"Hello?" he repeated hopefully as he came near the door of the stall. There was Candice, standing, looking at him like nothing was the matter. On the other side of her were two human legs.
"What's going on in here? Are you hurt?" he asked, fearing the worst.
"No, I'm not." The woman peered out from behind Candice.
It was the one from his mom's bathroom. She still had a bruise on her forehead.
He was wearing a serious expression when he continued speaking to her. "You can't be in here. What are you doing?"
"Well, we were just loving on each other, but you came in with the lights and the yelling, and it made her stand up."
Something wasn't adding up. There was no way Candice would be lying down with someone in her stall. He knew she was lying. He stepped inside the stall with them and began inspecting Candice.
"What did you do to her?" he asked, checking out his horse.
The young woman could tell he was angry, and she got nervous and defensive. "What do you mean, what did I do? I was just hanging out with her. I'm sorry. I like her."
His eyes snapped to meet hers. "Candice doesn't hang out," he said in an irritated tone.
"Well, sh-she does with me. "
He shook his head. "That's just not true. What did you do to her?"
"Yes, it is true. She was napping when I came in here, and she relaxed again. She was just relaxing with me in here. We're friends."
Henry did not trust or believe this woman. He knew Candice. He had been working with her every day, and she did not make friends easily. She was temperamental and feisty, and there was just no way she would relax and hang out with a stranger in her stall.
"Did you drug her?"
She scoffed in disbelief. "Did I what?"
"You heard me. What did you give her?" He inspected Candice, looking for signs of foul play. "There's no way she would even be okay with both of us standing in here if she wasn't on something."
"On something? What do you mean? What do you even give a horse to make them docile?"
She was nervous and flustered, and Henry had caught her in a lie. "You should know that. Josh told me you were some kind of vet."
"Pre-veterinary medicine. Not even. I've dropped most of those classes. I'm a college student."
"You would still know what to give a horse if you're in vet school."
"Yes, but, I, I'm not, I don't, I didn't do anything to your horse."
She was so nervous and sputtering that Henry knew she was lying. He pointed at the door with a rough gesture and a stern expression. "I'm going to check on my horse. You need to wait for me outside this stall."
He was impassive, and she did as he said, slipping out of the stall door quickly. Henry took a minute to look at Candice who had stepped closer to the door to look for the girl.
Henry petted and patted and rubbed her down. She was used to him being in her stall, and she let him inspect her. She didn't seem to be hurt or altered in any way, but Henry still took a minute to check her out. By the time he finished, she wasstanding at the stall door, and he had to squeeze around her to get out.
Henry made eye contact with the girl who was on the other side of that door. She was straight-faced and scared, and his eyes fell on the bruise on her forehead. He felt bad that he had been the one to cause that thing. She was a delicate-looking female, and he wanted to be gentle with her, but he was still wound up from her being in there. She was the one breaking and entering here. Frankly, he didn't know her, and he didn't trust her running loose on the ranch. It was bad enough that she almost got a concussion on day one. She could have been seriously hurt in that stall with Candice. He felt his heart drop when he imagined a different outcome. This small, delicate woman could have been completely trampled.
"I've got to get back to Butte," he said, staring at her. "I'm going to take you in my truck over to my parents' house and tell them what the deal is before I go."
"You don't need to take me to your parents."
"Yes, I do. They need to have a heads up. I wasn't planning on coming here at all today. I'm not planning on coming back. They need to know what's going on so that I can relax and not worry about my horses."
"You don't have to worry about your horses or me. I'm fine."
