Paternity Lessons
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Maris Soule
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Chapter 1
Tyler Corwin knew that Robin Leach wouldn’t be showing this house on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The edges of the concrete steps were crumbling, the wooden porch had creaked when he stepped on it, and the screen door hung at an angle, an inch-wide gap at the top allowing easy access to the flies circling around his head. Through the screening, he watched a middle-aged Hispanic woman, almost as broad as she was tall, waddle toward him. She stopped on the other side of the screen door but made no effort to open it.
“I’m looking for a Shaunna Lightfeather,” he said. “I’m Tyler Corwin. I called earlier. She’s expecting me.”
He got a grunt and the woman turned away, speaking as she waddled back into the kitchen. “She’s changing. She said for you to wait in the kitchen.”
Assuming he was on his own to enter, Tyler pulled open the screen door. Its hinges creaked, and the moment he stepped inside, he caught the smell of horse manure and heard the strains of a country-and-western song. Scattered
around on the floor to his left were several pairs of cowboy boots, all scuffed and showing years of wear. To his right, on a washing machine, were a pair of soiled jeans and a stained plaid cotton shirt.
He wrinkled his nose at the smell, then gave a chuckle as the screen door banged closed behind him. This was certainly different from the clean hallways and offices of the accounting firm of Smith and Fischer. The ten-mile drive from downtown Bakersfield had put him into another world, a world that up until six months ago he hadn’t been aware even existed.
As he made his way into the kitchen, the Hispanic woman motioned toward a Formica-topped table halfcovered with papers and horse magazines. Taking that as an invitation to sit there, he pulled out a chair. The plastic on the seat was taped over in two places, its golden color faded and discolored. “Coffee?” the woman asked.
Tyler could smell the brew as well as see the half-filled pot. He suspected it had been strong to begin with and had been sitting there for hours. He smiled politely and shook his head. “No thanks.”
Again the woman grunted. “She’ll be out soon.”
Saying no more, she left the room, her brightly patterned cotton skirt swinging with the sway of her ample hips. Tyler watched her disappear, then glanced around.
The wood-framed house was a sprawling ranch style that mimicked many built after World War II and was definitely showing its age. The wallpaper was dingy, the linoleum worn and cracked, the sink faucet dripping. From everything he’d seen so far, it didn’t look as if money was in abundance at this stable. He considered that to be in his favor. If the owner needed money, he should be able to convince her to take on another horse...even one like Magic.
“Mr. Corwin?”
The throaty sound of his name pulled his attention toward the back of the house. His gaze locked onto a woman in her late twenties, and he took in a breath.
Tall and slender, she stood in the doorway with her legs slightly apart, her hands on her hips and her chin high. Her blue jeans were snug but not tight, and the cream-colored corduroy shirt she was wearing was cut like a man’s, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The top buttons were open, leaving a V that drew his gaze to her chest, and though he wouldn’t call her busty, he could see a definite cleavage. He found himself wondering if she was wearing a bra, the thought surprising him. He also felt an increase in his pulse, which was another surprise. He wasn’t a man easily excited by a woman.
He attributed his response to her striking looks. Her skin was a rich golden-brown that reflected both hours spent in the sun and a Native American heritage. And perhaps to show that heritage, in the mane of thick brown hair that cascaded down past her shoulders was one slender braid intertwined with yarn and finished with two feathers. More than anything, it was her eyes that caught his attention. Though he supposed they could be classified as brown, the color topaz better described them in his mind.
He stood to greet her. “Ms. Lightfeather?”
In rising, he knocked over his chair, the metal frame clattering against the linoleum, the sound jarring his composure. She merely smiled and stepped into the kitchen. “Call me Shaunna. Sorry to keep you waiting. A colt I’m working with pushed me into a pile of manure, and I decided it was in our best interest if I changed.”
He would call her anything she wanted—he needed her help—but he hadn’t expected her to be this young...or this beautiful. Quickly, he righted his chair. “Obviously, I’m
Tyler Corwin, the one who called. Just call me Tyler. And I appreciate your taking time to see me.”
“You didn’t give me much of a choice.” She smiled and stopped a few feet away, close enough that he caught the clean scent of soap. She’d done more than simply changed clothes.
When she held out her right hand, he shook it. Her grip was firm, and that didn’t surprise him. She had the look of a woman who would be assertive and strong. But he did note how different her hand felt from the smooth palms of the women he did business with. Holding Shaunna Light-feather’s hand was nothing like holding Alicia Fischer’s, the woman he’d been dating for almost a year.
The calluses on Shaunna’s palm, he was sure, were from hard manual labor, something he doubted Alicia would ever know. Alicia had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and even now, in her position as an event coordinator, a telephone was about the heaviest item she picked up. Her strength was in her mind, she always said.
What did surprise Tyler was the urge that swept through him to hold on to Shaunna’s hand, to capture a bit of the strength he sensed in her. Quickly, he released his hold and rubbed his palms together.
“Sit down.” Shaunna gestured toward the chair he’d righted. “Coffee?” Again he refused, and she smiled. “Probably a wise decision. Maria makes a strong cup of coffee to begin with. By afternoon, it’s deadly.” She sat across from him. “So tell me about this horse you mentioned on the phone. It’s your daughter’s horse?”
“Yes. Actually, technically, I guess, it still belongs to the Bureau of Land Management. It’s a wild Mustang.”
“On the phone you said you’d had the horse a year. Shouldn’t you be getting title to him soon?”
“I...I guess so.”
She smiled at his hesitancy. “Have you contacted them? Asked for title to him?”
“I... that is...”
Shaunna watched Tyler Corwin shift position in his chair. When he called earlier, he’d said he would be coming from his office, so she wasn’t surprised that he was wearing a suit. The cut was good on him, the dark blue pinstripe accentuating a nice set of shoulders. His white shirt and red-and-blue tie were conservative. He’d explained that he was an accountant, a CPA. She wondered if he was honest. She needed someone to do her books, but she wasn’t going to make the same mistake she’d made before.
Again, he shifted his position. “There’s a small problem,” he finally said.
Anytime someone said there was a “small problem,” she knew it wasn’t going to be small. “What kind of problem?”
“The horse is...that is...” He hesitated. “Perhaps I should explain a few things.”
He looked directly into her eyes, and she could practically see her reflection in those pools of blue. Though she’d classify him as overall good-looking, his eyes, she decided, were his best feature. And maybe his hair. It was a sandy-blond, thick and obviously cut by a barber who knew how to tame it into a proper business style. That kind of hair tempted a touch. Invited a little messing up.
Not that she was tempted.
“Explain away,” she said, determined to keep her mind on the horse and not his hair.
“Well, as I said on the phone, Lanie was in an accident six months ago, and—”
“Lanie’s your daughter?” She thought that was the name he’d said in their earlier conversation.
Her interruption seemed to catch him off guard, and he
hesitated before going on. “Ah...yes. She was in a car accident with her mother and stepfather. It was a drunk driver. The guy drove head-on into the car. Lanie’s mother—my ex-wife—and Lanie’s stepfather were killed instantly. Lanie was in the back seat. For a while, we didn’t think she’d live. She had to stay in the hospital for a month. Since then, she’s been recuperating both physically and mentally.”
Shaunna nodded. Losing a mother and stepfather would be a traumatic event for a child. “You said you’ve boarded the horse during this time.”
“Yes.” He shook his head. “It was the only thing I could do. I know nothing about horses, except what I’ve been learning recently. I didn’t even know Lanie had a horse, not until my ex’s next-door neighbors came to the hospital and told me. No one was feeding or watering the horse and they were concerned about his welfare. They were the ones who suggested I board him somewhere until I decided what to do with him. So that’s what I did.”
“Sounds reasonable. And the place you chose is where he’s at now?”
“Yes.” He grimaced. “It’s a stable on the other side of Bakersfield. He’s been there for five and a half months now. I thought he’d be fine, be taken care of, so I didn’t really do anything about him except pay his board bill when it arrived each month. I just didn’t have time to check on him, not between the time I was spending with Lanie and my job.”
“But now you have seen him.” At least, that was what he’d said on the phone.
“Yes. Last week. Lanie and I went to visit the stable. Her doctor felt it would be a good idea if she spent some time with her horse, that it would help her deal with all that happened. But it wasn’t a good idea. Lanie got very
upset when she saw him, and I was shocked. The horse is in terrible shape.”
“By terrible shape you mean—”
“Dirty. Filthy dirty.” Tyler’s tone held disgust, and he shook his head. “They said he kept breaking out of his paddock, so they put him in a stall. A stall built like a tomb. I don’t think he’s been out of it in months, or that they’ve cleaned it in months. It was a mess. And the smell...” He wrinkled his nose. “I couldn’t believe the condition that horse was in when I saw him.”
If the horse was being kept where she thought it might be, Shaunna could believe what he was saying. He’d picked a name out of a phone book and naively assumed the stable owners would do as they promised. And they should have. Problem was, not all did. “You say they haven’t let this horse out of that stall for months?”
“I don’t think so. The way it looked and smelled, he’s just been locked in there.”
“Can the horse even walk?” She’d seen some abused horses that couldn’t.
“Oh, he can walk,” Tyler said firmly, then stood and left the table, going toward the window in the kitchen that looked out at her barns and arenas. There he stopped and stared through it, and she heard him give a deep sigh before he turned back to her. “The horse can do more than walk. The moment we opened the door to take him out, he lunged for Lanie. Actually, he tried to attack her.”
“Attack?” Shaunna shook her head. “I’d say you do have a problem.” And it wasn’t a “small” one. “How old did you say your daughter is? Ten?”
“Just.”
“A child that young shouldn’t have a horse like that. A child needs a quiet horse. Something safe.”
“I know. And I’m all for getting rid of this horse, but
Lanie insists he wasn’t this way before the accident... before he was sent to this stable. She says her mother had someone come to their place and break the horse. Before the accident, Lanie was riding him all the time and he was safe and gentle.”
Shaunna grimaced at the word “break.” So often, that was what happened. The trainer did break the horse’s spirit. Instead of a companion and partner, the rider had a slave.
And sometimes the slave rebelled.
“As I said,” Tyler continued, “no matter what the horse was like before, considering how he is now, I think we should get rid of him. Sell him or send him back to where he came from. The problem is, Lanie’s doctor feels it’s important for her to have this horse right now. The doctor says because Lanie’s mother got the horse for her, getting rid of him would adversely affect Lanie’s recovery, that she needs the horse both emotionally and physically. So on one hand, for Lanie’s sake, we need to keep the horse. But on the other hand, he’s too crazy to keep. I’m not sure what to do. I know the horse can’t be left where he is, but for anyone to handle him, he has to be tamed.”
Shaunna smiled. “So you called me hoping that I’d take him in and tame him?”
Tyler studied her for a moment, then walked back to his chair. “I must admit you’re younger than I expected, but since that day we went to see the horse, I’ve been asking around, and everyone I’ve talked to says you’re the best horse trainer in the area...in the state of California. That you can work miracles with a horse.”
She started to protest, but he went on. “They say that you have the touch... that what you do is pure magic. Lanie calls this horse Magic. I’d say he needs a little.”
“From what you’ve told me, I’d say he needs a lot.”
“He’s not getting it where he’s at,” Tyler said. “And
I’m afraid if we leave him there, he’s not going to. The day after Lanie and I saw him, I went back to the stable and talked to the owner. She feels the best way to handle the horse is to starve him until he’s too weak to fight us. And, from the looks of him, I’d say that’s exactly what she’s been doing.” He shook his head. “But no more. I will not starve or abuse an animal, no matter how vicious he might be. I told her she’d better make sure Magic got his full ration of food from now on and that he’d be out of there within a week.” Tyler sighed, then smiled ruefully. “So, will you take him?”
Shaunna was now sure, from what he’d said, that she knew exactly where the horse was being kept She’d heard dozens of horror stories about that stable. As far as she was concerned, the place should be condemned and the owners put into cells and starved. It would serve them right to be treated the same way as they treated the horses.
And she appreciated Tyler’s desire to get his horse out of a bad situation, liked the firmness of his voice and admired his dogged determination to talk her into seeing him this afternoon, even though she’d said she was busy. He might not know anything about horses, but he was obviously a caring person. Not that that lessened her problem. “As I said on the phone when you called, I don’t have any free stalls or paddocks, and I won’t for another two months.”
He kept his gaze locked with hers. “I can’t leave him where he is.”
“There are other stables around Bakersfield.”
“And do you think they could handle a horse like this? Could they make him safe for Lanie to handle?”
Without knowing the horse, she wasn’t sure how to answer, but from what Tyler had said, she knew few could.
“These past six months haven’t been easy for Lanie,”
he said. “First losing her mother and stepfather, then being in a hospital for a month, and finally having to come live with me...a virtual stranger. Lanie...” He paused, then looked down at the linoleum.
Shaunna watched him run his fingers through his hair, mussing the neat cut. Finally, he looked up. “Lanie is very angry right now, and we aren’t getting along very well. Her doctor says she’s lashing out because she’s hurting, and since I’m close, I’m the target. I don’t want to have to tell her I had to send the horse back.”
“No, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea,” she agreed. “And if you do send him back, there’s a good chance he’ll become dog food.” Which Shaunna didn’t want to see happen to any horse.
And she felt she understood his daughter’s anger. With Tyler and his wife divorced, it wouldn’t be unusual for the mother to make the ex-husband into the bad guy. Shaunna’s mother had certainly bad-mouthed her father often enough, both when he was around and after he’d gone. The children of divorce usually were angry, Shauna knew.
In her case, she’d been angry with both of her parents. With her mother for being the person she was, and with her father for leaving her. Maybe he hadn’t died, but he might as well have. Not once did she hear from him after he took off. No birthday cards. No Christmas presents. Nothing.
“I’ll pay extra,” Tyler said.
Shaunna shook off the memories of her past. “If I help you, and I’m not saying I will, it isn’t going to be for the money.”
His gaze turned to a stack of unpaid bills on the table. “A little extra might help.”
Probably, though she had no idea exactly what her financial situation was. She did know she’d be making a lot
more money if she wasn’t always rescuing animals others had given up on. Horses. Dogs. Cats. At least if she did take on this horse, it wouldn’t be for free.
“I have a feeling you’re Magic’s only hope,” Tyler said, the softening of his tone touching her as no offer of money ever would.
He was getting to her with those intense blue eyes of his and the fact that he cared. She was intrigued by the prospect of working with a wild Mustang gone bad, and she was intrigued by Tyler Corwin. “I’ll have to go see the horse,” she said. “There are some I can’t help.”
“All I’m asking is that you try,” Tyler said, his smile growing wider. “If you can just get him to the stage where Lanie can handle him.”
“You said her doctor feels the horse will help her physically as well as emotionally. How is her physical health?” Shaunna asked. “Is she fit enough to work with this horse?”
“Yes. She has a slight limp and hasn’t regained all of her strength, but her doctor feels riding will help strengthen her muscles.”
“From what you’ve told me, she won’t be riding the horse for a while. But I’d expect her to work with him on a daily basis, especially in the beginning.”
“If that’s what it takes, she’ll be here. All I ask is that you not put her in any danger. I do care about her.”
“I’ll want to see the horse and meet her before I make a decision.”
“You want to meet her? Lanie?” Shaunna noted a flash of panic in his look and had a feeling there was something he wasn’t telling her. At the lift of her eyebrows, he quickly acquiesced. “Okay,” he said. “You tell me when, and we’ll be here.”
“How about Saturday? Say ten o’clock?”
“Saturday, ten o’clock it is.”
Tyler left the house with mixed feelings. He was sure once Shaunna saw Lanie’s horse, she would move the Mustang to her stable. If what he’d heard about her was true, she wouldn’t allow that horse to spend two more minutes, much less two months or even two days, in his current condition. Even he didn’t want that, and he was no horse lover.
What worried him was taking Lanie to meet Shaunna. He knew how Lanie acted around Alicia, how she acted around him. Lanie’s doctor said Lanie’s behavior was her way of testing him.
Well, she certainly was.
The battle was constant, and he sometimes wondered if it was worth it. Lanie was so angry, and nothing he said seemed to help. Nothing he did made a difference.
Yet he couldn’t give up. He still remembered how she’d been as a baby, smiling when he went to take her out of her crib and reaching for him with those tiny, chubby hands of hers. She’d loved him then, just as he’d loved her. One way or another, he was going to find a means of breaking through the wall she had erected... that fate had erected.
He wondered if he should have told Shaunna the whole story about Lanie. It might have helped her understand things. Then again, he hadn’t told Alicia. He hadn’t told anyone but his parents and Lanie’s doctor. It seemed better that way.
Somehow he would find a way to get past Lanie’s anger. And perhaps her doctor was right. Perhaps the horse would help. Perhaps Shaunna Lightfeather would help.
He smiled when he thought of Shaunna. He’d been attracted to her, which he found surprising. Not that she didn’t have an appeal. With her high cheekbones, swarthy
coloring and unusual eyes, she was a good-looking woman, in a natural sort of way. Striking. Sexy.
He shook his head as he drove back toward Bakersfield. He was thinking crazy. One thing he’d discovered in his thirty-four years was that physical attraction was not enough. And from what little he’d learned and observed about Shaunna, he knew she wasn’t a woman who would fit into his life-style. Not at all.
She definitely wasn’t a businesswoman. Stacking bills on a kitchen table wasn’t a good business practice, and when she’d shown him around her stable, after agreeing to “look” at Magic, Tyler had found himself both impressed and dismayed. On the positive side, although the stable showed its age, everything was neat, in good repair and clean. There were no smelly, dark, tomblike stalls in either of her two barns, and from the looks of her fencing, he didn’t think any horse—wild Mustang or not—would be getting out.
And she’d been right when she told him that every stall she had was filled. It was when she said that half of the horses belonged to her—were basically abandoned horses she’d rescued—that he began to understand why so many of those bills on her kitchen table were marked as overdue and why she’d asked if he knew a good accountant, one who was honest. Emotions rather than good business sense seemed to rule her decisions. Emotions he wasn’t above playing on.
Nope, from his initial impressions, he wouldn’t say Shaunna Lightfeather was a good businesswoman at all. But it didn’t hurt his ego to know that she’d found him attractive. At least, her actions made him think she did. It was the only explanation he could give for what happened when she accidentally backed into him, bumping her rear end into his hips.
She’d gotten all flustered and pulled away as if burned by a hot poker. She’d actually blushed, the color turning her skin a richer tan. He’d found her behavior appealing. It had been a while since he’d seen a woman blush.
Appealing, but inconsequential, he told himself. After all, what did they have in common? She loved animals, had them all over the place: dogs, cats, horses and cattle. There was even a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest. He hadn’t owned a pet since the dog he’d left behind when he divorced Lanie’s mother.
He had an extensive library of classical CDs. Shaunna listened to country and western. It had been playing on both the radio in her house and the ones in her barns. And he could just see her at a business dinner. She’d probably shock his clients with her frankness. She’d certainly shocked him when she talked about castrating the colt she was working with. It was her hand gestures that had gotten to him. Nothing had been left to his imagination. He’d even had the urge to squeeze his knees together.
No, they had nothing in common.
Except, perhaps, a little chemistry.
He grinned and turned onto the highway. Maybe Shaunna had realized that. Maybe she’d told him about castrating that horse as a warning. Well, she didn’t have to worry. He wasn’t about to start something. Chemistry could be ignored. He’d been doing it for years.
“Just take on the horse,” he said to himself, then added, “and Lanie.”
