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“There are only two mares there now. Ari and I ride them. But nothing like you and I used to.”
“How long are you planning to stay at the Kendall?” Doug asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Dad, we’re staying, right?” Each time someone mentioned them leaving, Ari was afraid it might be true.
“Yes, Ari, we’re staying.” His son had bonded so quickly to the Kendall. Jace knew it was the stability that the Kendall represented that appealed so strongly to Ari; he understood that staying here would mean a better life than wandering the world.
“Doug, you might just be the person I’m looking for.”
“How’s that?” Doug asked.
“I need a lawyer.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SLEEPING WAS SOMETHING Jace never had a problem with. But for the past few days, he’d found it hard to slip into the familiar darkness and rest. His childhood came back. It was the letter Kelly had given him from Sheldon. Why would he write it? What could he want after all this time? The area where the letter was posted was a notoriously rich community. While Sheldon had lost the Kendall, he’d obviously landed on his feet.
Jace imagined him living high and hearty, sailing on the cruisers that dotted the bay like huge dollar signs. He wanted to feel good about his brother having taken the time to write to him. But maybe Sheldon just wanted to rub in his new wealth?
Flipping over in bed, Jace punched the pillow hard. He tried several times to find a comfortable place, but sleep was not on his agenda that night.
What should he do? Now that the opportunity was there, now that Jace knew where to contact his brother, why was he hesitating? Why didn’t he respond? Why didn’t he tell his brother that he never wanted to see him again? Or why didn’t he tell him he wanted to know how to get the Kendall back and wanted his help?
Images of Sheldon berating him in front of his friends came back. Thoughts of him refusing any request Jace made came back. But the worst was Laura. She was his girlfriend, Jace’s. Yet Sheldon was the one she chose. Jace had resolved this years ago and promised never to set foot in Windsor Heights again.
But now there was Ari. The child changed all that. Jace would do anything for his son. Even return to the Kendall. Jace knew where Sheldon was—he had to do something. He had to answer the letter. See what he wanted. Find out if he was still the conceited jerk he’d been when the two of them occupied space in this house that Kelly had restored so well.
Kicking the covers off, Jace got out of bed. There was a desk in the room, but no paper he could find. There was some in Kelly’s office. He went there and switched the light on. By the copier, he found paper with the Kendall logo on it. It must be part of the new image Kelly was making for the house and grounds.
He didn’t take time to wonder if he should use it. Putting the paper on the desk, he grabbed a pen and wrote the date on the top. Then Dear Sheldon. After that he paused. Jace could think of nothing else to say. He had no idea what his brother wanted. He couldn’t use his only reason for wanting to find Sheldon. The two weren’t brothers. They couldn’t depend on each other, couldn’t count on each other for anything. They’d never had that kind of relationship. So why would Sheldon help him retake the Kendall?
In the end he wrote, I’m back. I live at the Kendall. Why are you looking for me? He signed it with only a J. Pulling an envelope with the new logo, he addressed it to his brother and slipped the folded paper inside.
“Jace?”
Twisting around in a swivel chair, Jace saw Kelly standing in the doorway. She wore a nightgown covered with a robe. It was white and her red hair contrasted with it starkly. During the day, she pulled her hair back. Tonight it was loose and pretty, framing her face.
“What are you doing here?” Kelly asked.
He held up the envelope he’d just sealed.
“Have you answered Sheldon?” She took a step into the room.
“If I’m going to get any sleep, I have to find out what he wants.”
“He’s been keeping you awake?”
“His letter,” Jace said. “I can’t imagine why he wants me to contact him, but I’m willing to ask. He could want to put me in my place again.”
“You don’t believe that?” Kelly said.
“Can you think of why he’d want to find me? We were never friends, let alone brothers. He lives in a well-to-do area, which means he’s somehow got plenty of money. Why would he need to see me?”
Kelly shook her head. “I don’t know, but there are other reasons.”
“Give me one?”
“The olive branch,” she said.
Jace made a sound that was a combination of a laugh and a grunt. “I don’t think the olive branch was part of his education.”
Jace’s task completed, it was time to return to bed, but Kelly standing in front of him had him wanting to wrap his arms around her. His thoughts got worse when she came to the desk and reached over him for a stamp. He could feel her warmth. She was barely an inch from him as she moved back and handed him the postage to add to the letter.
“I’ll take it to the post box in the morning,” she said.
Her voice felt distant as he tried to concentrate on her words, but her hair fell over her shoulder and brushed his arm as she moved. He inhaled deeply. His hand shook as he put the stamp in place. It was crooked on the top of the envelope when he finished.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING the routine began. Jace and Ari were up at dawn and riding the fences. Ari sat in front of Jace and pretended to have control. He was too short and the horse too big for him, but Kelly remembered this was the way she’d started. She remembered her dad holding her as they rode, keeping her safe. She knew exactly what Ari was feeling.
And she envied him.
Even though Jace added his daily rides with his son to his schedule, he didn’t shirk his duties. He and Ari repaired, replaced and made new the items on Kelly’s list. He even added tasks that needed attention without her asking him to.
Kelly often heard the horses whinnying from the barn. The sound was like a siren’s draw. She wanted to go out riding. She wanted to feel the horse under her, the gentle rhythm of its cadence. She wanted to guide it over the grounds and look at all the Kendall had and what it could be—would be.
Taking her mind off the horses, Kelly turned to go back to the books.
“Wanna go for a ride?” Jace was standing in the doorway. “How about it?”
“I’m very busy here,” she said. She looked around the office. Surprisingly the room was clear of clutter and didn’t seem like anyone needed to be working there.
“I saw you,” he said.
“Saw me? Where?”
“In the window.” He indicated the one that looked out on the back lawn.
Kelly glanced at the sunny pane.
“I saw you standing there watching us. You wanted to go for a ride. I could see it. So don’t act like you’re indifferent to the horses.”
The color rose in her face. The word indifferent had been used before and from his mouth. After he’d had it on hers. Jace extended his hand. “Come on, ride with me.”
“Where’s Ari?”
“I’ve hired a baker to be on-site to prepare cookies and cakes, and other sweets for sale when the guests are here. She’s showing Ari how to make cookies.”
Jace offered his hand. Kelly stared at it for a long time before she covered the distance between them and put her hand in his. Within minutes they were cantering across the lawn. After a while, both of them stepped up the pace until they were galloping along the white fence where she used to sit and watch.
This was exactly as Kelly knew it would be. She felt the wind pulling her hair loose. It blew her blouse against her breasts and it billowed out the back like a sail. She raced the wind and Jace. In all these years, she hadn’t forgotten how to handle a horse. She loved this feeling, the freedom of riding, of not having to worry about anything except the exhilaration of connecting with such an amazing animal.
They’d ridden a long distance from the house. The lawn had turned into a rolling landscape of lush trees. Kelly pulled the horse to a stop and got down. She tied the reins to a low branch. The animals needed to rest.
Walking to the fence, she climbed up to sit on the top rung. Jace tied his horse to the same branch and came over. He didn’t climb up, but stood next to her, facing the road. Kelly would pay for this ride tomorrow. Already she could feel the unaccustomed muscles tightening. But she wouldn’t mind. It was worth it just to be on a horse again.
“Is this your spot?” Jace repeated.
“My spot?” she asked.
“Your place? The one that you go to when you’re alone and afraid. The place you use to think things over.”
She nodded. How did he know? “I used to come here often when I lived in Short Hills.”
“Why?”
“After my mother died, my father changed. He drank. A lot. I felt lost, like no one wanted me.”
“How old were you when your mother died?”
Kelly let her breath out slowly. A surge of emotion gathered in her chest and cut off her ability to speak, at first. “I was fourteen.” She glanced in the direction from which they had come. “If it wasn’t for the horses, I don’t think I’d be here today.”
