“Her appetite has been on and off,” I say. “But the last few days it’s been a real struggle to get her to eat anything.”
“Why did she stop eating?” He turns around and looks at her.
My heart sinks just a bit. “I’m not sure, but I feel like it’s my fault.” I blurt out the confession without thinking.
“I doubt that’s true,” he says without missing a beat. “Why do you think that?”
I slow and cast my eyes down. “I should be there for her, spend time with her. But I haven’t, and I don’t.”
“That’s not your fault,” he says softly, taking my hand in his.
My shoulders sag. “I should sit with her, let her know I’m there and I believe in her. But it’s been so hard.” I sigh. I’ve said things are hard so often it’s starting to feel like an excuse, even though they are. If I don’t think it was a good reason, then other people certainly don’t. “Without Mom…” I turn to him. “Sorry. I guess it’s my turn to be the buzzkill now.”
He flashes me a smile, but his eyes hold sadness. “Don’t apologize for being human, Haley. You amaze me. Knowing what you went through and seeing you still have it in you to continue…I think a lot of people would turn their back on it. But you didn’t, and I can’t see you doing that. Ever.”
His arms wrap around me as he pulls me in. I rest my head on his chest and listen to his heart beating. “You have more faith in me than I do,” I say softly.
“You said everyone needs someone to fight for them, to believe in them. Let me fight for you, Haley. I’ll believe in you even if you don’t.”
Oh, Aiden, please stop before it’s too late and my heart is shattered into a million tiny pieces beneath you. He cups my face and turns my head up. Our lips meet, and the same desperation goes through me again. I want him on me, in me, making me feel, making me happy. I grab his waist and pull him to me. He tips his head and pushes his tongue in my mouth. Everything fades and it’s just him.
He breaks away, resting his forehead against mine. “I don’t trust myself not to fuck you right here,” he says. “I have to stop now before I can’t.”
My heart skips a beat. I just nod, feeling the exact same thing. “Right, and we have to go. Are you sure you’re okay with going?”
“I am,” he says. “Honestly, I’m curious to see how this all works. Thinking of you going out on your own at night doesn’t sit well with me either. What kind of man lets their…their—what are you, Haley?”
“What do you mean?”
His eyes pierce mine. “You know what I mean. I know how I feel about you, but you’re harder to figure out.”
I look away. I know how I feel about him too, and I’m fighting it. I don’t want to say it out loud. Saying it would let the walls down, and I’m not ready to do that just yet. “I really like you,” I say. “I like being with you, I like kissing you, and I like…”
“Having sex with me?” he asks, sounding like his cocky self again.
I laugh. “It was quite enjoyable,” I say softly. “Good enough to do again.”
Now he laughs. “I agree.” I take a step toward the barn door. “Anyway,” he continues. “I don’t want you going out alone. It’s not safe. So, yeah. I’m okay with going.”
I can’t disagree there. “I’m glad. Because I want you with me, even though it’s selfish since you’re sick. I feel safe with you.”
“I’ll keep you safe,” he says as we walk out of the barn. The trailer is already loaded with supplies, and with Aiden’s help I get it hitched to the truck in only minutes. He coughs as he gets in the passenger seat. I program the address given to me in the GPS and take off.
We make small talk for a while. Aiden’s speech slows, and he rests his head against the window. I’ve only had pneumonia once, and it was awful. I reach across the center console and put my hand on his thigh.
“You’re pretty amazing for coming with me,” I say.
He rests his hand on top of mine. “I’m nowhere near as amazing as you are.” I laugh, and he gives me an incredulous look. “Why do you doubt yourself so much, Haley?”
I take my eyes off the road for a second to glance at him. “I…I…don’t know.”
“I meant what I said,” he tells me. “If you could see yourself the way others do, you’d know you’re pretty fucking amazing, especially after what happened.”
My jaw tightens. “Maybe. It’s…it’s been hard. Harder than I thought. I should be getting better, and I’m not. I told you, I’m broken.” He just slips his fingers through mine, turning away to cough. “So,” I start. “When we get back, I think I need to play nurse.”
He smiles. “Yeah, you do.”
My heart flutters, and like a switch is flipped, I feel a bit of happiness. He closes his eyes, dozing on and off until we get there.
I cut the engine and look through the darkness at the white barn across from us. Something sparks inside of me, a little bit of fear, adrenaline, and excitement. I’m back in my element, and for the first time since she passed, I feel like Mom is watching over me.
“Ready?” I ask Aiden.
He blinks a few times, looking tired. “Ready.”
My lips pull up in a smile, and I pocket the keys and get out of the truck, going to the small storage space in the horse trailer. We’re parked in the grassy driveway leading to the barn. There isn’t a house nearby, which is reassuring. We should be able to get in and out with no problems. I loop a halter and lead rope over my arm and send a text to Judy, Mom’s friend who tipped me off.
She responds right away. She’s in the barn, trying to untangle the barbed wire from around the horse’s legs. She tells me to bring my first aid kit. Aiden takes it and stays close as we go through the rain-rotted door. The barn reeks of ammonia. Aiden buries his head in his shoulder, coughing. Shit. This isn’t good for anyone to be breathing in. It’s even worse for him since he’s sick.
We walk around mounds of moldy hay, and the stench of rodent droppings and horse urine gets stronger and stronger. The rafters are too low to be safe to house a horse, and they are covered in thick, dusty cobwebs. The boards above us have buckled from being perpetually wet with rotting hay in the loft, and the whole thing seems like it’s one strong gust of wind away from blowing over.
Voices come from inside the barn. “Hello?” I call, not to startle her or the horse.
“She’s here, Mom,” Judy’s teenage daughter, Alexis, says. Aiden and I round a corner and go down a cement aisle. At one time, this barn must have been prestigious. I imagine it to have been a breeder barn for cattle. It’s huge, and it makes me sad to know it’s been let go like this. We could take in so many rescues in a place like this.
Not we—I. I could.
A bit of that passion I’ve lost comes back. If I’m able to get this horse back with me, my barn will be full until I can get Sundance a home. My mind flashes to the pole barn near the house that Mom wanted to buy.
I use the flashlight on my phone, breaking a few spiderwebs as we moved to the horse. Soft light spills from the last stall.
“Oh, Haley,” Judy says before I get all the way to her. She comes out of the stall, wiping a bloody hand on her jeans. She looks at me with tears in her eyes. I’ve only seen her a few times since the funeral. She was the biggest help when I was in the hospital and finishing school. I take a breath, centering myself. “Your momma would be so proud.” She pulls me into an embrace and tears fill my eyes. “So proud.”
She pats my back and lets go, eyeing Aiden. She gets a look on her face like she’s trying to figure out how she knows him. She shakes her head; it doesn’t matter. The horse matters. I go into the stall. No matter how much I see, it still stops my heart, still shocks me to see such a magnificent creature reduced to blood and bones, lying on a dirty stall floor.
“I already got pictures,” Judy tells me. The pictures are for evidence later on. “Someone did this to him.” Judy kneels down. Alexis is sitting on the ground, stroking the
horse’s face. I take a few seconds to assess. He’s a draft mix, probably sixteen hands high, and dapple gray, but he is so thin I can’t get a good guess on his breed. Large hooves curl up, not having been tended to in years. His tail is a matted mess filled with burs. I can smell the thrush on his hooves and the infection that set in the wounds along his body.
Barbed wire is tightly wound around his front legs, blood and pus oozing around the cuts. I clench my jaw and kneel down.
“Hey, buddy,” I say to the gelding. Tears are running down Alexis’s face.
“We can’t get him to stand,” she says, voice quivering. “And we can’t unwind the wire.”
I lean over and gently touch his front leg. He tenses. “It needs to be clipped out. He can’t bend his legs like this.” Fuck. Were we too late? I wasn’t sure if this big guy would ever be able to walk again. “Aiden,” I say. “There are wire cutters in the first aid kit.” Barbed wire and horses don’t mix. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen the horrors the sharp metal can do.
Alexis looks up, just now realizing that someone else is with me. Her jaw drops when she sees Aiden. After hearing me say his name, there is no mistaking who he is.
“Here you go,” Aiden says as he comes over to me and bends over. I take the wire cutters from him, my heart hammering in my chest.
“Thanks.” I think about how to do this. We have to get him out of here now before he gets even weaker and before someone sees us. “Aiden, can you hold the light? Alexis, hold his head and try to keep him calm. And Judy, hold him still as best you can?”
Everyone moves into position. Aiden shines the light on the gelding’s right leg. Skin has started to grow over the wire. My stomach churns for this big guy. How long has he suffered? I find an inch of wire and put my hand on his leg.
Alexis hums to him, stroking his face. I push the clippers against his skin, and he stiffens. I clip down and he struggles.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I say. “I know it hurts, but you’ll feel better soon. I promise.”
“We’ll take care of you,” Alexis says. I run my hands over his leg, pushing back the long, shaggy fur, and clip another section. Hurting and scared, the gelding tries to get up. His leg is still too tightly wound in wire to bend. He swipes it, clipping me in the knee. I wince but don’t stop trying.
Aiden puts his hand on my shoulder, holding the light closer. I have to clip the wire around his knee so he can bend his leg. Then maybe we can get him up and into the trailer.
When I touch him again, he panics and tries to stand. Unable to bend his leg, his hoof slides out from under him and he hefts back to the ground, groaning. I push Aiden back, worried he’s going to get hurt.
“Easy, big guy,” I say. “Almost done.” Blood stains my skin and an abscess pops, green pus spilling out, getting on my hands. Its pungent odor chokes me. “That must feel a little bit better, huh?” I ask, knowing an abscess feels like a giant painful zit. Well, one that is infected.
I make a few more clips, and finally he can bend his leg enough to stand. I set the clippers down. “Let’s get him up,” I say, handing Alexis the halter. She slips it around his head. He’s panting, lying there with that look in his eyes that says he understands, finally understands we are there to help him. It takes several minutes and lots of muscle to get the large gelding on his feet. He’s limping badly and can hardly support his weight. He outweighs me by a lot, even though he’s severely underweight, but I’ll help him stand until we both fall.
Alexis keeps stealing glances at Aiden but doesn’t say anything as we struggle out of the stall. She’s a smart girl. The gelding moves slowly, each step more and more painful than the last. He’s coated in mud and feces. I’m sure once I get him home and into the light we will find more injuries.
It takes fifteen minutes to get the gelding into the trailer, and it’s not because he refuses. With his injuries, he can hardly walk up the ramp. But he gets in, and I shut and lock the doors. We’re almost out of there when a car comes racing down the road, slamming on the brakes and sliding to a stop next to us. Oh, fuck.
“Mom,” Alexis says, voice shaking.
“It’s okay, honey,” Judy says as she pulls out her phone. We’ll call the police if we have to and cross our fingers we don’t get a dick of a cop who refuses to let us save this horse.
A stout man gets out of the Jeep. He’s bald with a long beard. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demands and storms over. “That’s my horse. You can’t take my horse! Get him the fuck out before I call the police. You’re stealing my horse!”
“Your horse,” I scoff, eyes narrowing in anger. “You’re killing your horse. We’re taking him. You obviously don’t care.”
“You can’t take him. He’s mine!”
I’ll never understand why neglectful owners insist on keeping the animals they’re killing. The hoarders, well, they have a mental condition and are unable to care for their animals. It’s still wrong, but in their minds, they try. People like this guy in front of me are just evil. They know what they are doing and don’t care.
“Give me my horse and get the fuck off my property,” he says. “Before I charge you with trespassing and stealing.”
People like this set fires to their barns to save themselves a fine. People like this killed my mother. I step forward. “Get the fuck out of my way. We’re taking the horse. And you’re getting charged with animal cruelty and neglect.”
Anger flashes on his face, and then he strikes out, hitting me. His fist collides with my face and I stumble back, hair covering my eyes. I don’t see him move, but suddenly Aiden is there in front of me.
He throws two punches of his own, hitting the guy square in the temple before shoving him to the ground. “Touch her again, and I’ll wrap you up in barbed wire and leave you in a stall,” he growls, and he kicks the guy in the ribs. The man lets out a grunt and curls into the fetal position.
I’m already getting the keys from my pocket. I take the first aid kit Aiden dropped and toss it into the bed of the truck. The guy pulls his phone from his pocket and Aiden kicks it out of his hands. He steps over the guy and throws open the door of his running car, cuts the ignition, and throws the keys down the gravel driveway. It only takes a second to realize he did that so we couldn’t be followed.
“Let’s go,” Aiden says. I’m still standing there, holding the keys and watching with wide eyes. My heart is thumping in my throat. I blink and race around the truck. My hands shake as I start the engine. I go as fast as I can away from the barn, my eyes flicking to the rearview mirror.
“He won’t catch up,” Aiden says. “Are you all right?” He twists in his seat. “He fucking hit you.”
I just nod, emotions surging through me. “And you…you…defended me and the horse. Thank you.”
He holds his hand out, looking at his knuckles. Then he hunches over, coughing. “Fuck,” he says as he leans back. “And you don’t have to thank me, Haley. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Ever. You’re so good, so kind. There aren’t enough people like you in the world. I want to protect you.”
Words escape me. Tears fill my eyes yet again, but not from being sad. “Aiden,” I say. My mouth opens, but I don’t know what else to say.
He rests against the seat and puts his hand on my lap. “Haley.”
I turn my head and smile at him. Then I see the headlights quickly approaching behind us.
Aiden
“There’s a shotgun in the back,” she blurts.
“What?” I say, still not used to Americans and their guns.
“Under the seat. It’s loaded. If we need it, it’s there.”
I nod and look in the side mirror. Whoever is coming up behind us is going fast. It can’t possibly be that wanker, but if it is, let him try to stop us. I’ll hit him again and knock him out cold this time. He deserves all that and more.
The car zooms up then passes us. I let out a breath of relief. “We’re good,” I say. The adrenaline s
tarts to wear off, and I’m feeling tired and sore. My chest hurts and a hot shower and a cup of tea sound good right now. I roll my neck and blink a few times, trying to stay awake and alert.
“What are you going to do with the horse?” I ask.
“Clean him up the best we can, give him something for pain, and a little bit of hay. The vet will be out tomorrow to examine him further.”
“I’ve never seen anything so horrible.”
“He’s not even the worst,” she says. “People are cruel. People are animals’ greatest enemies.”
“But people like you are their heroes.”
“I guess so,” she says softly, and I can tell this is emotional for her. I slide my hand onto her leg again. I close my eyes, seeing the torn flesh, the bloody fur, and the infected wounds. She was right. People are cruel.
My eyes flutter open and closed the rest of the way back to her house. I’m tired, and each breath hurts.
“Aiden,” she says softly when she parks the truck and trailer near her barn.
I inhale and turn to her. “Yeah?”
“Go upstairs and go to bed. I might be out here for a while.”
“I’ll help you.”
“Really, I won’t let you. You’ve done enough and you’re sick. I’m demanding that you sleep.” She smiles and opens the truck door. The dome lights turn on, and I can see a slight bruise on her cheek. I should have knocked that motherfucker out sooner.
“I won’t be able to sleep,” I say honestly. “I have really bad insomnia, so I’ll just lie awake for hours. I might as well help you.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. I’ve learned to deal with it.” I unbuckle. “How can I help?”
“Honestly, Aurelia needs some one-on-one time.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You’re just making me do that because it’s easy.”
“Maybe. But she really does.” She smiles and gets out of the truck. I meet her at the back of the horse trailer. She waits for Judy and Alexis to open the door and bring the horse inside. She gives Judy a look that says it all: they’re not sure what to expect when they open the trailer door.
Small town romance boxed set Page 83
