‘Breathing,’ he said simply.
‘Now what?’
Maverick turned. He reached over the stall door and into a nearby bin, pulled out a scooper filled with pellets.
The horse perked up at the sound.
‘Come stand this side of me,’ he told Nina. ‘I don’t want you between her and the wall.’
Nina followed orders, and when the horse took one step closer and her heart started thumping excitedly, she resumed her deep breathing.
‘See, you’re a natural.’
‘I feel like an idiot.’ She laughed. ‘Breathing for a horse.’
Those blue eyes flickered over her, assessing. ‘You don’t look like one.’ Before Nina could make sense of the compliment, he passed her the handle on the scooper, stepped back. ‘Here. Pour it into her tray, and when she comes for it, don’t hesitate. Stroke her neck. Firmly. Like you know what you’re doing and aren’t scared of anything. Breathe. Be confident. I’m right here.’
Nina didn’t question why she trusted that Maverick Hunt would never endanger her, and she didn’t waste time either. She poured the grain into the tray and held her breath as the horse blew a breath on her elbow.
‘Breathe.’
She exhaled loudly. ‘I keep forgetting.’
‘You’re doing great.’
Nina breathed deeply as the horse came closer, and the moment she lowered her head to eat, Nina reached out her hand and patted the matted coat.
The horse paused at the contact, but before she could snatch her hand back, Maverick said, ‘Don’t stop.’
And she didn’t. Nina kept moving, gliding her hand firmly down the horse’s neck while she ate. At one point she looked up and saw that Markus was watching. He gave her a thumbs up.
Maverick leaned one shoulder against the wall of the stall, watching the situation closely.
Nina felt his gaze, heavy on her skin. ‘Is this covered by that liability form I signed?’
He laughed, and the sound was lovely. Deep and rolling. The lines around his eyes and mouth deepened. ‘Yes. Though a fancy lawyer could make a solid case for reckless endangerment if anything were to happen.’
Nina smiled. And it was genuine this time. She felt it move upwards from her heart, which was momentarily at peace after a week of turmoil. ‘Worth it,’ she whispered.
They made a pretty picture, the tiny, dark-haired woman and the small, palomino horse with her white-blonde mane and tail, and Mav had to wonder if it was their contrasting colouring or because their eyes carried that same quiet devastation.
He heard her whispered ‘Worth it’ and though he didn’t say anything, he couldn’t help but internally agree with her.
He had seen her face the moment she had made contact, seen the relief and wonder and joy. Just as he saw the sadness creep in again now, when she looked down at the horse’s neck and saw the gouges that had been stripped from her.
Nina blinked rapidly and angled her face away, but not before Mav saw the glistening tears in her big, dark eyes.
As the father of a five-year-old, he was used to tears of all kinds, but these … These ones felt too personal. And he didn’t know what to say, other than, ‘She’s going to be fine.’ And even he didn’t know which he was talking about: the horse or the woman.
Nina nodded, but she didn’t reply. Only kept her face angled away from him as she continued to stroke the horse.
‘She needs a name,’ he said, trying to give her something else to hold on to. ‘You’re the first guest to make contact with her, so it seems only fair you choose it.’
She looked down at the horse’s neck. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah. Think on it. Let me know, and we’ll have her tags made for her halter and her stall door.’
‘I don’t need to think on it.’
