by Poppy Flynn
Besides, she had made a promise to Tono, and she liked to think that those were something she always kept.
Standing cautiously in the doorway of the stable, she wondered if Blaze was back in the foaling stall or if she’d been left in the small, quiet box that Ezra had led her to yesterday evening. Hanging her catch around the head of one of the taps at the sink near the entrance, she submerged the fish in water to keep them fresh and so that the unfamiliar smell didn’t upset the skittish mare. As Ellie walked down the wide aisle, she allowed the familiar, welcome scents of hay and horse to calm her and petted a few of the other mounts as she searched for Blaze.
She finally found the animal laying down in the small, specially fitted out box-stall that was used to calm the skittish horses. Not only that, but the artificial night-time and sense of privacy which horses favored for foaling had clearly encouraged Blaze to start the process, and it was clear she was in second stage labor. Ellie held her breath in wonder. It had been years since she had seen a foal birthed, but it was one of those special experiences that stayed with you. She could see one leg and knew it should be just minutes before the head and the other leg emerged, but as time ticked by, her chest tightened and that awful feeling when you began to suspect something was wrong, came over her. With no means of telling the time, she counted to sixty in her head. When she had done that five times over and there was still no progress, Ellie knew she wasn’t mistaken.
She ran back to the house as fast as she could, her mind reeling. Cody, Syrus and Ezra were all out in the far pastures and if there was a way to contact them, she didn’t know about it. She doubted, very much, that any of the sisters had practical horse experience, so she could only hope that Tono wasn’t too far away.
Cursing the fact that she didn’t have the convenience of a cell phone, Ellie rushed into the house and barged into the office to get to the landline, then realized she didn’t have the number. The business card Tono had given to her that first day was up in her room, but she noticed an address book on the neat desk; surely that would be quicker.
She searched under V for vet, without any luck. She was cursing under her breath and flipping through the pages to find T when Cora interrupted.
“What do you think you’re doing in here, Ellie? You know this is private!”
Ellie was oblivious to the accusation in the other woman’s voice, too busy concentrating on what she was doing.
“Blaze - the horse - it’s foaling, in trouble… need to call the vet…”
She found the number and punched it into the phone, ignoring Cora, who was still stood there looking disapproving, with her hands on her hips. Stupid woman just didn’t understand the emergency here, and Ellie didn’t have time to explain it all.
Thankfully, Tono picked up on the second ring.
“Tono, it’s Ellie,” she panted, trying to regain her equilibrium, and talk in a calm and rational manner now that she finally had him on the phone.
“Ellie?”
“It’s Blaze, she’s gone into labor and she’s in trouble,”
“Are you sure? How much do you know about foaling?”
“Enough, I was checking on her and saw the first leg, but then… just nothing. I had to leave her to come and use the house phone but…”
“Ellie! This is a private space,” Cora’s strident voice even carried through the wires.
“Be quiet, Cora. This is an emergency!” she snapped back in irritation.
“Okay, calm yourself down a moment.”
Tono’s reassuring voice made her realize she’d been babbling.
“I was on my way to a call in Yaak, so I’m not too far away. I’ll detour to the Triple C, but it will still take me a while. Where are the boys?”
“They’re all out in the far pasture, moving one of the herds. I can’t get hold of them.”
“Okay, explain to me exactly what you saw.”
Ellie took a couple of deep breaths and regulated her breathing while she recounted everything, and Tono estimated that he’d be with her in about thirty minutes.
“I need you to do something for me if you’re able.”
“Anything,” Ellie agreed immediately.
“First off, you need to get Blaze onto her feet, do you think you can manage that?”
“Umm… I can try.”
“Good girl. If we can get her up and moving, the foal might correct its position. It sounds like the retention of the head. Nothing that can’t still have a favorable outcome if we act quickly enough. I need her in the foaling stall anyway, so lead her there if it’s possible and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Yes… yes, I’ll try to do all that.”
With that she hung up, rushed past a scowling Cora without a second glance, and ran back to the stable to help Blaze.
It seemed like forever until Tono got there, and Ellie was sure she counted every single minute.
With some effort and trepidation, she managed to finally get Blaze up and walking. She was just settling the horse into the foaling stall when Tono pulled up in the yard. There had been few times in her life when she had been so relieved to see someone.
“Well done, Ellie. You’ve done a great job!” Tono was enthusiastic in his praise.
“I just hope I found her in time.”
“Believe me, you’ve probably saved this foal. Walking reduces the pressure and encourages the foal back into the uterus. If we’re lucky, that might be enough to correct things. If not, I might have to perform a caesarean, but it probably wouldn’t have survived without intervention and by the time Cody and the others get back tonight, it would have been much too late.”
“I’m just glad I could help. I almost didn’t check on her after last night.”
“What happened last night?”
“Um… oh, it was nothing, really…”
Tono glanced up sharply and Ellie looked away.
“Ellie?”
“It’s just… I got shut in with Blaze, during the storm. She freaked out a bit, and it kinda scared me.”
Tono frowned and eyed the foaling stall.
“This stall here?” Tono pressed the stiff latch. It took enough effort that it cemented Ellie’s belief that it hadn’t been an accident.
“Someone locked you in?”
“I…” Ellie sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone.”
Tono looked from her to the latch with pursed lips.
“How did you get out?”
“Cody and Ezra came to check on the horses, so they unlatched the stall. I didn’t want to shout in case it freaked Blaze out even more than she already was.”
Tono frowned fiercely. “You’re lucky you weren’t hurt. Blaze is skittish at the best of times, never mind in a storm.”
He patted her hand as he walked over to the sink to scrub up and eyed the bag she’d hung there. Ellie grabbed it out of the way.
“Sorry, let me move those.”
“You’ve been fishing?”
“Yes, I thought I’d try my hand at catching dinner.” She considered the contents, they needed to be dealt with. “Will you be okay if I get these cleaned and gutted or do you need more help?”
Tono flashed her a genuine smile. “You’re a girl of many talents, Ellie. I could certainly use another pair of hands, but there’s plenty of time for you to do the necessary with those while I examine Blaze properly and see where we’re at.”
“I won’t be long,” she promised. “I’ll just get them prepped and put them in the fridge for tomorrow.”
It was several hours later when they finally finished birthing the newest addition to the Triple C. Ellie thought she’d heard Cody, Syrus and Ezra return at one point, and was surprised that they hadn’t come in to check on Blaze, but she guessed they were tired, dirty and hungry.
When they were done, Tono rushed off, saying that he needed to get to the appointment he’d put off to come out to Blaze. She assured him she’d let the men know everythin
g that had happened so they could check on mother and baby throughout the night and the vet said that he’d call in again on his way back from Yaak to make sure there weren’t any aftereffects from the ordeal.
She trudged back to the house, tired but feeling happy and accomplished.
Sadly, it didn’t last long.
As soon as she walked in the door, a stony silence greeted her and six pairs of eyes turned and glared at her.
“What’s up?,” she asked, worried. “Did something happen?”
Cody looked at her with a face like granite, and a sliver of apprehension slithered down her spine.
“Cora was just explaining why there’s no dinner tonight, after we’ve been out working all day and desperately need a hot meal to come home to.”
“Okaaay.” Ellie had no idea what he was referring to, specifically, but she couldn’t blame him for being annoyed. She was too. She’d missed lunch with all the excitement over Blaze and she was hungry herself… and she was probably a lot more used to missing meals than these three men were.
“I’m not happy, Ellie. This kind of behavior really isn’t fair on any of us.”
“I beg your pardon?” Ellie queried, confused. She didn’t know what the heck he was talking about and said so. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Cora, reluctantly, I might add, has admitted that it was your turn to cook dinner, but you went off galivanting outside all day.”
Ellie just looked at him, stunned.
“I’m sorry?” she choked out in astonishment; her eyes wide with surprise.
“I’m afraid sorry isn’t good enough this time, Ellie.” He’d taken her words the wrong way, but she didn’t think it was deliberate. It was like he genuinely thought she was apologizing.
Gathering her scattered wits about her, Ellie attempted to defend herself.
“Look…” she didn’t get very far.
“Cora has also admitted that she found you snooping around in our private office.”
Anger boiled up in place of surprise as Ellie finally realized exactly what was going on. She was being set up to take the fall once again. But she wasn’t having it this time.
“Now wait just a darn minute, I…”
“Is that true, Ellie? Were you in the office?” Cody demanded, searing her with a dark look.
“Well yes, but…”
“And were you looking through our private things?”
“No, I mean yes, I mean just the address book, I needed…” She was flustered now.
“Our personal address book?”
“Look, I just had to…”
“So, you’re not denying it then,” Cody interrupted once more with a face like thunder. She looked to Syrus and Ezra for support, but the pair of them just looked away.
Cora was looking demurely at the floor, like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but Ellie didn’t miss the smug looks that the other two girls threw her way.
She realized that she was shaking with anger and had her teeth clenched hard enough to make her jaw ache.
She sucked in a breath and tried to scrape together her scattered thoughts so she could form a rational defense, but it was too late.
“Ellie, this is difficult, but it’s not like you aren’t aware there are too many of you. It was heading this way anyway, but all things considered, and with today’s behavior on top, we’ve agreed that it's you who needs to go.”
Ellie felt the blood rush out of her face like it was a physical thing. She clasped her hands together in front of her as tightly as she could to keep herself under control.
She clenched her jaw even tighter and blinked her eyes repeatedly in an attempt to hold back the tears. She felt her throat close up and stood motionless, willing herself not to fall to pieces.
Her neck felt hot and prickly and the sensation spread out until it encompassed her whole face and rushed right down to her fingertips.
Everything felt numb. Her mind couldn't even fathom what she was supposed to do if she couldn't stay here. But as long as he carried on speaking, she held herself aloof, refusing to let the six of them see her pain.
“We agreed a week or two, and the bus stops at Pipe Creek Road on Monday, so we’ll drop you off to meet it. I’ll make sure your expenses are covered.”
His words sounded as if they came from a distance and she barely took them in.
There was nothing fair about what was going on here and why should she expect there to be.
Cora, Carly, and Sheri had shown repeatedly that they manipulated every situation to suit themselves and always at Ellie’s expense. She’d just been too slow and too polite to react.
And the Carson brothers had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
She wanted to defend herself. Wanted to scream and shout and berate the lot of them. Wanted to hurl the truth back in their faces. But what was the point?
Every single time; every single situation - no matter what she did - they always got the better of her.
How could she say anything now, without it sounding like she was merely bitching and making up stories to get back at them?
Sometimes you just had to know when you were defeated and withdraw with your dignity intact.
That was the course of action Ellie chose right now.
She knew when she was beaten.
Chapter Nine
Ellie walked out of the room with her head held high, even though she was sure she could feel six pairs of eyes boring into her back as she retreated.
She made it to the attic before the tears overwhelmed her defences.
She brushed them away, angry at the weakness. They weren’t worth her tears. But they fell all the same.
Tears of anger and sadness; of betrayal and unfairness and despair. Tears for what she had found and now lost. Tears at having to leave this place where she thought she might have found a home. Tears at the thought of having to start again. Tears of self-pity and fear and heartache and, most surprisingly, tears at leaving behind the three men who made her heart beat faster and her mind conjure completely inappropriate scenarios which played out in her dreams.
Damn it, you would have thought this would have at least cured the stupid attraction she felt for all three of the brothers, but no. Instead her heart felt like it was breaking at the thought of leaving them. She wanted to hate them all, but the fascination and desire she felt towards each brother instead left her feeling like she was battling some kind of internal tug of war. Because deep in her heart she knew that they’d been duped and manipulated, just as surely as she’d been manipulated and set up.
They’d still believed it though, she thought bitterly to herself as she packed, in an effort to make herself feel better; feel less.
They’d overlooked the incident of her getting locked in a potentially dangerous situation, but gotten all bent out of shape about her being in their office for a legitimate purpose.
If she could generate enough anger and resentment towards them, maybe that would douse the desire she felt, or at least work towards numbing the pain she felt at leaving. It had barely been a week, damn it. That surely wasn’t enough time to become as hopelessly attached to them as she was feeling.
“It’s just because you have nowhere to go,” she told herself determinedly, hoping that saying the words out loud would strengthen her resolve.
“It’s not them you’re going to miss. It’s having a soft, warm bed at night, and three square meals a day.” But no matter how hard she tried, there was still a small corner of her mind calling her a liar.
Jeez! What was wrong with her! She’d allowed herself to become far too reliant on these men and this place. Now all she was going to get for her efforts was a boatload of hurt.
“Anyway, it’s not just them. I’m going to miss Tono too,” she told herself in an attempt to mitigate the Carson’s importance. Except the thought just brought her up short as the reality of that sentiment set in. She was going to miss Tono, he had quickly become her closest friend.
“Yeah, and how sad is it that your only friend is a vet you’ve helped a couple of times,” she muttered, darkly. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she immediately felt bad. That wasn’t fair to Tono. He was a good man, who had been prepared to accept and befriend a stranger at face value. It wasn’t right to belittle his friendship, and it truly meant more to her than that. He’d become like a father figure to her, she realized sadly. And he was yet another person who she was going to lose from her life.
Well, she’d learn from this whole fiasco, she decided stoically. She always tried to learn from whatever experiences life threw her way. She might not like them a lot, but she figured each and every one of them taught her something constructive. She might not appreciate it right now, but this would be a valuable lesson on how not to be taken advantage of in the future. Maybe at some point in her life she would also learn to accept the loneliness that seemed to be her constant companion and not to need anyone else in her life. It sure as heck would be easier than getting attached and then losing them all, and that was the only thing that ever seemed to happen. First her parents, when they had died, then her school friends when she’d had to move away from the ranch she had loved. Then Gran, who had drifted away from her piece by tiny piece during her illness before finally there was nothing left at all, taking the home she had grown to love with it. Maybe a life alone just drifting from place to place, never putting down roots, never relying on anyone but herself was the way to avoid this kind of loss, since loss seemed to be the only constant in her life.
Besides, it wasn’t like the Carson brothers were hers and it was surely a sin to be lusting after another woman’s man, “Isn’t that right Gran?” She addressed the ether with self-deprecating humor.
All the sisters had sure as hell set their sights on one of the men and had each dug their claws in. That was what all of this was about, after all. They’d staked their claims and were protecting their catch, and Cody, Syrus, and Ezra seemed happy enough to go along with that. She should take some comfort from knowing they were out of bounds. No way she would ever poach on someone else’s relationship. That was a hard NO to where her limits lay. Although those decisions hadn’t seemed all that firm - maybe even non-existent - during each of those precious pockets of time and intimacy she had shared with each of them. Then, it had felt like maybe the attraction she felt was reciprocated.
