AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In one swift motion, he wrapped an arm around Beth, swung her out of the way, and yanked the stall door shut with his boot. His whole body shook against the metal frame as Midnight struck it with what he hoped was her good hoof. The fact that she’d even struck metal was a blessing in and of itself considering the door was more of a gate. She could have punched right through Eli’s back, and then what? Beth would have to deal with the aftermath?
Beth screamed, her head buried in his chest and her body shaking against his. But when she finally pulled away and set her eyes on him, her gaze threatened to burn him to ash.
She pointed at him, and her voice shook as she spoke. “You did that.”
He could hear Midnight breathing heavily behind him, but she didn’t strike again.
“She could have hurt you,” he said evenly. Or worse.
“She could have hurt you!” Beth lobbed back at him.
On instinct, he reached over his shoulder, massaging the part that had taken the brunt of Midnight’s kick.
Beth’s expression softened. “She did, didn’t she? You’re hurt.”
Eli rolled his shoulder. “I’m fine.” At least physically he was. “I knew what I was doing. But you… You fully admit that you know nothing about animals, yet you crawl into a horse’s stall like she’s some giant stuffed prize you won at a carnival.” He heard the volume of his voice rising again and took a beat to collect himself, for Midnight’s sake and for Beth’s. “You don’t know what you’re doing when it comes to creatures like her. I do. Midnight belongs to the Murphy ranch, and I’m a Murphy. So…yes. I forbid you to ride her or to enter her stall alone again. As an employee of the Murphy ranch and veterinary clinic, can I trust you to do as I’m asking?”
He hated himself for the way he spoke to her then and hated himself even more as he retold the story to his brother now.
Beth had responded by fisting her hands at her sides, then clearing her throat.
“Yes, Dr. Murphy,” she told him with terrifying sweetness. “Whatever you say, Dr. Murphy.” Then her gaze moved past him and to the mare still standing behind the stall door.
Beth’s eyes grew glassy, and Eli swore under his breath.
“Did you say something?” she asked.
He opened his mouth to respond, to apologize for being the asshole he knew he was being. But instead, he merely replied, “No.”
“Then I’ll see you at the clinic tomorrow,” she’d said flatly before giving Midnight one last pat on the nose and storming out of the barn.
Now, Eli leaned back against the exam room door and let his head fall against it.
Boone reacted to the story with a long whistle followed by an even longer silence.
“Say it,” Eli told his brother. “Say whatever it is you’re thinking. I might have been a dick, but I saved her life.” He hoped rationalizing his behavior to his brother would do the job of rationalizing it to himself. But this was a question with a yes or no answer. Yes, Eli had been an ass. No, the situation didn’t have to go down that way.
Boone shrugged. “Sure. Sure. Yeah. That’s one way to look at it.”
Eli sighed. “And the other way?” he asked.
“Or…you provoked the mare by threatening the only human she trusts right now.”
His younger brother didn’t say anything more, but Eli knew what came next.
You are the one who put Beth in harm’s way, Eli. Just like you did with Tess.
What if Eli had gone after Fury instead of Tess? What if he’d called the sheriff’s department instead of trying to catch the would-be thieves himself? What if Tess had mounted the mare after the clap of thunder that shook the earth? And the best one yet… What if he’d told Tess to wait inside the house in the first place?
He at least knew the answer to the last question. Tess would have torn him a new one and still done whatever she thought she could to save her horse. But what if he’d found a way to convince her to wait?
What if? What if? What if?
In his head, he’d replayed that night’s sequence of events too many times to count, trying to come up with the scenario where Tess lived, where Fury didn’t give up on her will to do the same, and where Eli didn’t lose every goddamned thing he held dear.
“Hey…” Boone nudged his shoulder. “Did I lose you?”
“What? No. Sorry.” Eli straightened and repositioned the stethoscope hanging around his neck. “Animals with trust issues are volatile,” he told his brother. “Beth could have sneezed or hiccupped or…I don’t know. She could have done any number of things to set the mare off before I showed up. Bottom line is there’s no telling how a scared creature like that will react to any sort of new stimuli.”
