“Jack, can you look at me?”
His eyes turned slowly until we made eye contact. “Good, that’s good,” I said, mostly just to say something. We held the eye contact, and I could tell he felt helpless and even embarrassed.
“I don’t know if you can be touched right now, but I remember you said it goes away eventually, so I’m just gonna risk it, okay?” I stepped right in front of him and put my hand on his arm.
His muscles were like stone under my fingers. I could tell every muscle was tensed, just like he’d told me.
I was so close that with our height difference, it was hard for him to look at me without being able to move his head.
“You know what,” I whispered. “I’m just gonna hug you.” I slipped my arms around him, and felt Bucky come sit against Jack’s leg.
It was maybe a minute or so later when I felt him sort of come back on. His muscles trembled and twitched ever so slightly, and then his arms came around me.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
My head was against his chest, and I squeezed him tighter for a moment. “Anytime. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.”
The amount of regret in just one word almost bowled me over. I felt myself tearing up, so I let go of him and turned around.
“Okay, horses.” I marched into the stable and didn’t look back.
Theo glanced up from grabbing a lead off a hook next to a stall door and smiled widely.
“Hey, you decided to get a lesson?” he asked jokingly.
“Absolutely.” I smiled back and shook my head. “Nah, but look at me go.”
He reached for me, and when I went in for the hug, he held me tightly for a moment.
“I’m so proud of you,” he said quietly. “Truly.”
I felt both touched and awkward, which he likely knew, because he let me go pretty quickly.
“So, what’s Izzy doing?”Other than scaring the bejezus out of the love of my life.
“Being his usual rowdy self. He’s normally better behaved nowadays, but one of the mares is showing signs of going into heat and I think he’s reacting to that.”
“Isn’t it the wrong season?” I asked, thinking back to what I’d read.
“Yeah, but sometimes it happens when a malnourished mare gets better over time. Their hormones kickstart and here we are.” He gestured at Izzy who was shifting behind his door.
Jack caught up to us then. “What would you like for breakfast?” he asked Theo.
“Oh, whatever you’re making is good.” Theo was easygoing like that. He didn’t want anyone to make a fuss about him.
“What I’m hearing is chicken omelet,” I told Jack.
“You know what, I think that’s what I heard, too.” He saluted Theo, then looked at me. “Do you want to hang here or…?”
“No, I think I’m done for the day.” I smiled at Theo. “But I might come back tomorrow morning. Maybe you could show me how to help?”
“Absolutely. Whenever you’re ready,” he promised.
“Okay, let’s go start breakfast.” I followed Jack out of the stable and across the yard, and I realized I hadn’t felt panicky at all.
“Your desensitization therapy seems to be working,” he said when he opened the door for me.
