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“Whoa.” Paige’s voice echoed through the gust of wind that had made an appearance as quickly as the clouds above.
For whatever reason, Comet seemed less concerned with the storm. Typical male.
Another clap of thunder struck and the sky opened, dumping a cascade of hard rain. This time there was no reassuring the terrified horse. Despite Paige’s efforts at soothing the distraught animal, Cabernet reared up again and landing hard, took off at a gallop so fast she could have won the Kentucky Derby by a mile.
He didn’t care how good a horseman Paige was, in this storm, on a scared mare, and riding like the wind, every hair on his body stood on edge. A terrifying vision of Paige falling from the horse and having a two ton beast stomp down on top of her, sent adrenaline soaring through his veins.
Kicking Comet hard with the heels of his boots, Daniel leaned forward. Fully loosening his grip on the reins, and whipping the leather straps from side to side, he hollered at the gelding to fly. Time seemed to pass in slow motion as he gained on the escaping animal ahead. His heart hammered in his chest. He had to keep her safe.Please dear lord, don’t let her fall.
Hooves pounding hard against the firm ground beneath its feet matched the fierce rhythm of a terrified heart beat. Somehow the beast beneath him had to go faster, had to out run Cabernet. “You can do this!” he told the horse as if there were any chance he could hear, never mind comprehend. Or maybe he was reassuring himself. He couldn’t lose Paige now. He couldn’t.
Another nudge with his heels and Comet seemed to finally understand. The horse gave one final push against the battling wind and pulled up beside Cabernet. Keeping pace with the racing horse, Comet remained just close enough to let Daniel grab hold of the reins and pull with all his strength. The still frightened mare jerked to one side and Daniel could see the devil in her eyes. The animal was more than terrified. “Whoa,” he called out over the sound of pounding rain. “Whoa,” he repeated, pulling hard and calculating what were the odds of both Paige and him getting killed if he tried to leap across onto the backend of the mare.
Before he could do something as stupid as that, the frantic animal slowed. Another few seconds, another few tugs and the four of them, human and beasts, were standing still in the middle of the pouring rain, gasping for air.
“You okay?” he shouted through the rain.
Paige’s chest heaved out and in as her head bobbed and her hand gripped the reins more tightly. “She’s never done that before. I…” she swallowed and heaved in another deep breath, “don’t know that she would have stopped without you. Thank you.”
All he could do was nod. The fear of possibly losing her sent shudders through every cell of his body. He needed a few moments to get a grip. Then once they dried off, he had every intention of holding her and never letting go.
Chapter Fourteen
At the speed the horses had run, the barn was in sight not far ahead. Taking slow and even breaths to steady her still pounding heart, they took their time, despite the rain, to head for home. The entire time, Paige practically hugged Cabernet’s neck, murmuring reassuring words into the horse’s ear. Though she probably needed to hear the words as much as the horse. Spotting the open barn door, both horses walked inside like a homing pigeon to its cage and came to a stop.
One of the stable hands came rushing toward them. “I was about to go find you, Miss Baron.”
Paige dismounted, giving Cabernet several more reassuring strokes. “We’re fine, but soaking. Take care of the horses for us, please. We just need to get to the ranch and dry off.”
“Yes, ma’am, but the storm has everyone in emergency mode.”
“Emergency?” Paige looked over her shoulder. “Flash floods were nothing new in Texas, but an emergency?”
“Seems that hurricane that’s been sitting off the Gulf Coast has turned toward Houston. They’re predicting this could make Harvey look like an afternoon shower.”
“Damn.” Paige turned on her heel and almost ran from the barn, waving for Daniel to follow.
Not hesitating, he turned and easily kept pace with her. “I gather this is very bad news?”
“I know what you’re thinking. This, hurricanes, is exactly why the Comets had Houston at the bottom of their list.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t say a word.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Not slowing down, she turned to level her gaze with his. “If the weather reports are right and a hurricane is going to hit this far north, a hockey team is the least of my worries.”
Paige couldn’t move fast enough.Damn.She did not need this. Not now.
“Paige?” Right beside her, Daniel yanked her from her thoughts. “We’re not racing back to the house to get out of the rain, are we?”
Not taking her eyes off the driveway ahead, she shook her head. “The grapes. The vines.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“Just a few more weeks. That’s all I’d need to pick the grapes” She tried to catch her breath. She, the vineyard, the winery, they were so close to reaching all her goals for this new wine. So close.
“It will be okay.” At her side, Daniel snatched hold of her hand. That’s all it took to ease her raising heart. Somehow, she believed him.
“I’m only stopping for a second at the house. If we’re going to secure the vineyards, try to save the grapes, we’re going to need extra hands.” Already forming a plan of action, even though she had no idea who was still at the main house, she nodded at her own thoughts. “You’ll need to get out of those wet clothes and into something dry.”
