turned toward Edith where she stood on the other side of the corral fence. “I told you—I was making sure the place was safe.”
“There’s nothing safe about that place,” Jade remarked, and as her nerves increased, the horse reared up. “Shh...” she told him. But her usual skills had no effect on the scared animal.
Dodging the raised hooves, River ducked in and grabbed the reins from his sister. Using all his strength, he tugged the horse down and led it back into the barn. When he returned after putting the stallion into his stall, he found Jade and Edith deep in conversation.
His sister seemed even more agitated. “What have you said to her?” River asked Edith, as he hurried to Jade’s side and wrapped his arm around her trembling shoulders. Since Jade had never left Shadow Creek, she had probably met Edith several times before Thorne’s wedding, so the women knew each other. Did they not like each other?
“It’s what she hasn’t said,” Jade replied. “She won’t answer me about what the new owner’s plans are for La Bonne Vie.”
“She can’t,” River said.
Jade snorted, much like one of her horses might. “Yeah, right...”
“It’s true,” he insisted.
And Edith turned toward him, her brown eyes wide with obvious surprise over his defense of her.
“She has a confidentiality agreement,” he explained. “She could risk losing her job.”
“She’s risking a hell of a lot more by spending time in that house,” Jade ominously warned him.
“What do you mean?” Edith asked her.
Jade trembled. “Nothing good ever happened in that house.”
River could remember some good times—with his siblings, with Mac, with some of the nannies and tutors Livia had hired for them. He could even remember a few good times with their mother—when she’d paid them attention.
“Come on, Jade,” he admonished his sister. “You know that’s not completely true—”
“Maybe not for you,” she said. “But it’s true for me. I hate that house. I hope the new owner burns down the entire place!”
“Jade!” River exclaimed, shocked at his sister’s outburst.
She tugged free of his arm around her shoulders and stepped out the gate. A pang struck his heart as he was torn between chasing after his sister and staying to talk to Edith.
River had been gone so long that he barely knew Jade. She’d been a child when he’d joined the Marines. But if Jade was anything like him, she would prefer to be alone to get herself back under control. At least River had always preferred to be alone—until that morning, when he’d surfaced from the nightmare to find Edith holding him.
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