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“This is the horse you brought out to the field?”
“It is.”
“What’s his name?”
Lucas shook his head. “We haven’t given him one.”
“Maybe that’s part of the problem.”
He shrugged, smiling. “At this point I’ll try anything. You want to name him?”
I smiled back. “Sure.”
We reached the paddock, and Lucas brushed his hand down my arm before hopping over the fence. I climbed up onto the first rung of the fence and leaned on it, watching him.
He was beautiful in his element. All power and control, and he was here with me. Protecting, watching, and wanting.
Right here in this moment, I felt free. There was so much wrong, and the weight of Nathan hadn’t gone away, but it was easier to set it aside for a while.
Lucas disappeared into the stable. While I was waiting, a woman came up to the fence a few feet away. She appeared out of nowhere, no sound, like a ghost. I’d seen her at a distance around the ranch, doing various tasks, but I didn’t know anything about her other than that she worked here.
“Hello,” I said.
She smiled but said nothing. Given the way Lucas and the other owners cared about this place, I didn’t doubt that she was safe. And even without words, my gut told me that she was a good person. There was no disturbance or tension around her. I’d relied on my gut for years to keep me alive, and I wasn’t going to stop now.
Lucas came out of the stable leading the horse, smiled in my direction, and raised his hand in greeting to someone behind me. I turned to find a middle-aged woman approaching. She was beautiful in an effortless way and clearly not dressed for ranch work. I stepped down off the fence as she approached. I recognized her vaguely. She’d been here the day I arrived, before I’d met Lucas. I’d been coming in as she was going out. “Hello, Mara,” she said to the other woman.
Mara. I would remember that.
Then she turned to me with a smile. “Hi again. We haven’t officially met. I’m Rayne.”
“Evelyn.” I shook her hand when she offered.
“Oh,” her face lit up, “I’d heard someone new was staying at the ranch. I didn’t realize that you’d stayed.”
My stomach tightened. They’d told her about me? What had they said?
She noted the look on my face. “Don’t worry, I don’t know anything about you apart from your name. I’m a therapist in Garnet Bend, and I work with Resting Warrior and their clients. I have someone who could benefit from a good therapy horse, so I made arrangements to come see the progress with Lucas.”
“Slow progress, I’m afraid,” he said, approaching on the other side of the fence. “He’s still stubborn.”
Rayne looked across the paddock at the horse who was prancing around nervously. “Do you still think he has potential?”
“I do,” Lucas said. “I think there’s something I’m missing that will unlock his trust, but I haven’t found it yet.”
They continued to talk about the horse, but I took the opportunity to observe Rayne. A therapist. When Lucas had suggested that I talk to someone, this must have been who he meant. He’d mentioned she was a doctor and everything. She seemed nice and approachable. I’d never thought that I’d be able to talk to anyone about what had happened, but I’d told Lucas everything.
If I really did have PTSD, then maybe it was a good idea. But I was still worried about what would happen if Nathan found her. She didn’t live at Resting Warrior and wouldn’t be protected in the same way.
“I offered the naming opportunity to Evelyn here. Have you thought of one?” Lucas’s voice brought me back to the present.
I looked over at the horse—a chestnut stallion whose color shone copper like metal in the sun. “Penny,” I said, going with instinct. “That’s what he looks like when he shines.”
“Penny,” Rayne said with a smile. “A good name for a horse.”
“It is.” Lucas smiled.
He moved away, and the chase began. He wasn’t actually chasing Penny, just trying to approach slowly. It was a way of pushing his boundaries. Harlan came out of the stable, too, and nodded to Lucas. Together they walked around Penny, the horse not having it even though they weren’t doing anything threatening.
