The Whisperer. Elsa Winckler

in the car seat. “Imke, seriously. I’ve seen the man twice. What I was going to say before you interrupted me was that yes, he’s attractive and all the rest but he’s also rude and … and narrow-minded. You heard him. He’s a scientist, I’m anything but. Not two lanes that will ever meet.”

      “You feel deeply, you would love intensely. Don’t be scared of that. You’ve always relied on your instincts, don’t stop now.”

      Cilla shrugged. “This has nothing to do with me being afraid to feel. The man wanted my opinion on his horse, I gave it to him. He’s convinced I’m crazy. End of story.”

      Imke opened her mouth to speak again but her phone rang. “It’s Philip,” she said, her eyes sparkling.

      “Of course it’s Philip. He couldn’t stop touching you. Answer it.”

      Fanning herself, Imke answered the phone.

      Thank goodness. Cilla didn’t want to think about Cameron Rahl, she didn’t want to talk about him and she didn’t want to be reminded that yes, her heartbeat had in fact, increased a tiny bit.

      But it was just a tiny bit and he was a very attractive man.

      Cameron kicked a bucket that was lying near the stables. Inside the horses moved restlessly. He swore. Damn it to hell, now he was upsetting the horses. He wasn’t angry at them, he was angry at the whole bloody situation. Perhaps his dad hadn’t been so stupid not to want horses on the farm. Was all the trouble and effort really worth it?

      But when he remembered the way his mom’s face would light up when she rode, he knew the answer to the question. She was the reason he brought horses back to the farm and because of her, he would never get rid of them again. All of this was for her.

      And to remind himself of a time of laughter and love on this farm.

      He entered the stables and walked up to the big black stallion. Bravo. The horse was standing as close to the far wall as possible. Disheartened Cameron stared at the animal, resting his arms on the gate.

      And then she was back in his thoughts – the long-legged beauty. He remembered everything about her in vivid detail – her long brown hair, her deep green eyes, the way she lifted her chin when she was angry, the way her smile lit up her whole face. Not that he’d seen much of that. And he remembered the heat of her leg against his and the nearly overwhelming urge to take her in his arms and kiss her lips to find out whether they were as soft as they looked.

      Something pushed against his hand and when he looked up, he looked into Bravo’s eyes. The big stallion had moved closer and was looking at him with … sympathy? As if he knew Cameron was thinking about Cilla, knew that he missed her. Cameron staggered back. What the bloody hell?

      The big horse stared straight at him. Cameron stilled. Outside, the laziness of the Sunday afternoon reigned; the birds were chattering in the trees, the cicadas were making a noise. Inside the stables the other horses moved around. Gradually all the other sounds faded until he couldn’t hear or see anything else, except Bravo.

      He blinked and then he saw it – a clear picture of a chestnut horse with a pitch black mane, exactly like the one Cilla had spoken about earlier today.

      Gasping for breath, he turned around and fled from the stables. Outside he nearly ran into Ken.

      “Whoa!” Ken laughed and stepped aside. “What did Bravo do now?”

      “He …” Cameron motioned in the direction of the stables. “He came closer and I could see … what … I could see …”

      “Yes? What did you see?” Ken asked, clearly puzzled.

      Cameron took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s … nothing. I think I’m slowly losing my mind. Ever since that damn woman arrived on the farm, things have been …”

      But there were no words to describe exactly what she was doing to him. With long strides he walked towards the house. He’d turned ice cold. What the bloody hell had happened just now? He’d always understood animals and never before had a problem handling them but he’d just seen a clear image of a mare when he’d been with Bravo. This was way beyond anything that he understood.

      “Are you okay?” Philip asked behind him. “You’re muttering to yourself, what happened?”

      “Any coffee left?” Cameron asked brusquely and walked into the house. He needed something and it was way too early to have a drink. A caffeine kick would have to do.

      He put the coffee in the machine, took out the mugs, walked to the fridge to get the milk. Each movement was slow, focused. He knew how to do this, this made sense, this was normal, ordinary.

      Philip cleared his throat behind him and he turned around to see his brother lounging against the door, a big smile on his face.

      “What are you grinning at?” Cameron grunted.

      “I’m grinning at you. You’re even grumpier than usual. What’s going on?”

      For a split second Cameron thought of telling his brother what he’d seen. What he’d thought he’d seen. But he realized, almost immediately, it was not a good idea – he would never hear the end of it.

      “I thought I’d come and visit you next week in Hermanus,” he finally said.

      “Great. Summer is nearly gone and you’ve only been there once.”

      “Well, it was harvest time as you know; it’s a difficult time to be away from the farm.”

      “Oh, come on. You’ve harvested long before Christmas. You need to get away from the farm now and again, meet people, meet women. One of the new waitresses is gorgeous, she is still studying but she works over weekends and …”

      “Not interested,” Cameron interrupted him.

      Philip came closer and slapped him on the shoulder. “Come and see, will you? I have to go now, will you be okay?”

      “I don’t know what you’re going on about, I’m fine. I want to find out what the hell is wrong with Bravo, the sooner the better. There are other things on the farm that need my attention; I can’t keep taking workers to the hospital because of one ornery horse!”

      Philip cleared his throat. “What about Cilla’s ideas?”

      Cameron crossed his arms. “Ken and I have spoken about letting the horses run free, it’s not as if I’ve never thought of the idea, but it took time to fence off a piece of land specifically for them. But now it’s done. As far as the mare for Bravo is concerned … I-I’ll go and talk to Cilla’s dad about the chestnut mare. I don’t believe for one minute that’s the only reason for Bravo’s behaviour, but to please Ken, I’m prepared to do even that. Just to show all of them the woman is talking nonsense.”