“Great. I’ll meet you out there.”
“Wait. I just realized you rode in with me. I should’ve found you and given you the keys.”
“No worries. I’ll just borrow Adam’s truck or Mom’s van. We’ll work it out. You just get that critter to the ranch. I’ll take it from there.”
“Thanks, hermano. I owe you one.”
“Buy me a drink tonight and we’re square. See you soon.”
“You bet. ’Bye.” He disconnected. “We’re all set.”
“You didn’t even have to ask him.” Her voice carried a trace of disbelief.
“When Monty finds out a horse is in trouble, there’s no asking required. Unless he’s incapacitated for some reason, he’s on it.”
“That’s admirable.”
“He wants me to text him a picture of his hoof if I can manage it.”
“I’m sure we can. He’s a sweetheart.” She cleared her throat. “Listen, I apologize for my attitude just now. You were only trying to help and I gave you a hard time about it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s natural. You’re worried about Fudge.”
“I am, but that’s no excuse.” She sighed. “It’s just that I like your family so much and I… I don’t want to be a nuisance.”
“You couldn’t predict that Fudge would have a problem. Abscesses come out of the blue.”
“Yeah, he’s never had one before, but still. Please tell me Monty will let me pay him.”
“Uh… well, the thing is you support H&H, so?—”
“Adopting three horses is a drop in the bucket compared to what a vet would charge for treating my horse.”
“Yeah, but that adoption’s not a one and done type thing. We aim to keep you for years. If those horses find forever homes, we’ll suggest other ones in need.” Until now he hadn’t thought of it that way, but unless she bailed on the adoption thing, which wasn’t likely, her contact info would be perpetually on file.
Would that include her phone number? It might. And using it for personal reasons violated H&H’s code of ethics. And his.
“So you’re saying Monty won’t accept payment?”
“That’s what I’m saying. I’m buying him a beer tonight so you can buy him the second one.”
“I’ll do that, but I’ll come up with something else.”
“A sincere thank you is plenty. You don’t want to insult him.”
“This is difficult territory for me.”
“I can see that.”
“I wasn’t raised like you were. I was taught to depend on myself and not expect others to carry my load.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“But you made it sound like your family would be upset if I didn’t accept their help.”
“It’s not like they’d be mad at you.” Jordan reminded him of sanctuary horses who hadn’t been born wild. Instead they’d been turned loose after years of abuse. Consequently they viewed acts of kindness as a potential trap.
“You said Mila and Claudie would be crushed.”
