Star Bright by Catherine Anderson Read Free Book Online

brother Clint came next. Now all of us have protected perimeters.”
    “Your horses must be very valuable,” she observed as they walked along a paddock fence.
    “Yes, extremely valuable, but, like I said, it isn’t about the money for me. I love ’em.” A flush crept up his sun-tanned neck, and he smiled sheepishly. “Not very macho of me to admit, I know, but that’s the truth. If someone hurt one of my horses, my good sense would go in my hip pocket, and I’d have murder in my eye.”
    Rainie hoped she never saw Parker Harrigan in a rage. He wasn’t a big man by normal standards, but he had an aura of indomitable strength about him that made men like Peter seem soft and insubstantial.
    They circled two pickups that were parked in the shade of the building. Uncomfortable with the silence, she asked, “How do you exercise your horses, by riding them?”
    “Whenever possible, yes. When we can’t, we put ’em on the walker.” He inclined his head at a contraption that reminded Rainie of a huge circular clothesline. “We can exercise four to six animals at a time on that. I prefer ridin’ ’em, though. More fun for the horse, and also for me.”
    He touched a hand to the small of her back as he opened the personnel door of the building and ushered her through the entrance. A gentlemanly gesture, she assured herself, nothing more. There was no reason for her to shrink away.
    “Oh, my.” Amazed, she took in the well-lit, cavernous interior. A riding area held center stage. The paunchy older man in cowboy garb whom she’d seen earlier worked with a leashed horse, snapping a long whip at the animal’s heels to make it run in circles over the packed dirt. Countless stalls lined the exterior walls. At nearly every gate, a horse looked out at them.
    “That man won’t hit the horse, will he?”
    “Over my dead body,” Harrigan replied with a laugh. “That’s called a lunge whip. We don’t use them on the horse, only behind it. The cracking sound encourages the horse to move.”
    “Just calling its name doesn’t work?”
    “Not effectively enough to work the horse properly.”
    “I didn’t expect this place to be so big inside.”
    “In snow country, an indoor arena needs to be big. This is where I work with my horses all winter.” Keeping his hand at the small of her back, he guided her safely around horse and man to traverse the length of the riding area. When they reached a long hallway at the rear of the building, he said, “The office is back here.”
    Rainie could smell hay, grain, and leather. She sent up a silent prayer of thanksgiving that she’d never had allergies like her father. “So I’ll work here in the stable?”
    “It’s the hub of my business.”
    When he opened the office door, Rainie saw that he hadn’t exaggerated about the disorder. The room was large enough to comfortably hold two large desks and several file cabinets, but the piles of paperwork, stacks of books, and general disarray made it seem crowded. Under the clutter, she saw rich cherry wood surfaces that were dulled by layers of dust. That surprised her, because his house had looked spotlessly clean.
    “I warned you.”
    It wasn’t often that Rainie laughed nowadays, but the embarrassment in his voice caught her off guard. With a choked giggle, she said, “You did. You’re a master at understatement, Mr. Harrigan.”
    “Parker,” he corrected. Then he said, “It’s not that bad.” He stepped over to another door and pushed it open. “I call this the coffee room, even though it’s a fully equipped kitchen with a fridge, stove, and microwave. There’s an adjoinin’ restroom as well. Nothin’ fancy.”
    Rainie liked that she would be able to refrigerate her lunch items and then heat them up when she wanted to eat. Having a restroom handy was another plus.
    Turning from the coffee room, he scooped animal husbandry tomes and a jumble of papers from the cushioned seat of a leather chair to her right and