hastily collected her clothes from the chaise lounge. “I never said anything about you swimming in my pool. Honestly, Lisa, what is wrong with you?” He went up to her and shoved the clothes at her. “Get dressed.”

But Lisa made no attempt to dress as she kept her almond-shaped eyes on Rayne. “Remember how much fun we used to have in your pool, Trent?”

Trent’s eyes swiveled around to Rayne, and his anger turned to bitter concern when he saw her face.

Common sense told Rayne that the whole incident was nothing more than cruel manipulation by a spiteful ex-lover. But as the naked woman’s green eyes bore into her, Rayne began to consider all the other women who had come before her; all the women he had made love to in the shallows of his swimming pool. She had always been aware of Trent’s history with the opposite sex, but it was not until she saw Lisa naked in his living room that Rayne began to carefully question why he had such a history. 

“Rayne, don’t you for one minute believe that I knew—”

“I’m sure she knows better than to trust you, Trent,” Lisa interrupted as a scheming smile spread across her red lips. “I could never trust you, so why should she?” She frowned at Rayne. “You see, he asked me to come here. He wanted me, even though he already had you.” She laughed, sounding cold and empty inside. “They’re all the same, Rayne. They’ll say anything to get you into bed, but they don’t mean it. They never mean it.”

“Shut up!” Trent yelled. “You backstabbing bitch.” He rushed across the living room to Rayne’s side. “You can’t believe a word she says. She came here begging me to return to Shelby Stables. She even wrote out a check for a year’s salary.” He threw the white envelope still in his hand to the floor.

Lisa just stood in her spot inside the patio doors, dripping all over the finely polished wood floors and with her clothes strategically positioned over her naked body.

“Get out,” Rayne growled to Lisa.

Lisa opened her mouth to object.

“You heard her, get out of my house,” Trent hollered.

Lisa indignantly raised her head. “At least allow me to put my clothes on and—”

But before she could finish, Trent seized her wrist. He dragged her wet, naked body toward the living room entrance.

Interested in what would happen next, Rayne slowly followed them and stopped just short of the hallway. 

“We’re over, Lisa. Don’t ever come back here,” Trent went on as he practically carried her down the hallway.

“Let me go,” Lisa squawked.

“If you ever say anything negative about me or Rayne, I will be sure to let everyone know about all those disgusting affairs you bragged to me about.”

“You better think twice about that, or else—”

“Or else what?” Trent opened the front doors. “By the time I’m done with you, no one will ever want to go near Shelby Stables. You’ll be ruined.” He shoved her, still naked, outside to the porch. “Don’t threaten me, Lisa. Don’t ever threaten me.” Trent smashed the doors closed.

An uncomfortable quiet settled in the hallway as Trent leaned against the closed front doors with his back to Rayne.

She did not know if his reluctance to face her was a sign of his guilt or innocence, but the cold stab of anguish in her gut made Rayne think that no matter his explanation, it would not help his cause. 

“You know nothing happened.” His voice was strained as he continued to lean against the doors.

Rayne stood riveted to her spot on the hardwood floor. “I know nothing happened today…but what about tomorrow?”

When he turned around, the fury in his eyes jarred her. That ever-present confidence he always seemed to possess had disappeared. “What is that supposed to mean?” He pointed his finger determinedly at the doors. “Do you think I still want to be with Lisa? The reason I ended it was because she confessed to me that she had been sleeping with the husbands of half her tenants at the stables. After hearing something like that, I couldn’t stay. It sickened me. She sickened me.”

“I can understand that. But perhaps if you had told me that before—”

“Before?” Infuriated, he slapped his hand against his chest. “Now you don’t trust me because I didn’t want to tell you the truth about why I left her?”

Rayne studied his rigid posture, the icy anger in his eyes, and the way his ropelike muscles were bulging in his arms. She found it odd how in a split second everything she had come to know about him, all the idiosyncrasies she had grown used to, could simply vanish without a trace. The man before her was nothing like the one she had let into her life. This Trent Newbury was almost a stranger.

“Trust?” The word tumbled from her lips as its meaning tore at her heart. “I don’t know if I ever trusted you.”

“Where is this coming from? You can’t be jealous of her. She is nothing to me.”

Rayne felt his house key in her hand. “Not jealous, perhaps…just seeing the real you for the first time.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?”

His ugly tone made her flinch. “I guess I’m just beginning to wonder where I stand in that long line of women you’ve been with.” Rayne moved to the Shaker table by his front door. “I don’t want to end up being just another meaningless fling.”

He came up to her, holding up his hands as if she were a nervous horse about to bolt. “You’re upset and not thinking clearly.” 

She placed his key on the table while hiding her key tied with the panties in her other hand. “I am thinking very clearly, Trent. For the first time since we met, I’m beginning to understand.” Focusing her eyes on the bright gold key she had put on the table, she refused to look at him.

“Understand what?” He stood next to her, resting his hand on her arm. “What is there to understand? I care for you, Rayne. I don’t want anyone else.”

Her eyes shifted to the floor. “You know, I have always wondered why me? Why would someone like you be interested in me?”

“You know why. You’re not like her. You don’t see me as a meal ticket.” He gestured to the front doors. “You’re different from all the rest.”

“All the rest of what, Trent? The women you have been with?” She pointed to the key on the table. “I was coming here to give you your key back and ask for a little time apart, but now I think we’re done.”

He reached for her, but Rayne shied away from him.

She stepped around him to the doors. “I have to go.”

“No, Rayne.” He pulled her to him. “I know this is not what you want. You can’t doubt me, not after all we’ve shared.”

All we’ve shared?
Infuriated by his words, she broke free of his embrace. “What did we share, Trent? A few rolls in the sack to what…break that skittish horse you so desperately wanted to ride? Well, you got what you wanted.” She yanked the doors open and ran outside.

Rayne did not remember running down the wide steps to the street, or even climbing into her car. When her mind began to register what had just happened, she was already driving away from his house, pressing her foot down on the accelerator and desperate to put as much distance as possible between her and the man who had just broken her heart.

***

Instead of going home, Rayne drove to the stables. She needed to get out in the brisk fall air and occupy her mind with something, anything other than Trent. After pulling into the shell-covered parking lot next to the red and white barn, she wiped away the tears that had stained her cheeks.

Not since she had walked in on Foster and Connie had she felt such heartache. In a way, Lisa Shelby had been right; all men were the same. And even though he may not have treated her quite like Foster, in the end she was convinced Trent would have tossed her aside just as her ex had done.

Walking up to Bob’s stall, she was sure that she had made the right choice. But still the ache in her heart endured, creating that speck of doubt that maybe she had been wrong about the man and his intentions.

“No. I’m right, aren’t I, Bob?”

Bob’s long face held no answers, no hints of wisdom, making Rayne almost laugh at her question.

“Come on, buddy. Let’s go jump some fences and I can tell you all about it.”

The time with Bob worked wonders for her. As they jumped fences she had set up around the ring, her mind went over the confrontation with Trent. As she rode, she talked to Bob, told him the entire story and voiced her concerns about Trent. It was what she had done in high school with boys that confounded her, and after fights with her mother. She had spent hours on her horse, talking out her problems. During her divorce, she decided her horse was cheaper than a psychologist, and a lot less judgmental. Through the years, all the time she had spent in the saddle had kept her grounded and sane. And now, when she needed him most, Bob was there like a close friend, willing to listen to her every word.

After an hour in the jumping ring, her body and her mind were weary. She had run through all possible scenarios with Trent, but every conclusion had reinforced her decision. Sometimes you had to fight to protect your heart, no matter how painful the outcome. For Rayne, love always ended badly, and all those she had loved had left her. Better never to love, and avoid all the misery.  

***

It was late in the evening when Rayne returned home from the stables. Determined to put the past with Trent behind her, she greeted Frank with a hearty pat on the head and went to her refrigerator, eager for orange juice.

As she was chugging from the carton, she heard the answering machine in her bedroom click on.

“I’ve left you ten voice mails on your cell phone, and now I’m resorting to this goddamned machine. I know I have been with a lot of women, and that you’re scared, but you can’t just walk away. I want a chance to show you that I’m not the man I was. You have changed me. Please pick this up. I know you’re home, probably drinking your orange juice and telling Frank what a shit I am.”

Rayne looked down at the carton of orange juice in her hand and then to Frank’s fuzzy face on the kitchen floor next to her.

“Just talk to me, Rayne. Let’s work this through. I can come over or you can come back here. I’ll do whatever it takes. Please, think about this.”
The machine clicked off, and once again the house was still. She stood in the kitchen, considering his plea. After several minutes of deliberation, she replaced the juice on the refrigerator shelf, walked into her bedroom, and deleted Trent’s message. 

“It’s for the best.”

Without looking back at the machine, she hurried to her bathroom, eager to wash the dust, sweat, and tears from her body. She was not healed, but Rayne knew she would grow stronger. Soon, she would be able to resist him completely, or at least she hoped she would. Parts of her body still longed for him, but years of dealing with Estelle had taught Rayne that the head must rule the heart; otherwise you would just end up a lonely old drunk with an empty house, a broken spirit, and a lifetime full of regrets.

Chapter 22

The rest of the week, Rayne spent her days hiding in her lab. She stayed away from the break room to avoid running into Lindsey. She did not want to have to explain what had happened with Trent, nor did she want to lie to her friend and tell her everything was fine. Rayne retreated to her broom closet of an office for breaks and skipped taking her lunch hour. Her desire for food had waned considerably since leaving Trent’s house, and she wanted nothing more than to be buried in work and to forget about her life. At the end of her workday, she would dash out the back office door to the parking lot, hoping to get away unseen.