Oh, no. What had gone wrong now? Pippa carefully laid the one dress she’d brought on the bed and forced a casual note into her voice. ‘What about?’
‘Posy. He needs some help and when I offered, he said I had to ask you first.’
‘What kind of help?’ Pippa wasn’t sure she liked the sound of this, but she did love the new excitement and colour in Harriet’s face and didn’t want to be the cause of it dissolving in a second if she refused. ‘Is it dangerous?’
‘Like, duh! Course not.’ Harriet rattled the door, pointing to the stairs with her other hand. ‘Can you come now, he’s waiting.’
‘Okay.’ Pippa didn’t have any choice if she didn’t want to upset Harriet, and she followed her downstairs and into the kitchen.
Gil was staring through the window towards the yard, and he turned slowly, that impassive blue gaze landing on her. She hadn’t seen him since yesterday morning in the field and was coming to expect the tremor on her skin whenever he was near.
‘Harriet mentioned you need some help with Posy?’ She sensed the shutters had come down once again and her voice was level lest he thought she was a pushover after a couple of grins and a glimpse of warmth.
‘Please.’ He glanced at Harriet, and she beamed, irrationally making Pippa want to kick him. Why didn’t Harriet smile like that at her anymore? ‘Posy needs an injection, and I wondered if Harriet would hold her for me. She did offer, but I thought it best to run it past you first. Posy and I aren’t the best of friends and I quite like my teeth attached to my gums.’
‘So you’re suggesting that my daughter, who has very little experience of animals, should hold on to a dangerous pony whilst you stick a needle in it?’ Pippa laughed. The idea was ridiculous, even if said daughter was currently making a fuss of Lola, and the big, friendly dog was lapping up the attention. ‘That pony is barely taller than this table. Can’t you tie her up?’
‘Tried that last time. Haven’t got round to fastening the metal ring back to the wall yet. And it’s only me she doesn’t like, she’s fine with everyone else.’ He fixed Pippa with that stare again and she had to remind herself not to fidget as she folded her arms.
‘Perhaps she’s a very good judge of character.’ If she needed another reason to get rid of Gil and his part-time practice in her yard, then Harriet was it. No one was getting attached to anything or anyone around here, she told herself firmly. Least of all her impressionable teenage daughter.
‘Oh, Mum, come on! How bad can Posy be? She’s been fine while I’ve been taking her in and out of the paddock.’ Harriet was already inching towards the door with Lola. ‘Like you said, she’s tiny.’
‘But Harriet…’
‘Mum, seriously! I’m doing it.’
‘Fine,’ Pippa muttered. Maybe it would be best to let Harriet find out for herself that this wouldn’t be the jolly jape she was expecting if someone built like Gil couldn’t even manage the pony without help. ‘But I’m coming too, just in case.’
She was expecting Harriet to object to that but instead she was disarmed by the grin Harriet flashed her before she and Lola took off. Pippa and Gil got caught performing an awkward sort of a dance when they both tried to insist that the other went first and she won, closing the kitchen door behind them to follow him across the yard.
Posy looked very sweet in her stable, having her fluffy neck scratched by Harriet, making a hairy top lip curl in pleasure. Pippa nearly laughed; clearly, he was talking nonsense, and the pony was perfectly safe. She looked as though butter wouldn’t dream of melting in her mouth, one neat little hind hoof tilted in relaxation.
Posy submitted to the headcollar, minus the muzzle, that Harriet slipped over her head, one eye half closed. Pippa was already thinking ahead to a lovely dinner with Harriet in the pub so she could use the Wi-Fi to reply to the email from the land agent she’d received. She’d popped into the pub on her way to the shop earlier and Kenny had promised to save a nice quiet table for them.
Gil followed Harriet into the stable and Pippa spotted the needle in his right hand. Posy’s ears twitched as he slowly approached, her eyes fully open now, and Pippa sensed a sudden change in atmosphere. With a swift jerk of her head, startling Harriet, Posy shot through the open door and tore off across the yard, lead rope trailing like pink string behind her. Pippa and Harriet were left staring open mouthed at Posy’s plump and retreating bottom, tail swishing in the sun. The whole episode had lasted about three seconds and Posy freewheeled out of sight towards the front garden.
‘Why didn’t you shut the bloody door?’ He rounded on Pippa, and she clenched her fists, filled with an unfamiliar longing to let them do the talking for her.
‘It’s not my fault.’ Pippa jumped sideways to let Harriet scoot past when she and Lola set off after Posy, Lola leaping excitedly. ‘You never said to close the door.’
‘Well, it’s not exactly rocket science, is it?’ He treated Pippa to a scowl over his shoulder as he marched after Harriet and his dog, and presumably the pony. ‘Anyone with even a degree of common sense would have known she’d try to escape.’
‘And anyone with a degree of decency would have explained what was required to two people who are unused to dealing with stroppy—’ Pippa’s lips tightened, the toes on her right foot were throbbing after Posy had stood on them on her way to freedom. ‘—ponies.’ She wished she’d said vets instead.
‘What’s the matter?’ Gil paused, watching as she took a hobbling step.
‘Nothing,’ Pippa muttered. Posy really was heavy, that tiny hoof had hurt but she was damned if she’d let him see how much. ‘Now what are you going to do?’
‘Spend the next thirty minutes chasing Posy around the garden probably,’ he said sourly. ‘She’s a little demon. One of these days I might be tempted to give her an injection she won’t wake up from.’
‘You can’t do that!’ Pippa stared at him, aghast. ‘Don’t you have to take some sort of oath to swear you’ll always save lives, not end them?’
‘I think you’re confusing me with a doctor. And I’m excusing myself from all promises made when I qualified where Posy’s concerned. Get some ice on that foot or you’ll still be limping tomorrow. Anyway, it’s just me she has a problem with. If I really thought she was dangerous I would have asked you to help instead.’
‘Thanks for that,’ Pippa retorted, stung by the realisation of just how much Gil actually disliked her. She disliked him too but that wasn’t the point; she wasn’t trying to kill him. ‘Death by demon pony.’
She was expecting him to agree but instead he laughed, and quite without meaning to let it, her breath caught. The grin softened his blue eyes into something she absolutely refused to admit might be close to irresistible and revealed a whole other side to him, one she was horrified to notice was devastatingly attractive.
