Here to Stay Read Free Page B

had right now. At least then he would have had some fun earning his misery. The thought made him wince. Yeah, right, like my life is fun? I’m so sick of this . What would next Saturday night bring, another woman like Terry? Another boring round of sweaty sex with him hurrying away before the semen dried on his dick?
    There has to be something more than this to look forward to .
    His father and a couple of his brothers had found love and happiness, but it hadn’t happened for Zach yet. Maybe it never would. So where did that leave him? Was he destined to spend the rest of his time on earth working his ass off by day and taking up space on a bar stool at night? The thought made him feel almost as claustrophobic as the cell bars did. Okay, fine. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a family man. Maybe that simply wasn’t in God’s plan for him. But surely the old man in the sky had something in mind for him to do that would be meaningful, something that would make a difference.
    Zach’s thoughts circled back to the article he’d read about guide horses, and the blind man he’d fought to defend in the bar tonight. Was God tapping him on the shoulder? Maybe . The blind guy’s dilemma in the bar could have been God’s way of yanking Zach’s chain to remind him of that magazine feature.
    Zach straightened from a slump. Tiny horses? Oh, man, if he decided to train them, he’d have to keep it under wraps. Zach was renowned for his work with world-class cutting horses, not toy equines that slept in the bedroom and accompanied you to the grocery store. His brothers would laugh themselves sick and never let him hear the end of it.
    Besides, Zach knew squat about training a service animal. Hell, he didn’t know anything about disabled people, period. Even so, Zach had this weird feeling, way deep inside, that he’d been meant to read that article and that the incident tonight had been a reminder to him that there were better ways to spend his time than having less-than-satisfying sexual encounters with women whose names he couldn’t remember.
    When his dad got here, and after they went through the familiar bailout crap, and after he’d listened to his dad fulminate about his son wasting his life, Zach was going to go home and find that article. He’d careened through young adulthood thinking mostly about himself. Maybe it was time he gave a little something back. He knew horses. And if they could be trained to guide a blind person, he could learn how to do it.
    What did he have to lose by giving it a try? Nothing . A mini horse would cost him some money, but Zach had plenty in the bank. His biggest investment in an experiment like that would be time, and at the moment, with the inside of his mouth still bleeding from a barroom brawl, keeping busy with something worthwhile seemed like a plus.
    An odd feeling welled within Zach’s chest. He realized that he felt excited, really excited, and he couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. There had to be more to life than sex and beer, and maybe, just maybe , he’d found it—something he could do that would make a real difference in the world.

Chapter One
    Two Years Later, February 2009
    M andy Pajeck sat by her brother, Luke, on their battered tweed sofa and balled her hands into fists. She had to talk to him again. She’d been stalling for days because she knew, and dreaded, how he’d react. But she had no choice. His future was at stake.
    Pulling in a breath, she surveyed his face, biting her lip as she searched his sightless gaze. Right now, he was focused on music blasting through headphones that pushed his chestnut hair into a rooster tail. His backbone slumped against the worn cushions. His long, slender fingers tapped his knees in time with the rhythm.
    Sunlight slanted into the living room through the wood-framed windows, illuminating the scars on his handsome face and emphasizing the opacity of his hazel eyes, once so very like her own. At his feet, candy