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“Give it to me,” I said and he glared at me and shook his head, tossing it over the neck of his horse before he climbed on.
He didn’t let go of the reins, directing Callie himself as we slowly made our way back.
By the time we made it to the house, I was tired and sore and wanted to sleep. It was highly possible I had a concussion, and I was doing my best not to cry.
“ANYA!” Will shouted as he came around the corner from the stables.
He grabbed me, helping me slide down the horse as Gideon and Zane came rushing out of the house.
William held me against his side as Gideon glanced at me and then at Wyatt.
“I have to put the horses away properly or they will get sick. The lamb too.” He said but his eyes were on me.
“I’ll help you,” Gideon said and we all looked at him.
“Do you know what you are doing?” William asked and Zane cracked a smile as he looked at me.
“I have horses. My family owns racehorses and my mother was a dressage champion.” He said primly and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“Figures. All the rich people do.” I muttered and Gideon looked at me.
“You are one of those rich people too, Anya. Between this ranch and the money held in trust under your name, you are worth a whole lot more money than you seem to think.” He said before he took Callie’s reins from Wyatt.
He walked to the stable, the rain soaking his suit and I looked at Zane.
“Come on. Let’s get you checked over to make sure you don’t have a concussion.”
Thirty Six
Wyatt
IlookedatGideonas he removed Callie’s tack. His suit jacket was hanging over the stable door and his white shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.
He cooed softly to the horse like he had done it a million times before. I still didn’t trust him, but the man didn’t seem like he was here for nefarious reasons.
“I can feel you watching me, Wyatt.” Gideon said in a low, calm voice as he brushed Callie down.
“What is it you want to ask?” He added and I finished brushing Sundance, then checked on their stalls to make sure they had water and feed.
“Why are you really here?” I said and Gideon looked at me over the top of Callie.
“To protect my granddaughter.” He said as he finished brushing Callie and led her into her stall.
“Why now? Why haven’t you done anything over these years? You could have stepped in and done something before now. It doesn’t make sense that you would stay away.” I said and he hesitated. There was something he was keeping from us, from Anya and I wasn’t going to let him get near her again until I knew the truth.
“Don’t keep secrets from me, old man. I may be tolerating you here right now, but you forget that you are here with only one man and I have no problems going back to prison to protect Anya.” I said and he smiled warily.
“Zane is a cop. A damn good one at that and ex-military. But I understand your reasoning. It isn’t that I don’t want to say anything, I would just prefer Anya and her mother don’t find out why.” He said and that had me hesitating.
“Tell me,” I said. I would decide once I knew what he was hiding if I should keep it from her as well.
“I didn’t interfere because Austin and Dale; that is Grace’s stepfather, asked me to stay away or they would file for a restraining order and drag it through the public courts.” He said and I narrowed my eyes, not sure if I believed him.
“So, you were worried about your public image?” I said bitterly and he frowned, his jaw clenching.
“No. I didn’t care about my image. It was theirs that I was worried about. Grace didn’t need to have me being the reason she was forced into a public battle and Anya was just a child. They had been through enough.” He said with a hint of sadness that was masked quickly.
“So why did you offer money to Grace?” I said and he sighed.
