He heard the clomping of hooves behind him, and he turned toward Briar, who gently led Gemini toward them.
“He can’t go back in here,” Tarr said. “We’ve got to get him another place.”
Thankfully, they were nowhere near capacity here at the facilities, and he and Briar got Gemini settled in another stall.
“There’s something wrong with his back leg, Tarr,” she said. “I don’t know what. I think we should call Kristie.”
Tarr set his jaw and nodded, as the big barn door outside once again smashed into the barn. “I’ve got to get this door secured,” he said. “I’m going to call Ashton and see if he can come help.”
Briar nodded. “I’ll check on all the other horses and make sure everyone else is okay.”
They left Gemini’s stall together, and Tarr continued toward the gaping doorway at the end of the aisle while Briar paused at the next stall down.
He grabbed a couple of ropes as he went, thinking maybe he could get the rope through the door handle and then pull it closed without having to be right next to it, where the wind could toss both him and the door like rag dolls.
“Tarr!” Briar called, and he heard the edge of panic in her voice.
He turned and walked backward. “What?”
“Please be careful.” She wore nothing but concern on her face, and Tarr tucked that away in his heart before he turned around and faced the challenge of the wildly swinging barn door.
seventeen
Briar couldn’t calm down. She’d dealt with a lot of stressful situations in her life, but not very many of this caliber since moving to Colorado.
Tarr worked some magic with ropes and muscle, and he managed to get the door tied closed. Without the wind howling inside, the barn started to warm, the furnace pumping hard to get it back to its regular temperature.
Briar had gone stall by stall and put blankets over each horse, murmuring comforting things to them that she didn’t quite feel herself.
“Briar?” Tarr called, and she lifted her head from where she sat on a stool in the corner of Gemini’s stall.
“I’m with Gemini,” she said, trying not to raise her voice too much and spook the horse.
Tarr’s heavy footsteps came closer, and then he gently opened the door.
“We’re all right,” she told him instantly, heading off the question she knew he would ask. “Kristie was out at Mission’s, and they’re both on their way.”
“Oh, good.” Tarr swept one of his big cowboy hands over Gemini’s shoulder. “How you doing, buddy?”
“He’s not putting much weight on that back foot,” she said. “But he lets me touch it.”
Tarr ran his hands along Gemini’s back, then down his flank. The horse snuffled a little, clearly warning Tarr not to do too much more.
“Yeah, I’m just gonna let Kristie look at it, bud. Don’t worry.” He faced Briar then, and she offered him a weak smile.
“All the other horses and stalls were secure. I covered them with blankets since it was getting cold, and we can remove those any time.”
“They like them.” He let out a hissing breath as he slid down the wall near her stool and sat in the straw in the corner. “It’ll warm up fast in here.”
“How’d you get the door closed?” she asked.
“Kind of like a pulley system,” he said.
Briar nodded as if she understood, but she’d had a very busy day—waking up before usual and making a trip to town to get everything she needed for Tarr’s birthday. Then rushing through her chores and cooking lunch only added to the list of things she’d done. She’d slept for an hour that afternoon while Tarr finishedJumanji—something he teased her about, but something that told her how comfortable she was with him.
She reached over and brushed her fingers along his hairline. He looked at her wearing an expression of weariness that she felt deep in her bones.
“He’s going to be okay,” she said. “It’s not a life-threatening injury.”
