“I’m headed up there now, sir.” Ken went to put the foal out with her mother.
Bud took Justin’s hand and led him to where Dee had one of the gentler mares saddled and ready to take Justin for a ride.
Blake dismissed Ken’s interest in Gillian as nothing more than a novelty Ken couldn’t resist. Now that he knew who Gillian was, he’d drop any notion of going after her.
Blake turned to get Gillian, hoping he was right. He released his fisted hands. He needed to relax before he saw her. He had no doubt she’d read any kind of tension or anger in him immediately. The last thing he wanted to do was make her think she had to be on guard with him. Well, more than she already was.
Gillian stopped to see the horse. Boots, Blake and her grandfather called him. Easy to see why, when the black at his hooves rose up his legs and turned to brown, covering the rest of him. That is, where he still had hair. His coat was a mess. He needed the thistles in his tail and mane combed out. The poor thing couldn’t be comfortable. She hadn’t been comfortable for days, when she’d been lying on her stomach in a hospital bed. She still wasn’t comfortable with her leg in a brace and her arm in plaster.
She stood by the fence. Quiet. Still. Curious, the horse moved closer but kept his distance, standing several feet away. He hadn’t gone near his food. Tired of hurting, he didn’t care anymore. She understood the fatigue of dealing with the hurt and pain. What she couldn’t understand was giving up. She wouldn’t allow it.
Not an easy task, but she shimmied through the fence. Boots shied away. She walked toward him slowly until she stood about ten feet from him. She waited, mimicking what her grandfather had done this morning. He’d seemed to stand in that pasture forever, waiting on the horse.
Gillian had always been good with animals. They took to her like bees to flowers. Gillian seemed to have something that animals wanted, and she hoped the same would be true of this horse.
“I know how you feel. It hurts when someone is mean to you.” She took a step closer and kept her voice soft and soothing. When the horse didn’t back away or take off, she took a few more steps.
“That’s it, sweetheart. I won’t hurt you. You’d like everyone to just go away and leave you alone.” She took another three steps. Still Boots stayed still, watching her.
“This is a good place. Look.” She pointed to the hay and oats Blake left for him. “They gave you some nice food to eat. I bet if you let them, they’d clean you up nice.”
She took a few more steps and stood only a few feet away from the large animal. She’d never been close to a horse. He hadn’t seemed quite so large from twenty feet back. Now, standing in front of him, she could see that he was scrawny, but tall. His head was well above hers. If she spooked him, he could run her down.
“Blake washed my hair this morning. I bet he’d give you a nice bath and get those thistles out of your coat. He’s real gentle.”
Listen to you singing the praises of a man you barely know. So he’s been nice to you. That doesn’t mean anything. He could be a real jerk who has a string of women trailing after him. Could? He probably does.
Gorgeous. Tall, dark, and handsome. She understood why women fell hard for cowboys. Blake was quite the package. Quite a man.
And you’re twenty to his nearly thirty and have a child to raise. Stop fantasizing about cowboys with hard muscles and a wide chest. There’ll be no riding off into the sunset for you.
She held her hand out to Boots, and after a minute he leaned in to sniff her. His warm breath whispered over her palm. She smiled at the small triumph.
“That’s a beautiful boy. I won’t hurt you.” Her gaze met the horse’s sorrowful eyes. A kindred spirit. “Poor baby.” She held out her arms. She didn’t really expect him to come to her. When he moved forward, she almost stepped away. In the end, his sadness called to her and bolstered her courage. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. The big animal let out a heavy sigh that reverberated through her chest.
“That’s a good boy. You’re going to be okay.” She ran her fingers gently down the sides of his neck, ignoring the stickers and patches of missing fur. She touched him to let him know she was there. She’d never hurt him.
“I’ll be damned.” Blake watched from the fence, unable to believe the sight before him. “She got him to come to her.”
Dee and Bud came up behind him with Justin up on one of the horses, a huge smile on his face.
“Well, now, I spent the better part of three weeks trying to get close to that horse. Look at her. She just walked right up and hugged him.” Bud could have forced it, but he wanted Boots to come to him and learn to trust again. Well, Boots certainly trusted Gillian.