Page 37 of Rescued Hearts
I looked up, watching Tess outside the diner. She was on the phone, too, with the wind in her hair and the sun on her skin. “Yeah, that’s not going to work for me either.”
“Patience was never your strong suit,” he grumbled.
“Do you know of anything I can do to get around it?” When I worked up the nerve to tell Tess about my feelings, I wanted to have a solution instead of just unloading on her.
Trevor clucked his tongue, and I waited with bated breath. “There’s always an informed consent waiver. She’d have to sign it, saying she doesn’t care about the ethical implications. And you’d have to sign in acknowledgement of the ethical, professional, and reputational risks.”
That seemed easy enough. It was just a matter of figuring out if that’s what Tess wanted. “Okay.”
“You’d be putting a lot on the line,” he said. “You sure she’s worth the hassle?”
I looked up from the table again, watching as Tess got into Savannah’s car and pulled away. “She’s worth everything.”
11
Tess
The sun felt hotter than usual today. Oppressive and scorching, like it knew I was about to do something I didn’t want to and was punishing me further. My fingers curled around the metal fencing of the paddock while sweat trickled down my back.
I had my first equine therapy session in a few minutes, but I didn’t see Delilah anywhere. I did some research, trying to prepare for this kind of thing, and it pretty much sounded like I’d be doing all the chores I did growing up while talking about my feelings. Which didn’t sound very appealing, but Delilah was going out of her way to do this for me, so I couldn’t say no.
Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. When I turned, I found Emmett walking out of the barn with Delilah right behind him. Delilah had her hands on her hips, glaring up at him in the bright light that made her hair look like fire. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked tense. Their interactions always carried a certain edge, though, even when we were kids. Their personalities just clashed too much.
Delilah looked in my direction, doing a double-take when she saw me. She waved me over. “Ready for me to dig around in that big brain of yours?” She grinned, eyes flashing with her usualplayfulness. It seemed her bad mood was reserved just for my brother.
“That sounds morbid,” I chuckled. I glanced at Emmett, and he was scowling at Delilah like she’d just keyed his truck. “What are you doing here?”
“I just dug around in his…not so big brain,” Delilah answered for him with a smirk.
He just grunted, not giving her the satisfaction of a reaction. “I’ve been seeing her for two weeks now.” And he didn’t look the least bit happy about it either.
My head reared back, glancing between them. “Really?” I couldn’t believe it. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with therapy.”
He looked down at the ground. “You know what they say…desperate times and all that.” He cleared his throat before his eyes flicked up to mine, clearly done with this conversation. “Where’s Luke?”
“Inside with Claire.” He nodded and headed off in that direction without another word.
“Great manners on that one,” Delilah grumbled once he was out of earshot. “I’ve met more polite drug dealers.”
My head turned so fast I was surprised I didn’t get whiplash. “Where exactly are you meeting drug dealers?” God, I sounded like such a mom.
She laughed, the sound low and raspy. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said with a wink and slung an arm around my shoulder, walking me into the barn. “You ready to get started?”
My stomach twisted while my body moved on autopilot with hers. “I guess so.”
“When was the last time you were in here?” Delilah asked while I trailed beside her. Her stride was long, confident, and hard to keep up with.
“A long time. Right after Daddy died,” I murmured, glancing around the barn I grew up in. Unwanted memories of him came flooding in, ones I’d been avoiding since I was eighteen. My dad had been my best friend, especially after Emmett left for the Army when I was thirteen. And when he died, something broke in me. Something I was still trying to fix, even though I didn’t know how.
Delilah opened a stall and went inside. “I figured.” She came back out with a horse, an older gray mare named Willow. I knew she was gentle from my childhood, but her size still made me take a few steps back.
Delilah glanced over at me. “You look tense. What are you feeling right now?” Great. She was using her therapist voice on me already.
“I’m fine,” I replied.
She sighed, crossing her arms while she gave me a knowing look. “This isn’t going to work unless you’re honest with me.” She gave some slack in Willow’s lead and came over to me. “This is your show, you decide what happens here, but my only rule is you have to be honest. You’re safe with me.”
My heart pounded behind my sternum, my muscles tight. I knew she was right, and I didn’t want to waste either of our time, but I also didn’t want to admit the horse was freaking me out, and I didn’t know why. Willow wasn’t even doing anything, just standing there, her tail swishing lightly.
