Zachary held out his hand toward her son, ignoring her. âIâm Zachary.â
Jordanâs throat tightened. She swallowed several times, preparing herself for an onslaught of questionsâpossibly accusationsâif her son gave his full name.
âIâm Nicholas.â He fit his small hand in the large one.
âItâs good to meet you, Nicholas. I think Iâve got the perfect little mare for you.â
As her son followed Zachary toward the barn, relief fluttered down Jordanâs length.
âSo you and my mom know each other.â
âYeah, a long time ago.â Zachary glanced back at her.
Why had she listened to her sister and come out here?
No matter how much she berated herself and the circumstances she found herself in, she would have to deal with Zacharyâat least for the next hour. After that she could hightail it out of hereâbefore he found out Nicholas was his son.
The horse in the corral reared up, jerking the rope from his wranglerâs grip. Standing next to the hood of her car watching the interplay, Jordan Masterson stiffened. The animalâs hooves plunged down toward the man. Barely missing him.
She gasped. Even from a distance the flare of the animalâs nostrils indicated agitation. She glanced at her ten-year-old son as he climbed from her yellow Camaro.
Nicholas canât ride. He could get hurt.
The horseâs whinny drew her attention to the corral again. The huge black animal backed up, lifting its head as it stared wide-eyed at the cowboy.
âWhoa, boy. Easy, Midnight.â The soothing cadence of the manâs deep, husky voice eased the mounting tension in Jordan as well as the horse.
The animal slowed its backward steps. Its dilated pupils contracted. The man moved in closer, all the while saying, âEasy, boy. Youâre okay,â until the horse stopped. The man raised his hand inch by slow inch. Finally his fingers grazed the horseâs neck. He reached out and grasped the rope.
Something stirred deep in her memory. The cowboyâs back was to her, but Jordan noted the breadth of his shoulders, the narrow hips, the long legs, clad in dusty jeans and his worn brown boots. She ran her gaze up his well-built body to his nape where his sable hair curled against the collar of his white shirt.
âMom, did you see that?â
âYeah,â she whispered, more to herself than anyone.
The cowboy turned partially toward them, and Jordan drew in a deep breath and held it. His square jaw, his alert stance prodded a memory forwardâone she wanted to forget. She zeroed in on his face, but his black cowboy hat shadowed most of his features until he lifted his head enough for her to see the firm set of his full lips, the tic in his jawline, the frown that graced his expression. Panic seized her, tightening its squeeze on her lungs. A panic that had nothing to do with the temperamental horse in the corral.
Zachary Rutgers.
Her high school sweetheart. The man who broke her heart.
His sea-green gaze zoomed in on hers. Suddenly Jordan was whisked back eleven years to the last time she saw that scowl that now transformed his tanned features into a hardened countenance. Even from yards away the tension that poured off him blasted her.
Breath trapped, Jordan pivoted away, gripping the frame of the car door. âNicholas, maybe you shouldnât learn to ride right now.â She schooled her voice into a level tone while inside her heartbeat galloped like a runaway stallion.
âAh, Mom, you promised I could when we moved here.â
âButâ¦â I canât do this. We canât be around Zachary.
âI really want to ride.â
Her sonâs intense stare drilled into her, reminding her yet again of the promise sheâd made. One she needed to break.
âYou said I should do something physical.â
Her own reasoning was going to come back and bite her. Nicholas was a child who would stay buried in his books if she didnât get him out of the house and doing some activities. He was ten but was more comfortable around adults. His genius-level IQ often made him the butt of other kidsâ jokes. Something she had hoped would change when theyâd moved back to Tallgrass. It hadnât.