Tainted Mind (44 page)

Matty stepped from the shadows and into view. The man's head came up and in that instant she experienced something she never had before. The moment slowed and everything around her faded into a dull presence. She recognized the sound of birds and sensed a breeze against her bare throat, but she didn't really hear or feel them. Everything inside her, for one brief moment, stilled and focused only on this man in front of her—on his eyes that were locked on hers.

And then Isis pressed her cold nose to Matty's bare thigh and the world fell back into place.

With a little shake of her head, she moved off the patio; the man straightened away from the dogs as she walked toward him. She'd already noticed his form, but hadn't realized how tall he was—two or three inches over six feet, if she had to guess. She'd place him in his early- to mid-thirties and, given his wiry build, which she thought suited a man, she'd bet he had been a very skinny kid. But it was his eyes that caught and held her attention, eyes that didn't stray from hers as she made her way toward his truck. They weren't an unusual shade or anything like that, but they were a rich, dark—very dark—brown that matched his hair almost exactly. Hair that was a little longer than was fashionable, at least in the city, and that curled over the tops of his ears.

“I'm Dr. Dashiell Kent, Brad's vet. I'm here about the cows,” he said, holding out his hand. Matty took it in hers and immediately noticed not just the rough texture but the dry heat of his palm.

“Hi I'm—wait, did you just say
cows
?” she repeated, dropping his hand and looking around. She hadn't seen any on her drive up and Brad had most definitely not mentioned any cows.

He inclined his head. “Yes, six of them. Brad probably put them in the barn.”

Her stomach dropped. Dogs she could handle, but cows?

“Is Brad here?” Dr. Kent asked, moving to the back of his pickup. He let the tailgate down and began pulling out supplies of some sort.

Matty shook her head. “No. I'm Matty Brooks. I'm Brad's half sister. The more honest and forthcoming half, obviously. He asked me to dog-sit for him but sure as hell didn't say anything about cows.” It dawned on her that she didn't know this man from Adam and perhaps she should watch her language. He didn't look like a prude, in fact, if the vibes she was picking up from him were anything to go on, he was probably about as non-prudish as she was, but still.

He smiled as he reached for a wicked-looking needle. “Well the good news is, especially this time of year, the cows are easy to take care of. I just need to give them a vaccination, and then I'll turn them out into the pasture. They don't need to be fed since the grass is good, but you may want to keep an eye on their water. It will refill automatically, but in this heat it's always good to check it occasionally to make sure the refill mechanism hasn't broken.”

His words were meant to be comforting but somehow they weren't—what if something happened to one of the cows? She would never be able to tell if one was sick or hurt unless it was actually hobbling on three legs—or dead.

“Wait,” she said as his words sunk in. “You said the good news is the cows are easy to take care of. Does that mean there's bad news, Dr. Kent?”

“Call me Dash,” he answered. “I don't know if I'd call it bad news, but I'd guess if he didn't tell you about the cows, he probably also didn't tell you about the cats, rabbits, and chickens,” he continued.

Matty stared at the man for a long moment, waiting for him to laugh and say something like “gotcha!” But he didn't.

“That son of a bitch,” she muttered then cast a look at Dash to make sure she hadn't offended him.

He laughed even as he continued prepping his shots. “I've heard worse, believe me. Brad really didn't tell you about the other animals? That's not like him,” he continued, not waiting for her reply, “he's pretty meticulous about their care.”

Matty shook her head. Mostly in dismay.

“And he didn't leave you any directions or instructions or anything?”

Matty started to shake her head again then stopped. “Actually, I just arrived a few minutes before you did. He might have left something for me, but I haven't had a chance to take a look.”

Dash held up a second mean-looking needle and tapped the container of liquid with a free finger. “Why don't you go inside and see if he left anything for you. I'll take care of the cows, let them out, then stop by. If he didn't leave anything for you, we can walk through what you'll need to do. If he did leave something, have a look and if you have any questions we can go over them.”

It seemed wrong to leave him to handle six cows on his own, but as he filled a bucket with water from some tank on his truck and then arranged his supplies in a tidy box, he looked like a man who knew what he was doing.

“Are you sure?” she asked, still feeling a little guilty about leaving him to his own devices.

He smiled and she noticed he had a dimple in his left cheek. “Yeah, I got it. Brad's cows are pretty docile and the shots are quick. You go on and I'll be up in about ten minutes.”

She gave him one last look before nodding and turning back toward the house. Isis and Bob trotted after her while Lucy stayed behind. Roger and Rufus, having assessed the situation and moved on several minutes earlier, were already crashed out on the patio; neither even bothered to raise their heads when she walked by.

Fifteen minutes later, Matty looked up from where she sat at the kitchen island to see Dash at the screen door.

“Come in,” she waved him in.

“My boots are filthy.”

“I'm not feeling so inclined to care much about Brad's floors these days.”

Dash let out a little chuckle as he stepped into the room. “Those the directions?” he asked, nodding toward the paper in her hands.

“All four pages of them,” she answered.

“
That
sounds more like Brad. Do you have any questions? Anything I can help with?”

She took one last look at the typed, single-spaced text and shook her head. “Why on earth would anyone want rabbits? I mean they're cute and all, but you can't cuddle them and he only has two, so it's not like he's collecting angora or anything.”

“Brad's an interesting guy,” Dash said, crossing the room and coming to a stop a few feet from her.

Matty arched a brow. “That's an interesting comment.”

“It's not a commentary, just an observation. Where is he, by the way?” Dash asked, his eyes not leaving hers.

“I don't actually know,” she frowned. And thinking back to the conversation she'd had with him, Brad hadn't really left her an opening to ask. “He didn't say and didn't really give me the opportunity to bring it up. He just asked me to come up for a few weeks and watch the dogs.”

“From where?” he asked, hitching his hip against the island and crossing his arms.

“DC,” she answered. “I'm a city girl. Dogs I can do, and the cats won't be too bad, but cows, chickens, and rabbits will be a new one for me.”

“Well, here,” he pulled a card out of his shirt pocket. Reaching for a pen on the counter he scribbled on the back. “If you have any questions, just call me. Brad takes good care of his animals. My guess is that the biggest problem you'll have with them is what to do with all the eggs his chickens are producing this time of year.”

“I should be so lucky,” Matty said, taking the card and noting the cell number he'd added.

“You'll be fine. Once the surprise of it all has worn off, you'll be able to kick back, relax, and enjoy the country, cows and all.”

“I think I'm going to start now. Brad says I'm welcome to any of his liquor,” Matty said, holding up the last sheet of paper. It was a weird thing for him to write, he didn't even know if she drank. “A gin and tonic and a cool bath sounds just about perfect after my long
drive. Care to join me?” She meant in the drink, but the side of his mouth ticked up and she realized how ambiguous her question sounded.

“I'd love to, but I have a few other calls I have to make. I'll take a rain check, though.”

And she knew he wasn't just referring to the drink. It hadn't been her intention to suggest they share a bath, but now that it was out there, albeit only playfully so, she couldn't bring herself to think it would be a bad idea. But rather than comment, she simply inclined her head and rose from her seat to walk him out. He offered again to be a resource for her should she need it and, a few minutes later, was climbing into his truck and heading back down the road. Matty stood on the patio for a few minutes listening to the sounds of the country around her. There was a sense of peace and calm about the place.

She just hoped she didn't ruin it by accidentally killing one of Brad's animals.

*   *   *

Dash eased his truck to a stop at the end of the dirt road that Brad's house shared. Pulling out his phone, he dialed a familiar number.

“Hey,” his sister Jane answered.

“I just met her,” he said without preamble.

“Met who? Oh!” she said, the realization dawning. “Really? You met her?” she repeated, beginning to laugh.

“Yes and it's not funny.”

“Yeah it is. After all those years of you saying it was never going to hit you, it's kind of funny. I'm looking forward to the next month or so, it's going to be so interesting,” she added, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm.

“Nice, thanks for the support. I'm a little freaked out.”

“Yeah, it's like that. So, what are you going to do about it?” she asked.

“Avoid her,” he answered even as he thought of the cell number—his personal cell number—he'd added to his card.

“Like that's going to work,” she retorted.

“I know, but at least it might buy me some time to get used to the idea. I feel like I can't breathe.”

“Oh, you're such a drama king. It might be scary as shit when it hits, but it works out fine. That's the way it's always been,” he sister responded, none too helpfully. “What's she like?” she added.

Dash thought about Matty, about how concerned she was about doing the right thing for the animals and how relatively in stride she took the shit her half brother had dumped on her. Which, if he let himself think about
that
particular turn of events, was unusual too. Brad wasn't usually a “shit- dumping” kind of guy. Usually, Brad was the exact opposite. Dash frowned.

“Well?” his sister pressed, bringing Dash's mind back to Matty.

He thought of the way she'd looked with her long black hair, light brown eyes, and a face and complexion that hinted at a Latina heritage somewhere in her genealogy. And her curves—it would have been hard to miss those as she'd stood in front of him wearing a pair of short shorts and a tank top. Matty Brooks was not a waif and for that he was truly grateful.

“I'm not talking about it,” he answered.

“Because that will make it more real,” she taunted.

“You don't have to sound so gleeful.”

“I'm your sister, of course I do. I can't wait for mom to find out.”

“But she won't find out from you, Jane,” Dash warned. Lord knew what would happen if, or when, his mom found out about Matty.

“Oh please, Dash,” Jane brushed him off. “You know how it works. It's the same for
everyone
in the family, and you've just acknowledged you're no different. You and this woman, whose name I don't even know, will be married within a month. I guarantee it. It's our family curse, or blessing, depending on how you look at it, so you may as well just embrace it and tell the parents. It's not like you'll be able to keep it a secret for long.”

And that's what he was afraid of—because Jane was right. For as many generations as they could go back in their family, not a single person had had a period of more than a month between meeting the person they would spend the rest of their life with and marrying them. He'd always chalked it up, back in the early days, to arranged
marriages and just a different kind of lifestyle. And then, with the more modern generations, he'd just thought the family promulgated the tradition because it was kind of fun and quirky. But after what had just happened to him when he'd met Matty Brooks, he wasn't so sure anything was made up. Because the feelings that had overloaded every one of his senses had been very, very real.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“You'll get there.”

“I'm hanging up, Jane.”

“Okay. I'll be up for the pancake breakfast in a couple of weeks. I'll look forward to meeting my new sister-in-law.”

“You suck, you know.”

“You love me. Goodbye.” And she hung up.

He'd been hoping for some sympathy. He should have known better. And, unfortunately, the one thing he could agree with his sister on was that it was most definitely going to be an interesting month.

MORE GREAT READS FROM BOOKTROPE

Skull Dance
by Gerd Balke and Michael Larocca
(Thriller) An atmospheric tale of international nuclear espionage, intrigue and heroism, twisted politics, terrorism, and romance.

Jailbird
by Heather Huffman
(Romantic Suspense) A woman running from the law makes a new life. Sometimes love, friendship, and family bloom against all odds… especially if you make a tasty dandelion jam.

Lark Eden
by Natalie Symons
(General Fiction) A play chronicling the friendship of three Southern women over seventy-five years. At once a deeply moving and darkly comic look at the fingerprints that we unknowingly leave on the hearts of those we love.

Riversong
by Tess Hardwick
(Contemporary Romance) Sometimes we must face our deepest fears to find hope again. A redemptive story of forgiveness and friendship.

Memoirs Aren't Fairytales
by Marni Mann
(Contemporary Fiction) A young woman's heartbreaking descent into drug addiction.

Thank You For Flying Air Zoe
by Erik Atwell
(Contemporary Women's Fiction) Realizing she needs to awaken her life's tired refrains, Zoe vows to recapture the one chapter of her life that truly mattered—her days as drummer for an all-girl garage band. Will Zoe bring the band back together and give The Flip-Flops a second chance at stardom?