Grayson looked ready to argue this point, but then he took a deep breath and gestured at a nearby muck cart. “Let’s get you started with some stalls then.”
I was at risk of strangling the next person who attempted to coddle me, so I threw myself into the task with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, enough so that Grayson and Kat let me be with a row of empty stalls needing my attention. It might have been fifteen years or so since I’d mucked a stall, but muscle memory took over.
Funny that. My brain had had to relearn walking, talking, and making basic facial expressions like smiling, but mucking came back with no effort at all. If only everything were as easy as shoveling shit. I moved from one stall to the next, lost in the rhythm of the task, muscles pleasantly warm from work.
I welcomed the burn. In addition to my TBI, I’d banged up both arms, several ribs, and my right leg, and it had been months since I’d had a workout beyond the grueling PT regimen. At least my hair had finally regrown from the multiple surgeries required to keep me alive. If I stayed on at the ranch, I was going to need a hat of some kind or possibly a bandanna to keep the sweat off my face.
As I paused to swipe at my forehead with the hem of my T-shirt, a tall, broad-shouldered guy came strolling up the aisle of stalls. Another cowboy. Black hat. Crisp, short-sleeve plaid shirt. Big belt buckle. Dark hair and beard.
“Hey there,” he greeted me as he approached. “You seen Kat?”
“Been an hour.” I probably wasn’t going to be more help than that, but the guy kept coming, shifting what looked like a large medic’s bag from one shoulder to the other so he could stick outa hand. I pulled my work glove off in order to give him a clean handshake.
“Carson, right?” He had an easy smile and eyes somewhere between hazel and brown. “You probably don’t remember me, but I’m?—”
“Jude.” I blinked, eyes going as wide as Jude’s at how my brain had supplied the right answer.
“That’s right. I was a couple of years ahead of you in school, so I wasn’t sure you’d remember.”
“I remember.” The older guy had graduated before I’d started high school, but Jude had visited my middle school with the 4-H and FFA clubs. He’d been big even back then, tall and broad-shouldered, one of those kids who looked twenty before he was sixteen. The easy way he’d handled the horses and smaller animals had made an impression on me. Despite living in town with zero pets, I’d joined up. My mama undoubtedly had yet to recover from the backyard chickens, but Jude’s pitch had indirectly led me to my first job and given me a reason to stay out of trouble in high school.
“Good.” Jude’s smile widened. “Colt said you’d been hired on as a hand. You’re gonna work mainly with the horses?”
“Yep.” If Jude was looking for a lot of small talk, he wasn’t going to get it here, but he didn’t seem in any hurry to seek out Kat.
“I’m the area large animal vet these days.” He gestured at his bag. Colt had also shared that bit of news at some point, and my brain had actually cooperated and stored the fact away. Made sense given how good Jude had been with animals when younger and how his dad had been a vet back then as well. “Would you wanna give me a hand with a mare while I wait for Kat to turn up?”
“Sure thing.” Mucking wasn’t exactly a time-sensitive task, and I was eager to be of service. I followed him away fromthe row of empty stalls toward a different row that had a few occupied stalls, including the one Jude stopped in front of.
“Cinder here is a rescue.” He pointed at the tall chestnut mare, who stamped her feet and shook her head from side to side as if she recognized Jude and was none too happy about his approach. “She’s skittish about shots and such. We’ve learned not to try for anything like a shot in her stall and to have a second pair of hands. Today, I need to check her over because she’s been eating less and seems moody. Not off her feed enough for a colic concern, but I’ll likely do a blood draw so I can run a few tests.”
“Okay.” Making a soothing noise, I patted Cinder on the head.
“You wanna bring her out to the ring?” Jude asked. “We might need more room than the aisle.”
“Can do.” I was pleased he’d given me the task of readying the horse. Jude was the first one all morning who seemed ready to assume I was competent. I grabbed a halter and a lead and slipped into the stall to get Cinder ready to walk to the ring.
Jude hung back, but he kept up a pleasant chatter about how Kat rescued Cinder as a potential horse for the ranch guests and how the horse was Adler’s favorite. He didn’t seem to expect much in the way of replies, which made his storytelling that much more enjoyable.
I led Cinder out, but as soon as she caught sight of Jude again, she balked, prancing from side to side.
“She’s not my biggest fan.” Jude chuckled as I coaxed the horse forward toward the open arena. “But she seems to like you.”
“Giddyup.” I gave a gentle tug to guide her toward the ring. In keeping with Jude’s plan to give her room, I stopped about a quarter of the way in, plenty of space on all sides.
Jude set his medical pack down and bent to retrieve a stethoscope. After approaching the horse slowly, he started by running his hands gently down Cinder’s flanks while I kept a hold of the lead.
“I’m doing a basic check for any injuries or abnormalities,” he explained. I did enjoy Jude’s tendency to narrate his actions rather than pepper me with small-talk questions. Besides, vet work was far more interesting than anything I might have to say. Cinder predictably took exception to his continued examination, especially when Jude moved onto her legs.
“Easy.” Making a soothing noise, I patted her neck. “Easy now.”
“Good. Keep distracting her like that.” Jude glanced up at me with approving eyes. “I know full well the army didn’t give you much time for horses, but all that prior horse sense comes back, doesn’t it?”
“Yep.”
“I served in the army too,” he shared as he checked each hoof carefully.
“I remember.” In addition to inspiring my involvement in the farm-themed clubs at school, Jude and others from the area who joined up had planted the seed that the military might be a path for me too.
