Weston:
Ha. No one is abstaining from sex over here. I do just fine. Trust me.
Ava:
Ew. Enough about you two, I’m only interested in Adds at the moment. HELLO, ADDISON. WHERE ARE YOU?
Ignoring all of you idiots.
Walker:
There’s our girl!
Weston:
Good for you. Happy to see that at least one of my siblings doesn’t feel the need to overshare.
Ava:
I’m going to ignore that comment, West. And, Adds, I’ll be coming by later to harass you for information.
Walker:
I am also ignoring that comment, big bro. Ava, let me know when you get here, and I’ll join you in said harassment.
Weston:
I’m sorry you have to deal with those two on your own, Adds. Godspeed.
It’s okay, I’ll just lock my door.
Thanksgiving was in a couple of days, and the James family would finally all be under one roof for the first time in what felt like a year. I couldn’t wait. After everything that had gone on with Dean, I needed the distraction. We were still texting occasionally, but I hadn’t really seen him since that night. That night was on repeat in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about it…or him. Leave it to me to feel this magnetic connection for the first time in my life with only the most emotionally unavailable man.Go figure.
Meanwhile, Harper, the queen of casual, had hooked up with the king of casual, and they seemed to be very much interested in being in a relationship together. It was like the universe was conspiring against me.
Feeling sorry for myself, I decided to take Dahlia out on a trail ride, since I had been working her pretty hard all week. She was coming along beautifully, and I had hopes of taking her to her first horse show soon.
After getting her tacked up, I hopped on and headed toward the hills at the back of Walker’s property. Something about being on a horse always cleared my head, and nothing else mattered. I took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh autumn air and enjoying the scenic views. I let Dahlia open up into a nice trot to stretch her legs for a bit, and she seemed to be enjoying the change of scenery as much as I was. We weaved our way around the property for about an hour before heading back.
As I made my way toward the barn, Walker popped out with a concerned look on his face, making my stomach drop.
“Adds, I think something is wrong with Cash. He seems restless. I watched him for a bit, and he kept looking back at his belly, and then he laid down several times. I noticed he hadn’t eaten his hay either.” Walker grabbed Dahlia’s reins as I jumped off and quickly rushed to Cash’s stall.
I looked into his stall, and sure enough, he was lying down again, but now he was trying to roll. He looked agitated. “Shit, I think he’s colicking,” I said over my shoulder to Walker, who was taking Dahlia’s saddle off for me.
“Should we call Dr. Adler?” Walker asked, concern lacing his tone.
“Yeah, just let me get Cash out of his stall and walking around first.” I grabbed his halter off the hook outside of his stall. I walked in and clucked for him to get up. Reluctantly, Cash pushed up onto his legs and let me slip the halter over his head. “All right, bud, let’s get you outside and walking around,” I cooed to him. When a horse showed early signs of colic, getting them up and walking could help alleviate the pain and get their gut moving. “Walk, can you hand me my phone?”
Walker grabbed my phone from where I left it on the crossties and handed it to me. “I’ll get Dahlia brushed off and put away while you deal with Cash.”
I thanked him as I walked Cash out of the barn. I quickly clicked on Dean’s number and waited as it rang.
Dean picked up after the second ring. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, is there any way you can get out to Walker’s placeASAP? Cash is colicking.” I tried to control the panic in my voice. A mild case of colic was one thing, but colic could quickly turn into a much more severe problem that could require surgery and could even cause death. The quicker a vet saw Cash, the better.
“I’ll be right there.” Dean ended the call, and I immediately felt a sense of relief that he was on the way.
