Winning Heart

by Laura Browning

Genres: Romance; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Can love beat a lust for revenge? Nelson Anderson is one of the richest men in America, but his life has become a quagmire of bitterness and the need for revenge. Wynter O'Reilly is a gutsy girl determined to make her life better–and she just may be the tool Nelson needs. All she needs is a little polish. To his surprise, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks helps heal emotional scars that all the money in the world can't fix. But just when Nelson realizes that, his own plot for revenge may cost him not only Wynter's love but her very life. WARNING: Passionate, sweaty sex in the out-of-doors 93,000 Words

Release date: July 4, 2011

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Print pages: 258

Sample

 

Prologue

 

Sweat dripped down the man’s lean cheeks, mingling with tears of pain as he labored through physical therapy. His dark hair was wet from the effort to propel himself along parallel bars, and his arms shook with fatigue.

One good step, and then slowly, painfully, he forced the other leg forward, arms and strong leg bearing much of the weight.

“I think that’s enough today,” the therapist interrupted.

“No!” he barked, his tone darkened not only with pain but simmering with anger and bitterness just below the surface.

“Mr. Anderson,” she began in that voice he’d heard her use to warn other patients it was time they listen, “if you keep pushing yourself like this, you will do more harm than good.”

“I will not be wheeled inside that courtroom.”

“You’ll arrive in a coffin if you don’t quit!” she snapped back. “Don’t forget, you have suffered more injuries than just your leg. You’re also missing a few feet of intestines. Recovery takes a while. You can’t keep pushing this hard.”

Nelson sagged, and the therapist pushed the wheelchair under his shaking legs. His broad shoulders hunched, and he ran trembling fingers through wet hair.

“Don’t you have other patients to harass?”

She sighed. “I do. You have a pool in that great big house of yours, don’t you?”

“Yes, whatever good that does me. I can’t get up and down the stairs.”

She laughed, making him glare.

“For heaven’s sake! You’re one of the wealthiest men in the state—maybe in the country. Put in a damn elevator.”

“That’s like admitting I’ll be like this,” he waved a hand at his atrophied right leg, “for good.”

The therapist went down on her haunches. “No, it’s giving you access to an outstanding therapeutic tool. Water will help support your weight and add resistance to rebuild muscles in your leg. It will do more in half the time than grunting through exercises in here.”

He glared at her. “Hand me my cellphone,” he ordered in a voice accustomed to being obeyed.

“Yes, sir.” The therapist found the cellphone in the pocket of his jacket and handed it to him with a slight smile.

Five minutes later, he snapped it shut with a satisfied smirk. “The elevator will be in by the end of the week when I return home.”

“God, it must be nice to be filthy rich,” the therapist sighed.

Nelson grimaced. “It is until you find out money can’t buy everything.”

 

 

Chapter 1

 

Three hundred dollars would stretch a long way, but pinching pennies wasn’t anything new for Wynter. She and her mom had done it their whole lives. The problem was, she was down to her last little bit of cash, and as she stared at the help wanted ads, finding a job still seemed far away.

She was either over-qualified or under-qualified. With no address since she gave up the room she’d rented, some employers tuned her out right away. Wynter also had no references and no expectations the Southards would provide them. They were the only people for whom she’d ever worked.

Her mouth tightened. She stared out the windshield at a farm across the road. She wasn’t ready to give up her dream. She would get into Duke. She would make her mother proud. But damn it, she needed a job.

Hell, she’d already squared everything with the high school so she could graduate, but if she didn’t get a job soon, she would have to go home and admit defeat. Her options were running out.

Horses grazed in the pasture across the street, and she watched them wistfully. Wynter understood horses. She always had. It was what had landed her a job on Southard Farm. All she needed was another shot, and this time she wouldn’t screw up.

She’d driven north of Durham that morning to get out of the city and weigh the choices. Right. Who was she kidding? She rationed out the last cigarettes a week before. Now she was on her last tank of gas, had just a couple of dollars left and still no job. She thought if she left town it would clear her head, so she could make a decision. Gamble one more time finding a job or go back.

She thought about her mother, how hurt and disappointed she would be. Wynter loved her, but she couldn’t go back. Irene had struggled her whole life to give her daughter opportunities, and Wynter had repaid her by getting in trouble and losing a scholarship that might have changed both their lives.

Somehow, she must make it right. She would not call it quits. There must be something someone would hire her to do. She looked over at the horses once again.

On a whim, Wynter cranked the ignition and the old truck rumbled and coughed. After checking both ways along the narrow state highway, she drove across the road and down a long, neatly-manicured drive toward the barns in the distance. Bradford pears lined the smooth asphalt, mulch in neat mounds around the base and the grass mowed and trimmed. The whole farm was a showplace that screamed money.

So what are you doin’ on it, trailer trash?

Stomach rumbling, she pulled into a parking area in front of what looked like a business office. Nerves or hunger? Did it matter anymore?

She stepped from the truck and slammed its door. After a quick check to make sure her hair was still in a neat braid, Wynter smoothed her palms over her jeans. They were worn, but at least this pair didn’t have any tears. It was still cool, so she pulled on the sweater Mama had knitted. It was the best thing she owned.

Her knock was hesitant. Nervousness tingled and tickled the pit of her stomach. Hunger, not nerves, was making her belly as jumpy as a hoppy toad.

“Door’s unlocked. Come on in.”

The words were tinged with an accent she couldn’t quite identify. Wynter turned the knob and pushed open the door. It was much darker inside and took a moment before her eyes adjusted. Two men sat in the room, but she directed her attention to the one sitting at the desk right in front. He was older. Besides, the other man worked on a computer toward the back and didn’t even glance up when she came through the door. All she saw of him was gray-streaked hair and broad shoulders. Probably some techno-geek working on the system.

“What can I do for you, miss?” the older man asked. Wynter shifted her gaze. Her lips trembled and curved into a smile as she identified the accent as Scots. His face was round, with light blue eyes and receding gray hair. On the desk, a tweed driving cap lay as though it had just been tossed there.

“I was wondering if you might have any jobs available.”

The Scotsman assessed her from the tips of her sneakers to her slender arms and legs. “Have you worked around horses, lass?”

“Yes, sir,” Wynter confirmed. “I worked for a family, grooming and exercising their field hunters. I took care of the barn too, feeding and mucking out stalls.”

“We don’t need any grooms or riders right now,” the Scotsman remarked. The last hope drained away, but she fought to keep it from showing. He hadn’t said no yet.

“I do need a stall mucker.” He eyed her again. “You seem a might skinny. It’s a lot of heavy work. We’re a training-and-show facility with twenty-five horses in active work.”

“I can do it,” Wynter assured him, hope rekindling.

The Scotsman’s eyes twinkled. “We could try it and see. Do you have a letter of reference?”

Hope crashed back to earth with a dull thud of despair.

“No, sir, I don’t.”

“How about a phone number, and I’ll give them a call.”

She shook her head and bit her lip. At this point, Wynter felt more than saw the other man stop what he was doing while he watched too. As always, when she drew attention, heat seeped into her cheeks.

“Do you not know the number?” the Scotsman asked. “That’s all right. Just give me your employer’s name, and I’ll ring them up.”

She looked back up at the older man and cleared her throat. “The Southards fired me, sir. They won’t give me a reference.” He shook his head, so she continued on, “Thanks anyway for your time.”

Wynter turned on her heel and hurried out the door. She’d almost made it back to the truck when she heard a younger, deeper voice.

“Wait!”

The other man stood on the porch. Her eyes widened when she saw him lean on a cane. His face was pale, as if it had taken him a great deal of effort to get outside. In the bright light outdoors, she saw brown hair streaked with gray and deep blue eyes shadowed with pain and something else she couldn’t quite pinpoint, but it was the eyes that stopped her. So dark, so deep, she felt she was almost drowning in them.

“Please come back up here on the porch. I hate yelling at people.” His voice held a quiet command impossible to ignore.

He moved aside, so she could sit in one of the rocking chairs out front. When she moved past him, Wynter caught a faint scent of horses, leather and some spice she couldn’t quite pinpoint. For a moment, it reminded her of her friend, Wythe, but was different. His scent was familiar, comfortable. This man’s scent made her stomach flutter. She shook the thought away. The man remained standing, although he supported his weight against the porch railing behind him.

“I’m Nelson Anderson. You are?”

“Wynter O’Reilly,” she supplied with a challenging tilt of the chin, not sure why they were having this conversation but feeling compelled to answer him.

“I own Pheasant Run,” he supplied as though that would clear things up. So, not a techno-geek. Wynter watched him warily. He also seemed a little uncertain. “What did you say the family’s name was who fired you?”

Her eyes narrowed. Hypnotic blue eyes be damned! Wynter’s experience with blue-blooded horsey families was they stuck together in their own clique, and it was small enough most of them knew each other. For all she knew, Payton Southard might have decided to press charges against her.

“Southard,” she mumbled.

Nelson Anderson’s beautiful eyes narrowed, any trace of warmth vanished. “Where did they live?”

“Southside Virginia.”

There was a long pause. Anderson’s gaze moved from her face to work-roughened hands. She gripped her knees, shifting with nerves, but refused to hide her hands.

“If—if there’s nothing else, Mr. Anderson, I should leave.” Right, because she had so many appointments in her day planner. No, it was his eyes she needed to get away from. They saw far too much.

“Wait here, Wynter.” It wasn’t a request. Despite the quiet demeanor, it was obvious Nelson Anderson was a man accustomed to being in charge. Leaning on the cane, he limped back inside the office. The right leg was the one he favored. Wynter stared after him with a touch of resentment. Why should she wait if they weren’t hiring her? She still needed a job, and standing around waiting wasn’t getting her any closer to employment.

She was about to leave when the door opened again, but it wasn’t Anderson who came back through it. It was the Scotsman.

“Come with me, Miss O’Reilly. We’ll try you a week and see how things go.”

She jolted with surprise. “You will?” She jumped up and grabbed his hand and shook it. “You won’t be sorry. I’m a hard worker and a lot stronger than I look.”

He eyed her with one bushy brow raised. “I hope so. My name is Thomas Sinclair. You can call me Thomas like everyone else does. I don’t stand much on ceremony, but I do expect an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage.”

As he spoke he headed down the steps. For a short man, he walked briskly, and Wynter found herself hustling to keep up. When they entered the barn, he glanced at the sneakers she wore. “Do you have any other shoes?”

“Just my paddock boots.”

Thomas shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Manure’ll ruin your boots. Look in the wash stall there to your left. See if there’s a pair of Wellies to fit you.”

He waited while she checked a couple of pairs before finding a fit. When she’d slipped them on, he was off down the barn, talking over his shoulder while he explained the daily routine and what her duties would be. As they reached the end of the aisle, he handed her a pitchfork, pointed to the wheel barrow and said, “You can start right now.”

By day’s end, Wynter was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a soft bed. One out of two wasn’t bad. Earlier she’d noticed a shower off the tack room at the front of the barn. She’d given up the small boarding house room in Durham, so it looked as though she would be sleeping in the truck until she got paid and found someplace to live. She scrounged up enough change to grab a couple of packs of nabs and peeked out front. There was still a light in the office but no cars in sight. Wynter grabbed the small bag containing shampoo and other toiletries, snatched up clean underwear and a t-shirt and sprinted back to the barn.

She paused as she entered, savoring the noises of horses settling in for the night. The rhythmic chewing of hay and the rustle here and there when a horse moved around its stall were as soothing as any lullaby. It was good to be back among animals she understood. All they asked was for someone to look after them and treat them well. They had no ulterior motives.

The shower room wasn’t much, but it did offer a stack of clean towels on a shelf in the dressing area. In addition to the shower, the large tack room contained a washer, dryer and a toilet. Wynter grinned. She could almost live here, she thought as she stripped and turned on the shower. When the hot water washed over her, she sighed in relief. She would be sore tomorrow. Although cleaning stalls was nothing new, she’d never cleaned so many. But it felt good. She’d found a job. Things would be fine again.

* * * *

By Thursday afternoon, she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t get paid until the next day. Her whole body ached, and she hadn’t eaten. Wynter drank water to squelch the hunger pangs, but after a while, even that didn’t work. Her muscles ached even more than usual, and she couldn’t wait until the end of the day. She wanted a hot shower, and then she planned to wash and dry her clothes in the tack room.

She lingered over sweeping the aisle and hanging the hoses, waiting for everyone else to leave. It was a warm spring night, and some of the amateur owners still hung out, laughing and gossiping. There was a show coming up at the Hunt Horse Complex the next week, and everyone scrambled to get ready. She looked forward to it for another reason. She might be able to pick up extra cash at the show braiding manes and tails. At last everyone cleared out, and she walked to the front entrance of the barn.

As usual, the light in the office was on. She figured they had left it that way because she never saw anyone. She grabbed her duffel bag and the sheaf of financial aid papers she’d picked up from Duke. Her grades and test scores were good enough that they were going out of their way to find the money she needed to start classes. But unless they covered almost everything, she’d have to lower her sights.

Wynter didn’t linger in the shower. She wanted to get the laundry done and leave before anyone became suspicious. When she had given up the room in Durham, she had used some of her precious store of cash to buy an old sleeping bag at the Goodwill. She secured it under a tarp in the back of the truck. Although a little cold at night, it had been dry, so she’d found an old farm road in the woods just down the road where she parked the truck and slept in the back of it. Wynter wanted to wash the sleeping bag too, and it might take a few minutes longer to dry. She didn’t bother separating any of the clothes. Everything she owned fit in the large capacity washer with room to spare. It was used to wash horse blankets, so it had to be big.

As the washer spun, she looked around the tack room. She was so hungry. Against the wall was the refrigerator where Thomas kept horse medications. She checked for something edible, but her stomach rumbled in protest when all she saw were vials of vaccine and boxes of horse wormer. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a crumpled potato chip bag sitting on top of the trash can. Wynter hesitated a fraction of a second to get herself past the gross-out factor before grabbing it and shaking it. Hallelujah! It had something in it. She almost cried with joy when she discovered someone tossed out half a bag of chips. Wynter slipped two fingers in and grabbed one, savoring the salty, starchy taste.

The washing machine beeped when it finished. Setting the bag of chips next to the papers from Duke, Wynter slipped into the laundry area and shifted the clothes and the sleeping bag from the washer into the dryer. The machine hummed as it started. Wynter settled back in a comfortably shabby overstuffed chair with the garbage can chips and the Duke paperwork. The chips were gone in pretty short order. It blunted the edge off her hunger.

She checked the dryer, took out the t-shirts, underwear and her oldest pair of jeans and restarted it. The rest of the jeans and the sleeping bag were still damp. While she waited for them to dry, Wynter tried to concentrate on the paperwork, but she was just too tired. In no time, she found herself drifting off.

* * * *

“Are you worried about the lass too, sir?” Thomas had asked Nelson that afternoon when he’d once again caught him staring after their newest stable hand, Wynter O’Reilly.

Nelson glanced behind him. “She looks thinner.”

“I’m afraid the job’s too much, sir, though she’s giving it her best. I won’t be responsible for her hurting herself or one of the horses.”

Nelson had watched the girl struggle to guide the wheelbarrow down the aisle and out to the manure pile. She was tall and slender, now bordering on thin. When she had returned and passed the two men, she had smiled tiredly at them. Nelson’s eyes had followed, resting on the dark auburn braid hanging from underneath the beat up baseball cap perched on her head. It swayed when she walked in the same easy side-to-side rhythm as her slender hips.

Nelson frowned. “Do what you think’s best. I trust your judgment.”

He had more things to worry about than the fate of one stable girl. But when he got ready to leave the office late that night to return to the house, he noticed her truck was still there. Wynter O’Reilly would not be dismissed, no matter what he might say. But now the question nagging at him was what she was doing in his barn so late? Still turning that over in his brain, he limped to the tack room in the barn. As soon as he had eased open the door, he spied her sleeping in a chair on the other side, one hand tucked beneath a cheek and her legs curled beneath her, as innocent-looking as a baby.

On her lap, resting beneath her other hand, was a sheaf of papers. Even from here he saw the Duke University logo. Now his curiosity sharpened. As a general rule, stable girls were drop-outs or runaways. Which are you, Wynter O’Reilly? He limped over quietly and was rewarded when she continued sleeping undisturbed.

He saw financial aid papers, a summer school application sticking out from them. Nelson looked at the dark circles under the half-moons of her sooty eyelashes. Was this why she worked so hard? Trying to get into Duke? He glanced at the full name on the application, and noted she had put Pheasant Run’s address under place of residence. He frowned again, sharp eyes taking in the still damp hair and the sound of the dryer from the laundry room.

There was a lot more to Wynter O’Reilly than had first appeared. While he whispered her name and shook a slender shoulder, Nelson wondered if the girl might be of use. She seemed to dislike the Southards. Perhaps he should find out more about her connection to that family.

 

 

Chapter 2

 

“Wynter.” Someone shook her shoulder. “Wynter O’Reilly.”

“Wythe?” she mumbled as she struggled awake.

“Nelson Anderson.”

Wynter’s eyes snapped open, and she struggled to focus on the man leaning over her. His scent teased her nostrils. Leather, horses, spice. She shook her head and stared into those midnight-blue eyes. Panic surged. “I—I’m sorry. I fell asleep.”

Anderson grunted and grimaced as he straightened.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Almost midnight. Shouldn’t you be home in bed?”

“Yeah. I was just drying some blankets,” she lied. “I’ll finish then be on my way.”

Anderson seemed content to wait while she went into the adjacent laundry room. Probably didn’t trust her, she thought. She grabbed the rest of the laundry and the sleeping bag. What on earth was she going to do now? She couldn’t very well walk back into the tack room with the stuff, so she looked around and found an empty cabinet next to the sink. It would have to do. She would sleep inside the truck tonight. Wynter stuffed everything in the cabinet and then smiled uneasily as she returned to the main tack room. Anderson watched her with intense blue eyes.

“I’ll walk you out to your truck.”

“You don’t need to,” Wynter assured him, eyes darting to the cane.

“My doctors tell me the exercise helps, so humor me.” His lean face twisted.

She swallowed and looked away, anywhere but right at him. “Yes, sir.”

Wynter gathered the papers together. She noticed him studying her, but he said nothing when she stood back up, holding the papers against her chest.

“Ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

He stiffened for a moment but didn’t say a word while he limped toward the door. Wynter followed. He held the door open, and she felt herself blush. She ducked her head as she went past him. Wynter waited for him to turn off the lights before adjusting her pace to walk beside him. The silence stretched her nerves to the screaming point. When she reached the driver’s door of the small truck, she looked at him. Close up she had the feeling he wasn’t as old as he seemed, maybe somewhere around her mother’s age.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Anderson. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

His face relaxed. “It’s all right, Wynter.”

She nodded and climbed in the truck. To her horror, when she turned the key, the engine turned over again and again, but didn’t catch. He watched, and Wynter bit her lip. One glance at the gas gauge and she swallowed. Empty. It was what she feared.

“Anything wrong?” Anderson asked.

“I’m out of gas.” She smiled at the man looking in. “It’s okay. I’ll walk. It’s not far.

“Nonsense,” he stated. “It’s too late and too dark for you to walk along the road. I’ll take you home. My car’s in back of the office.” He started to turn away.

“No, really,” she insisted. “I…I like walking, and it’s not far…”

“Wynter,” Nelson Anderson warned, “you’re being ridiculous. I’ll take you home, and that’s the end of it.” He turned to limp toward the back of the office building.

Wynter swallowed when she climbed out of the truck. Her shoulders hunched as she dug her hands in her jeans pockets.

“Mr. Anderson?” He stopped, one eyebrow raised. She grimaced and scuffed her sneaker in the gravel.

“What?” he prompted.

“You can’t take me home.”

“Excuse me?” he asked as if unaccustomed to someone telling him what he could or could not do.

Wynter stared at him with defiance. “I don’t have a home.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have a home,” she repeated, chin jutting. She didn’t like his tone. She was already embarrassed and humiliated.

He hobbled back. “Just where have you been living the past three days?” Those eyes again. Even in the dark his gaze shot sparks of blue fire.

She glanced at the truck.

“In your truck?” His tone was incredulous. “You’ve been sleeping in your truck since you started working here?”

Heat flooded her cheeks. What right did he have to take an attitude? Shoulders squared, she stared back.

“Yes. I have. Not all of us are as privileged as you or your clients.” She glared at him. “I can assure you, it hasn’t affected my work, so it’s none of your business where I sleep.”

He’d reached her side by this time. She turned to walk down the drive, but Anderson grabbed her wrist. A sudden vision of other hands grabbing, touching and bruising flashed through her head. She gasped and jerked away, but this time she wasn’t the one to fall. Anderson’s cane clattered when it hit the driveway. A grunt of pain followed when he struck the side of the truck. It was a moment in which time slowed to a crawl. In the glow from the security light mounted on the front of the barn, his face twisted with pain and he clutched at the side of the small truck.

“Damn it!” he swore while he struggled back up.

Wynter moved as though she had just unfrozen, scrambling to pick up the cane and rushing back to his side.

“Mr. Anderson?” she asked. She shook almost as much as he did. “I’m sorry!” She hated the frantic note of panic in her voice. She wasn’t sure if she was more concerned he might be hurt or he might fire her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she rushed on. “Are you okay? Can I help you?”

“Wynter.”

“Here’s your cane. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ll help you to your car. Then I’ll go. I—I’ll have to come back to get my truck in the morning.”

“Wynter.” His tone commanded. “Stop. What on earth are you talking about?”

“I’m fired, aren’t I?” she demanded.

His face softened, and blue eyes searched her face. “No, I’m not firing you. I know it was an accident, although I must say your reaction seemed a little extreme.” His expression questioned, and around him hung an air that said if she had something to share, he was a man who didn’t repeat confidences. She stared into that searching blue gaze and swallowed.

“I’m a bit jumpy. I’m sorry. It was something that happened, before I came here.”

His eyes narrowed. “Where you worked?”

“Their son, Payton.” When she said it, she noticed Anderson went still.

“What did he do?”. . .