Page 1 of Property of Legend

Chapter 1

Sophie

I slam the screen door behind me so hard it rattles in the frame.My boots thud against the porch as I storm down the steps, fists clenched.Daddy’s voice is still ringing in my ears.

“Sophie Anne Montgomery, if you’re not gonna take this farm seriously, I’ll just leave it all to James.”

Good.Let my little brother choke on the damn responsibility.

The summer sun’s sharp and hot already, baking the dirt path as I march toward the stables.I don’t care where I’m going, just that I’m not in that house one second longer.House?More like mansion.But it’s always been my home.

I need air.Space.Wind in my hair and hooves pounding under me.I need my horse.I need quiet.

Rounding the corner by the tack room, I freeze.

He’s there.

Shirtless.Covered in sweat and dust.Muscles coiled like a predator’s, one hand on the reins of my favorite mare, the other holding a saddle like he owns the damn world.

Hudson.

My breath catches before I can hide it.His back’s to me, but I’d know that frame anywhere.The way he moves, the lazy confidence in the tilt of his shoulders.The boy who used to race me across pastures like we were chasing fire.

“You planning to steal a horse, Stable Boy?”I call out, voice steadier than I feel, using the name I used to tease him with, automatically.

He stops.

Turns.

And grins.

His voice is deeper now, a slow southern drawl that drips like molasses.“If it ain’t the Horse Princess herself.”

He’s older.Bigger.Broader.More than a foot taller than lil’ ol’ me.That wild boy I knew has grown into something more dangerous, something feral and beautiful.And Lord help me, I feel it everywhere.A hum under my skin.Down deep in my belly.A pull.

“You look like hell,” I say, crossing my arms, trying to ignore it.

“And you look like trouble.As usual.”His eyes rake over me, slow and shameless, from my worn jeans to my tank.“All grown up now, huh?”

I swallow the lump in my throat.It’s been years.Years since the town turned on him.Since the rumors started swirling about monsters and mutilated horses and madness.Since his daddy ran off and Hudson got stuck with that snake of a preacher next door.

“What are you doing here?”I ask.

His grip tightens on the reins.He doesn’t meet my eyes.

“Leavin’,” he says finally.“Paradise ain’t paradise anymore.”

The mare flicks her ears, maybe sensing she’s about to be stolen.I step closer, dust swirling around my boots.

“Take me with you.”

His head snaps up, startled.“You serious?”

“Yeah.”Another step.Close enough now I can see the freckles across his nose, the scar by his jaw from where he fell off the roof of the hay barn when we were thirteen.I’ll be damned if I let him steal from Paradise Falls.Mama’s favorite, Firecracker.Too bad I don’t have my .38.

But I almost convince myself, as I try to stall him.“I don’t want this place.I can’t stand James.I don’t want any of it.”

He stares at me, searching my face like he thinks I’m playing a joke.Like the years that passed between us weren’t so full of silence and ache.

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