The retrieval work came next. Bending down was a dislocation risk, and every time Fallon would normally reach for something she’d dropped, Gimbal would be there first. The poodle picked up a phone, a set of keys, a water bottle, and returned each one to Fallon’s hand without hesitation.
Then came the alert behavior, Gimbal responding to subtle changes in Fallon’s posture and breathing that signaled a pain flare or joint instability before Fallon herself had registered it. For someone whose body lived with constant pain and could give way without warning, those few seconds of advance notice were the difference between catching herself and hitting the ground.
Lark wasn’t lecturing. She was matching Fallon’s energy, which was spare and direct, and Fallon was responding to it. The two of them moved through the ring together with Gimbal between them.
Gimbal locked in. The poodle shifted her weight toward Fallon, pressed her shoulder against Fallon’s leg, and matched her stride with a steadiness that said she had found her person and wasn’t letting go.
Fallon’s hand went to Gimbal’s head again, but different this time. Her fingers curled into the dog’s coat and stayed. Her face changed into something quieter and deeper than a smile, the kind of expression that only surfaced when you’d been carrying something heavy for a long time and suddenly felt part of the weight lift.
Beside me, Isaac went still. His hands stopped moving on the fence rail and his breathing changed, and when I glanced over, every bit of the charm and the confidence had fallen away. He was watching Fallon with her hand on that dog, and there was nothing left between his face and what he felt.
“Tell me about her,” I said.
He didn’t look away from the ring. “We were on a mission. Things went sideways. She almost died. I almost died trying to make sure she didn’t. But she’d been pushing her body way too hard even before that. She…suffers because of her hEDS.”
“How long ago was the mission?”
“Two months.” He shifted his weight off his bad side. “Everything about that woman is complicated, but damned if I’m not all the fuck in.”
I knew that feeling exactly.
“I’m not leaving Garnet Bend,” I said. “I’ll do some part-time work for Warrior Security if they’ll have me. But this is where I’m supposed to be. This is home.”
Isaac looked at me. “Reid would be glad to hear that.”
“Yeah.” I held his gaze. “He would.”
I pulled a splinter from the fence rail and turned it between my fingers. In the ring, Fallon was walking Gimbal throughfigure eights, the poodle adjusting her pace to match every change of direction, and Lark stood a few feet back, watching.
“How are things going beyond the personal?” Isaac asked. “The ranch. Pawsitive. All of it.”
I could have given him the easy version. I didn’t.
“Good, except Lark’s in financial trouble. A second mortgage on the property got bought out by an investment group, and they’ve called in the full balance. Acceleration clause. Thirty days.” I kept my eyes on the ring. “The number is more than anything she can put together in that window. Grants that should have come through this year didn’t.”
“Shit. That sucks. How bad?”
“Pretty fucking ugly. Bad enough that she’s calling her parents today to ask for a loan. They’re pretty big money in Upstate New York.”
“Upstate New York. Her parents.” Isaac’s head turned. “LarkMonroe.”
“Yep.”
He went quiet in a way that had nothing to do with the easy charm. “I know that name. My family runs in the same circles. Old money, old rules.”
“That’s them.”
“Does she have a good relationship with them?”
I let out a frustrated huff. “Not in any way, shape, or form. She left years ago and really hasn’t been in contact since. Sounds like they’re Grade A assholes. Her ex-husband too. Carter Hollis.”
“Yeah, I met him. Just a couple times, but it was enough to know I didn’t want to know him any better.” He shifted against the fence. “I think you’re calling that right, from what I know of them. Families like that don’t write checks without a leash attached to them.”
“I know. I sat with her last night while she worked through what she’d say. Asked her every shitty question or remark her mother is going to throw at her.” I gripped the fence rail. “But there aren’t any other options, so what can we do? She refuses to let this place go down. It’s helped too many people.”
Isaac was quiet for a long moment. He watched Fallon in the ring. Gimbal was pressed against Fallon’s leg, and Fallon had stopped walking. She was just standing there with her hand spread wide on the dog’s back, feeling the animal breathe. Lark stood nearby, not interrupting.
“How much?” Isaac said.
