I huffed in amusement. “Yeah, River told me about how you’re a heathen who would drink anything with caffeine in it if it was labeled as coffee.”
We chatted as I drove. With every piece of information I learned about Lake, I felt more…affected, I guess. Midway into the drive back, I started to feel mentally tired. Not in a way that would’ve kept me from driving, but I started to feel like I’d peopled enough today.
When there was a lull in our conversation, I turned the radio a bit louder. When I glanced at Lake, he smiled at me with clear understanding in his eyes.
The only thing we said during the rest of the drive was when he talked to the kittens at one point. Otherwise, we stayed silent and I enjoyed the way the ease of it made me relax and unwind.
* * * *
Of course, when we got back to Twin Star and I parked in the middle of the yard, Izzy started to bang around in the trailer.
“Where are we putting them?” Lake asked, just as Seb jogged towards us from the house.
“Hey, everything go okay?” he asked, and I saw Lake’s eyes widen at the sight of the man.
“This is Lake, and this is our vet Sebastian.”
They shook hands, and Lake cleared his throat. It was as if he’d gotten a bit star struck. Sierra had said once that Seb needed a YouTube channel or something with how fucking handsome he was. Apparently, there was a call for handsome veterinarians and they were like catnip for those who liked men.
“Hey, nice to meet you.” Sebastian beamed.
If I hadn’t known the guy for years, I would’ve been affected as well.
“Everything went fine.” I finally got back to business. “There’s a mare you need to examine ASAP, the donkey is probably mostly fine but you can check him, too. The one banging around in there is a recently gelded not so little shithead.” I grinned to let both Seb and Lake know I didn’t actually hate the horse.
Sebastian chuckled. “All right. Let’s get them out then.”
“The mare is first and she goes to the sick stall, just in case we need it.”
Sebastian nodded solemnly. We’d kitted out one of the stalls with a pulley system in case we needed to keep a horse on its feet, and there was more room in there than in a normal stall for people to move around. We’d added to it over time, making changes that made treating animals easier.
Sebastian led the mare out of the trailer, looking at her thoughtfully. I knew that expression, I’d seen it several times over the years.
I handed the donkey’s lead rope to Lake. “Don’t let him fool you, he’s tiny but strong and bouncy. Take him to the empty stall next to where Seb’s taking the mare.”
Lake started to lead the donkey away.
It was time to take Izzy out of the trailer. I was expecting more than I got, to be honest. As I got out of the way, expecting him to rush out of the trailer, he didn’t. Instead, he stood there, sniffing the air with his ears perked up. I had barely enough time for a preliminary wince when Izzy let out the loudest neigh mankind had ever heard.
The horses were still outside, and Izzy got a few more subdued responses. That seemed to comfort him, and he pranced out of the trailer and followed me toward the stable doors.
Izzy kept calling out occasionally, but mostly he seemed curious, even if a bit too perky and unpredictable in his movements. Luckily, I was used to horses with his temperament, so I could give him a bit of rope to prance around. I sensed if I’d tried to hold him on a tighter, shorter lead, he wouldn’t have appreciated it. Every moment handling a new horse felt like a learning experience, and I was fully concentrated on Izzy as I led him toward the stall I’d picked for him close to the twins. They’d be good company for a rowdy boy like him, being calm as they were. I also knew he was healthy and didn’t need quarantining with how long he’d been with Jules, so that wasn’t a worry, either.
Once I had Izzy inside, I went to the sick stall.
Seb was inside, watching the mare drink water.
“How is she?” I asked quietly.
“She’s not as skittish as I thought she’d be, but she doesn’t like to be touched much. She’s also incredibly submissive so I’m sure she’ll either be easy to treat or she’ll end up trying to get away. You know how these things go.”
I sighed. “Yeah. Do you want to give her some time to relax here before you figure out where to start?”
“Yeah, might be for the best. You know the feeding routine that she needs, and if you call Poppy, she’ll come take care of the hooves. Just getting this girl’s feet fixed will help a lot. She’s tired and malnourished, probably has some parasites, too. I’m gonna come over tomorrow to give her meds and draw blood, but unless anything surprising comes up in blood and stool tests, I think it’s mostly careful feeding that’ll make her better.” He patted the mare gently, then slipped out of the stall and closed the door.
“We have kittens, too. Wanna take a look?”
Sebastian’s eyes widened. He loved cats. “Yes, of course!”
