She Can Run Read Online Free PDF

inside, waving gnats away from her face. Behind her, the dog whined and Ben talked to him in a low voice.
    Jeff stopped at a doorway. “The feed’s in here.” He continued down the dirt aisle, pointing out the tack room and the ladder that led to the loft. An elegant chestnut head poked out of the first stall as they approached.
    “This is Lucy. She was Danny’s favorite.” Jeff reached up and scratched the mare under her forelock. Lucy rubbed her nose against his chest.
    “She’s beautiful.” Beth stepped up and patted the side of the animal’s sleek neck. The warm, horsey smell eased the tension from her shoulders.
    “Lucy’s the only one that’s a handful to ride. The three geldings are fat and lazy.” Jeff’s gaze caught on her breasts again, and he blushed all the way up to his sparse, receding hairline. OK, that had definitely been a leer. Beth stepped backward and crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously as he introduced her to the other horses. An engraved nameplate hung on each stall door. Smaller identification tags were fastened on the side of each animal’s leather halter.
    “Thanks so much, Jeff.” She stroked the mare’s nose as Lucy nibbled at her T-shirt. Beth gently pushed the muzzle away. “What kind of farm do you have?”
    “I train dressage horses.”
    “Really?” Beth was impressed. Dressage was the equivalent of ballet or gymnastics on horseback. Jeff must be a skilled horseman.
    “I sold a gelding in ‘05 that went on to the Olympic trials last year.” Jeff’s chest puffed out just a little.
    “That’s amazing.”
    He blushed at the compliment. “I guess I’ll be going then. Don’t be afraid to call if you need anything. I’ll be back tonight.”
    “OK. Thanks again.” Beth followed him to the back door, where a beat-up Jeep Wrangler was parked in the shadow of the building. He climbed in, started the engine, and drove across the meadow with a short wave. The jeep’s engine rumble faded. Beth breathed in the scent of warm summer grass and wildflowers.
    If she could stay here, she wouldn’t have to deal with strangers every day, just one odd, mildly perverted, and socially inept neighbor. At James’s tavern each new customer had been a potential threat. What would it be like to not have her heart seize twenty times a day?
    But what was Jack going to say? It appeared as if he were in charge, but had he inherited the estate? Regardless, surely someone needed to look after the place, at least in the short term. He said he knew nothing about horses, so that someone wasn’t going to be Jack. She found herself hoping there might be a place for her and the kids here.
    Suddenly Beth was looking forward to their afternoon discussion. She was tired of being in limbo. But would he answer the ten-thousand-dollar question?
    Would Jack let them stay?

CHAPTER THREE
     
    “I’m surprised you’re still here.” Jack winced as pain pulsed through his leg. Around the house he managed fine with one crutch, but the uneven ground of the barnyard was a different story. It didn’t help that, courtesy of yesterday’s scotch infusion, he felt like the sun was boring holes directly through his retinas into the back of his skull.
    Beth brushed the gleaming shoulder of a large brown horse tied to the fence in the shade of a tree. Since he’d just gotten off the phone with the attorney, he supposed it was his large brown horse. The animal seemed bigger now that he was up close and personal with it. And it smelled like shit. Literally.
    “I said I would be.” Beth glanced over her shoulder and met his eyes for a split second. Sweat glistened on her forehead and had darkened the back of her T-shirt. She swallowed, her gaze darting to her children a dozen yards away. In the shade of a mature oak, Ben groomed a black horse with a speckled patch of white across its rump. On the other side of the tree, Katie sat on the ground with Henry.
    The kids had been talking and laughing before