Read Online The Year of Chasing Dreams by Lurlene McDaniel - Free Book Online

fence was intact less than a week after the ATV incident.
    Days later, Ciana saw Fred Brewster, the techie from Murfreesboro, talking to Jon out by the barn. The next day she was in the front parlor, scraping off what was left of old wallpaper around the front windows, when she saw Fred pull up with a horse trailer behind his truck and proceed to load his horse. She dropped the scraper, grabbed a jacket, and ran out the front door calling, “Fred! What are you doing?”
    The man looked nervous as she skidded to a stop in front of him. “Oh, hi, Ciana. Didn’t expect to see you.”
    “Where you going? Why are you taking your horse away?”
    “Moving him to a place in Murfreesboro.” His horse balked at the foot of the trailer.
    She didn’t like the news. Losing Fred meant losing a paying boarder. “I had no idea you were considering this. Are you unhappy here?”
    “No, no. Your place has been great. You’re great.” Fred’s gaze darted side to side. “I’m thinking of selling him. I mean, owning a horse is a lot of work and expense, more than I can give right now. Plus the man said the horse needs more attention than—”
    “What man?”
    “That Jon fellow. Your helper.”
    Shock, then anger twisted inside Ciana. “Well, he was wrong. It’s winter. I give your horse plenty of attention.”
    “I know, Ciana, and you’ve been really good, but Jon … well, seemed like he really wanted me to go, and after thinking it over, I decided he’s right. I never was a real horse person.”
    She was so angry she was afraid to open her mouth, certain that flames would shoot out. She took the horse’s lead line and urged him into the trailer, where she tied him off, settled him, then exited and shut the gate behind her. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she said, “Well, you’ve paid for the month and it’s only half gone, so I’ll refund the difference.”
    “No need,” Fred said, climbing into his truck. “Really. Just keep the money.”
    She stepped aside and watched Fred pull away with his horse, along with his steady payments.

    Ciana seethed all day waiting for Jon to show up. When he finally did, in the late afternoon, she flew out of the house coatless in a fine driving sleet, and into the barn after him. “Why did you tell Fred Brewster to take his horse and leave?”
    Jon removed his hat, shook off the wetness, then shook his coat and hung it on a post nail. “It was a
suggestion
,” he said in his slow drawl, infuriating her even more. He took a moment to glance toward the stalls. “I guess he took it.”
    “I asked
why
?”
    “I needed a stall for Caramel.”
    His answer momentarily stymied her. “Bill kick you out?”
    Jon grinned. “No. But I’m moving in here and I needed a place for my horse.” His tone was neutral, as if it was perfectly obvious and rational.
    “Who says? We already settled this.”
    “No,
we
didn’t. You stated your opinion. Mine’s different.”
    “Who do you think you are, Jon Mercer? You can’t just throw out a paying boarder and move in!” She was spitting mad.
    “I’ll pay for the stall, so you won’t be losing money.”
    She took a swing at him, but he caught her wrists. “Now you listen to me, Ciana Beauchamp, I won’t stand by while the people I love are threatened. It was your property this time, but next time, it could be
you
or your mother these freaks go after. I saw what they did to your fields. These are
not
nice people you’re playing with.”
    “Let go of me.” She twisted in his grip, but he held firm.
    “Then settle down. I wrestled you to the ground once before, Ciana, and I’ll do it again. Don’t test me.”
    The look in his eyes stopped her. She remembered the day she’d physically attacked him, blind with grief about Arie’s impending death and all her long-held pain and fury overwhat had happened in Italy. “Low blow,” she whispered, allowing heat and fury to evaporate.
    “All’s fair in love and war.” His grip