Regan's Pride by Diana Palmer

the Kentucky Derby?”
    â€œThat’s what we’re hoping for next year,” he confessed.
    â€œWell, she’s certainly beautiful enough,” she had to admit.
    He watched her stroke the horse’s mane and ears. Topper paid her very little attention. She was intent on her breakfast.
    A sudden clap of thunder made Topper jump. Coreen made a similar movement, gasping at the unexpected noise.
    â€œLooks as if we may be in for a spring shower,” he remarked, looking toward the sudden darkness outside the stable.
    â€œOr a tornado,” she added nervously.
    â€œOh, I don’t think so,” he said to reassure her. Theymoved out of the stall and he snapped the lock shut again before he strode to the back of the stable and looked out.
    The sky was very dark, with blue-black clouds just over the horizon. Lightning flashed and a rumble of thunder followed it. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he remarked as he noticed her out of the corner of his eye. “Nature, in all her splendor.”
    â€œViolence,” she corrected, shivering. Her eyes were apprehensive as she watched the lightning fork. “I hate loud noises.”
    He leaned against the wall and watched her curiously, his eyes intent on her wan face. “Loud noises, like a raised voice?” he asked gently.
    She didn’t look at him. “Something like that.”
    He moved away from the wall, and her eyes swept to encompass him, the same fear in them as the storm produced.
    â€œIs it only loud noises, or is it men who come too close as well?” he queried.
    She put up a defensive hand when he took another step toward her.
    He saw her body tense. His pale eyes narrowed. Outside, the wind was growing bolder as the storm clouds darkened.
    â€œStorms increase the number of negative ions in the atmosphere. Scientists say that we feel better when that happens,” he remarked.
    â€œDo they?” she murmured.
    He drew in a slow, steady breath. “Coreen, I know about your marriage.”
    She laughed coldly. “Do you?”
    â€œHenry told us. Everything.”
    The pseudosmile left her lips. She searched his eyes, looking for the truth. He hid his feelings very well. Nothing, nothing showed there.
    â€œAnd you believed him?” she said after a shocked minute. “How amazing.”
    He grimaced. “Yes. I suppose that’s how I thought you’d take it.”
    She averted her eyes to the storm and stiffened again when a violent thunderclap shook the ground. Rain was peppering down, splattering in the dust just outside the door. It would be impossible to get to the house now without getting wet. She couldn’t run this time.
    â€œNothing’s changed,” she said. “Nothing at all.”
    He tossed his Stetson to one side and propped a boot on a bale of hay while they watched the rain come down. “We need that,” he remarked. “We’ve just started planting hay.”
    â€œHave you?”
    He started to reach for a cigarette to calm his nerves when he realized that Sandy had taken his last pack out of his shirt pocket. He laughed softly.
    Coreen glanced at him.
    â€œSandy’s stolen my smokes,” he explained lazily. “She thinks cigarettes will kill me. She can’t talk me into stopping, so she’s gone militant.”
    â€œOh.”
    He raised an eyebrow and smiled amusedly. “Don’t you have any two-syllable words in your vocabulary?”
    He was trying to be kind. She understood that, but she didn’t want any more trouble than she already had. She stared toward the house, hating the rain that imprisoned her here with Ted.
    He saw her impatience to leave and it angered him out of all proportion.
    â€œDamn it!” he burst out.
    Her face jerked toward his. Her eyes were enormous, frightened.
    â€œOh, for God’s sake,” he groaned. “I’ve never hit a woman in my life! I lose my temper from time to