LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Nothing.”

      “Something. Or someone.” Seth narrowed his eyes. “You’ve been looking out that window just about every other second—and you nearly just came out of your skin when the doc tapped your shoulder. What’s going on, Tonya?” he asked, his voice lowered. “Is it the guy from earlier? The one you were hiding from in the supply room?”

      “Yes.” She twisted her hands together in front of her and debated how much she should say. What would he think if she told him the truth?

      Then again, did she need to warn the hospital staff that a potential murderer had come through their doors? Hank wasn’t predictable and he was here in the emergency department looking for her. Could everyone around her be in danger? “I’m pretty sure he’s here at the hospital. It’s been four years since I’ve seen him, but I think he was just talking to one of the nurses. I need to tell them to be on the alert and to warn security about the potential danger if he shows up.”

      She glanced through the window and, not seeing Hank, slipped out of the room before Seth could ask any more questions. She quietly told the nurse at the desk about Hank, waited for her to call security, then made her way back to Seth’s room.

      As she stepped inside, she heard a buzzing. One that she’d heard several times since arriving at the hospital. Seth noticed it, as well, and frowned. “What’s that?”

      Tonya pulled the buzzing phone from her back pocket and held it out to him. “Jake tossed this to me when I got on the ambulance.”

      “That’s my phone. He was holding it for me while I rode.”

      “You probably need to call him,” she murmured. “It’s been ringing for a while now.”

      Seth took it from her. “Okay, I’ll call him in a few.” He looked at the screen. “It’s my mom.” He pressed the button and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hello?” His eyes still hadn’t left hers. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just a bruise.” Tonya turned her back to give him the semblance of privacy even though she could hear every word. “No, Mom, you don’t have to come to Nashville. It’s not broken again, I promise. I’ll call you later. Love you, too. ’Bye.”

      Tonya looked at him as he hung up. “She heard, I guess.”

      “Word travels fast. I’ve been doing rodeos for a long time. Some of the people have become like family. Extended family, anyway. One of the judges called Mom and Dad.” Tonya nodded. “So who’s the guy from the storage room? How do you know him?”

      She sighed. “Earlier, at the arena, I went looking for Mia. She was getting her dogs ready, and as I was walking toward her, I recognized an old boyfriend.” She glanced at the door.

      “Old boyfriend, huh? Who?”

      “Hank Newman.”

      “And why does his showing up make you skittish as a new colt?”

      She crossed her arms. “A few years ago he tried to kill me.”

      Seth gaped at her. Then snapped his jaw shut. “Well, I guess that would do it.”

      “Indeed.” His shock made her look away. This wasn’t something she liked to talk about.

      “Why?”

      She forced her eyes back to his. “Why what?”

      “Why would he try to kill you? That’s insane.”

      Tonya huffed a short laugh. “Yes. Quite. We met my senior year of college. We had a couple of classes together. He asked me to marry him after three dates and I told him no. I’d already decided I didn’t want to see him anymore and the marriage proposal sealed it. He asked me to reconsider. I wouldn’t.” She swallowed hard, then said, “This continued for the next several weeks. He’d show up at my apartment. If I refused to answer the door, he’d leave a gift.”

      “What kind of gift?”

      She shrugged. “Flowers, chocolates, whatever he thought I might like. I finally had a restraining order taken out on him, but it didn’t matter.”

      “Why? What happened?”

      “He showed up at my apartment one day and caught me carrying groceries inside. I barely had a chance to shut the door before he kicked it in, furious and raving at me. He threw the restraining order in my face. I screamed at him to get out. He shouted he loved me.” She’d shouted back that he didn’t know what love was. “He finally calmed down a bit and tried reasoning with me. I got my phone out of my purse to call for help. He snatched it and threw it through a window. I raced for the door. He grabbed me, wrapped his hands around my throat and tried to strangle me.”

      She took a breath, let it out slowly. “I finally had the idea to just go limp right before I passed out. He must have let go immediately, thinking I was dead. One of my brothers, Grant, found me and got me to the hospital.”

      “And this psychopath is walking around free?”

      Seth’s outrage soothed some of her panic. “He went to jail but didn’t stay there long. I’ve been hiding from him ever since. I have minimal contact with my family. I don’t even want them knowing where I am.” As she said the words aloud, an ache formed in her throat and tears rose to the surface. How she missed her big wonderful family. “I don’t want them in danger. He threatened them once, almost killed Jacob, my youngest brother. I won’t give him a reason to go after them again.”

      Seth held out a hand and she walked over to take it. His warm fingers wrapped around hers. “What are you going to do now that he’s found you?”

      “Run.”

      “You can’t do that,” Seth blurted out. His immediate desire to keep her close surprised him. Just like in the ambulance. He hadn’t wanted her to leave then, and he didn’t now. He frowned, wondering at the strangeness of his feelings. She lifted a brow and he waved a hand. “I mean, of course you can, but I don’t want you to.”

      Tonya tilted her head and stared at him. “Well, what other choice do I have?”

      “Fight him. Call the authorities. Tell them he’s stalking you—harassing you—and you want it stopped.”

      She sighed, walked to the door to peer out one more time, then came back to sit on the edge of the bed. He drew in a deep breath, drinking in her scent. Vanilla, strawberries, something else. All mixed in with the smell of horses and leather. And possibly sweat and dirt. He loved it. She’d gotten most of the clown paint off her face, but she’d missed one spot on the side of her nose.

      She looked down at her hands. “I wish it was that simple.”

      “Why isn’t it?” He struggled back into a sitting position. His leg twinged, but the sharp tearing pain from earlier was gone.

      She leaned over and helped adjust the pillow behind him. Her nearness nearly caused his heart to explode. Her tender care, her gentle touch, set his pulse to pounding.

      He liked the way she did things almost without thinking. She’d noticed he could use a hand and offered one. He had to blink to focus on her words and resist the desire to pull her close.

      “Because he’s clever,” she said. “No one ever sees him do anything wrong. In public he’s in control, the nicest man you’d ever hope to meet. He could charm a bird out of a tree.” She hesitated and he could see her fear escalating with whatever memories were going through her mind. “I’ve worked with the authorities before, to no avail. It took me almost dying to get him finally jailed.” She shook her head. “I can’t go through that again,” she whispered.

      He couldn’t resist anymore. She’d offered him comfort just by being there with him. He grasped her upper arm and pulled her close. She tensed and he stopped, wondering if he was being too forward. Then something seemed to snap inside of her and she leaned into him, wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder.

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