The Baby Race Read Online Free Page A

at the barn so he could
check on a horse. The minute the truck stopped, he'd disappeared.
If Claire had any doubts about his priorities, they were now gone.
With Race, his horses came first.
    "Claire!" Bobbie Sue burst out of the barn
into Claire's arms. "I missed you."
    "Missed you, too." Claire hugged the little
girl, and then let her go as she wiggled free.
    "Are you really married now? Mrs. Reed says
since Race is her stepson and he's my sort of father, she's my sort
of grandma now." The words bubbled out of the little girl faster
than Claire could comprehend or answer. "You've got to see the
horses. They are just so cool." Bobbie Sue grabbed Claire's hand
and tugged her toward the barn.
    Apparently, this latest change in Bobbie
Sue's life didn't faze her the way it did the adults.
    Doubts and fears melted away in the light
drizzle dampening the air. Bobbie Sue's well being was worth any
sacrifice.
    "Let your sister get settled before you drag
her around." Vicki, Race's cousin, stepped out of the barn. Dressed
in faded jeans, a long-sleeved denim shirt and muddy boots, her
blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked closer to Bobbie
Sue's age than her seventeen years. "Hi, Claire." Her tone was
unsure and filled with curiosity.
    A lot of people were going to question this
sudden marriage. In small towns, rumors started quickly and were
hard to squash. Irritation surged through her. Having Race abandon
her in the rain the day after their wedding wasn't the way to
convince everyone the marriage was real.
    "It's fine. I'd love to see the horses. Race
talks about them non-stop." A minor exaggeration. "I'm not much of
a horse person, but I've ridden camels and once even an ostrich. I
love animals and what's important to Race is important to me."
    She stepped into the shelter of the barn and
wiped the rain from her face. Bobbie Sue dashed ahead. Dry and
warm, the sweet smell of hay and horse surrounded Claire. A
yellow-stripped barn cat, its tummy heavy with kittens, wound
around her ankles. Spacious stalls lined each side of the wide
central aisle. Here again everything was clean and neat.
    A black equine head poked over one door and
snorted. Claire started to reach out to stroke the horse's velvety
nose, then gasped in horror as the animal turned toward her. A long
jagged cut ran from her left ear to her nostril. Her left eye was
bandaged. From what Claire could see, the animal had other cuts,
scrapes and bruises covering her once sleek hide.
    Vicki and Bobbie Sue stepped around her.
Bobbie Sue clambered up on the stall door to pet the animal.
    "What happened to her?" Claire asked.
    "She's a he."
    She whirled around and found herself face to
face with Race. His breath grazed her damp cheek. Warmth from his
body flowed over her chilled flesh, sending a shiver of unwanted
awareness down her spine. Startled, she jerked away. An odd
expression of hurt, quickly masked, flashed in his eyes. Why should
her avoidance cause him distress? Theirs was strictly a marriage of
convenience.
    Though Bobbie Sue's attention was focused on
the horse, Vicki's curious gaze forced Claire to regain her
composure.
    "His name is Thunder's Night," Race said.
"He's a four year old gelding Thoroughbred. An ex-race horse."
    The sight of Race's strong lean fingers
combing through the horse's mane stirred an unfamiliar longing deep
inside Claire.
    "The fools who bought him off the track
didn't have the knowledge or the patience to re-train him.
Racehorses only know two speeds, run and stop. To become saddle
horses, they need to be completely re-trained." Frustrated anger
tightened his voice. "When they threw a western saddle on him and
tried to use him as a trail horse, he panicked. He threw his rider,
an inexperienced young girl, and ended up dodging traffic on the
highway."
    "Was the girl injured?" Claire couldn't help
asking.
    "No." Race's cold look sent a chill through
Claire. "Only Thunder here paid for his owner's stupidity. Then
they left him