Page 74

“Got it.”

Reid’s comments consumed me as I drove back to Baker, the hot air swirling about the cab and doing little to ease my rising anger at Victor. Though the past week had been quiet, there was a palpable tension in the air. Eva kept busy with Stormy and Phantom and all of Annie’s rescued creatures, but it was only a matter of time before Victor made another move.

A land development had the potential for a big payout. Desperate men could do terrible things.

I’d dug into more of the loan details and the local bank to ensure they were free of external influences. A lifetime watching my father’s business dealings had left me with enough of a sense to know whether Eva was dealing with an honest broker or not. From what I’d found out, at least the terms and bank were clean. Bill had taken a second mortgage, which meant the farm was truly underwater, but Merrick’s associates didn’t seem to influence the bank in any further way.

As for whether Eva could get some of her veterans’ benefits to get better terms, she was right about the paperwork only running into brick walls. There weren’t enough former nurses trying to save their family’s horse ranch to provide any precedence.

I arrived back at the ranch to see Eva and Phantom walking around the driveway, the trailer connected to her truck and the back door open. Phantom’s neck was arched but his focus was on Eva. He listened to her, watched her for cues.

Over the past week, despite his eating in the trailer and living with it in his pen, Phantom had yet to willingly walk into the trailer whenever it was attached to a vehicle. He seemed to know the difference.

Eva’s shoulders slumped as I approached. She greeted me with a tired, defeated smile.

“Going that well, huh?” I said.

“I’ve never met such a stubborn horse.” She huffed. “We’re running out of time.”

The show in Redmond was tomorrow. We needed to leave in the morning.

Annie, who was always skipping from one side of the property to the other with her long stream of animals at her side, wandered up and waved to me. “Morning, Mr. Hayes.”

Patches walked up to Eva and started nibbling on the lead rope in her hands. Eva sighed and shook her head at the goat. “You have any bright ideas, Patches?”

Annie giggled.

I held back from reassuring her that it would be fine if we skipped the show—that all I really cared about was Phantom’s well-being and her safety. I knew it would only drive Eva harder to prove me wrong.

Then something seemed to click in Eva’s expression. She stared at the goat and looked at the trailer as if seeing it anew.

“Annie, would you fetch a halter and lead for Patches? There are a few goat-sized ones in the tack room.”

Annie nodded and jogged off, always happy to be assigned a task.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I’m not sure if it will work.” She stared at the trailer as Patches moved from chewing on the lead rope to biting at the hem of her shirt.

Annie reappeared with a halter and Eva placed it over the goat’s face, careful of his floppy ears. She wordlessly handed Phantom’s lead rope to me and then took Patches toward the trailer. She loaded the baying animal and then came back for Phantom.

She gave me a hesitant smile. “Some horses like to travel with a buddy.”

I took Annie’s shoulders and guided her to the edge of the driveway to give the horse and trainer some space.

Phantom stared at the trailer, hearing the continual calling from the goat.

I held my breath as Eva walked him straight toward the open door. His ears pointed forward. He seemed intrigued to see Patches in the trailer.

Eva walked with long, confident strides and no hesitation. Unlike every other attempt where Phantom had skidded to a stop, he clomped straight into the metal box and nickered a greeting to the goat.

Eva tied off his lead rope inside the trailer, walked out, and closed the door behind the horse. She locked the door and beamed with her eyebrows lifted in surprise.

Annie and I clapped, which startled a few of the animals at the girl’s side. The chicken darted away, squawking.

Eva walked over to us and crossed her arms. “We’ll give him a few minutes in there and unload, then try again this evening.”

“Bill would be proud,” I said, enjoying the flush that crept up her cheeks at my compliment.