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I stayed back and watched her quietly. She’d traded in the uptight bun for a long ponytail. She didn’t have a stitch of makeup on, and her jeans were dirty, but she was still stunningly beautiful.
“Don’t give me that look. What do you know? You’re just a horse. One that won’t eat either, so obviously, you’re not that smart of a horse,” she said in the same singsong voice she’d been using as she slipped her phone in her back pocket. “You heard what the vet said this morning. You can’t rely on the tube forever. You need to eat.”
Reaching down, she pulled an apple out of a bag. “Debra said you might like this.” With a grimace on her face, she hesitantly held the apple out. “If you eat my fingers, we’re going to have problems, and I don’t think you’re going to like how I deal with that problem.”
Silva sniffed at the apple. He didn’t devour it, but he did take a bite out of it, and my heart soared.
Jillian smiled, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there were tears in her eyes. “See? That wasn’t so bad. You chew on that for a bit, and stop giving me that stare. I’m only here because Brendan apparently thinks that you don’t trust men. I don’t blame you. Men are scum, but Brendan is a stubborn man, and he doesn’t give up that easily. At least not on horses anyway. Wives are a different story.”
What the hell was she talking about? I stiffened. I didn’t give up on her. She’d jumped on that divorce like it was a lifeboat.
Darling whinnied behind her. Jillian sighed and turned. “Silva is never going to be interested in you if you hog all the apples. Relationships are about sharing, and right now, your man, or your stallion rather, needs your support.”
As she fed the rest of the apple to Darling, I chuckled softly and turned away. Now she was giving advice on relationships to horses? At least Silva was interested in something other than the ground.
Happy that the stallion was in good hands, I instead went down to check on Starlight’s progress. The buyers interested in him were getting antsy, and I needed to know when I could put him up for auction. I’d already done background checks on them and knew that he was going to a good home.
If he’d just behave himself.
I heard her scream before I was halfway to the training ring. Breaking into a sprint, I hurried to my sister’s side. She was sprawled out on the ground, and Starlight was prancing proudly away.
“Demon spawn,” Kim grumbled as she sat up. Relief swept through me, and I glared at her angrily.
“What the hell happened? Where is Debra, and why aren’t you wearing your helmet?” She started to get up, but I pushed her back down. “Wait. Does anything hurt?”
“Just my pride, and would you please go away? Starlight is never going to respect me if you’re always hanging around.”
“He just bucked you off, and you’re pissed at me?” Standing, I helped her to her feet. Kim dusted herself off and stalked over to the horse, who immediately danced away. “Where’s Debra?”
“She went to go have a chat with Ben. Apparently, whatever Jillian said lit a fire under her ass. She’s supposed to be right back, but she and Ben are probably getting it on in the barn. Kind of like you and Jillian last week.”
I didn’t even know where to begin.
“First, Jillian and I are none of your business. Secondly, what would Jillian say to Debra to make her and Ben do anything other than snipe at each other?”
“What? It’s obvious that they’re in love with each other. Well, obvious to everyone but them. Jillian picked up on it by the second day. She’s been helping them out in subtle ways.” Kim finally got a hold of Starlight’s reigns and walked him over so she could anchor him to the post.
“What do you mean that Jillian has been helping them out? I didn’t bring her to the ranch to counsel people. She’s supposed to be playing my fucking wife.” I waved my arms in the air like a complete idiot. “Are you supporting her now? Every time you two are together, you’re sniping at each other!”
“I don’t like her,” Kim said simply. “But no one has been able to get through to Debra and Ben. She’s very good at her job.”
“Wonderful. If she’s so good at helping people, maybe she can help them do their jobs because I don’t need a ranch full of lovesick adults. I need a ranch full of people who want to help me run it! Stay off of that horse until Debra gets back,” I growled as I rubbed my temples. What the hell was going on here?
