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“I’ll get the supplies,” Daddy said, and his bootsteps left in a hurry.
“You okay, Gerty?”
“Fine.” Gerty had held much heavier horses, for a lot longer. Beauty didn’t even move, but the moment Gerty drained the abscess, she would. “I’m going to check her hoof.” Horses didn’t just get infections for no reason.
“Her hoof is hot,” she said. “We need a vet out here. I can drain the abscess, but I don’t know if I should.”
“I’m calling now,” Gloria said.
Gerty didn’t see any puncture wounds, which would be the biggest thing that would introduce an infection to a horse’s hoof. She hadn’t gone to vet school, but she knew to check for wounds or a hoof crack. Beauty didn’t seem to have anything she could see.
“Got a kit,” Daddy said.
“I can’t do it,” Gerty said. “It’s too much.”
“Gloria’s callin’ the vet,” Mike said, and Gerty was surprised to hear his voice. He hadn’t been standing out in the aisle when she’d come into the stall.
“Come on out then,” Daddy said. “You don’t have to hold her, Gerty.”
“She’s in a lot of pain,” Gerty said. “But she doesn’t seem to be if I hold her leg up like this.”
“You’re not standing there for the next hour until the vet comes.” Daddy chuckled. “I know you would, but no. You have lessons in a few minutes.”
“Can you guys give her something?”
“Gloria will when she’s off the phone,” Daddy said. “Come on, now, baby. Let her go and get out of there.”
Gerty stroked her fingers softly down Beauty’s leg. “Sorry, girl,” she whispered to the horse, and then she released her leg and hoof.
She ducked out of the way, collected her bag, and hurried out of the stall to safety.
“Forty-five minutes,” Gloria said with a sigh. “Thankfully, he’s already out this way, or it would be longer.”
“She needs antibiotics or a pain reliever now,” Gerty said. “Then see if you can’t get her to lie down until he comes.” She handed her farrier tools to her father. “Can you take those, Daddy? I have to go get ready for lessons.”
“Yep,” he said.
“Thanks, Gerty,” Gloria said. “Travis, hold her tight. I’m going to give her the pain meds.”
“I got most of the horses out,” Mike said. “Then I realized you weren’t around, but Hodges and Stella were in the main pasture, snacking on all the good grass.” He smiled at her as they left the others behind. “So I came to find you.”
They reached the end of the aisle, and he put out his hand to pull open the door. “Wow, Gerty. Seein’ you in that stall, in complete control of that horse? Mm, talk about sexy.”
He opened the door and in a very ungentlemanly move, walked outside ahead of her. She stared after him, wondering if her ears had malfunctioned. The men she’d been out with in her twenties had called herbeautiful. Gorgeous. So pretty it hurts to look directly at you.
She’d heard compliments on her clothes, on her work performance, on her hair, eyes, or shoes.
No one had ever,evercalled her sexy.
She knew she wasn’t sexy. She barely had any curves at all, and even then, only in her chest. She was too skinny and too tall, and the combination of the two gave her the figure of a twelve-year-old instead of a grown woman.
“Come on,” Mike called over his shoulder. “You’re already late, and I’m not saddling these beasts with one hand.”
9
Mike took a deep breath and looked at himself in the only bathroom in the generational house. His parents had left already, telling him to come around to the deck when he was ready. He didn’t think he’d ever be ready to have the spotlight shined on him as intensely as it was about to be.
Uncle Gray and Aunt Elise wanted to have a big family party the night before his surgery, and who was he to tell them no? They’d invited everyone who worked on the farm or at Pony Power, and Mike knew everyone on the guest list.
