With a nod to everyone at the table, I followed Jake outside. I worried about the palpable silence while we walked to the barn. I was a little surprised to see there really was a horse with a potential problem—a lovely little chestnut mare with a white star on her forehead.
She was standing in her stall munching on the remains of a late breakfast and favoring her left leg, just as Jake had said. “All right if I enter her stall?” I still wasn’t quite sure if Jake actually wanted me to look at the horse.
“Well, unless you can see what’s wrong from here. Otherwise, I’d go into her stall.” The dryness of Jake’s response wasn’t lost on me and I dropped my head and chuckled.
“Hey there, little lady. Aren’t you just the prettiest,” I crooned to the mare. “She’s gorgeous. One of your breeders?” Unlike the larger operations that capitalized on quantity over quality, the Thornes had a small-scale breeding operation that catered to a specific clientele. I really liked that about them.
“She is. Was hoping to breed her with a stallion I have in mind, but she started limping a couple days ago and it doesn’t look like it’s getting better,” Jake said. He took his hat off to rub his head before seating it again.
I walked around the mare, giving her a cursory exam much like I’d do before getting on any horse. When I ran my hand down her leg, she shied away from me, but placed her weight down on it before lifting her foot up again.
“It’s definitely sensitive but I don’t see any swelling. Guessing that you haven’t either.” I looked over at Jake who gave me a quick nod. Irose back up and rubbed Star’s head, thanking her for letting me check her. “If she were mine, I’d keep her on restricted activity for a few days, check to make sure it doesn’t get worse. She’ll probably be fine.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Jake said. “Glad to hear we agree.”
“Anything else I can do to help?” I asked.
“Sure,” Jake said as he picked up a brush to groom Star. “You can tell me the real reason you spent the night on the ranch.” Jake looked me straight in the eye as he spoke.
I had only a second to make a decision. I didn’t want to lie to Jake. We’d become friends of a sort and I liked the guy, but my first loyalty was to Amy. She’d been worried about us having privacy to explore our relationship, had wanted to keep it a secret, and I’d do what I had to do to give her that until she told me otherwise.
“Exactly what I said,” I answered, keeping my tone calm. “I stayed late talking with Amy, and I was too tired to drive back to town. It seemed like a better idea to stay here than risk the road with my eyes threatening to close.”
Jake remained silent for a minute as he continued to work. “I can see how that might happen. Amy’s easy to talk with.” Jake ran the brush over the horse’s neck. “I don’t know how we’d have gotten through the months after Dad’s and Luke’s deaths without her. The family was damn lucky the day Luke brought her home. She means so much to us,” Jake hesitated before continuing, “and she was the perfect wife for him.”
The perfect wife for the perfect man? Was that what Jake was implying? If that was his opinion, no wonder Amy was worried about telling the Thorne family that she was seeing me. The folks in town were one problem, but this was a bigger one for both of us. And it was all frustrating because I was becoming increasingly certain that aslong as I stuck around the area, I would be forever walking in the shadow of my perfect, dead brother.
I wasn’t sure what that meant for me and Amy. If she was willing to leave town and make a fresh start with me, then maybe we could have something. If not, the best I could do was enjoy being with her in the short term. At least I could congratulate myself on getting her past her fear of dating. Would she have the confidence to date other men after I left? I didn’t want to know the answer to that question because the thought of her with another man left a sour taste in my mouth.
“Howdy!” Henry ran through the barn door and sprinted toward me.
“No running in the barn,” Jake said, coming out of the stall. “You know the rules, squirt.”
“Sorry, Uncle Jake,” Henry said and added in a stage whisper to me. “He thinks it’ll scare the horses.”
“Some horsesarenervous,” I stage-whispered back. “Uncle Jake is right. It’s always best to be cautious.” I knew from experience what could happen when horses got nervous. Injuries happened—both to the animals and any humans who happened to be too close by. I was reminded of an incident at a rodeo in Houston when some idiot had set off firecrackers near the barn. Two horses had to get put down due to their injuries and five folks went to the hospital.
Henry rocked back on the heels of his cowboy boots in an exact imitation of the way I had seen Jake stand. “Will you help me ride King today?”
“That depends on what your mom says.” I glanced up as Amy entered the barn. “Is it okay with you if Henry rides his pony? I’ll keep an eye on him.” I liked working with the kid and it gave me an out from the conversation with Jake. I didn’t want to hear about Perfect Luke anymore. I’d had enough of that already this morning.
She crossed her arms and jutted one hip out. “Do you think you’re ready?” she asked him.
I’d fully expected Henry to simply say yes, and was surprised when he paused to really put some thought into his answer.
“I am, Mom. The doctor said it was okay. And look, my left leg is getting bigger. Soon, it’ll catch up with my right.” Henry tugged on the outside seams of his jeans to make them tighter. I couldn’t see much difference with his legs covered, but Henry wasn’t finished yet. “Besides, how will I be a better rider without practice? Uncle Cal is the best of all of us, so there’s lots that he can teach me. Please, Mom? Please?” He clutched his fingers together and gave Amy the best puppy-dog eyes I’d ever seen on a human.
Amy pressed her fingers over her lips and I could see a smile twitching as she tried not to laugh. She coughed and turned away and I caught her wink before she returned her gaze to Henry. “In that case—” Henry started to jump up and down and she stopped him. “So long as you listen to your uncle and don’t overdo it, then it’s fine with me.”
“Yes! Yes, yes, yes!” Henry said in a stage whisper—still mindful of not scaring the horses—pumping his fist up and down. “Come on. Before she changes her mind.” Henry grabbed my hand and dragged me through the barn toward the pony. I could hear both Amy and Jake laughing.
This time, we didn’t stop to greet the other horses. We went straight to King’s stall, where Henry unlatched the gate and went in to say hi to his pony. “Hi, King. I’m back. Mom said I can ride you. You remember my Uncle Cal, right? He’s going to watch us.”
I stepped over to greet the pony. “Good to see you again, King.” I looked at Henry. “Okay, what do we do first?”
“The saddle.” Henry started for the tackroom but I stopped him.
“You sure about that, bud?”
