Read Online Holiday Hideout by Lynette Eason - Free Book Online

watched him gallop away.
    She turned back toward the river and felt a shiver ride up her spine. Feeling exposed, she hurried toward the tree line telling herself she was being silly and yet unable to squelch the desire to be behind some kind of cover. With the attack still fresh in her mind, she suddenly didn’t want to be alone.
    Then she spotted movement down near the river through a grove of trees. If the trees had had leaves on them, she never would have seen it. Then the brown and white horse walked to the edge of the river, then a little farther to get past the ice. He stuck his nose in the water to have a drink.
    Nudging the horse with her heels, she said, “Come on, Pretty Mama, let’s go see if we can get a lead on your friend there.”
    Pretty Mama responded and they headed down the small hill. In the distance she could see a man leading three other horses in her direction. Zane? It looked like him.
    At the edge of the trees, Abby stopped, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. A spot between her shoulders itched.
    She glanced around.
    Nothing there to give her any reason to feel like she had a target on her back. On this side of the ranch, about a mile from Fiona’s house, she knew she wasn’t far from the main road that led into the town of Rose Mountain.
    Another horse came into sight, stretching its silky brown neck to lap at the water. The river was lazy, not a rushing fast-paced body of water and Abby knew for Cal and his family, it was a priceless commodity to have.
    And while it all looked peaceful, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.
    “Just get the horses and get back,” she muttered to herself.
    Looking back over her shoulder, she saw the man leading the other three horses disappear out of sight as he rode down the hill that led to the barn.
    She shivered, not just from the chill of the forty-degree weather, but from the sheer isolation she now found herself in.
    Ignoring her troubled thoughts, she focused on the horses. It was a small thing to do for the family who’d taken her in and nursed her back to health.
    “Come on, Pretty Mama, let’s go.”
    Abby walked the horse closer, pulling one of the halters from the hook on her saddle. The paint raised its head and snorted at her but didn’t try to run. Abby slid from the saddle and snitched an apple from her saddle bag. She looped Pretty Mama’s reins over the nearest tree and approached the other horse. She’d focus on this one, then go for the one farther down.
    “Hey, pretty boy, you want an apple?” She hoped the croon in her voice would keep the horse calm, settled. He didn’t know her and she wasn’t sure how he felt about strangers.
    He stomped a foot and leaned down for another drink, walking part of the way into the river to get even farther past the frozen edges.
    The water had to be freezing, but the horse didn’t seem to mind. She noted the shallow area where the animal stood and wondered if the river was deeper farther out, closer to the middle, or if it was the same depth all the way across.
    Must be deeper because it wasn’t frozen solid.
    The back of her neck tingled and she jerked her gaze from the horse to look behind her. Nothing but trees.
    So where was her uneasiness coming from?
    Leftover from yesterday’s attack probably.
    Get the horse. Focus. You can do this simple thing. A small thing as part of a way to say thanks to the McIvers for all they’ve done for you.
    Abby edged closer to the horse, one foot carefully placed in front of the other as she made her way down to the river.
    A blast of wind skimmed off the surface of the water and hit her full in the face. She gasped and shivered but didn’t let it stop her. Keeping her eyes on the horse, she whispered sweet nothings to him. He eyed her and swished his tail, but other than that, didn’t seem bothered by her presence.
    Unfortunately, he’d moved into the water and to get ahold of his head to slip the halter and lead on, she’d