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“No, I haven’t, but I’ve heard plenty. Cruz can’t say enough about how good you are with the horses, and that’s pretty high praise from Cruz.”
“He’s a great boss. I really got lucky the day Gibson introduced me to Cruz and Nolan, that’s for damn sure.”
“It was a lucky day for them, as well,” Raffie insisted. “At the rate that rescue’s growing, they’re going to have to expand, and they’ll need good people. They’re off to a great start, though, with you and Murphy.”
“The rescue is fairly new, right? Maybe things will settle down over time,” Cody said.
“Maybe, or as more and more people learn about the rescue, it could be even more in demand. We’ll just see how it goes.”
I could’ve talked about horses all night and knew Raffie could, too. But I doubted Cody wanted to listen to us since he wasn’t a horse guy, so I decided to change the subject to something he’d be interested in, as well.
“Speaking of seeing how things go, Cody, how’s that Charger you were working on coming?”
“Slowly,” he said. “Trying to find all original parts is taking forever, but it’s going to be amazing when it’s done. Spencer said his uncle in Austin might have a connection who can help.”
“Speaking of Spencer, how are things going with your tenant?” Landon asked him.
“Great. I was a little hesitant when Miller approached me about renting out the apartment to Spencer, but Tanya vouched for him. Honestly, for the most part, I don’t even know he’s there.”
“Tenant?” I asked.
“Yeah, there’s an apartment over my shop. I lived there when I first moved to town, but it’d been sitting empty ever since Eli and I got married. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but Miller convinced me to rent it to one of the nurses from the urgent care center, Spencer Reynolds. Do you know him?”
“I do. He hangs out at the ranch sometimes. He and Nolan seem to be pretty good friends,” I said.
“I don’t know him at all,” Landon said. “Miller says he’s a cutie, though. What do you think, Nash?”
I shrugged like I hadn’t noticed because I didn’t know these guys well enough to tell them I didn’t just think he was cute…I thought he was a deliciously sweet little package that I would love a chance to get a taste of. I hadn’t really talked to him much, though. Normally, when he came out to the ranch, he and Nolan were either shut up in Nolan’s lab or out flying drones instead of hanging out in the barn with us cowboys.
The server brought us our food, and we spent the next hour or so talking. The guys seemed to have a blast telling me all kinds of crazy stories about the local residents, and by the time Cody’s husband, Eli, was off work and arrived to pick up Cody, I was ready to head home myself. I hadn’t been kidding earlier when I told Cody I was exhausted, plus I had plans in the city the next day, which meant I needed to get a full night’s sleep tonight.
Chapter 2
Nash
Levi and I were stacking hay on the west side of the barn Wednesday morning when a truck pulling a trailer rattled over the cattle guard and up the drive. Murphy, our top horse trainer, was driving, and Don, one of the other ranch hands, was riding along. She saw us working as she went by and waved for us to head her way. Levi and I walked over to where Cruz was already standing and waited for her to park.
We’d been expecting this horse for almost a week. He had a sad story of abuse that the neighbors had reported to the local authorities, thank goodness. Law enforcement had seized the poor thing and taken him to their local veterinarian, where he’d stayed until he was healthy enough to be brought here so we could begin his rehabilitation.
We watched as the trailer came to a stop in front of us. “He looks a little skittish, that’s for sure,” Levi said.
Our boss, Cruz, shook his head, a scowl on his face. “He does, but you would be too if you’d been through what he’s been through. There ought to be a special place in hell for people who abuse animals.”
“No argument here,” I agreed, walking up to the trailer to get a better look at the colt. Levi had been right; he seemed a little anxious, which could be from the way he’d been treated, or he could be one of those horses who didn’t trailer well, especially if the previous owners hadn’t worked with him.
Murphy hopped out of the pickup and walked back to where we stood, and Don did the same from the passenger’s side.
“He didn’t want to get in the trailer, but with a little patience, we got it done.” She reached out to pat the horse reassuringly through the opening in the side of the trailer.
She’d used the ranch’s divided trailer that could carry three horses comfortably and placed him in the middle spot to make sure he was secure but didn’t feel penned in too tight. We didn’t know this horse, and some animals got claustrophobic in tight spaces, especially if they hadn’t been treated well. The last thing we wanted to do was add to his trauma, but we had to get him here somehow.
“Gibson is on his way out to look him over. Did they give you the report from their local vet?” Cruz asked. It was standard procedure here on the Double C to have our local vet check out all new arrivals no matter what shape they arrived in, so I wasn’t at all surprised that he was on his way.
“Sure did,” Don said. “Got ’em right here.”
“Great. Levi, can you open the corral?” Cruz asked.
“Sure thing, boss.” Levi jogged over and opened up the gate.
