Page 78 of Nashville Cowboy
She glanced up. “Does Holly have colic again?”
“He left a message on the machine and spent twenty minutes over the phone mansplaining.” She pointed to Eve. “He did ask for you, so you’re dealing with him. Only you can handle this and not throat punch the man.”
“Poor Holly.” Eve stood and went to the medicine cabinet to gather some analgesics. “I’ll get going right away. I meant to tell him that he shouldn’t wait long to call us.”
“Don’t let him intimidate you,” Annabeth said as she helped Eve load her truck.
“I won’t. I’ve got this.”
She spent most of the drive to the Maddox ranch thinking about how best to approach the situation. In the past two weeks she’d come to understand that it was better to lay everything out in the open. Like she’d done with Jackson. He made it easier, that was true. But if she could stand up to Jackson, she could stand up to Mr. Mansfield. The courage was in her, she just had to pull it out and put it on.
Thereweregood men in the world. Just because she’d happened upon one of the worst of them didn’t mean that every big and burly man meant to hurt her. And no man wasevergoing to intimidate her again. She was Eve Iglesias, DVM, and damn proud of it. Once, a man had tried to take her apart, but hadn’t succeeded. She’d come out stronger in the end. Having been through the physical and emotional pain taught her that she could survive. Now, she’d learn how to thrive again.
She strode up to the stables, finding Holly in the same state she’d been in two weeks ago. Pawing at the ground, head down. In agony.
“How long has she been like this?”
“Two days,” Mr. Mansfield said.
Her stomach tightened, but she went ahead and gave him the benefit of the doubt. “My partner would have helped. You didn’t have to wait this long for me.”
“Got around to callin’ y’all as soon as I had a free moment.”
“If you’re too busy to take proper care of the horses, then maybe you need to hire some more hands.” She took a deep breath. “Or find another job.”
For a moment, the only sound heard in the stable was Holly’s horseshoes hitting the ground. No other sound, because a horse always suffered in silence.
And then Mr. Mansfield cleared his throat. “Guess I do need to hire a few hands. You hear of anyone lookin’, let me know.”
A pleasant surprise flowed through Eve, taking the place of the tension she’d felt up to that moment. “I will.”
And then she got busy helping Holly.
The end of the day came quickly, and satisfied at a great first day back, Eve headed back to the Double C. At the turn to the ranch, her curiosity peaked when she caught sight of a black limo turn, too, just ahead of her. A friend of Jackson’s coming to visit him from Nashville? It could be someone famous, like maybe Miranda Lambert, or Toby Keith. Eve could get an autograph. Excited, she caught up with the limo. She would try to remember not to be a total fan girl. This would be difficult, as she loved country music.
The limo pulled in front of the house and Eve parked behind the barn and quickly walked toward the house. She made it inside the door just in time to see the beautiful blonde who was Jackson’s ex-wife jump into his arms.
Everything in Eve froze, including her stupid heart. In a flash, she was back at the Piggly Wiggly parking lot. Her breath hitched and for the life of her she couldn’t seem to draw in another one. She’d been stupid to think that she and Jackson could just go back to the way they were. They’d spent years apart, and other people had been involved.
He had an ex-wife.
And now she was standing in their living room, her hands all over Jackson.
“I missed you, husband!”Winona said.
Jackson gently put her back down on the floor and took a generous step back. “Ex-husband.”
He supposed this was what he got for not returning her calls. The woman didn’t handle rejection well. She had resources in every state and though he’d stayed off social media, she’d tracked him down. He hadn’t seen or talked to Winona in months and now she was standing in his family’s living room calling him her husband just as Eve walked in the door. Perfect.
The timing of his troubled and talented friend was impeccable as usual.
A few years ago, his first record label had thought it would be a good marketing angle for their two newest up-and-coming musicians to be seen together. Someone had dropped a rumor that they were engaged, and the tabloids had their fun until the next big story came around. Winona had done a lot for his career, recording one of his first songs, and carrying it into the top ten nationwide.
And one night, drunk off his ass, he’d married her in Las Vegas.
Mima threw her hands up. “What in tarnation is this mess? Jackson is divorced. Didn’t expect any marriage that took place in a drive-through would last, but maybe I’m old-fashioned. Y’all got some explain’ to do. Go on.”
“We’re divorced. I have the paperwork.” He stared Winona down.
