“Okay,” I whispered.
Leo raised his arm and passed it over me, putting his chest against my back. I held my breath before I fainted with the sweetness of his scent. He handed me the rope and the whip, but held my wrist.
“This is how you do it.” He pulled my arm back, causing the rope to pull on Argus. The horse didn’t come. I was about to open my mouth and say a lot of curses when Leo’s hands rested on my shoulders. “Relax,” Leo whispered in my ear. His breath washed over my neck, and I shivered. His hands moved slightly, massaging my tense muscles, and I sagged against him. “You’re too uptight and worried. He can sense it and becomes uptight and worried too.” He pressed on a sweet spot under my shoulder blades, and I almost moaned. “Just … relax.”
If I relaxed more than this, I would be doing things I wasn’t even supposed to be thinking. Half-thinking, half-dreaming, I tilted my head back. His chin touched my cheek. I heard Leo’s sharp inhale and felt his hand freezing, his body stiffening.
“Merda.” He took several steps back.
The heat of embarrassment flooded my cheeks, and I stared at the ground, mortified. Crap, what had I done?
I thought about throwing the rope and whip to the ground, running, and hiding in my house, but I wasn’t a child. Whatever. I felt like one right now.
“Relax, Hannah,” Leo said from behind me, though this time he wasn’t close. And what happened to morena? “Relax and do as I showed you.”
Shaking my shoulders, I took a deep breath and focused on the here and now. My eyes found Argus’s. “Hey, boy. Everything is all right. We’re just playing, okay?”
Argus didn’t snort or neigh, so I took that as a good sign and pulled on the rope.
“Too gentle,” Leo said. He sounded a little disappointed. Because I had been gentle to the rope? “Pull a little harder. He’s a big horse. You won’t hurt him, don’t worry.”
I didn’t like it, but I trusted Leo, so I did as I was told. I yanked the rope harder. The bridle tugged and Argus’s head jerked with it. One second later, he took a step in the right direction.
“Good job,” Leo said.
I smiled.
Copying Leo, I pulled Argus twice to the right and once to the left, twice to the right and once to the left. The horse followed my commands without blinking.
“Don’t forget to let the rope loose right after the tug,” Leo said. “The horse has to know, to feel, that you trust him as much as he trusts you.”
I nodded and tried to remember that detail.
We kept going. After a couple of minutes, I pulled Argus to the left, but he stepped to the right instead.
“The other side, boy,” I said, tugging him to the left again. He took another step to the right, which made him closer to me since he stepped in a diagonal path. “Argus, what is it?” I pulled the rope to the left, and he once more went to the right. Then I realized he was within my arm's reach. My heart sped up. My fingers itched. “Argus?”
“Morena,” Leo whispered from somewhere along the fence. “Be careful.”
How could I resist this? It was like Argus was asking me to touch him. Me! To touch him. He hadn’t let anyone touch him willingly. I extended my arm and—
A honk blared through the air, followed by the sound of tires crushing gravel. Argus neighed and reared. I jumped back as Leo wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me back. We both hit the fence hard. Neighing, Argus trotted to the opposite side of the round pen.
“Are you okay?” Leo asked, setting me straight before him.
“Yes, I think so.” I turned to the fence and looked through the wood railing to the car entering the property. “What the hell?”
Leo pushed away from the fence. “What?”
Mr. Nash stepped out of the silver Ford Escalade. He straightened out his suit and smiled at me.
Ever since watching the Disney version of The Princess and the Frog, I thought Mr. Nash could be an exact copy of Eli “Big Daddy” LaBouff. Tall, with a large belly, brownish hair and mustache, and always wearing fancy suits. However, while Big Daddy was a nice man, Mr. Nash was a pain in my ass.
I groaned and marched out of the round pen.
“Hannah, who is that man?” Leo asked.
“My irritation in person,” I mumbled.
Mr. Nash stepped on the grass and didn’t look too happy about it. I walked in his direction. My eye caught movement to my left, and I saw Jimmy coming from the other stable. He probably saw Mr. Nash arriving and wanted to be here to stop me from jumping down his throat.
“Miss Taylor, lovely morning, isn’t it?” He made a point of looking up to the sky, his hand over the jacket of his suit.
I halted a few yards from him. “What are you doing here?”
He turned his conniving brown eyes to me. “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners, girl? It isn’t nice to be rude to visitors.”
“You’re not welcome here, thus you’re not a visitor.”
His gaze shifted past me. He was probably checking Jimmy and Leo out. “Is Mr. Bennett here?”
“Why do you want to know about Eric?”
“I want to talk business with him.” An evil smile spread through his entire face. “I want to ask him to show me around the ranch.”
“What?” I clenched my fists.
He looked around. “This place looks miserable, Miss Taylor, even more than when your grandmother was alive.” He tsked. What did he just say? “I know you’re in college and your father wants you to work with him. You don’t have time to care for this place.”
“Don’t─”
“Name a price. I’ll pay it and you’ll be free of this burden.”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I was about to explode. Until Leo’s hand rested on my arm.
“Take a deep breath,” Leo whispered. “That’s exactly what he wants. To upset you. Don’t let him.”
I almost rolled my eyes. “It isn’t that easy.”
Mr. Nash didn’t miss a beat, and his curious gaze took everything in. From the guy he didn’t know to the fact he was holding me. I could bet the conclusions his mind drew weren’t pretty.
Jimmy stood by my side. “Mr. Nash, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Mr. Nash didn’t move for several seconds. He only looked at us, the three of us, as if calculating his next move, thinking of his next words.
He ran his hand over the front of his jacket. “All right.” He settled his eyes on me. “If you change your mind, Miss Taylor, you know where to find me.”
On instinct, I took a step forward, as if my figure could scare Big Daddy away. Leo held me back though.
The three of us stood in silence, watching Mr. Nash as he drove away.
Once his truck was out of sight, I exhaled loudly.
“Are you okay, Miss Taylor?” Jimmy asked.
I laughed—it sounded almost hysterical. “Not really.”
“Mr. Fernandes is right,” Jimmy continued. “Mr. Nash wants to upset you. To annoy you. And you’re letting him.”
“I don’t want to feel this way,” I said, my voice louder than usual. Harsher. “But just the thought of him drives me nuts. I hate him. I truly hate him.”
Leo turned me around to face him. “Take a deep breath.” I scoffed. “Come on, Hannah. You’re looking as stubborn as Argus now.”
Argus. Horses always calmed me down. Hercules always had. Maybe working on Argus would help me.
I brushed Leo and Jimmy aside, and walked to the round pen.
Inside, Argus was more agitated than before.
“Hannah, don’t go in there,” Leo said.
Shaking my head, I entered the round pen. Argus stopped moving immediately. That made me feel a tiny bit better. It showed me he was responding to me.
I closed my eyes and let his presence charge my senses. I loved this place. I would never sell it. I loved horses, even if I didn’t ride them anymore. I love seeing people riding horses, making connections with them, mak
ing friends. I love being here, in the outdoors, under the sun, with my boots and hat, sometimes even barefoot so I could feel the grass tickling my skin. Those things. I had to focus on those things and forget about how mad Mr. Nash made me feel.
Mr. Nash. Ugh.
I opened my eyes. My anger and frustration weren’t gone, but I felt more in control.
“Morena,” Leo called me. I looked at him over my shoulder. He was inside the round pen, but close to the fence, while Jimmy stood outside. “Let’s take a break.”
“I’m fine.”
“Miss Taylor, please take a break,” Jimmy requested.
If I gave in and went on a break, I would explode. I would remember all the reasons I hated Mr. Nash, all of his unwanted visits, all of his words and the meaning between the lines; I would feel the anger and frustration again, and I would explode.
I didn’t want to spend the rest of my day in a bad mood. No. I could get around this. I really could. I had to focus on the things I liked about this place, why I loved it so much, and I would be okay.
I turned on a big smile. “I’m fine. Really.” Argus stopped moving from side to side like a crazy horse the moment I picked the whip up from the ground. “It’s okay, boy.” I opened my arms to my sides as Leo had done before. “We’ll keep doing the previous exercise, okay?” Argus snorted and took one step back. “Come on, boy. You want to get back to it, don’t you? We want you to get better too, but you gotta help us.”
I dared moving in his direction. I expected him to go the opposite direction, but he didn’t. So I dared going closer. Again he didn’t move. With my eyes on his, I slowly leaned forward and grabbed the rope tied to his reins.
There, I did it.
A loud sigh escaped through my lips. “All right, boy, you know what to do, don’t you?”
I pulled the rope to the right, but Argus didn’t go with it. I tugged it again, a little harder, and he still didn’t budge. I tried pulling the rope to the left. Nothing.
“I think he’s still feeling your distress,” Leo said.
“I’m better now.”
“I know. I can see it. But you’re not totally relaxed either, and he can feel that.”
How the hell could he feel it? I was in control of my emotions, and my distraught was totally locked up deep inside me right now. Argus couldn’t possibly feel it.
My cell phone shimmied and Argus snorted, jerking his head against the rope.
“Crap,” I muttered. I let go of the whip and reached for my phone before it dinged again.
It was a message from Eric.
Mr. Nash called me saying you shooed him from the ranch, threatening to pull your grandmother’s rifle on him. Want to tell me what the hell that was that about?
“What?” I shrieked, my rage erupting from every one of my pores. “That jackass, son of a bitch, asshat—”
“Hannah!” Leo yelled.
I glanced at him and he was running toward me, his eyes over my head. Like I was in a slow motion movie, I turned to Argus and saw him kicking his hind legs high. Then he came at me. I raised my left hand as if it could stop a thousand-pound animal. I screamed as his teeth closed around my hand. Then the movie fast forwarded. My flower fell from my hair and Argus stomped on it. Leo took the whip and used it to force Argus back, while his arms went around my waist, and he hauled me back to the fence.
In shock, I barely saw as Leo dragged me out of the round pen, sat me on the grass, and he and Jimmy knelt in front of me.
“She was lucky. He could have bitten her whole hand off.”
“Sim, but she’s going to need stitches anyway.”
Stitches? I looked down at my left hand. A red crescent moon stained my fair skin, right between my little finger and my wrist. Blood oozed from it.
That was when the pain started. Tears sprung to my eyes, from pain and frustration, and I suppressed a scream.
Leo took off his black shirt—he had a black tee under it. Wasn’t he hot in this weather?—and pressed it against my wound. With his other hand, he cupped my face and brought my eyes to his. It was harder to fight the tears this way.
“Hannah, I know it’s hurting, but hang in there. I’m gonna take you to the hospital now, okay?”
“Hospital? No.” I tried scooting away, but he slid his hands down to my shoulders and held me there. “There’s a first aid kit in the tack room. We can use that.”
“No, Hannah. Some of his teeth really tore through your flesh. You need stitches.”
Jimmy’s hand touched my arm. “Listen to him, Miss Taylor.”
But … what if someone I know saw me there with Leo? What would stop them from telling Eric? I knew Eric would be upset that Argus bit me. Add Leo’s presence to that, and I didn’t know if I could handle it.
“I would prefer not,” I whispered.
“It’s not open to discussion,” Leo said, his eyes hard. “You need to go to the hospital. Right now.”
I knew he was right. I knew it. Damn it. A tear rolled down my face and I nodded.
Jimmy and Leo helped me up, and my gaze went straight to the round pen, more specifically to Argus inside the round pen. I thought I saw him leaning against the fence, his whole body trembling.
“What about him?” I asked.
Leo followed my gaze. “Leave him alone for now. We can take care of him later.” Leo put his arm around my waist and helped me walk to his SUV. “Come on.”
I looked up at him. “I’m sorry about the flower.”
“Don’t worry.” He squeezed my side. “I can get you another one.”
***
I pressed Leo’s shirt around the bite, hoping it would diminish the throbbing pain. A nurse had taken us to a small partition within the ER, separated from other beds by blue curtains, and then disappeared, saying she would be back soon. Leo stood along the wall beside the bed, and I was seated on the edge of the bed, avoiding his gaze at all costs.
The pain escalated considerably on the way to the hospital, as did my shame. Leo and I barely talked since leaving the ranch, other than his questions if I was still okay.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Leo approached me. “Actually, I’m sorry.” I raised my eyes to his. “I knew you were angry or frustrated or whatever, and I didn’t stop you from going to Argus. I should have stopped you.”
“It isn’t your fault. I would have pushed you away and continued being stubborn about it.”
Leo’s lips twisted in a small smile. “I know. But I would have done my part.”
I reached to him and took his hand in mine. “It’s just a small bite. I’m okay.”
Suddenly stiff, Leo stared at our hands together for a moment. Then he cleared his throat and gave a step back, letting go of my hold. “It’s not a small bite. He could have bitten your hand off. He is strong enough for that.”
I didn’t let the fact that he purposely distanced himself affect me.
“I know.” I sighed. “Poor Argus. I hope he isn’t more traumatized by this.”
“I don’t think so. He was going through the motions. You know, another thing Buck Brannaman said is that the horse is a mirror to your soul. Your anger got the best of you, and it snuck into Argus.”
“I’m so stupid,” I muttered, looking down at my hand.
The nurse came in and asked me to follow her for an X-ray. They wanted to make sure Argus hadn’t broken any of my bones. Fifteen minutes later, I was back in the small partition.
I felt bad about being in a hospital and not telling anyone. I felt like I should tell my parents and Eric, even if this was a small thing.
Playing with his black ring, Leo sat on the other side of the bed. “Are you going to tell me what happened there with that man?”
I shrugged. “If you don’t mind my anger coming back.”
A new shine took over his eyes. “I won’t bite you for that.” My breath hitched and he became serious again. “Sorry. Bad joke.”
Oh no. I wasn’t breathl
ess because I thought it was a bad joke. No. And I certainly wouldn’t think of the real reason I was breathless, because it would only make everything worse.
I focused on his question. “Mr. Nash owns the ranches around mine. To the northeast, it actually borders yours b—”
“Really?”
“Yes, but only for a quarter of a mile or so. The rest is Mr. Nash’s, and he has been on a mission to buy the ranch since I was, I don’t know, fourteen years old? That’s when I first remember him bothering my grandma. And did he bother her. He was a prick. Well, he is a prick. He would go to the ranch once a week to try to convince her to sell it to him. But she didn’t budge. The day she died, he came to the ranch earlier. He was there that afternoon and he threatened her. He seriously threatened her. He almost came at her, and I thought he was going to hit her. He seemed possessed that day, I don’t know. He told her he would have the ranch one way or another. My grandma was shaking with so much anger. At some point, Jimmy was able to convince him to leave, but not before telling Mr. Nash we would call the police. Then, that night, the stable was set on fire.”
Leo frowned. “You think it was him.”
“Does it matter? The police said they investigated him, but Mr. Nash has a good alibi and everyone knows him around here. Everyone thought I was crazy for even suggesting it.” I shook my head. The anger was gone, replaced by exhaustion and a powerful feeling of uselessness. “He came to me during her funeral. He wanted to make me an offer on the ranch. Can you believe that? He was so rude. His words are always perfectly thought out to hurt in the place he wants them to.”
Leo’s jaw ticked. “What a jerk. I wish I had known this. I would have punched him square in the face.”
A tiny smile reached my lips. “That would have been nice. In theory. His lawyers would come at you like sharks in less than a minute.”
Leo opened his mouth to say something, but the nurse came back. She told us one of my bones—metacarpus—had been nicked and, after stitching the cuts, I would need to wear a splint for a few weeks. Great.
The nurse gave me some pills for pain and a tetanus shot. “These pain meds are strong. You might feel sleepy soon.” She finished the stitches and helped me put on the splint. “Don’t grab anything with this hand, and don’t support any weight on this arm.”
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