Page 1 of Unyielding
ONE
SHANNON
“Iknow, baby,” I murmured to my favorite horse, stroking her velvety nose. “You’re not feeling so hot today. But Doc Wilcox will be here soon. She’ll make it all better. We love her, right?”
Belle let out a little groan and shifted from side to side, making her discomfort clear.
“Shh, shh, you’ll be fine,” I said, feeling my heart break a little at the sight of my favorite horse in pain.
I’d finally let go of the anger at my sister, Fiona, for her role in what had happened with Belle. Mostly. If Fiona hadn’t been so distracted bickering with Eli, then the ranch’s prize stallion Diesel never would’ve gotten loose, jumped the fence, and mounted Belle. Now my twenty-year-old horse—one of the last, precious connections I had to my mom—was facing a risky, unexpected pregnancy when she should’ve been spending her days munching clover in the sunshine.
I was so wrapped up in studying Belle that I didn’t hear the sound of footsteps until the figure was almost on top of me.
“Hey there, stranger.”
I jumped in shock and whipped around.
“Declan?”
It didn’t seem possible that the boy I’d crushed on in high school, my big brother’s best friend, was the man standing in my barn, smiling the same ridiculously adorable half grin that had always made me melt. I hadn’t seen him since my parents’ funeral almost four years ago, yet here he was, looking even better than I’d remembered.
Everything about him seemed…bigger, from the way he towered over me to the thickness of his arms. He was wearing a baseball cap with a logo I didn’t recognize, and a tan Henley with the first few buttons open. The shirt was thin enough that I could make out impressive definition along his shoulders. His jeans looked well-loved, faded to a weathered blue and shoved half in and half out of sturdy brown work boots. It was like the guy version of the work uniform Dr. Wilcox always wore, but Declan managed to make it look hot.
“What… what are you doing here?”
“Ruth, I mean,Dr. Wilcoxdidn’t tell you she was sending me?”
I frowned and tried to remember the specifics of my hurried conversation with the vet, a woman who’d been treating the animals of Poplar Springs since before my parents had run the ranch.
“Um, actually, yeah, I think she did say something about an assistant, but I thought she’d be coming along with whomever it was.”
Declan’s grin faded. “Is that what she called me? An assistant?”
“Oh, no, not at all,” I said quickly, realizing my misstep. Thanks to Josh, I knew that Declan had sailed through vet school with honors, so there was no way he was anyone’s assistant. “I think she said someone was assisting her—but honestly, I wasn’t paying much attention to what she was saying. I was too busy worrying about Belle.”
The horse shifted again and bobbed her head, as if to remind us that she was the reason for our reunion.
“Well, sorry for the confusion. I’ll explain everything after I’ve had a chance to examine our patient. I don’t want to keep her waiting.” He finally looked away from Belle to meet my eyes. “That is, if it’s okay with you?”
I gestured toward my horse, a little flustered by his intensity as he looked at me. “Of course, please do.”
Declan nodded, dropped his bag on the ground, and got to work. “Hello, Miss Belle. It’s been a long time,” he said softly to the mare as he approached her.
After having grown accustomed to Dr. Wilcox and, more recently, Dr. Lett, handling the Cafferty animals and looking after Belle, I felt cautious about someone new examining my horse. But the truth was, Declan Morris wasn’t even close to new. He’d been in my life since my big brother was in grade school. First, as my occasional tormentor, chasing me around the yard with the frogs we’d found. Then, as a preteen, acting like he was too cool to even notice me when he had sleepovers with Josh. And finally, he’d become the guy who’d grown from gawky to gorgeous in high school, leaving me to crush after him helplessly while he treated me like a kid sister.
For a second, I had a flashback to the fateful night when I’d followed my heart and done something impetuous and totally unlike me.
The kiss.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, filled with embarrassment that hadn’t faded with time, then refocused on Declan.
He was running his hands along Belle’s stomach, talking softly to her. The old horse seemed to lean in closer to his touch, like he was there to give her a massage and not a checkup.
“And there it is. That’sexcellent, Miss Belle,” he said in a quiet voice as his fingertips traced along her hip. “There’s that baby.”
“Are you going to do a sonogram?” I asked.
Declan shook his head, still studying Belle. “I don’t think we have to today since the baby is moving around like crazy. She’s got a racehorse in there for sure.”
