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Midnight blew out a breath through her nose, but other than that, the mare barely stirred.
Eli’s head, though, swam.
“I might have been starting to doze, but I’m up now.” She yawned. “Are you feeling better? Did you see that man about a horse? And what’s with the sprinting? I thought those boots were made for walkin’. Or better yet, ridin’.” She grinned.
Eli flew to the barn in a full-blown panic, and Beth yawned. She yawned and casually asked about his day and had the audacity to tease him as if she napped on strange horses in strange barns on a stranger’s property all the damned time.
“I don’t understand.” He rose to his full height and scratched the back of his head. “You’re not an animal person, which—now that I’m saying that out loud—makes me wonder why the hell I hired you to work at a veterinary clinic. But that’s beside the point. What the hell are you doing in Midnight’s stall? Dozing?”
Beth bolted upright, eyes wide. “Midnight!” She spun to give the mare an affectionate pat on the nose. “So that’s her name!”
Eli braced a palm against the wall. “How did you know she was a she? And that she wouldn’t bite you? And…and…you’re the only one in here? No one else opened her stall?” He started pacing. Again.
Beth climbed awkwardly to her feet, and he stepped into the stall to reach out a hand, albeit seconds too late.
Too late. What if he’d found a different scene at the barn? What if Midnight had been more like Cirrus when the stallion had first arrived—skittish and prone to kicking up his hind legs in defense? Hadn’t Boone described her as such? Yet here she was, reclining in her new stall, letting Beth recline on her.
“Did I do something wrong?” Beth asked, interrupting his thoughts. “Also, how did you even know I was here?”
Her blond hair was dry now, and it hung in loose waves against her shoulders. He suddenly remembered her hand on his thigh, and his pulse raced with an unfamiliar longing for the second time that day.
Eli swallowed. “The stall doors have sensors.”
“You mean like an alarm?” she asked, moving close to the door to inspect it.
Instinct made him take a step back as he nodded.
She pressed the pad of her thumb over the almost imperceptible device affixed to the top corner of the door.
Eli imagined that thumb doing the same thing to his leg.
Jesus, what was wrong with him? She was Delaney’s sister. And his employee. His reckless employee.
“What, do people steal horses right off the ranch?” Beth continued with a disbelieving laugh.
He nodded again. “During a goddamn storm under the cover of rain and thunder, not expecting a docile mare to lose her shit at a little bit of weather—or her defiant rider to chase after them.”
Beth’s head tilted up, and her wide green eyes met his. She asked nothing, but somehow she knew the rest of the story ended with him losing Fury…and Tess.
“Why not lock her door? Or the barn itself?” she asked.
Eli blew out a shaky breath. “In case of a barn fire. Animals have great instincts when it comes to escaping danger, but if they’re locked in…”
Beth’s hand flew over her opened mouth, and she gasped. “Oh my god. That’s terrifying. So you have these animals on your property, and there’s nothing you can do to keep them safe other than a silent alarm on their doors?”
Eli nodded. “I don’t think such a thing as safe really exists. But we do the best we can.”
But sometimes his best wasn’t good enough, and that was the part Eli still couldn’t get past.
“Is she hurt?” Beth asked. “Midnight? She seems to be favoring her left front leg.”
Maybe Beth wasn’t an animal person, but she was perceptive.
“Yeah. She broke her left radius,” Eli told her. “Which is basically her elbow. She’s recuperated from the surgery, but she’s out of practice walking on it.” He scratched the back of his head. “I’m also guessing she’s a little scared to do it. I’m going to rehab her and find her a new home.”
Sooner rather than later, he hoped. He wasn’t sure how long he could look at Fury’s twin before it erased all the progress he might have made in the past three years.
“Will she take a rider again?” Beth’s brow furrowed with worry Eli hadn’t expected.
