Silent Hearts (Hamilton Stables 3) by Melissa West Page A

bones and muscles, he craved T-shirts rather than pressed button downs, wet suits rather than business suits. It surprised him to think about it, but his years of diving with his brothers out in the Gulf, in Fiji, hundreds of different dives, had been some of the best memories of his life.
    But there was a woman who thrived on those same things, who may never be athletic but craved the wind against her face all the same. How had he not seen that before?
    Nick had a perfect match and she’d been there all along. From the awkward little girl to the sassy teen to a woman who put her life on hold to take care of her grandmother. He had a match and her name was Becca Stark.
    “Honey, are you all right?”
    Nick glanced past Mama V to the main barn, then the training ring nearby. “Is Trip around?”
    “He’s at the track.”
    “Alex?”
    “Visiting Trifecta Farms to pick up that new stallion.”
    “Dammit.” Nick released a breath. “What now?”
    “Why don’t you come inside for a beat?” Mama V said, motioning to her house on the farm, where she kept her kitchen running and open for the farm’s staff.
    Nick hesitated. He never talked about his feelings, and he had a strict rule never to reveal too much of himself to the staff. What might they think if he showed all his weaknesses? But Mama V was different. She’d been around since he was little, was best friends with his mother, knew him on that deeper level that came from watching a boy become a man.
    “Come on. Let me mother you a little.”
    With reluctance, he stepped through the door directly into the kitchen, the smell of bread baking hitting his nose. “You know, Mama V, you could give Patty and Annie-Jean a run for their money.”
    The old woman winked. “Why don’t you ask Patty who taught her how to bake sometime?”
    That had Nick laughing. Patty acted as though she’d invented the Bundt cake and would freeze you with her glare if you tried to suggest otherwise. “Really, now? I had no idea. She’d be angry if she heard you telling people that.”
    Mama V waved the comment off as ridiculous. “Patty’s parents used to live beside me and Earl years ago. She used to pop in every day after school and I’d teach her a thing or two. Before long, she went from making mud pies to real pies. The rest is history, I guess.”
    “Wow, V, you really are a legend around Triple Run.”
    The old woman smiled. “I do my best, but we aren’t here to talk about me.” She set down a plate with a slice of banana nut bread on it and placed a cup of black coffee beside it. Nick took a long sip, thankful he’d stopped by, or else he was liable to do something really stupid, like call Becca and scream that he loved her, why couldn’t she just love him back?
    “What’s troubling you, son? Is this about a girl?”
    Nick’s gaze snapped over. “How did you . . . ?”
    Her grin spread. “Whenever a man looks dumbfounded, I know it involves a woman.”
    “Well . . . it’s . . . see it’s . . .” He trailed off, unsure exactly where to begin. Then he remembered that Mama V knew Becca, had watched her grow up with the boys around the farm. “You know Becca Stark?”
    “Honey, everybody knows Becca. No one could forget a face like that, plus her smile? It’d lighten the darkest night.” Wasn’t that the damn truth? “But something tells me you know that.”
    “I made a mistake. We’ve been friends forever, and I adore her. I need her. She’s my best friend. After Dad died, I had no one. Only Becca, and now . . .”
    She tossed up a finger to stop him. “Well, now, that’s not true. Your brothers are your blood. They love you. And this farm loves you. This is your home.”
    Nick stared out the kitchen windows to the staff walking by, to the ones working horses on the grounds. She was right. Most of these people had been with them for years, for much of Nick’s life.
    “But just because you have other people doesn’t mean those people can fill the