Dark Sunshine Read Online Free

did.
    Still blindfolded, the mare stood sandwiched between Ace and Sweetheart. Heedless of the hot day, the buckskin let the two horses press against her. At last, she dozed in the security of her new herd.
    As Sam walked back toward the house, Jake met her halfway. She almost wished he hadn’t. He wore the same lazy tomcat smile he’d taunted her with when she was a tagalong kid.
    â€œWhat?” she demanded.
    â€œBrat,” Jake began.
    â€œStop calling me that. And stop laughing.”
    Sam tilted her canteen to take a long drink of water.
    Once her mouth was full, Jake continued.
    â€œI just can’t wait to hear what Wyatt says when he finds out his daughter is a for-real horse thief.”

Chapter Three
    â€œI ’ M NOT A horse thief!”
    â€œUm-hmm,” Jake said. “That freeze brand and bandanna probably don’t mean a thing. Her owner just gave her to you.”
    â€œNo,” Sam admitted. “But I didn’t steal her. Exactly. If you’d seen what they were doing to her—”
    â€œThe owner was right there?” Jake’s brown eyes widened. “You mean we’re not talking burglary but outright robbery?”
    â€œOf course not,” Sam said, but she wasn’t sure. “I just, well, there was nothing else I could do.”
    â€œTell it to the judge.” Jake turned back toward the round corral.
    â€œHey!” Frustrated, Sam gave Jake’s retreating back a flat-handed push. “You can’t just walk away.”
    â€œBet me,” Jake said, and kept walking.
    â€œIf you opened your eyes and looked at her, you’d see that mare is starved, dehydrated, and—” Samsearched for words to explain the horse’s terror. “And she’s an emotional mess.”
    When he turned back around, Jake’s face was shadowed by his black Stetson. “I’ll help you get that rag off her head,” Jake said, but Sam could tell his sympathies were for the horse, not her.
    â€œI don’t want your help,” Sam blurted. “I want you to admit I didn’t steal that mare. I rescued her.”
    â€œWhatever,” Jake muttered. His spurs rang as he led the way back to the barn corral.
    â€œYou hate it when I’m right,” Sam taunted, but Jake didn’t reply. Sometimes she thought he had a daily quota of words, and when they were used up, he just quit talking.
    Jake approached the buckskin cautiously, coming through the shady barn to the corral. Sam blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the dimness, but Jake wasted no time. He set one boot on a fence rail, pushed himself up, and reached for the buckskin’s head.
    The mare exploded. Her piercing scream accompanied an attack. She went for Jake with such fury that one foreleg got hung by the knee over the top rail.
    â€œIt’s okay, girl. It’s okay,” Sam heard herself babbling, but Jake stayed quiet, dodging the mare’s teeth as he freed her leg, then jumped down.
    Jake would only snap at her if she asked if he was okay, so Sam watched the horse instead.
    The buckskin ricocheted around the corral. She slammed against the fence, banged into Ace, bumped Sweetheart, then collided with the fence again.
    The mare had been calm and napping just minutes ago. Sam could see it wasn’t captivity the buckskin feared, it was people.
    Jake motioned Sam outside the barn, but he kept staring back toward the mare, trying to read her mind.
    â€œI’m calling Brynna Olson,” Sam said. Jake nodded, eyes still on the horse. “To see who adopted her and everything. And—”
    Sam’s heart sped up. How could she have put aside the safety of the other horses? “I’ll ask her where someone would take mustangs to sell them for—” She couldn’t swallow down the worry. “You know, to be made into dog food.”
    â€œThey’d take them out to the auction yards in Mineral,” Jake said.