Shiver Read Online Free Page A

work and not terribly reliable, but I had enjoyed the flexibility and the chance to do different things. I was actually a little nervous to be locked down to one job, to be around the same people, the same horses, every day. But, as I was on the road to grown-up-dom, I figured this steadier job was a step in the right direction. And maybe there was a little part of me that was excited at the thought of working with Ethan every day.
    I hadn’t seen him since that night at the Tavern, but we’d spoken briefly on the phone a few days ago when I called to let him know I was ready to start working. My wrist was still very weak, the muscles atrophied from being immobile for so long. But the sutures were mostly healed, and I kept an ACE bandage around it to keep it clean and give it a little support. My hope was that working around a barn was all the physical therapy I would need. My doctor had said the only thing I really shouldn’t do is fall off a horse again, so I’d give that my best effort.
    I hopped out after shutting down the engine and zipped up my jacket while Charlie, my big mutt of undetermined lineage, leapt out behind me. She was one hundred pounds of long black hair, looked fairly wolfish, and was my fierce protector. Well, she looked fierce, anyway. That was all that counted.
    It was the end of November and windy and the time of year that made me question my decision to live in Virginia. I liked warmth. I reached into the truck to grab my beanie cap, which looked ridiculously stupid on me, but I hated the cold more.
    Charlie and I walked through an archway and into the center of the U-shaped barn, then looked around for Ethan so I could get my instructions for the day. First I ran into his farm manager, José, whom I totally adored.
    “Hola, José!” I said in my terrible Spanglish.
    He grinned at me over a wheelbarrow. “Hello, Lissa! Welcome to work!” he said with a heavy accent.
    I’d always tried to speak Spanish to him when I saw him, but I was so terrible he would switch to English. I still think he got a kick out of me trying. “Gracias! Dónde esta Ethan?”
    “He is in the office. He said for you to go in when you get here.”
    I thanked him again and turned toward the office and tack room. I heard Ethan on the phone as I walked in, so I tapped on the open door to let him know I was there. He looked up and held up a hand as he finished his call. While I waited, I strolled around, looking at all the photographs of different horses performing. Some were of Ethan riding, some were of whom I assumed were clients. There was one entire wall completely covered in framed pictures, and I could have spent a lot of time staring at them. There were so many differences between horses, riders, jumps, as well as different states and countries. I had to say it was pretty cool. I was standing in front of one in particular that had captured my attention. It was of a younger Ethan riding a gray horse, and the backdrop of the picture was the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean.
    “That’s one of my favorite pictures,” Ethan said from his desk. “It was right before I moved out here from California. Pretty spectacular, huh?”
    “Do you ever want to move back?” I walked over and sat on a trunk, facing him.
    “Usually every winter.” He smiled, then shrugged. “Yes and no. The weather is great, and you have the beach. But there’s no land anymore for horses, so it’s not such a great life for them. It’s also pretty cost prohibitive. I don’t know. Maybe if my family still had our ranch out there, but as it is, there’s nothing there for me.”
    I remembered that he wasn’t very close to his family, and it was a subject I sensed was not his favorite. So I decided to let that last comment go. “I wouldn’t mind moving back to Texas someday. But I don’t know exactly what I’d want to do. I know I don’t want to work for someone else. No offense.” It crossed my mind that I shouldn’t be saying