"That's right," Abi said in a whisper that floated in the hot summer air.

"I'm gonna see if all those rumors about Andy are true."

The words whispered through the gardens, and L.K, hidden by the rose arbor as he carried her towel and radio, nearly stumbled on the path. Catching herself, she stopped before her sister and friend could catch a glimpse of her. What rumors? There seemed to be a new one about the Biersack boys every day.

Kaya's laugh was nasty and naughty.

"It had better be worth it, cause if your daddy found out you were going to seduce one of the hired hands--"

"Hey, wait a minute. You've got it all wrong," Abi said. "He's gonna seduce me. He just hasn't fugured it out yet."

"Well, what can you expect? He's probably all brawn and no brain."

L.K couldn't believe it. What was Abigail thinking? She was actually planning to do it? With Andy? The idea made her sick, but it wasn't because Andy was an employee; it was the fact that his life was being planned--manipulated--and he didn't have a clue. Maybe it didn't matter. Andy was a surly one anyway, but the thought of Abi and Andy kissing and touching, getting all sweaty turned L.K's stomach.

"When?" Kaya asked, leaning closer.

"Soon."

Kaya's smile streched wide and catlike.

She nearly purred, "He'll never know what hit him."

L.K heard enough. Coughing loudly, she walked through the arbor, her bare feet suddenly seeming to smack against the flagstones. The conversation had died out and stopped into silence as Abi and Kaya exchanged smirking glances.

"What're you doing out here?" Abi asked as she picked up her drink and scowled at the melting ice cubes.

"What's it look like? I thought I'd go for a swim."

"Don't you think you should shower first?" Abi's nose wrinkled slightly at the dust that clung to her younger sister's skin.

"I'm okay." L.K wasn't going to get into an argument with her sister.

At least not now when her ears were ringing with Abi's announcement.

Kaya slid a look up L.K's body--her skinny jeans, dark as night, the smudges of light eyeliner below her eyes, a bathing suit top. L.K nearly blushed as she saw Kaya lick her lips. Her figure finally started to grow in just a couple of days.

"Be careful," Kaya warned. "Good ol' Max has been sneaking around here trying to get a free peek."

"I told you he's harmless," Abigail swirled her drink.

Rolling her eyes, Kaya said, "He's a grown man with the brain of a ten-year-old. Hardly harmless."

L.K wasn't worried about Max.

She stripped off her skinny jeans showing the rest of her bathing suit, then dived into the water. She never liked Kaya and didn't know what Abi saw in the brunette. Kaya wasn't as pretty as Abigail, but she was the daughter of the most successful businessman in the city, who was a good friend of their father's. Christian and her father played golf together, hunted together and drank together. They'd known each other all their lives, and Kaya and Abigail grew up together. For as long as L.K could remember, Kaya had her eyes and heart set on Alex.

L.K surfaced, shook the water from her hair before raking her fingers through it, swimming laps. Kaya and Abi left. Well, good; L.K didn't want to think any more of Andy and Abi and what they would do together if Abi got her way. And what would stop them? Nothing. The stories about Andy Biersack were legendary; even L.K had heard a few. If you could believe all the town gossip, Andy Biersack had warmed more beds than all the electric blankets in Malibu put together. L.K didn't know if she trusted the rumors, but she couldn't deny that she, herself, had noticed Andy was sexy in a rough-and-tumble, I-don't-give-a-damn sort of way. A few people even considered him dangerous and his past was black enough to prove it. Some women seemed to like to flirt with danger--like sticking their toe into a deep, unfathomable lake, without really jumping in. While some bored women appeared to be turned on by money, others liked a challenge--someone who made them feel a bit naughty. L.K suspected that Andy Biersack was a man who would make someone feel downright indecent.

She felt a tingling against her skin that had nothing to do with the temperature and, angry with herself, stroked all the harder, knifing through the water, swimming each lap as if it were the last swim meet until, gasping for breath, she touched the side of the pool on the deep end, pulling herself up to lie half-in and half-out of the water.

Then there was him.

Sitting on the edge of a brick planter, a profusion of red and white petunias looking out of place against his grimy, tanned skin and hard male muscles, Andy was watching her intently. His clothes were stained from hours of work--dirty jeans and a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, the buttons undone, showing off his bare chest and his tattoos. She wanted to die. To cover up. To avoid those mocking blue eyes.

"Thought you might want to hear how it's going with your horse," he drawled out. L.K's mouth turned to sand. Heart pumping stupidly, she climbed out of the pool with as much dignity as she could muster and stood dripping in front of her.

"Let me dry first," she said, surprised her voice came out normal.

With a shrug of indifference, Andy watched as L.K walked to the far end of the pool, where she towled off, slipped on the pair of skinny jeans she was wearing before. Andy couldn't help but smile at the angle of her chin, all proud and militant, as if she were the enemy. He wondered what L.K heard about him, then decided he didn't really give a damn, and waited until L.K turned around. All legs, this one was, unlike her sister, who was shorter, a female, rounder, and seemed to be proud as a peacock of curves that wouldn't quit.

"The horse is trained, right?" she said, approaching Andy again, her face flushed from the extertion of her swim. The freckles on her body seemed to show up a lot more than before. Her wide eyes, a sky-blue color, blinked against drops of water still clinging to her long lashes.

"Not quite. You got yourself a hellion on that one."

"It's been a week--"

"Five days," Andy corrected her. "It'll take a few more. At least."

"Why? Don't you know how to break him?"

L.K watched as a lazy, taunting smile slid from one side of his clean-shaven jaw to the other. "They can't be rushed, if you want to do 'em right."

Her stomach curled in on itself, and in her mind's eye she saw Andy making love to Abi, so slowly that Abi was writhing and desperate for the want of him. L.K swallowed hard, then cleared her throat. "Seems to me if you know what you're doing--"

"I do."

"Then you could speed things up."

"What's the rush?" Andy asked, leaning back a little and squinting up at her.

L.K didn't know what to say. "Summer's. . .summer's almost over. I want to spend as much time. . ." She sounded silly, like whining, spoiled rich child anxious to get their way. "I just planned to do a lot of riding, that's all."

"Your dad's got other horses. Lots of 'em."

"This one's special."

"Why's that?"

Again, she felt stupid and young, but there was no use of lying to him. She suspected Andy could tell if she veered too far from the truth. "Dad knew I was horse crazy and he wanted to get me one--a special one; so he let me pick the mare and the stallion--it was a birthday gift."

Andy snorted and shook his head, as if he couldn't, for the life of him, understand the rich.

"I picked the smartest mare and the wildest stallion."

"Well, hell, that explains it." Casting L.K a mocking glance, Andy reached into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. "Don't tell me, the old man let you watch while the horses went at it."

"It wasn't a big a big deal," L.K lied, remembering that fierce coupling, how the stallion, eager and volatile at being with a mare in season, thrashed in his stall at the scent of her and then bit back of the mare's neck as he'd mounted her. Primal, rough, raw sex. She cleared her throat. "We raise horses here. Happens all the time."

"And you watch?" He lit up and smoke curled from the tip of his cigarette.

"Sometimes."

"Jesus!" Taking a long drag, he climbed to his feet and started down the gravel path leading through the trees around the house. Over his shoulder, he said, "Stay away from Red for another week or so; by that time he should be ready."

"I don't want his spirit broken."

"What?" Andy turned around and blew a plume of smoke out of the corner of his mouth.

"Don't make him into a merry-go-round pony, okay? I picked his dam and sire for a reason and I got what I wanted. So don't foul it up. I want more than a show pony." L.K smirked and laughed silently at herself for the double meaning and for hearing Andy swear under his breath before she watched him disappear around the corner of the house.

---

Closing her eyes and tracing the lines of the large woman's hand with the tip of her finger, Eva Biersack shivered slightly. Betty Monroe's fleshy palms gave out no feeling, yet the woman was worried sick.

"Just let me know if we're going to make it," Betty was saying, destroying Eva's concentration. "I need to know if this year's herd will--"

"Shh!" Eva's brows deepened and she felt a sadness, but not for the cattle that Betty was worried about, no. . .the feeling was distant, a little jarring in her brain. "You will have visitors. . .from far away. One speaks with an accent."

"That's Carmon and her new husband, Roberto. He's a mexican. She's always been wild, y'know; I never could hold her back. Anyway, she met Roberto down in Spain, got herself knocked up and brought him back to the States with her. They live in L.A. now and they're planning to come up here."

"But they bring with them trouble," Eva said, feeling a cold little touch on her backbone.

"Trouble?" The word trembled through the air. "What kind of trouble? Oh, Lordy, it's not the baby--"

"No, this is different," Eva concentrated. "There is a problem with the law."

Eva gasped suddenly, the image before her eyes was not of Betty's family nor friends, it was of her own sons, naked as the day they were born. Their skin shimmered in the heat as they stood on the edge of the cliffs, the path at their bare feet much too narrow to walk upon. Yet, they moved. Slowly. Rocks and stones falling into the dark, bottomless abyss below them. They constantly tried to find higher ground, to scale the rocky precipice, their fingers clawing, their hands and feet are bloody, their bodies covered in dirt and sweat as they strained, helping each other, inching upward to a darkness they couldn't see, a danger that lurked. . .waiting.

Eva's heart froze.

"Don't!" She tried to cry out, but her voice was silent, her warning a whisper that they couldn't hear. Ever upward they moved, trying to scale the trecherous precipice, and the clouds above them turned dark and stormy, swiling with malevolence. The ledge became more inches and still they strained, reaching up, hands nearly reaching the crest. The darkness swirled angrily above them. Growing near, a faceless shadow that was death itself. Eva's heart dropped. She saw herself, on the otherside of the crevice, trying to call them, to warn them, but her voice was silent. Impotent. Fear scremed through her; her heart pounded in dread. Be careful! Climb down! But her voice was stilled, and she could only watch in mounting horror as their fingers scrabbled against the sheer cliff and their bloody toes tried to grip, slid, knocking away dirt and sand as they tried desperately--vainly--to gain purchase.

No! Oh, God! No!

Muscles strained. They shouted to each other. Ignored her and the blackness blocked the sun. Help them. Please, please keep them safe, she silently prayed to whatever deity would listen. The earth moved, the cliff shattered, the nightlike darkness became a whirling vortex of smoke. Coughing, she watched in horror as her boys fell, tumbling and screaming, arms and legs flailing as the darkness splintered into a blistering burst of flames. Screams reverberated through her mind, and her sons, dark silhouettes against a backdrop of hot, hungry fire, disappeared before her. "No!" her own voice echoes around her. She blinked and the vision disappeared, scattering away from the hot little trailer, but the sweat and fear still lingered. Her insides seemed to melt and she fell, gasping, into a kitchen chair. She couldn't shake the image that her children--her precious sons--would soon meet their ruin.

It wasn't the first time she's seen this same terrifying vision; the premonition had started appearing two weeks ago, creeping into her sleep, breaking out of her subconscious. She checked the calender--the free one she's been given at this flee market--that hung on the wall near the refrigerator. Running her fingers through the appointments and cancellations, she finally stopped on the fourth day, the day of her first vision--the very day after Andy had taken the job with Christian Bale.

---

"What are you doing here?"

At the sound of Andy's voice, L.K nearly dropped the comb that she was dragging through Red's knotted mane. The colt snorted, rolling his eyes as he tossed his head.

"What does it look like?" she asked, feeling heat sear up her cheeks. She glanced over her shoulder and stared into the eyes that seemed to smolder in the half-light of the stable.

"Bothering the horse."

"He needs to be groomed," she replied tartly, then winced when she recognized the sound of a spoiled little rich girl's voice. Her voice. "I, uh, thought it would be a good idea."

"I thought you didn't want a show pony."

"I don't."

"But you think he gives a good goddamn whether his mane and tail lay straight?" He snorted and shook his head. "Hell, all he cares about is throwing you out of the saddle, trying to take a nip out of my arm, and mounting those mares up in the south paddock. You should see him show off for the ladies." Andy's smile was crooked and cynical, his voice low with a sexy drawl. "Kinda reminds me of Jimmy Sanchez and Adam anytime your sister's around." With a knowing grin, Andy climbed up the metal rungs of the ladder to the hayloft. Within seconds bales of hay tumbled to the concrete floor.

L.K didn't want to remember her sister. For nearly two weeks she'd remembered Abigail's and Kaya's conversation by the pool, and she'd watched as Abi had set her plan in motion. It bothered L.K how Abi had begun hanging around the stable, talking and smiling at Andy as he worked, laughing with him, turining on the charm. L.K wanted to believe that Andy was just being polite to the boss's daughter, but it was more than that. Andy, like every other male in Malibu, responded to Abigail. Male to female. It wouldn't take long before he and she were making out and. . .the image of their two bodies, slick with sweat, panting and heaving, flitted through L.K's mind. A sour taste rose in the back of her throat.

Andy didn't bother with the ladder, just swung down from the haymow and landed lightly on his booted feet.

"What about you?" L.K asked as Andy pulled out a pocket knife, leaned over and slit the twine that held the bale together.

"What about me what?"

"The way you act around Abi."

He snorted as he stepped over another bale and sliced through the twine. The bale split, sending up a tiny cloud of dust. "I don't 'act' around anyone, L. You should know that by now." It rankled her how Andy shortened her own nickname. Like she was just one of the hands. Or a kid.

"Sure you do. Every guy does."

"Well, I'm not just like every guy, am I?" He clucked his tongue and, straddling the broken bale, stared up at L.K. His gaze touched L.K's and held, causing the back of L.K's mouth to turn to dust. Andy's slow-spreading smile was downright nasty. "You think I got the hots for your sister?"

"I didn't say--"

"But that's what you meant." Making a sound of disgust in his throat, he clicked his knife shut. "Women," he muttered under his breath as he grabbed a pitchfork hanging on the wall and began ponging hay in the mangers.

Dropping the currycomb and brush into a bucket, L.K climbed over the top of the small gate as Red began picking at the hay Andy had shaken into his stall. Andy didn't stop working, just kept forking split bale after split bale into the mangers. L.K watched him walk--saunter, really, along the row of feeding bins. She noticed the way Andy's thighs and butt tightened beneath his sun-bleached skinnies as he stopped, bent over, cut the twine, then tossed the hay into the stalls. A restless man, he never seemed to stop moving, and L.K's heart fluttered stupidly whenever Andy looked her way. Not that he did it very often.

L.K waited, hanging around until Andy was finished and walked back to the door. "All done with him?" Andy asked, nodding toward Red's stall as he hung the pitchfork on the hook. "No bows or ribbons?"

Anger surged through L.K, but she managed to hang on to her temper. "Not today. Maybe Sunday."

Andy laughed as they stepped outside, where the summer sun was hanging lazily over the ridge of the mountains to the west, and yellow jackets and wasps hovered at the spilld water near the trough. The day was without a breath of wind, and L.K's clothes felt sticky and damp from the heat.

"You should be able to ride your horse soon," Andy said as he reached into his pocket for his cigarettes. "I think I told you before, I like to take it slow."

"Slow?"

"So as not to break his spirit." Shaking out a Marlboro, he eyed the lowering sun, then jabbed the cigarette into the corner of his mouth.

"I want to ride him now."

Striking a match on the bottom of his boot, he said, "Be patient."

"He's mine."

"Haven't you heard patience is a virtue?" With a half-smile, he lit up and stared at her through the thin veil of smoke. "Or is that the problem--that you're not into being virtuous?"

Again, Andy's eyes held hers and L.K felt her stomach turn over. "I just want to ride my horse."

"It'll happen. In time."

"I can't wait forever."

"Two weeks isn't forever." He sighed heavily and plucked a piece of tobacco from his tongue. "You know, L, the best things in life are worth waiting for. At least that's what my old man used to say before he took off. I never knew him, but Ashley, he did, and he keeps spouting off these words of wisdom from a guy who decided he didn't want to stick around and take care of his kids and wife." He frowned as he drew hard on his cigarette, and lines etched between his thin eyebrows. He stared at a solitary fir tree in a corner of the paddock, but L.K suspected he was miles away, thinking back to the childhood filled with poverty and pain. "Personally, I think what our father said was a piece of shit, but Ash, he seems to think he was God." He chuckled without a trace of mirth. "Ash, he's the optimist. Has an idea that someday he'll be rich as your old man. Own himself a big house bigger than yours. Can you imagine?"

"Why not?" L.K asked.

He turned to face L.K again, and this time there was no light in Andy's eyes. He dropped his cigarette and squashed the butt with his heel of his boot. "Because there's a system. The haves and have-nots. Ashley just hasn't figured out where he stands. He's a dreamer."

"And you're not?"

"It's a waste of time, L." His lips were thin and harsh. "Well, break's over," he said as if he suddenly realizing he was talking to the boss's daughter. "Time to get back to work."

"Everybody has dreams."

"Only fools."

L.K couldn't help herself. She reached out, grabbing Andy's arm as if to keep him from stepping away. Andy glanced at L.K's hand, then slowly lifted his head until their gaze held each others. "You. . .you must have dreams," she said, unable to let go of the conversation, the intimacy, the feeling of dark want that had started to unwind deep in the very below part of her.

Andy's lips curled cynically. "Believe me, you don't want to know what kind of dreams I have." His voice was barely a whisper.

L.K licked her lips. "I do. I want to know."

"Oh, L, give it up."

Slowly, Andy peeled L.K's fingers from his arm, but his gaze still held hers, and for the first time, L.K saw a glimmer of something--some deep emotion he hid--a flicker of desire in the dusky blue eyes. "Believe me, the less you know about me, the better."

Notes

FYI: Ashley will have blue eyes in this story. You'll see why later.