He eyed me warily and fidgeted again, but when he snorted this time, it was with less enthusiasm.
“That’s it.” I stroked his face. “Take it easy.”
So he was here now. He’d made it into the trailer and across the two hundred miles between McBride’s farm and mine. Now, how to get him
out
of the trailer? It had taken two sedatives just to get him in, and even then he’d put up a fight. If I had to give him an injection now, when he was already confined and claustrophobic, he was liable to hurt himself, not to mention me or Star, who stood calmly on the other side of the divider.
A tube of Calm & Cool might take the edge off, but it had taken four people and a twitch on his upper lip to get both tubes into him at McBride’s place. And even then, on the way into the trailer with a double dose of that herbal shit along with two injected sedatives in him, he’d still managed to inflict a few bruises and rope burns on all of us in between getting a long—but fortunately shallow—gash on his own shoulder. No point in trying to give him that or a medical sedative now.
I idly smoothed his unruly black forelock as I played out every possible scenario in my head. A horse like this, anything could happen once the door opened. He could surprise us all and back out calmly. Or he could take two steps back, then freak out, fly up, hit his head or tumble backward down the ramp. If he tried to spin around inside the trailer—and I’d seen panicked horses do it—there was a chance he could fall and get tangled up in Star’s legs, which could be a two-horse disaster. If I took Star out first to keep her out of the line of fire, Blue could come unglued because she was gone. Leave her in, she could get hurt if he freaked out.
Running my fingers through his forelock, I looked in his wide, scared eye and thought,
and once I get you out of the trailer,
then
what do I do with you?
I sighed and stroked his face again. As I did, I looked past him. The trailer’s rubber pads were covered in the same sweat that drenched the gelding’s blue-gray coat. He hadn’t touched the flake of alfalfa in his manger. Judging by the way he kept licking his lips, he was probably thirsty, but I doubted he’d touch any water he was offered until he was out of the trailer. All the more reason to get him out sooner than later.
Blue’s ears pricked up, and he snorted again, and the crunch of boots on gravel behind me told me why.
“Need a hand?” Dad said.
“I could use all the hands I can get,” I said over my shoulder.
“Well, I’ve got two sets for ya,” he said.
I turned around, and had I not been hyperaware of the agitated animal I was trying to calm, I probably would have jumped clean out of my skin.
Who the hell was this? No way I’d seen her before, because a woman like her, I would have remembered.
Clearly
. Her hair was dark and gathered into a loose ponytail in the back of a blue baseball cap, and maybe it had been too long since I’d let myself look at a woman, but I did give myself a second to take in how her jeans held on to her slim legs and curvy hips.
“This here’s Amy.” Dad gestured at her as if I could have possibly not seen her. “She’s our new farmhand.”
“Our—” I blinked. “You’re the new farmhand?”
“I am,” she said with what sounded like a mix of irritation and amusement.
“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Well. Great. Welcome aboard.” Blue stomped and fidgeted in the trailer, so I turned back to calm him down again. And maybe calm myself again, because holy
hell
.
Focus, Dustin. Focus. Horse, not girl.
Horse. Not incredibly hot girl who’s going to be here, on my farm, and—
Horse. Trailer. Now.
To Dad, I said, “I am going to strangle that son of a bitch McBride.”
“What’d that idiot do this time?” Dad asked.
I looked over my shoulder. “Told me these two were
almost
done being rehabilitated. Totally ready to be finished under saddle.”
Dad groaned. “They’re basket cases, ain’t they?”
“
Ooh
, yeah.” I shook my head. “I had to sedate this one just to get him into the trailer, and he still just about took McBride’s arm off.”
My father sniffed. “Serves him right if he told you he was almost finished with these two.”
“No kidding.” I grimaced sympathetically as I watched Blue warily take in his unfamiliar surroundings. “At least they’re sound. Guess it took a good two years to get the gelding’s feet and legs back on track.”
“What happened to them?” Amy asked.
“Abuse cases,” I said. “Both came from a Tennessee Walker trainer in California.” I stepped off the running board and reached into the tack compartment below Blue’s manger. As I pulled out a pair of lead ropes, I said, “Let’s get ’em out of the trailer before he rips it apart.”
“Where do you want ’em?” Dad asked. “Stalls nineteen and twenty are both empty but have bedding in them already.”
I nodded. “Nineteen and twenty are fine. Probably help these two adjust if they can see each other.” I set one of the lead ropes aside and gestured at Blue. “We should take him out first. The mare’s not quite as fired up, so I think she’ll be okay staying in for a few minutes after he’s out. Assuming he doesn’t throw a fit and hurt her in the process.”
“You’re the boss,” Dad said.
I opened the escape door on Blue’s side but didn’t get in with him yet. I clipped his lead rope to his halter while Dad and Amy lowered the ramp and opened the rear doors. Blue stomped and danced, swinging his head back to look behind him. Breathing faster, eyes wider than before, he tried to go backward, snorting and fidgeting each time he hit the butt bar.
I tugged his lead to keep him facing forward and spoke softly to him. “Easy. You’ll be out in a second. Take it easy.”
“Ready?” Dad asked.
“Yep.” Moving as carefully as I could, I unclipped the chain connecting him to the trailer and eased that into the manger. Keeping my every move as calm as I could, I stepped into the trailer with Blue. He eyed me but stayed still.
I reminded myself to breathe slowly and evenly in spite of my pounding heart. If things went badly from here, both horses and I could be in a world of hurt, and if Blue caught even the slightest hint of uncertainty from me, things could go badly in a hurry.
Dad and I made eye contact over Blue’s back, and I nodded.
Dad unfastened the butt bar.
He barely had time to get out of the way before the gelding flew out of the trailer backward, nearly tumbling off the side of the ramp before skidding to a halt and spraying gravel against the side of the trailer, which startled him all over again.
I followed him out, holding the lead rope by its knotted end and trying to keep as much slack in the line as I could so he didn’t jerk against it and scare himself further.
Blue halted. His legs twitched like he was ready to take off, but he didn’t move. Snorting loudly, eyes still wide and nostrils still flaring, he looked around.
“Well, my, my,” Dad said. “Ain’t you a looker?”
I grinned as I slowly approached the horse. “He is, isn’t he?”
For all the work it would take to get him ready to sell, one thing I definitely couldn’t say about Blue was that he was unsightly. He was a striking blue roan, and he’d be even prettier once the uneven black mane tumbling over one side of his neck grew out. His abusive past didn’t show in his physical condition—the show horses were still fed well and generally cared for, anyway—but it was undeniable in his demeanor. The exposed whites of his eyes contrasted sharply with his mostly black head, and his muscles quivered like he was this close to bolting.
“Easy, Blue.” I still kept the rope slack and continued my slow approach, keeping my free hand extended and palm up. “Take it easy.” I inched closer, pausing whenever the horse tensed. I stopped when my hand was maybe six inches from the gelding’s mouth.
He finally sniffed my hand. He was still agitated, but with the trailer ordeal over, he calmed down.
Over my shoulder, I said, “Amy, get him some water. Half a bucket, no more.”
Behind me, Dad said, “There’s a bucket by the hose. Go ahead and use that one.”
Amy didn’t say anything, but the quiet crunch of gravel beneath boots answered well enough.
While I waited for her, I looked Blue over again. Good Lord, but he was a gorgeous animal. He didn’t have that Roman nose a lot of Tennessee Walkers had. Instead, his profile was straight and smooth. He stood about fifteen-two, so not huge, though he must have been immense when he still had the massive shoes and painfully long hooves during his show days.
Sons of bitches,
I thought as I patted his neck.
A smear of partly dried, partly fresh blood darkened his blue-gray coat just above his shoulder. I rested a hand on his neck and leaned in to take a better look at the cut.
“Hurt himself in the trailer?” Dad asked.
I nodded toward the trailer’s open door. “Caught himself on a latch while we were trying to load him. Looks like he managed to get it open again while he was flailing around on the trip.”
Great.
That’ll
make him that much easier to load in the future.
Amy returned with a bucket just slightly under half full of water. She approached slowly and then carefully set the bucket in front of Blue so the water didn’t slosh more than absolutely necessary. Blue regarded it suspiciously for a moment before he shoved his head into the bucket and drank heavily, draining it in a few quick, deep gulps.
I patted his withers and looked at Amy. “Take the hay from his manger to his stall and make sure he’s got enough water in there.”
Without a word, she went to the trailer and pulled out the untouched flake of alfalfa. She disappeared into the barn, but not before I sneaked a quick look at her. Damn, she was just as hot from the back as the front. And I was supposed to be a consummate professional while she was around? Not in this lifetime…
“Should I get the mare out?” Dad asked.
“Uh, yeah. Go ahead.” I shifted my attention back to the horses. “She’s pretty mellow about this sort of thing.”
“Well, she went in easy.” He raised an eyebrow. “Sure she’ll come out without throwing a conniption?”
“Okay, maybe we should wait until Amy comes back.”
When she came back, I had her hold Blue’s lead while Dad and I took Star out of the trailer. As I’d figured she would, the filly backed out easily. A bit too quickly, maybe, but that was a habit that could be remedied with some practice and patience.
“She okay to lead?” Dad asked as he took the rope from me.
“Just watch your feet,” I said. “Girl’s gonna need some work on ground manners.”
“Hmph.” He eyed her. “One of those, are ya?”
I laughed. “They both are. She’s not too bad, though. Just doesn’t pay attention.”
“Noted.”
Dad took Star and walked her around the driveway, and I did the same with Blue. Once both horses had stretched a bit and shaken off the long hours they’d spent in the trailer, we led them into the barn. While Dad put Star in her stall, I stopped and cleaned out the cut on Blue’s shoulder. It wasn’t deep and probably wouldn’t even scar, but the last thing he needed was an infection.
Once the horses were situated, Dad and I unhooked the trailer, and he left to gas up the truck.
It was good to be back. I’d only been gone a few days, but there was nothing quite like coming home to my farm and its serene familiarity.
Footsteps behind me reminded me I wasn’t the only one here, and I turned to see Amy on her way back into the barn after filling the water troughs like Dad had asked her to do while we’d unhooked the trailer.
“Sorry we didn’t get a chance to be properly introduced.” I extended my hand. “Dustin King.”
She brushed her hands off on her jeans, then shook my hand. “Amy. But, I guess you already knew that.”
“Yeah, I did.” I smiled and hoped she didn’t see the goose bumps rising along my forearm. “But, anyway, good to meet you.”
“You too.”
We released each other’s hands but exchanged another glance, and any skin of mine that wasn’t covered in goose bumps before sure was now. And I was supposed to concentrate on working horses and giving lessons while this woman was wandering around my damned farm?
Good God, I was screwed. So screwed. “So.” I cleared my throat. “How much has Dad shown you around?”
“He took me around the property,” she said. “Showed me the turnout schedule, feeding schedule, all of that.” She paused. “I just got in last night, so I’m still learning everything, of course.”
“Shouldn’t take you long. We keep things simple around here.” I chuckled. “Only way I can keep track of anything.”
Amy gave a quiet laugh, but I couldn’t decide if it was unenthusiastic or shy, only that it made me shiver.
Oh my God, what is
wrong
with me?
“Well,” I said, “why don’t I take you around and see if Dad missed anything?”
She said nothing. Just nodded and followed me back into the barn.
Chapter Three
Amy
Well, apparently I was still capable of feeling something. I was numb to the bone, but obviously it didn’t go so deep I couldn’t notice a man who was physically attractive.