Kenton left me to shower and change without interruption. When I was done, I beckoned him to join me in my room.  I was exhausted, both emotionally and physically, and I didn’t want to be alone. The afternoon was barely approaching evening and I knew that the horses would need tending to.  I mentioned to him that I’d take care of them after I’d had a short nap.  He didn’t argue, but something told me that he’d tend to them himself rather than wake me up. As I drifted off to sleep in his loving arms, I made a silent promise to myself that I’d toughen up and resume living in the morning.  I just needed one more night of self-pampering and nurturing while I absorbed the realization of my new life. It was dark when I opened my eyes and sat up in bed.  I reached for Kenton, but he was gone. I looked at the clock. It was ten in the evening.  I’d slept for five hours.  Although I was still tired, my body had normalized enough that

Kenton was right.  It took several days, but I eventually felt like my old self again.  I’d divided my time between tending to the horses and visiting my mother in the hospital. I was a borderline basket case for the first day as I watched for Ethan’s return to – at the very least- seek revenge for that twisted mind of his.   Happily, whatever Kenton did to make him stay away worked.  By day number two, I was breathing easy again.Hap and Kenton made sure to be at the house in time for dinner, which we all took turns providing either by cooking it or carrying it in.  It gave me a small sense of normalcy in a world that no longer felt normal.I made no mention of our conversation about my heritage or the fact that Josh wasn’t related to me by blood and neither did they. I appreciated that.  I’d heard enough that I was struggling to absorb.  I knew there was more, but it could

I was in the stable, tending to the horses, when Cindy finally ventured out of the safety of her room.  I stood in the walkway and watched as she snuck from the house to the stable like a thief in the night.“What’s with the I spy routine?” I asked as I went back to mucking out Peter’s stall.She grabbed a pitch fork and began cleaning Daisy’s stall.  “I was worried that Hap was still here.”“He left around eight,” I said. I dug the tines of the fork into the soft floor of the stall and asked, “What’s wrong with Hap?”She wiped at the tears as she said, “I saw him bring those girls in the night. He had them handcuffed and tied together like cattle.”“Hap?” I practically screeched with surprise.“I know,” she said.  “I thought that he and my uncle hated each other.  You can imagine my surprise when I saw him de