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“Is there a place I can wash up?” Isobel looked around and saw a deep sink at the back of the stable right as Jeremiah pointed it out. She went and scrubbed her hands with soap, trying not to let her nerves get the better of her at the thought of Hunter watching her. Was he looking at her right now?
Just think about the horses.
They could sense unease and it was important to be as calm as possible when dealing with the intuitive animals. She took a deep breath in and then let it out again—trying not to think about how Hunter had instructed her to do the very same thing last night while he was buried deep inside—
She twirled on her heel and walked back to where Jeremiah was leading another horse out of its stall. In the distance, she saw Mack leading the gelding who had just gotten his shot out of the stables. She knew it was important to let a horse move and exercise lightly after getting their shots to ease any achiness in the muscles.
Jeremiah brought a dark brown mare toward them. The horse’s mane was glossy but she walked hesitantly. A clear indicator that she was in pain. Isobel’s brows furrowed as Jeremiah brought the mare to a halt.
This place was a rescue. When Rick had first mentioned it, he told her some of the horses’ stories. How they were abandoned racehorses that were considered useless after they were no longer in their prime. Or how other horses came here after it was discovered they were mistreated by their owners. If Isobel thought about it too much she’d want to break something. Not exactly the attitude she needed to have when dealing with this big, beautiful creature.
“Good morning, gorgeous.” Isobel held out her hand to the horse’s nose. Then, with her other hand she began to gently stroke along her wither, the equivalent of a horse’s shoulder.
The mare turned her head toward Isobel, blowing out a puff of air through her nose, investigating her.
“What’s her name?” Isobel asked, smiling and continuing to pat the horse.
“This is Bright Beauty,” Jeremiah said.
“Bright Beauty. You are a beautiful girl, aren’t you?” She leaned a little closer and blew lightly into the mare’s nose to let her start getting acquainted with her scent. It was how horses in the wild introduced themselves to one another. Made offers of friendship, as it were.
Bright Beauty knickered in response and nudged Isobel’s face, blowing back. Friendship accepted.
Isobel laughed and leaned her forehead against the horse. “I’m going to take real good care of you, Beauty. We’ve got to give you some medicine. It might sting for a second, but it will keep you healthy.” Isobel patted down her neck, stroking along the grain of her coat.
“How’s the rehab with her going?” Hunter asked Jeremiah, running his hand along Beauty’s flank and down to her back leg.
Isobel stepped back to watch. The horse shifted and her head dropped. More indicators that she was in pain.
Isobel winced, her heart squeezing at the thought of the beautiful mare hurting. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She was a show horse. Barrel jumping,” Jeremiah said. “She got hurt and her owner didn’t give her enough time to heal before jumping her again and reinjuring her even worse.”
“Tore her suspensory ligaments in her hind legs,” Hunter said, feeling along the horse’s leg. “It takes between eight to twelve months for an injury like that to fully heal.”
Jeremiah nodded. “The owners were real bastards. They were just going to put her down, but a friend of Mr. Kent’s let him and Mel know about it. Mr. Kent drove two days straight to pick her up and bring her home.”
“How long has she been here?”
“Just a little over a month.”
A show horse. Isobel shook her head at the thought of her owners pushing her to the limit for their own selfish desires, even at the risk of her health.
Do you want to be pretty or do you want to be a fat hog everybody makes fun of? Your appearance reflects on your father. Who’s going to trust a man with their business when his own daughter can’t show any self-control? Do you know how embarrassing it would be for your father if I have to take you to the plus size section to shop for you? Everyone would laugh at him. And to think, the name Isobel means beautiful.
Isobel swallowed hard. God, would she ever be free of that woman’s voice in her head?
Hunter finished his inspection of Beauty’s hind legs and stood back up. “The swelling has gone down some. Keep her on stall rest. Just ten minutes of walking a day to work out any soreness.”
“Will do,” Jeremiah said.
“What a beautiful, brave horse you are,” Isobel murmured, stroking down her mane. Then she turned sharply to Jeremiah. “She won’t go back to those people, will she? Even if she gets better?”
It was Hunter who shook his head. “Once you meet Xavier, you’ll understand. He’s not a man who puts up with cruelty to horses.”
“From what I hear, it was a good thing Mel was with him,” Jeremiah said. “Xavier was ready to pound that guy into the ground.”
The more I heard about him, the more I liked Mel’s husband.
