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CHAPTER ONE
Jacob Hart needed to get away.
From people.
From his memories.
From noise.
Anger coiling through him, Jacob urged his horse faster, allowing the rescued gelding to unleash the monster that haunted him. Together, they raced across the barren terrain, both of them breathing hard as they sought the elusive peace that they could never find.
Farther and faster they went, carving their way across the massive Hart Ranch, heading toward the most distant corner where no one else ever went, where everyone knew to stay away.
Toward the remote hideaway where Jacob had chosen to build his home.
The massive pitch-black gelding galloped hard and free, a magnificent beast who hadn't been able to walk when Jacob had broken into that shack and pried him free of the life that had tried to claim him.
And now. Galloping fast. Free. The ultimate rescue success.
And yet all the shadows still clung to the horse's cells, his skin, his soul.
Just like Jacob.
He clenched his jaw, focusing on the wind whipping at his cheeks, knifing the front of his neck where his jacket had flapped open, but it was never enough to change his moment, his existence in this world that he couldn't embrace.
Ahead of them, Jacob's cabin loomed, with the luxurious attached barn that he'd designed and built for the horses he claimed, his own private rescue for the most damaged, the ones no one else could help.
His mount, who he'd named Freedom, eased off the frantic gallop as their home came into sight. Freedom, who would never be sent away from this new home Jacob had given him. Freedom, who didn't yet trust that he could put down roots and breathe deeply of the oasis he lived in.
Just like Jacob.
Freedom slowed to a jog, his breath like white bursts of angel breath in the cold, high desert night air of eastern Oregon. Jacob settled back in the saddle as he ran his hand along Freedom's shoulder. His hands were like ice, in need of the gloves he hadn't bothered to put on when he'd bolted from the house, desperate to get out and away from the noise that sometimes closed in on him when he was alone.
The only time it quieted was when he was with his family, his brothers and sisters, Harts by choice and not by blood, but even that relief only lasted for so long.
Especially after the news he'd just gotten.
Jacob needed to be in a place where conversation didn't need to happen, where meals could be taken with nothing but the sunset and the fresh air around him, where he didn't have to pretend he understood how to be social.
Not that the Harts asked him to be what he wasn't. They understood. They accepted. They loved him.
But still, he'd had to build his house at the far end of their massive ranch. Small. A fraction of the size of the others. Two bedrooms. One bathroom. An open living space. Sparse. No clutter. Just an oasis to breathe, to stabilize, to be alone.
His sanctuary was needed even more, now that two of his brothers had found partners, one of whom had a sixteen-year-old daughter. He loved both women, and the kid, but their presence at family events shifted the dynamic in a way he struggled with.
He pulled a remote out of his pocket. With the push of a button, the huge barn door began to slide open, and he rode Freedom straight into the entry of the barn. He paused the gelding in the foyer, waiting as the door closed behind him. The moment it shut out the cold air, the interior door opened, welcoming them. The motor was silent as the doors moved, cutting-edge technology that he improved and modified regularly.
Three of the four horses he currently had looked over their stall doors in greeting as he reined Freedom to a stop, the gelding's hooves silent on the state-of-the-art shock-absorbing mats that covered every inch of flooring for his horses. The fourth was a pony, too small to see over the door, but Jacob was going to fix that in the morning.
Every animal needed the freedom of being able to connect with the others, and the pony was no exception.
The air was fresh and clean, the barn sparkling with the best of everything for his animals. Literally everything. Organic food that he contracted out to be hand-mixed and delivered twice a week. Hay that he had privately grown in nearby fields, devoid of any toxic chemicals, stored in the most pristine conditions.
He breathed deeply into the silence, into the soft snorts of welcome, into the peaceful presence of living creatures that gave him companionship, but demanded nothing of him.
"Only the best for you guys," he told Freedom as he uncinched the girth to remove the saddle.
Did having only the best chase away their demons? He did all he could for them, for the fragile creatures who needed him.
