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Silas unhooked the lead rope and prodded the hesitant horse into the pen.
Legacy stood straighter, seeming to take in her surroundings. She ambled to the fence and then trotted the whole perimeter of the pen as though searching for a way out.
“It’s only temporary.” He caught up to the horse and patted her flank. “We need to watch out for you. This is the best way.”
“I’m going to give her some more meds.” Tess hurried to a UTV that was parked near the pen. “Hopefully we can keep her calm enough. I don’t want her getting too agitated with a potential concussion.”
Silas faced the horse and petted her muzzle while Tess administered a few more shots. “That’s it. All done.”
“Told you she’s a trooper.” The horse had hardly flinched, even with all of those needles.
The woman eyed him, her expression unreadable. “She seems to really respond to you.”
“I have a way with women.” He’d meant it as a joke but Tess instantly turned away from him and cleared her throat. “Um… I’m sure you’re starving. I made some sandwiches. They’re in the house.”
Yeah, he couldn’t go into her house. He couldn’t seem to say the right things around her. The last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable.
He should’ve thought of that before he slept with her.
Tess glanced at him over her shoulder, waiting for an answer.
“That’s all right. I’m not hungry,” he lied. “I should get back to the office anyway, check in with Aiden.” Thatch was probably back by now too. Maybe they actually had some work to do. “We had a bunch of bids we were supposed to hear back on today, so I’d better catch up and get some work done.”
“Oh.” Tess stopped to wait for him. “Okay. If you’re sure.” She opened the gate that led to the driveway. “But you’re coming to the police station with me, right?”
“Yeah.” He couldn’t back out on his promise to help her now. “We can head over there after I stop by the office. Come and get me when you’re ready to go.”
“Sounds good.” They parted ways and Tess veered off to jog up the steps to her porch.
Easing out a long sigh, Silas turned left and pushed through the Cowboy Construction doors. Both Aiden and Thatch were there but neither one of them appeared to be actually working.
“We were wondering where you were.” Thatch aimed a dart at the board on the other side of the room. He was always working on his aim. Usually to no avail.
“Tess had a situation.” Silas went directly to his desk and told them about what had happened in the high meadow.
“Why’d she ride up there today?” Aiden stood in front of the sink at the minibar washing out a mug. “She usually goes on the weekends.”
Silas almost wished he hadn’t known why she’d been to the high meadow this morning. His throat got all tight and achy. “She was up there visiting the memorial. It’s May 12.”
“Shit. I completely forgot.” Aiden dried the mug and set it on the shelf above the coffeepot.
“Me too.” Thatch tossed another dart, narrowly missing the board. And that was why he could never beat Silas.
Silas never missed.
“I didn’t realize the date until she told me.” All of the days had started to run together in his head ever since Tess had turned his world upside down. He found himself thinking about her when he was supposed to be working. He found himself thinking about her when he was trying to fall asleep. And, yes, he was thinking about her right now while he was talking to her brother.
“How’d she seem?” Aiden sat at his desk but didn’t open his laptop.
Silas shrugged. “She felt bad because she forgot it was their anniversary until she heard the date on the news.” Was that really why Tess had felt bad about spacing on the date, or did her guilt have more to do with what had happened between them?
“Man. I remember when she’d start shutting down weeks before her anniversary.” Aiden balled up some of the papers that had been sitting on his desk for the better part of two weeks and tossed them into the trash can. “But it’s good she forgot. That means she’s moving on.”
Thatch plucked the darts out of the board. “Yeah, she’s seemed different these last few weeks.”
“Different?” Silas’s head shot up. “What’d you mean?” Were they messing with him? Did they know? Surely they didn’t know about him and Tess.
“I don’t know…” Thatch gave him a funny look. “She seems to be smiling more, I guess. I’ve even heard her humming a few times. I guess she seems a little happier than she used to be.”
