Page 57 of Pretty Little Scars

I’ll make sure she understands the next time I see her that I want to know everything she’ll tell me.

I get through the shower and dress in a clean long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, then head downstairs to start dinner. I’ll make tacos so I can easily heat them up for her whenever she gets home. There’s no way she’s going to her cabin tonight. I’ll bring her here, get something in her stomach, and curl up around her all night.

Do I sound a little unhinged? Yeah. I do.

It’s dark outside when I get the kitchen cleaned, the outdoor cats fed, and then do some work on the computer, waiting to hear from my girl.

It’s almost midnight, when I think to check the time, and scowl. But just when I’m about to call her, my phone rings and it’s her name on the screen.

“Hey, sweetheart,” I say when I answer.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

DARBY

God, the sound of his voice immediately soothes every jagged edge from the past two days, and I can’t help but exhale in relief.

“Are you there?” he asks. His voice is rough and low, and it almost brings tears to my eyes.

Jesus, he makes me feel better.

“I’m here.” I can hear the exhaustion in my voice. “I’m on my way to your ranch, but I’m so tired, Tucker. I need you to talk to me while I drive so I don’t fall asleep.”

“Just tell me where you are, and I’ll come get you.”

“I don’t want to leave my car here. I’m okay, I’m only thirty minutes away at the Kincaid ranch. Just keep me company while I drive, okay?”

“I’ll do anything you want,” he says. “Talk to me. What’s been going on?”

I blow out a breath while I pull down the long driveway to the highway and turn to the right. I have to go through Silver Springs to get to the Hendrix Ranch on the other side of town.

“A horse was in labor, and she was in danger. The foal was breech.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, ‘fuck’ is right. Every time we got that baby turned, she’d turn back again. That lastedforever, Tucker. It was horrible, and the mare just couldn’t do it. We ended up putting her down yesterday morning and delivering the foal alive.”

“But that’s its own set of problems.”

God, I love that he knows animals so well. That I can talk to him about this and he just gets it. I don’t have to try to explain it all to him, he justunderstands.

“Yeah, so it’s been a rough couple of days of trying to get this foal to attach to a nurse mare.”

“You found one?” He sounds incredulous, and I can’t help but smile. But then that smile disappears when I see lightning flash across the sky.

No. No no no.

I’m not strong enough right now to deal with a storm. I’m too wrung out.

“Darby?”

“Oh, sorry.” Another flash, and I swallow thickly. “Yeah, there’s another mare on the ranch who just had a baby a couple of days ago, and we worked with her to see if she’d take the newborn.”

“And did she?”

Thunder rolls overhead, and I pull in a sharp breath.

“Whoa, what’s happening?”