“You really are a sweet little thing.”
He finished the bottle, and while groggy, wasn’t asleep.However, he made no effort to move out of my arms, and rather turned his face into the crook and stayed like that until his eyes closed.
“Well, don’t you two look comfortable,” came the thick, raspy accent of the handsome silver fox with the heart of gold.
“My butt is actually killing me on this concrete,” I murmured, shifting a little and inching backward until my back at least had the wall of the stall to support it.I glanced down at the foal for a moment, then back to Tom, but he was gone again.
Where the heck did he go?
“Tom?”Even though horses weren’t people, and waking up Midnight with a voice above a whisper wouldn’t keep him up all night the way it would a newborn, I still had that mindset and kept my voice low.
No answer.
“You’ll quickly learn that he is a very peculiar man,” I said to Midnight.Then I brought my voice down again, even lower.“A very handsome,peculiarman.”
Mesmerized by the hours old foal on my lap, I nearly jumped out of my skin when Tom was back standing beside me.“Here,” he said, with an olive-green velour pillow in his hand.“For your butt.”
Why did his saying “your butt” make my face get hot and my belly do a big flip?
I leaned far over to one side, and he slid the pillow under my butt, his finger just grazing the right cheek.“You need to eat.”
“I’m okay.”
“You need to eat,” he repeated, ducking out into the main barn for half a second before returning and handing me the panini wrapped in foil.It was still warm, and just the smell of it made my belly mimic a thunderstorm.
“Thank you,” I murmured as I chewed.“God, this is good.”
He had his own sandwich and was chewing.His gaze roamed over to Angel, and his face turned sad.“I want to be optimistic.But … she may not make the night.”
God, my heart hurt for this poor mama.Neglected and starved, yet still able to carry her baby to term, only not to get the chance to watch him grow up.
“She shouldn’t die alone,” I said.“So much of her life was spent alone.Her final hours shouldn’t be.Even if she’s not awake.She needs to be with her baby.She needs to feel loved.”
He nodded.“Si.I will not go anywhere.”
Swallowing the bit of sandwich in my mouth, I glanced down at Midnight and stroked the star on his forehead.“Can I stay too?”
“Of course.I will get more blankets.”
He left the stall again, and I leaned my head back against the wall, a weary sigh fleeing my nose.
This was certainly not how I saw my day going today when I woke up.And while Tomwasthe first thing on my mind when I claimed consciousness, I didn’t expect to spend this much time with him,orlike this.
A shuffling in the straw drew my attention, and I opened my eyes.Angel was awake and, while weak, trying to reach her baby with her head.
I rose to my knees and painfully scooted over to her with Midnight, to rest him on the towel next to her.She nuzzled him, and he snuggled right into her.
My bottom lip wobbled as tears stung my eyes before tumbling down my cheeks.None of this was fair.None of this was right.
With my throat tight, I leaned my head back against the stall again and closed my eyes, letting the tears tumble as I silently mourned what this mother went through, and what this son would probably have to.
I’m not sure how long I sat there, quietly crying, but his footsteps were like he had clouds for shoes, because I didn’t hear him.I felt him though.
He startled me slightly, but only for a second, as the back of his finger slid across my cheek to sweep away the tears.“It is sad,” he simply said.“Very sad.”
Blinking my eyes open, I used the sleeve of my hoodie to wipe my cheeks better.“It’s not fair.”
His sigh was heavy, exhausted, and one I felt all the way down to my toes.“No.It’s not.But life is not fair.So we need to make the most of the time we have, and the people we get to spend that time with.”The sadness in his eyes spoke of something darker, something haunting, and I ached to ask more, but I wasn’t sure if it was my place.We really didn’t know each other that well, and I didn’t want to trigger him to rush off the way he did that day at the pond.
