Page 56 of Cowboy Stole My Heart
Chapter 15
“HEY.”Sam jogged over to Mia, calling out as he approached. She turned, eyes wide, looking so vulnerable his first instinct was to move closer and wrap his arms around her.She’s not your girlfriend. He balled his fists and smiled instead, hoping he looked sympathetic.
“It’s not looking great,” she said, voice so quiet he wouldn’t have recognized it as being hers if she hadn’t been standing in front of him. “The ranch hands were moving some cattle past, two young bulls had broken through a fence overnight and were close by to Tex. He clearly didn’t like them being near him, and he flipped out. He was caught in the fence and thrashing about and no one could help him. They just had to wait until he got himself unstuck, and he really did a job on his legs.”
“Hell,” he grumbled, moving past Mia to lean on the fence and take a closer look.
Tex was standing, looking miserable, pressed up against the fence and sulking. Sam could see blood dripping from his knee, but it was more matted than flowing freely now,and he had a few other cuts and scrapes from what Sam could see.
“He doesn’t looksobad,” Sam said, turning back to Mia.
“You haven’t seen him walk yet.”
Shit. Sam sighed, looking from her to the horse. “I’m sorry. I know how much he means to you.”
“What do we do?” she asked, her voice husky and full of emotion. “I just don’t want to give up on him when you’re finally seeing some progress.”
Sam folded his arms, refusing to get closer to her. This wasn’t his horse, it was hers, and he wasn’t supposed to be emotionally invested.
“Has the vet gone?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yup. Pretty much told me he’d come back to euthanize him. I could have asked my friend Kat to come over, but she’s not a big animal vet and I didn’t want her putting herself in danger.”
Sam could have killed the vet right now, but he knew that his hadn’t exactly been an unreasonable response. No one should have to risk their life to administer care to an animal.
“I’ll go and take a look at him,” Sam said, before turning back to her. “No, you know what? Let’s both go in.”
Mia didn’t look convinced. “You’re sure?”
“I want to check him over, then leave him for the night. He can sulk and feel sorry for himself, and we can tend to him again in the morning if he’ll let us.”
He could see Mia’s throat move as she gulped, but he didn’t pause to offer comfort. Instead Sam slipped through the fence and held out his hand, guiding her through and keeping hold of her a few beats too long, her palm warm and soft against his.
“I’m going to treat him like I always do, act like nothing has happened,” he explained. “But I want you as my eyes and ears, okay? No agitating him, just soothe and keep a watch on his face for me, so you can see any change in his temper or pain levels. And stay close.”
Sam moved toward the stallion, careful with his eye contact and keeping his movements slow and predictable. He didn’t want to do anything to alarm him. He quickly realized that the wounds that looked the worst were in fact ugly but probably superficial. The blood would dry up, the puffing would go down, but it didn’t explain his lameness.
Tex moved a few steps then and Sam cringed. “Christ,” he swore, before offering comfort to the horse. “You’re okay, bud. Just gonna take a little look.”
Tex was scowling, his top lip pulled back in a sneer that told Sam he was one step away from having the horse’s teeth lodged into his arm. He stood, watching, assessing, thinking.
Holy shit.
Sam backed up a few paces and indicated to Mia to follow him. She looked worried.
“I don’t know how I never thought of this,” he said. “Damn rocks for brains,” he muttered.
Mia stared at him quizzically. “What?”
“He had that huge fall, a fall that he managed to survive, but do we know what treatment he received?” Sam asked. “I mean, how well was he looked after? Who worked on him?”
“I don’t understand,” Mia answered. “There was a vet on site, he was checked over immediately and treated. He wasn’t left with any injuries that I’m aware of, because money wouldn’t have been an object.”
“Treated for what could be seen,” Sam said, “just like we’re looking at some gory injuries right now that need attention, but will probably heal just fine on their own.”
Mia looked perplexed. “I’m not following.”
“He’s in pain,” Sam said, glancing back at the horse and feeling for him, seeing the look on his face that told him how stupid he’d been not to see it in the first place. “He’s turned from happy to grumpy, and he’s only gotten worse. I suspect he’s dealing with chronic pain that’s made him, excuse my language, given him thatfuck youattitude.”
