Page 19 of Taking What Was His

He stood off to the side as she quickly pulled on some dirty rubber boots. His attention jerked to the trailer when he heard a hard thump inside of it.

“Guys, stand back,” she told the crew and then looked at him. “You should be fine there. Move if he starts coming your way.”

He nodded. He watched her open one side of the trailer and disappear inside. He tried to listen to everything she said to the horse, but he figured it was her tone that settled the thing down.

“Hey, buddy. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you,” she crooned. “Did that mean old vet clip your hooves? I know you don’t like that. How about we get you into your stall and get you some sweet feed. Would you like that?”

Roman looked sideways at a younger guy standing beside him.

“Watch her. She’s amazing.”

The other side of the trailer opened, and he saw the hind end of the horse start backing up. She talked to him the whole time, keeping his attention on her.

Roman swallowed as the whole horse emerged. The thing was huge, and Beth was the only one holding onto the rope. The horse immediately started side-stepping and bucked a few times, but she kept him moving into the barn.

He walked with the small group as they followed her and the horse at a distance. He couldn’t seem to take a full breath. His heart was pumping at a mad pace watching her control what had to be close to a thousand-pound animal with a bad attitude. He’d rather deal with a gang banger with a knife than a horse any day.

His fists clenched down at his side as she disappeared into one of the stalls. One of the people followed her with a bucket.

“Three of us tried to unload Diego, and he just got madder,” the guy told him.

“How does she do that? She’s smaller than all of you.”

The guy shrugged. “She’s just damn good with horses.”

Roman nodded and exhaled when Beth walked out of the stall with the other person. Beth talked to a few people and then changed her boots for her heels that one of the girls was holding.

She gave a few more orders and then walked to him. “Ready?”

He nodded and set his hand on her lower back again. He opened her car door and then went around to his own.

They had pulled out onto the road when she finally spoke up.

“Are you angry?”

“What?” he said, shocked. “No. Not at all. I’m just trying to figure out how the hell you did that. I was terrified when he started acting out, but you just laughed.”

She shrugged. “I’ve been around them my whole life.”

“It was pretty amazing. Scary, but amazing.”

She smiled his way. “Thank you.”

“Are we ready to eat, honey?” He glanced at her when they came to a stoplight.

“Yes. Thank you for being understanding.”

“I’d like to come out again and see what you do.”

“Any time. I actually have a competition here in three weeks.”

“I thought you said you didn’t do them anymore.”

“This one’s in the arena and very low key. Not too many hard jumps. It’s kind of like a practice competition to get the horses and riders used to having a lot of sounds and people around. As far as hurting myself, if I fell, the ground is covered in sand, so it’s a softer fall.”

“Do you fall a lot?”

She grinned. “Never have yet.”