Page 14 of Fight or Flight

Horses?Was he kidding?Wherein the world would she keep horses, andwhy?

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if I weren’t,” he said. “Your stables are in good condition; the paddock is large enough for six horses. It would only be for a short time.”

Floored at the request, Katherine was truly at a loss for words. “I have stables?”

“That’s why I’m asking,” Doc said.

Feeling foolish, she had to explain. “Doc, I didn’t know there were stables here.” When she’d bought the property, her main concern had been privacy. She didn’t even think to ask about anything else, and she never did explore the land.

“Oh, kiddo, I didn’t know.”

Katherine was embarrassed, and maybe that’s what prompted her to say, “If you say I have stables, then of course, I have stables. Tell your friend he can use them for as long as he needs to.” She wasn’t keen on the idea of a stranger on her property, but Doc had always been good to her, and she hated to say no to him.

“Thanks, K. You’re a lifesaver. The guy is only here for a short time. I’ll tell him as soon as I hang up. We’ll probably be there in a couple of hours. You do know this is a move in the right direction?”

She knew exactly what he was referring to. Maybe it was; maybe it wasn’t. She’d see how it played out, allowing a stranger to use stables she didn’t even know she had. “I suppose.”

“I’ll text you when we’re at the turnoff,” he said.

This being their usual routine, she agreed and then ended the call. She was clueless as to why he’d brought up his friend’s accident and his friend’s son. What did that have to do with the man who needed to stable his horses? Unable to make sense of his call other than the need to stable the horses, she hoped he’d fill her in, maybe add more details when he arrived.

Returning to her computer screen, she saw four girls were chatting on the fan page. Karrie included.

Bigfan216: You feel better?

klcLUV/007: Much. U in class?

Katherine glanced at the time on her screen. Dang, again she hadn’t factored that in. You couldn’t pull anything over on this small group of fans. She liked that about them. Now if she could keep up withherfake persona, she’d be okay.

Bigfan216: Library.

SKRfan4evr: Cool. Sneaking, huh?

Bigfan216: No, it’s allowed. Not everyone has a computer!

That came out of the blue. She hoped it was true in some schools.

klcLUV/007: Same here. We can use it at school for homework if we need to.

Score one point for a lucky lie. Not being honest with this set of fans bothered her. Had she made a mistake by allowing herself get too involved with them? Normally she would visit the page in the evenings. It gave her something to look forward to. Now she felt concerned for Karrie and decided it was her duty as moderator to keep watch over her. Not that she’d be able to do much other than phone the authorities, if needed, but who knew if Karrie’s stories were even true? She could be telling lies as easily as Katherine was. Katherine would try to pay closer attention to Karrie’s comments, log on as the moderator, and scroll through the comments made when she wasn’t online.

Blondebookbabe: Not here, they monitor you. Probably think we’re all looking at porn! LO

klcLUV/007: Gross.

Bigfan216: Your dad off your case now?

She couldn’t help asking. Coming from a “friend,” maybe it wouldn’t seem too nosy.

klcLUV/007: Not really.

Blondebookbabe: He must be a real jerk!

Bigfan216: Parents are weird sometimes!

A truthful statement for a change. Katherine had barely known her dad, as she’d spent little time with him. Even when he wasn’t traveling the world, he stayed in his study at home, with the doors always locked. Katherine thought of Audrey, the favored housekeeper and Tracie’s mother. Audrey told her toneverknock on her father’s office door andneverenter his study without his permission. Even if it was a matter of life and death. She remembered those words and what she’d experienced when she’d disobeyed them. Katherine often wondered if she had imagined what she’d seen. She’d been told she was prone to an overactive imagination as a child, and to this day, she wasn’t sure what was real and what was a figment of her imagination.

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