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Hunter jumped forward and pounded her back several times. “Are you okay?”
She coughed again but nodded, grabbing a napkin to wipe her mouth and then, discretely, the bar top.
“I’m fine,” she gasped when she could finally breathe through her windpipe again. She took another sip of beer to soothe the last of her coughing fit. Then she winced. “I don’t suppose you could ignore the part where I was just the bar’s own personal beer geyser? I haven’t been let out in polite society for a while and apparently I’m rusty at it.” She smiled self-deprecatingly and Hunter couldn’t think of the last time he’d seen anyone more charming or lovely.
“So,” she said when the silence had gone on long enough to be awkward. Shit. Talking. He was supposed to be talking here. He should say something witty. Engaging.
He had nothing.
“Is Marie his wife?” she asked.
It took him a second to realize what she was asking and he finally shook his head with a smirk. “Larry wishes. No, she’s the sheriff.”
“Oh.” She looked a little surprised. “I take it Lawrence has had a few run ins with the law?”
Hunter gave an eye roll. “I think he spent more nights in the drunk tank last year than he did at home. Marie got so tired of hauling his ass in she started playing death metal all night on full blast at the station, which, from what I understand, is hell when you’ve got a hangover.” He smiled. “Most nights Larry gets himself home now before getting too sloppy.”
“I’m Hunter, by the way. Hunter Dawkins.” He held out his hand but then pulled it back at the last second. “Shit, I don’t want you to think I’m just another asshole at the bar trying to hit on you. Sorry,” he pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “I can just leave you to your beer.”
He started to grab his drink, ready to get up and leave.
“No,” she put a hand on his forearm briefly before jerking it away again. His arm tingled where she’d touched him. When was the last time a woman had touched him? He’d thought about trying for a fling a few times since Janine, but in such a small town, it hadn’t seemed worth the effort. Hawthorne wasn’t exactly the kind of place you could pull off an anonymous one night stand.
“It’s fine,” she smiled. “I don’t mind the company. With someone who knows how to respect personal space, that is,” she clarified with a smile. “I’m Isobel.”
“You want another, Hunter?” Bubba asked, pointing to Hunter’s now mostly empty beer mug.
“I’ll just have a Coke this time. Thanks, Bubba.” He had to drive home.
Hunter looked at Isobel quizzically. “So what does bring you to our little town? It’s true we don’t get too many new faces around here.”
“I’ll be working at Mel’s Horse Rescue for the summer.”
Of course. “I should have guessed,” Hunter nodded. “The few new faces we do get around here are usually the ones who cycle through there. You should have a good time. Mel and Xavier are great people.”
“You know them?” Her interest was obviously piqued. Then she shook her head, “I guess everyone knows everyone around here.”
“True enough,” Hunter chuckled in agreement. “But I’m actually godfather to their second son. He’s two and a half.”
“Really? Wow, that’s awesome. So you know them, know them.”
Hunter nodded. Mel and Xavier had been nothing but supportive, both when he and Janine were together and… after. He tried to get out to the ranch to hang out with them whenever he could. It was impossible to be too sad with two rambunctious little boys running around, asking you questions a mile a minute.
“They’re good people,” he repeated.
Isobel propped her elbows on the bar top, her head tipped slightly sideways as she watched him. Her blue eyes were bright but there were slight shadows underneath them.
What was her story, he wondered? She’d done nothing but smile since he’d been talking to her, but it was like he could sense a sadness layered just underneath the surface. It was hard to describe, but it made her even prettier. She was obviously a strong woman not afraid to stand up for herself, but there was a fragile quality to her at the same time.
“It’s amazing work they do,” she said. “I heard about their horse rescue from a horse trainer I know back in New Hampshire. He couldn’t stop singing their praises. Is it true they’ve got twenty-five horses at the ranch that they’ve rescued now?”
“More than that,” Hunter said. “Some of the horses they’re able to rehab and get adopted but there are usually a steady stable of at least thirty horses out there now.”
Her eyes were wide with admiration.
“So that’s how you heard about the rescue,” Hunter asked. “From your trainer friend?”
“Yeah. He told me about it a while ago. I always thought working out here sounded like an amazing opportunity, just something I’d never have time for.” Her eyes clouded over for a moment and she looked down before pasting on a bright smile and shrugging. “Well, I finally have some time and it seemed like a perfect fit.”
