Page 59 of The Jealous Girl

I instinctively stepped back.

‘It’s okay,’ Ryan assured me. ‘He’s gentle. He won’t hurt you.’

I nodded, resisting the urge to back away further.

A soft laugh behind me made me flinch and I swung round to face the entrance.

‘Don’t tell me you’re scared of horses?’ Charlotte asked as she stepped into the stables. She walked towards us and casually leaned against the opposite stall, one eyebrow raised questioningly, even though the answer was already apparent.

A guy around our age followed her in, his sandy hair flopping in his eyes as he busied himself lifting a pitchfork from the rack, graciously pretending not to have noticed my fear.

‘I’ll get used to them,’ I assured her, though my words lacked conviction even to my own ears.

‘Kirsty, this is Ben, he helps out here at weekends and during the university breaks.’

Ben paused and gave a small friendly nod. ‘Hi.’

‘Hi,’ I replied, grateful for the lack of judgement in his expression.

At least his role here was clear. Unlike Charlotte’s…

‘You won’t be much help until you can be around the horses,’ Charlotte said tersely. ‘They’re kind of the whole purpose.’

Heat crept up my neck. ‘I’m going to help in other ways,’ I said quickly, turning back to Ryan. ‘I’m good at admin. Accounts. That kind of thing.’ I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to convince him of my usefulness. After all, he’d already vouched for me to his mother.

Ryan’s expression brightened. ‘Yeah, Dad normally handles that side of things himself, so it’s going to be great having you take some of that on while he’s out of action.’

Relief washed over me. ‘Just point me in the right direction and I’ll get started.’

Charlotte snorted, but I ignored it. Ryan was happy, that was all that mattered.

‘Come on,’ he said, as he led Atlas back into his stall and slid the bolt. ‘I’ll show you the office.’

Ryan led the way to a door tucked at the end. He pushed it open and flicked on the light.

I pasted on a smile, trying to hide my disappointment that the office was a cramped space in the stables instead of a room in the house.

A battered wooden desk filled the small space, its surface covered with stacks of paper. A bulky old computer sat wedged to one side and disorganised notes were scattered on top of the keyboard. A rusty filing cabinet sat in the far corner.

‘Sorry, it’s a bit of a mess,’ Ryan said, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘Dad’s system isn’t the most organised.’

I nodded. ‘Yeah, I see that.’

‘If it’s too much⁠—’

‘No,’ I said quickly, despite my own reservations. ‘I can handle this. It’ll just take a bit of time to…’ My words trailed away.

‘Sort through the mess?’ he offered helpfully.

I laughed. ‘Yeah, something like that.’

He jerked his head towards the computer. ‘There are some spreadsheets on here… somewhere.’ He leaned over, brushing the notes aside as he reached for the keyboard. ‘I’ll get you logged in.’

I nodded. This was something I could do. Something useful.

I picked up one of the notes, squinting as I tried to decipher the handwriting.

Maybe.