“Jesus fucking Christ, Crew, what did youdo?” I asked, not giving a shit that I was being awfully familiar with my boss while cussing at him in the same go.
He chuckled somewhere nearby. “Well, I colluded with Wyanne and I interrogated Pay, and I told my mother that I got my scheming from her. Then I called Rachel, because I remembered how you reacted to the name of the rescue and figured it was a good starting point.”
There was a loud banging sound close by, like a horse banging on a trailer.
“Shit, I gotta go help Dad with Rowdy,” Crew said and vanished.
Jaina’s lead rope was across her back where Crew had tossed it. She wasn’t going to go anywhere.
I wasn’t ready to confront Crew about any of this yet, so I chose to concentrate on the fact that even if it had been months, my horse still knew me and didn’t seem to hold a grudge for the abandonment.
Yeah, she’d been in a great place, but it hadn’t been where I was, and—she nudged me with her head and snorted softly as if to tell me I was being stupid.
“I know, girl. I know. I love you. You’re the best girl, aren’t ya?” I hugged her head to my chest and she flicked her ears, not to listen to anything special, but just because she’d figured out how to do that for fun at some point.
I laughed, like I always did, appreciating the comedic relief.
“She’s gorgeous,” Wy commented, looking a bit hesitant to approach us.
“Scheming with the boss, boss?” I raised a brow at her.
She let out a short laugh. “I mean, was I wrong?”
I blew out a breath. “I don’t know, Wy. There was a reason she was there in the first place.”
Mike appeared and leveled me with a look. “As my son told me today, a man needs his horse. She’s clearly yours.”
I could hear the capital Y in his words. She was my heart horse, and being apart from her, especially now that I was around other horses constantly, had been rough.
“Pick a stall,” Wy said gently. “They don’t need to go through quarantine because we know where they’ve been and everyone’s been vet checked regularly over there.”
“Yeah, okay.” I let out another breath and looked around. “I’ll put her here in the end.”
There were three empty stalls, two on one side and the last one on the other.
“I’ll have Crew bring the new gelding there, too. We’ll assess him tomorrow.”
I didn’t pick up the lead, I just clicked my tongue at Jaina, and she ambled after me as I walked all the way to the back of the barn. There was another door there, so I could get her out just as fast from here as from the middle.
As I opened the stall door, I realized I’d need to get more bedding for her, but she’d be fine for now.
“In you go,” I murmured as I stood aside.
She went in and sniffed around a little.
“Here.” Mike handed me a few flakes of hay. “To tide her over. Crew has all the information on what they’ve been eating and her tack is in the truck.”
Somehowthatwas what pushed me over the edge a little. My knees shook, and I quickly grabbed the stall doorway with one hand, trying to play it off like I’d stumbled a bit as I went to give Jaina the hay.
Her tack. Rachel had told me she would keep it for me, for Jaina, because it was a nice set. Nothing fancy, but well-maintained and worn, and perfect for my big mare.
“Here you go, girl,” I murmured, putting the hay down where she could have it.
Wy walked in with a bucket of water. “Here’s a drink for the Miss.” She set it in the corner.
Jaina immediately went for the water, drinking happily as Wy smiled at her.
“That’s one fine horse,” Mike commented, and Wy nodded eagerly.
