Page 95 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Nope, you don’t have to do anything more than that,” Henry said as Trevor leaned into the exercise ball. “Palermo will stand there and wait for you to send it back to him.” Henry stood only a pace away. “It’s good practice for your balance as well. And Palermo needs the same thing.”

“I can’t believe he just kicks it back and forth,” Trevor said.

“I’ve got your cane right here if you need it, too,” Henry said. “Or you can just reach out and grab onto my arm. The goal is not to hurt you. It’s to help you.”

Trevor looked at him, something new and bright in his gaze that Henry had not seen before. “I’ve heard of equine therapy,” he said. “I just never thought of doing it for myself.”

“It’s as much physical as it is mental,” Henry said. “You just go ahead and send that ball back to him anytime you want.”

Henry had not told Angel or anyone else that he’d been using equine therapy exercises to help Palermo strengthen his front leg. He didn’t see the point. His job was to help the horse get better, and he was doing it. He consulted regularly with Justin, who had a degree in horse care, though he wasn’t a vet or a vet technician, and Palermo had been doing really well the past couple of weeks since Henry had started working with him.

Henry loved playing with horses. “This is a different kind of work for a horse than training them to go after cattle or sheep. It’s not cutting left or right or knowing exactly where you want them to go with the slightest movement of your body.”

“You’re right about that,” Trevor said.

“This is play.”

Trevor straightened and took one hand off the ball. The one that remained shook as if it took a great deal of effort for him to balance himself against the blown-up exercise ball. Henry was sure it did.

“I can see that,” Trevor said with a smile. “I like it.”

Henry liked it too. “They’re playful animals,” he said. “I mean, horses are just like great big three-year-olds.” He chuckled, glad when Trevor did too. Trevor pushed the ball back to Palermo, and the horse stood there for maybe a moment while both of them watched the ball roll.

Then Trevor reached out. Henry took a lightning-fast step toward him and stood in place when Trevor’s hand landed on his shoulder.

“Now you tell him it’s his turn to send it back,” Henry said. “He’s not real great with taking a command from someone who isn’t me. But equine therapy horses should be able to obey anyone. They work with kids who have tantrums, or people with mental disabilities like autism. We have horses at Courage Reins who work with nonverbal people who can give hand signals, and the horse will send the ball back.”

“Wow,” Trevor said. “That’s incredible.”

“My daddy is real good with horses,” Henry said.

“So are you,” Trevor said.

Henry didn’t answer because he wasn’t the greatest at taking compliments. He’d been doling them out left and right the past couple of months, and that had earned him quite a few friends here at Lone Star.

Not Creston though. He’d been assigned to Henry’s team, and they’d been working together for a couple of weeks now, but he still relentlessly questioned everything Henry said. And about half the time, he didn’t do it the way Henry wanted things done. They’d had a couple of talks, and they’d had meetings, both with all four members of their team and then just him and Creston, and things were slowly getting better. Henry didn’t mind being challenged, but in the end, hewasthe captain. Just because Creston had been at Lone Star longer than Henry didn’t mean he knew everything.

“Are there any equine therapy programs in Amarillo?” Trevor asked. “Or anywhere closer?”

“I don’t know,” Henry said. “My daddy will know, though. And you know what? He texted me a couple of days ago and said they’re putting in a new road just north of the ranch that will lead almost directly here. It’ll only be about forty minutes from Three Rivers to Lone Star.” He grinned at Trevor. “That’ll make it way easier for me to get home when I want to visit.”

“Yeah, that’ll be awesome,” Trevor said. “I bet any other equine therapy unit won’t be as close as that.”

“I can get you into Courage Reins if you want,” Henry said.

“Can you?” Trevor asked.

“Sure,” Henry said. “And I can drive you there too.”

“That would be great,” Trevor said. “I would really like it.”

Henry’s chest swelled with pride, because he’dknownthat Trevor would like equine therapy. He had mentioned it to Angel a couple of times before giving up when he realized she was simply not interested in hearing more about it. They didn’t really have the space at Lone Star for a new program, and they certainly didn’t have the personnel—the required people to train the horses, not to mention any of the counselors or therapists.

“Send it,” Trevor called, and Palermo raised his head and looked at him. “Send it,” Trevor said again in a super smooth,clear, authoritative voice, and Palermo plodded forward one or two steps and nudged the ball back to him. Trevor laughed as he leaned down into the ball to balance himself. “I just love this,” he said. “It’s so much fun.”

Henry grinned too. Normally, if he was working with a client at Courage Reins, he wouldn’t have his phone with him at all. But today, his device rang in his back pocket. “I think that’s my momma. Can I take it?”

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