“That’s right.” Mission shook his head. “You guys haven’t had any trouble with them since, have you?”
“Nope,” Tarr said. “We made the fence taller and deeper and haven’t had any problems.”
Mission nodded, and Tarr indicated the door. “Let’s go see what we need to do with this, and then Ashton and I can come in the morning to get it all fixed up.”
They left to do that, and Briar hovered in the doorway of the stall where Kristie now sat on the stool she’d been resting on, examining Gemini’s back hoof. She applied a bandage, sighed, and ran her hand up the horse’s leg as she let him settle back onto it.
“It’s nothing serious.” She looked over to Briar before she started repacking her vet kit. “He has a small laceration on the inside of his hoof. I got it back together, and he’ll just need to be watched.”
“Should I put him in the walking circle tomorrow?” Briar asked.
“Yeah, see how he does,” Kristie said. “It’s really minor. It probably would have just healed up on its own. I put a couple of steri-strips there—you’ll be able to see them—and covered it with a small bandage.”
Briar nodded. “Thank you so much, Kristie.”
“Of course. I’m happy to come.” She closed her bag and gave Gemini a good pat along his shoulder. “I gave him a little numbing agent in the area and some painkiller.” She held out her hand, and Briar did the same so Kristie could drop a couple of pills into her palm. “He can have these in the morning, if he’s acting like he’s in pain.”
“He can eat and drink and everything?” Briar asked.
Kristie nodded. “Yep. Sure thing.”
Briar tucked the pills into her pocket and followed Kristie out into the aisle. “Is the wind bad out on the west side of town?” Briar asked as she watched Mission and Tarr examine the broken and cracked part of the interior wall of the barn.
“Not as bad as here,” Kristie said. “But Mission talks to a lot of other foremen and farmers, and Keith Whettstein lives on the north side of town, and he said it’s bad at Blackhorse Bay.”
Briar nodded and hugged herself. “Well, I hope you guys won’t have any trouble getting back.”
“We shouldn’t,” Kristie said. “And we’re closer to my house now, so we could stay there if we needed to.”
Briar nodded. “You’ll bill Tuck?”
“Oh, I’ll bill Tuck.” Kristie gave her a smile and then went to join the cowboys.
Briar followed her, but she hung back and just listened to Tarr and Mission brainstorm what needed to be done with the barn door. They finished up a few minutes later, and she left the barn with Tarr and drove him back to the mansion.
“Well, that was an eventful evening,” she said as she pulled up in front of the house.
“Yeah, I’m exhausted,” he said. “Can we go out an hour later tomorrow?”
Briar looked over to him. “Have you met goats? You want me to delay their release by an hour? They’ll eat me alive by the time I show up at the Goatel.”
Tarr laughed, and Briar joined him, a new release of joy eliminating some of the fear she’d been harboring for so long.
“You do your chores whenever you want, cowboy. I’m going to be out in the Goatel at eight-thirty as usual.”
“Well, I’ll see you at some point,” Tarr said. “Because I’ve got to bring Wiggins back.”
“You sure do,” she said. “The gift is just for one night of doggy snuggles.” She grinned at him, but they both looked out the windshield as the wind rocked her SUV.
“All right, I’m gonna make a run for it,” Tarr said, and he leaned over the console and swept a kiss across her cheek. “Textme when you get back to the cabin so I know you made it and didn’t get blown into a ditch.”
“Okay, cowboy,” she whispered, and then Tarr launched himself out of her car and ran for the front door of the mansion.
Briar drove herself home alone, missing Wiggins more than ever, which was ridiculous, because half the time the dog annoyed her. But Tarr was right. He was a good friend, and she did miss having him in bed with her that night. Thankfully, with everything she’d done that day, she was so tired that she didn’t have a chance to miss him too much before sleep claimed her—and Tarr starred in her dreams all night long.
Briar had just finished putting away her notes on Gemini when she heard male voices out in the arena. She jumped to her feet and exited her office so she could greet Tarr and the general contractor who’d come to help him finalize plans for his house and take over the build. She had no doubt that Tarr could build a house, but she also knew he didn’t have time to do it, keep up with the farm, and train all the rodeo horses.
He laughed with a man probably fifteen years older than him before his eyes settled on Briar. “This is my girlfriend,” he said. “Briar Prescott. Briar, this is Les Davenport, the man who’s going to build my house.”
