I almost argued with her that I lived on a ranch, where there was a ton of manual work to be done, and I didn’t have time for this, but decided it wouldn’t make a difference and shut my mouth.
When the doctor came in, he examined everything, handed me a prescription for pain meds, and told me to be back in about ten days to get the stitches out and take another X-ray to check if I needed more time with the splint or not.
When they let me go, I stood up, the world spun, and I sat down on the bed again.
“It’s the pain meds,” the doctor said. “They will make you groggy. You should go home and take a nice nap.”
Leo helped me up, holding tight around my waist. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” The doctor nodded. “Make sure your girlfriend gets plenty of rest and doesn’t move her hand for a couple of days.”
Leo’s face grew red. “No. She’s not … I mean ……” The doctor gave him a quizzical look. I wanted to help Leo explain, but I was too dizzy to form any coherent sentences. “Okay,” Leo said, sounding defeated. “I’ll make sure of it.”
He led me out of the hospital and to his SUV. I put on the seat belt and turned sideways so I could snuggle on the seat. Leo hopped behind the wheel, watching me.
“Thank you,” I said.
He watched me. “No problem.”
Moments later, he turned the engine on, put on a rock ballad on the stereo, and drove off. The last thing I remembered before drifting into sleep was how handsome he looked when worried about me.
Chapter Twelve
“Hannah,” someone called me. Heavy fog surrounded me, and I didn’t feel like escaping it. “Hannah.” Something touched my shoulder and shook me.
The fog dissipated and I opened my eyes. “Eric.” Panic rose in me. He was here. I looked around. In my room. How the hell was I in my room? “What are you doing here?”
He frowned. “I told I would come pick you up for dinner.”
I grabbed my cell phone from the nightstand. Crap, it was past six, which meant I had fallen asleep in Leo’s SUV, and he had brought me to my bed and left. So, Eric probably didn’t see him. The panic was replaced by something that resembled yearning.
Eric touched my arm. “What happened?”
“What?” I followed his gaze down my arm and saw the splint around my hand. I had already forgotten about that. “Oh … an accident here at the ranch. Nothing big.”
“Nothing big? You have a cast on.”
“It’s not a cast. It’s a splint.”
“Did you break something?”
“No. Just nicked a bone.”
Eric looked extremely worried. “Just nicked a bone? Hannah, tell me what happened.”
Shaking my head, I stood from the bed. “Don’t worry about it. You wanted to go out for dinner, right? Can I take a quick shower and change first?”
Eric stood in front of me. He ran his hands over my arms. “You shouldn’t use your arm, right? Maybe we should stay in. I’ll even cook. How about that?”
I nodded. “Sounds good.”
He stared at me with worried eyes. “Tell me what happened, baby. Please.”
My shoulders sagged. “I was training Argus when Mr. Nash arrived. We argued and he pissed me off. I should have taken a break, but I was so pissed that I decided to push through the training. Argus felt my mood and he ended up biting my hand.”
His eyes went wide. “He bit you?” I nodded. “But—”
“I’ve got about nineteen stitches under the splint.”
“WHAT?” He took my hand and stared at it as if it were the most precious thing he had ever seen. “You went to the hospital and didn’t call me?”
“Jimmy drove me there,” I lied. “I was in shock.”
“Of course you were. Oh my God, that horse could have bitten your hand off.”
“I know, but he didn’t. We’re fine now.”
“No, baby, you’re not fine. You won’t be until that horse is gone. Don’t you see? He’s dangerous. He bit you. Next time he’ll stomp over you.”
“Nonsense. He reacted that way because I was stressed. I’ll be more careful now and I won’t go near him when I’m not one hundred percent well.”
He cupped my cheek. “Baby, you’re not listening to me. Most of the time, mistreated horses can’t be saved, and I want you to consider that this might be the case.” He shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t believe that he bit you and you’re okay with it.”
“It’s not that I’m okay with it, but I know why it happened.” I stepped around him, to get away from his almost-convincing words. “We’ve been raised around horses, Eric. We know they are heavy, big, powerful animals, and that one tiny thing can lead to a kick or a stomp the wrong way and we’re done for. We have always known that. Argus bit me. He did what he was supposed to do. The horse is terrified of anything that moves, and I screamed in rage right in front of him. Of course he reacted. It’s not his fault.”
“Maybe it isn’t, but this horse is gone, baby. He’s too dangerous. I’m telling you. He bit you once. He’ll bite you a second time. I hope it’s not worse than the first one.”
I looked into Eric’s eyes, and the worry stamped on them made me shiver. “I’m fine, Eric. Don’t worry about it.”
“How can you say that, Hannah? I love you. Of course I worry about you.” He tsked. “This horse has to go. You need to call the officer who dropped him off here to come put him down.”
“You can’t be serious,” I whispered.
“Of course I am serious!”
I headed to the bathroom. “I’m not having this conversation with you.”
“Hannah, don’t walk out on me! We’re not done here!”
I entered the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I didn’t lock it, because I would probably have to swallow my pride and ask for his help during my shower. Ugh. I would probably have to ask for his help now, since I wouldn’t be able to get off my clothes without moving my arm.
Cursing, I sat down on the toilet’s lid.
Why was he so damn against the horse? I was the one to blame for Argus’s reaction. He bit me because I wasn’t careful.
It wouldn’t happen again. There was no reason to think about quitting and putting him down. I shuddered. Crap. I couldn’t even imagine Officer Michael coming in to take Argus away.
I sighed. “Eric.”
After three seconds, he opened the door and stuck his head in. “What?”
I pointed to the splint. “I need help.”
Without any words, he helped me.
***
While in the shower, my hand started hurting, so I took my pain meds, which made me groggy, and I barely made it through dinner. On Sunday, I slept until noon, when Eric woke me up to give me a quick goodbye kiss because he was leaving for Florida.
After he left, I reluctantly got up because my stomach was growling, ate something, and went back to bed. I woke up around midnight in pain, took more meds, and slept like a drunken teenager until Jimmy banged on my door Monday morning to check on me.
By then, I was feeling a little better and was able to switch to the slightly less drowsing pain pills.
It took me about forty minutes to get dressed instead of my usual three, and that counted combing my hair and putting it up in a ponytail, which I didn’t do since I couldn’t move my arm.
It was well after ten when I entered the stable.
“No, no, no.” Jimmy stepped out of the tack room. “Mr. Fernandes told me what the doctor and the nurse said. You have to rest and you need to keep that arm quiet as much as you can.”
“I can’t. You know me. I can’t stay quiet for too long, and I’ve been sleeping since Saturday afternoon. That’s way too much rest.”
“Miss Taylor, you—”
“I won’t do anything, Jimmy. I’ll just hang around here. Better than staying inside the house looking at the walls.”
He didn’t seem convinced. “If you say so.”
I did
n’t tell him the real reason I was out though. I wanted to see Argus. I hadn’t seen him since the incident and I wanted to make sure he wasn’t traumatized.
He was standing in the right corner, as usual.
“Argus,” I called, and to my surprised, he turned to me at once. “Hi, boy, how are you doing?”
He looked at me as if he had never seen me before. It was a little … scary.
Jimmy walked behind me. “Be careful, Miss Taylor. You should probably give him time.”
“I know.” I sighed. I probably needed time from him too. “You brought him back from the round pen that day?”
“No. Mr. Fernandes did. He brought you back from the hospital, left you in your bed, and went back to the round pen. He stayed there for at least an hour with Argus. Then he brought the horse in, helped me put some stuff away, and left.”
I blinked. What? Why? I mean, he had no obligation to help me with Argus and yet he looked like he wanted to. Maybe it was because of that horse his father had to put down when he was younger, but that wasn’t a big reason, was it?
I shook my head.
I felt like a child in the naughty corner for not being able to help Jimmy while he walked back and forth, picking this up, hanging that up, stashing this away, and cleaning that.
At 11:30 a.m., Paul brought his class back. Almost all of the students asked me what happened with my hand. I tried not lying, but I wasn’t comfortable telling them the truth. I was afraid people would assume Argus was dangerous, like Eric did, and advise me to give him back.
Soon, they all left, including Paul.
Jimmy turned to me. “I can help you with lunch, Miss Taylor. Heat up or cook something. It’s up to you.”
I smiled. “No, Jimmy, I’m fine. My right arm can handle grabbing a plate from the fridge and putting it in the microwave. Don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?”
I waved him off. “I am.”
With a disbelieving mien, Jimmy tipped his hat at me and left.
I waited for fifteen minutes to make sure Jimmy was truly gone and to check the arena. All gates were closed. I walked back into the stable and, being careful with my left hand, I closed the gate at the entrance.
I opened Argus’s stall and stepped aside. “I thought you might like to stretch your legs a little.” He didn’t move. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to try to train you. I just want you to exercise a little while I’m around, okay?”
He still didn’t move, so I walked out to the arena, hoping he would soon follow me like the other day.
It didn’t take long. I leaned against a fence and watched as he trotted around the arena, always keeping his distance from me.
But I wasn’t going to make it easy for him. My plan was to tire this horse, to make him run like he never did, until he fell to the ground and could only get up after drinking tons of water and eating at least an entire bucket of rations.
I marched to him. As I expected, he trotted away. Good.
I raced after him, realizing this would be an exercise for me too—one that I should not have been doing.
He halted at some point, but as I got nearer, he moved again.
I jogged to where he was, but he surprised me, trotting in a circle and coming from behind me, neighing loudly, kicking his hind legs into the air, his muscles trembling.
I didn’t think I was afraid of him. Maybe hesitant, careful. But not truly afraid.
As he came toward me, his nostrils flared and his eyes widened, shining with terror. He was scared and he wanted to do something to keep me away at that moment.
I began retreating to the fence, then stopped. What the hell was I doing? What the hell would my grandma do?
I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and stood there. I held my breath when I felt the air whooshing past me as his legs came down inches from my face. His hooves hit the ground right next to my feet. I fought an involuntary flinch, trying not to imagine what could have happened if he had been a tiny bit closer. Instead, I puffed my chest.
I won’t move. I won’t move.
Argus snorted and began circling me in a quick trot. He kept that up for a few minutes while I slowly breathed in and out to keep my nerves in check. Finally, he halted.
I opened my eyes and found him right there, a couple of feet away, watching me. There was a shine in his eyes, like a desperate feeling, a silent wish, a deep longing mixed with fear.
My heart squeezed. Poor pony. He had suffered so much, being so unloved. I couldn’t begin to understand that. And I didn’t care that he wasn’t a person. He still had feelings.
Without breaking his stare, I took a step forward. He didn’t retreat. Good. Now was his turn. I waited there for a long, long time, shaking a little with anticipation. Honestly, I doubted he would move, but I had to try. I had to begin somewhere. He had already let me get close. If he didn’t come to me today, that was okay. We could try this again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.
My heart skipped a beat when Argus did move. He took a tiny step in my direction. Then, my heart raced as he raised his muzzle, shortening the distance between us even more.
He’s going to touch me! He’s going to touch me!
The sound of a car approaching surprised us both. With renewed suspicion, Argus snorted, retreating a few steps, then he neighed and reared before trotting away.
My shoulders sagged. Shit! We were about to have a breakthrough. Now it was all gone, and I was sure it would take even longer to bridge the gap next time.
I whirled and squinted at the SUV coming to a stop in the parking lot.
“Are you okay?” Leo asked, climbing out of his vehicle and walking toward the arena. He was wearing a dark T-shirt and jeans—both fitted——and cowboy boots. His hair fell over his face, and once again, the realization that he was too handsome hit me, taking my breath away.
Clearing my throat, I approached the fence as he did. “Yes. Actually, I think we were making some kind of progress. Until you showed up.”
“Really? When I saw you both, I thought he was coming at you, to hurt you again.”
“Nope. He was coming to me, lowering his walls.”
He ran a hand over his head, pulling his hair back, just to have it flop back in place. “Merda. I’m sorry about that.”
I sighed. “I’ll try again tomorrow.” He leaned against the fence, and I leaned away. His eyes locked onto mine, and breathing become a hard thing to accomplish. “I thought you were in Florida.”
“My ride leaves for the airport in an hour.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
His brows drew together. The sunlight illuminated one side of his face, and shadows played with the other, making his jaw and his chin look even more angular. “I … I wanted to know how you’re doing. Shouldn’t you be resting?”
I averted my eyes, suddenly too conscious of his intense gaze. “I’m fine. Thanks, by the way, for the other day.”
“My pleasure.” He nodded his chin past me. “How is he doing?
“I just want him to eat. I brought him out to tire him. I hoped he would eat after exercising.” I peered over my shoulder. Argus was trotting across the arena. “Well, I gotta take him back inside before Jimmy comes back. Bye.”
I turned to leave but his voice stopped me. “Wait.” He jumped over the fence and caught up with me. “I can help.”
“You really don’t have too. I’m—”
“I want to.”
I opened my mouth to argue. Who was I kidding? I wanted him to help me, and with my hurt hand, it was actually good that someone helped me. Afraid of what would come through my lips if I decided to talk again, I just nodded.
We walked to the stable, side by side, without another word. The only sound was the crunch of the grass under our boots. A breeze blew, whipping my hair. I snapped my head to push my hair back and caught sight of his silhouette in the sun.
He was … perfect. Tall, powerful, strong with the right amoun
t of manly hunk, gentleman and boyish demeanor.
I sighed.
This wasn’t right. I had to send him away. Like right now.
“You—”
“I don’t see him anywhere,” Leo said.
I stopped and looked around the arena. “Argus!” Leo was right. He wasn’t out there. I entered the stable. “Argus, where are you, boy?”
Leo walked past me and glanced inside Argus’s stall. “Did you see him come in here?”
“Not really. I saw him coming in this direction, though.”
“Where could he be?” He dashed back to the gate, and I watched him.
What was his deal? Why did he care about Argus so much? Why did he come here so often? Oh, I was thrilled about it. About all of it. But I shouldn’t be. I was happy with Eric. Well, with non-freaking-out Eric, but I was sure that was something we could work on. We had been together for two years. Two happy years. That didn’t go away like that, right?
This situation was ridiculous and it had to stop.
Leo came back inside and checked the open stalls, gently calling for Argus. For a second, while watching the way his T-shirt stretched around his shoulders, the way his muscles popped whenever he moved even if just barely, I faltered.
Shaking my head, I walked up to him. “I really don’t understand. What are you doing?”
He turned to me with a funny are-you-blind expression. “Searching for Argus.”
“No, not that.” I took a deep breath, gathering courage. “You know what I mean. Why are you helping me? Why do you come here?”
A knot of his own appeared between his brows. “I told you. I had a horse put down and I want to avoid it happening to Argus if I can.”
“That’s not a strong enough reason. I mean, you can’t save every horse out there, why bother with this one?”
“You’re serious?”
“About?”
“You really don’t know why I come here.”
I shrugged, feeling heat spread over my cheeks. “I thought I did. I mean, I’m not stupid. A guy usually doesn’t just appear at a girl’s house for no reason.”
“Exactly.”
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