looked around her. The stables were neat and tidy and looked as if they had been here for a long time. From what she’d seen of the farm and the homestead, money wasn’t a problem. So he was probably one of those rich farmers who wanted horses just to show the extent of his wealth, but he had no real love for them.
Inhaling deeply, Cilla closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. In and out, in and out. After long minutes, her breathing returned to normal and she managed to block out the negative and volatile feelings.
Feeling much calmer, she walked down the stalls, looking for the stallion. The horses neighed softly, some came closer for a quick rub, others only watched her from a distance.
She heard the stallion snort and he moved around restlessly before she saw him. Opening herself up, she quickly walked to the stall from where the noise came. Bravo was standing right at the back of his stall, his eyes wide, his whole body shivering.
“Hallo, handsome,” she crooned. “Why are you so upset?”
But she sensed immediately, he was afraid, someone was hurting him. His whole body was telling her.
“It’s okay, nobody will hurt you again, ever. I promise,” she murmured softly. Keeping her voice soft and calm, she teased and cajoled and talked nonsense until at last, the big animal stopped shivering.
Keeping her eyes on the stallion, she slowly put out her hand. Bravo stared at her for long minutes before he moved towards her, one step at a time. Cilla didn’t move, didn’t breathe, simply let herself connect to the animal.
Images flashed in front of her, Bravo snorted and finally bent his head so that she could touch him.
“So you want to run free?” Murmuring gently, she rubbed the big animal’s neck, felt the deep shudder under her fingers and saw another image.
She gasped. “Really?”
He snorted and nodded, his body moving restlessly.
“A chestnut mare?” Again his head bobbed up and down.
“Well,” she said on a laugh. “I’m not sure what your boss is going to say about that, but I’ll tell him. Come with me?” she said softly and opened the gate to the stall. “You’re not the bad-tempered one around here. Let’s show them,” she crooned, taking the reins lying over his body in her hands.
A hand came down on Cameron’s shoulder and he looked around. Ken was pointing in the direction of the stables.
“Give the woman a reasonable chance, will you? What is the worst thing that can happen? Bravo can hardly be more cantankerous than what he is at the moment. I’ve told you what she managed to do with the stray dog at school, let her at least try with Bravo.”
“Yes, you’ve told me. But to calm down a stray dog is one thing. To try and find out what is wrong with a huge bad-tempered stallion is …”
In the next minute, he lost his breath, his words and a little bit of his mind. Cilla and Bravo were exiting the stables, the horse’s head close to the woman’s shoulder, her hand against his face, the bridle in her other hand.
Unhurriedly, horse and woman walked towards the middle of the big circle adjacent to the stables where they usually trained the horses. There, she stopped and waited. With her hand still against the horse’s face, they stood like that for long minutes.
Everything around them stilled, the wind died down and for a brief moment, even the earth seemed to stop spinning. Then Cilla nodded, stepped back and while holding on to the bridle, she let the horse trot around her.
Ken barked out an incredulous laugh and looked at Cameron.
“Look at that! He wouldn’t let anyone else near him and now he’s flirting with this woman – can you believe it?”
Cameron stared. Damn it, it really looked as if the damn horse was flirting with the long-legged beauty – his eyes were fixed on Cilla, he neighed softly and was bobbing his head up and down. Gradually, his movements slowed until he stopped moving altogether. Cilla walked up to him, the big horse moved closer to her and dropped his head against her shoulder.
“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” whispered Ken.
Cameron was at a loss for words. He’d never seen anything like this before.
Cilla led the horse out of the circle and they disappeared into the stables. Minutes later, she came out, smiling.
Bewildered, Cameron put his hands into his trouser pockets. The smile softened her face, her eyes were shining even brighter than before. She was breathtakingly beautiful. And sexy. Unbelievably sexy.
He had to say something but logical words failed him at the moment and he was incapable of getting out a single sound, let alone string a sentence together.
“And?” Ken asked walking up to Cilla. “What did the stallion tell you – why is he behaving so badly?”
Cameron crossed his arms in front of him. He was acting like a bloody teenager who’d seen a pretty girl for the first time. He didn’t need this kind of distraction in his life, damn it to hell! He had enough trouble as it was.
Cilla opened her mouth to answer Ken’s question but then she closed it again. There was something else she needed to know first.
“Have you always had horses on the farm?” she asked.
“Oh, no. Only for the last two years,” Ken said.
“Oh,” Cilla said and frowned. She looked towards the stables. “It looks as if the building has been here for some time …”
“There used to be horses on the farm – a long time ago. I’ve renovated the stables and have been buying horses for the past two years. Why? Did Bravo moan about his accommodation?” he asked, not even trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
Cilla tried to keep her face expressionless as she stared at the big man. She felt torn in two. The horse needed her help but she wouldn’t be able to do her work if the owner had this kind of attitude. And on top of everything else, he was also one of the rudest people she’d had the misfortune to meet. She honestly hadn’t thought men like this one still existed.
“I can help your horse, but you don’t trust me. Your aggressive behaviour is obviously detrimental to your relationship with humans and will definitely not work in your relationship with Bravo. When you reach the point where you are prepared to investigate other possibilities and realize that what I do is one of the most natural, most instinctive things on earth, you let me know.”
She turned to Ken and shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I can’t work like this. I really hope you can find help. Goodbye.”
She ignored Cameron and quickly walked towards her car. When she disappeared behind the building, the two men started arguing again. Exasperated, she rolled her eyes.
If only he’d given her a chance. But no, he was too damn skeptical, too damn rude and too much of a chauvinistic caveman to even consider asking for a mere woman’s help.
She’d parked in front of the farmhouse. It was a lovely old building with a Cape Dutch cable and a huge veranda. A gardener was working in
