Page 45 of Never Left You

Bending down, I looked at Stetson, really looked at him. His shirt was covered in dirt, his jeans were torn at the knees and his hat’s rim was bent and facing in a direction it should be.

“He said he fell off Marsh.”

“Hewhat!?”I heard Abi’s voice. It was faded, but loud enough to know Lachlan had me on speaker.

“Tell Abi to calm down. He’s okay. He just had a tumble. How many times have we fallen off horses?” I reassured everyone, including myself, as I took in Stetson’s face.

Lachlan let out a small chuckle. “More than I care to admit. Okay, Abi will come back in the truck. Rhett’s on Buckle, and I’m on Onyx, so we will head that way. My folks went out to the lake. Wyatt went out to the grazing field. Kyla’s at Rhett’s place. Wanna bet who will get there first?”

“Abi. One hundred percent.” I pulled Stetson into my side, giving him a comforting hug. “You got a first aid kit here? I’ll start patching him up.”

“In the tack shed.”

“On it. See you soon.”

We hung up, and before dashing to the shed, I looked down at Stetson. “You good?”

“I’m never getting on a horse again.” He mumbled, tears now slowly rolling down his cheeks.

“I doubt that. I thought you wanted to be a bareback rider like Lachlan?” I squeezed his shoulder, offering some reassurance.

“Not after falling off Marsh.” He shook his head, his knuckles raising to wipe a tear away.

“Marsh is a big horse, Stet.” I ran my fingers down his shoulders to grasp his hand. “But never say never. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up before your mom gets here.”

“Marsh ran off.” Stetson sniffed. “He knows the way home, right?”

“He’ll be fine. If he doesn’t show up tonight, I’ll go out tomorrow and look for him. It’s a big ranch but not that big.” I led him to the tackle closet, hoisting him up on the worktable before digging for the first aid kit. “He’ll come home, I promise.”

Stetson nodded. “At least I didn’t break any bones.”

Tilting my head, I gave him a grin, “Yeah, that’s a good thing. You’ll be back on that horse before you know it.”

He shook his head. “Nope.” He shook his head faster, then watched as I pulled out the hydrogen peroxide. “Well,” he finally sighed. “Maybe.”

“You love that horse.” I placed the gauze on his knee, getting a hiss from him as the sting hit just right. “How did you fall?”

“Something spooked him, and he bucked.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, Uncle Rhett and I were racing home,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Ah ha, there is more to the story.” I chuckled, raising my chin to look at him, giving him a smile. I had done some stupid shit in my day, too. I’d given my parents a run for their money. Stetson was just having fun with his uncle.

“Well…don’t tell mom. She won’t like it, and I’ll get grounded.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Secret is safe with me, little man.”

Stetson nodded then added in a whisper. “I fell off, and Uncle Rhett didn’t see. Marsh took off one direction and Uncle Rhett the other. My leg hurt…”

“So, you….” I urged him on.

“I went the wrong way.”

“The wrong way?” I raised a single eyebrow, staring at the boy in front of me.

“I tried to follow Marsh…and then it started getting dark…and then I realized how far away from home I was. I ran…but when I got there, no one was there.”

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