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“Welcome,” Marlo greeted upon entering the house. “Let me go find Austin for you, I’ll be right back.”
My stomach did a nosedive into my gut. My feelings for Austin had temporarily ceased until that moment. Why did things have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t he be some ugly guy who wasn’t smart and didn’t have a nice smile with great teeth? I would have much rather he been someone who didn’t make my heart pound in my chest whenever I thought about him—like right now, when I pictured him looking at me from across a table, or holding the door open for me—
“Hey, Nova.”
—Or every time he spoke to me.
I turned around slowly, mainly taking the time to compose myself, and said, “Hey, Austin,” as casually as I could.
Oh, my God, he looked better than I remembered. How was that possible? I just saw him the day before! Then I recognized the difference. It looked like he’d just showered, but I could tell he hadn’t shaved. That twelve o’clock shadow dusted his face very nicely, and I concluded that it must be his out-of-the-office, weekend appearance.
It worked very well for him, but the fact he was incredible to look at really fucking annoyed me!
“How’d it go with Jack?” he inquired.
“Oh, it went great,” I replied, still trying to recover by taking silent, steady breaths; staring past him and not directly at him.
“You decide on what you’re gonna do? Will you be working here?”
He took a pair of shoes into the living room and sat down on an ottoman to put them on, so I gave him a brief rundown of the plan I decided with Jack.
“That’s great,” Austin nodded.
“Did you just wake up?” I had to ask.
He chuckled when he stood. “Is it that obvious?” He rubbed his face and said, “Yeah, I was the lucky sucker my mom sent out looking for the dog last night. We were pretty sure she was in labor, and she disappeared.”
“Where was she?”
“Behind the guesthouse in the woodshed.”
“Ooh, and you moved her?” I cringed.
“No, she followed me, so I just walked her into Jack’s office. I heard she started having ‘em, though. Is she still in labor?”
“Yes, she had four already.”
“More to come?”
“Probably at least one or two more,” I answered, thinking I should be there when they arrived. Unfortunately, someone else had distracted me, and that made me feel guilty.
“Hmm,” he nodded. “Did you want to check on her progress?”
I smiled at the consideration. “Yes, if you don’t mind.”
“Nah. But, just a sec.” I waited until he returned with a paper plate with three apple fritters, and he offered me one.
We walked to the barn in silence as we ate. There was another trailer parked at the arena where two horses were being unloaded. Austin said hi to the owners as we passed, and one of the horses let out a long, loud whinny. It seemed to provoke a response from other horses nearby, and they hollered their responses back.
“A lot of horse talk goes on around here,” Austin joked.
I laughed while he held the door to the arena for me, and then the door to Jack’s office. Jack popped his head out from the back room and paused for a moment.
“Just lost one,” he informed us. He motioned us back while I stuffed the last of the fritter in my mouth, and I saw the tiny little pup lifeless in a towel on the counter. “So, Nova? What do you think?”
I stepped up to the counter, and after looking over the litter and then the deceased pup on the table, I asked, “Do you mind?”
Jack shook his head with a slight smile, so I slipped on a pair of sterile gloves before uncovering the rest of the puppy.
“What time did she have the first one?” I asked.
“About four this morning.”
I took my pinky finger to open the pup’s mouth. “Well, seeing that Goldie had number five—” I nodded with my head to the litter “—and this little guy is number six?”
Jack nodded.
“I’m going to say he’s been in the birth canal for too long, or he’s breathed in birthing fluids. His tongue is blue...” I continued to look him over but didn’t see anything suggesting any other cause. “He died from lack of oxygen, but I’d do a necropsy just to be sure.”
“Nice job. And would you like to stay for said necropsy?”
“Yes,” I answered immediately.
He chuckled when he took the last fritter from the plate Austin had set down for him. “Okay, give me about an hour and we can get started on that.” After taking a bite, he glanced at the clock and mumbled, “How ‘bout noon?”
I agreed, and when we left the office, Austin said, “You seem a little happy to dissect a puppy.”
I rolled my eyes, scoffing as I faced him. “I’m not insensitive about death.”
“I wasn’t implying that.”
We walked for a few seconds. “If you think about how many animals are in the world, it’s kind of an incredible amount. There are so many cats and dogs, pets that people don’t even take care of, and they just seem to come and go. Everything is in balance, and I realize even if I become the best I can be, I’m still not going to save them all. I believe there’s a purpose for every living thing, and when something dies, I have to tell myself it was meant to be that way no matter what.”
“I agree with you. And it wasn’t meant to mean anything. Sorry, I guess I’m used to teasing Jack about all that stuff. I even tell him he likes sticking his hands up a horse when she’s giving birth.”
I chuckled at that, and nodded. “Okay. And I can take a joke, but I just wanted to clarify that I guess.”
“Understandable. It’s part of your vet oath, isn’t it?” he smiled.
“Yeah, something like that.” We walked a bit more, and for some reason, I added, “I’ve never even had a pet of my own.”
“Really?”
“Nope. My grandma was allergic to cats and my grandpa didn’t like dogs. My mom worked a lot, so she couldn’t even take care of a fish. And when we moved into an apartment, pets weren’t allowed. So, I guess I’ve never really been attached to any sort of animal,” I shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to be a vet because I never got to be around them.”
We approached a fence behind the stables, and stopped. There were eight horses in the closest field, grazing on the grass.
“This is Field One, FYI,” Austin told me.
“Okay.”
He pointed to the next fields over and said, “Field Two, Field Three, and back there behind the guesthouse is Field Four.”
I nodded.
“Across the road is Five and Six, and behind the main house is Seven and Eight.”
“All right.”
“These three fields are mainly the horses that compete. They aren’t divided up by ownership, but how they mingle with the other horses. We don’t put horses together that don’t get along because they could really hurt each other. The stable crew pastures them in shifts. It’s on a chart in the barn if you ever need to know it, or need to find a particular horse.”
“Okay.” I studied the four fields to get a good look at the horses. It was a beautiful sight to see so many of them in one place. “Do any of these horses belong to your family?”
“Yep. Right there is one of Sami’s horses.” He pointed to a tall, dark mare.
“Over there is my mom’s baby. He’s a spoiled brat.”
“Do you even know their names?” I joked.
He gave me a funny scowl. “Pssh, of course I do. Sami’s girl is Queen Sadie Elizabeth— ‘Sadie Liz’ for short. My mom’s brat is Aces Diamond Rio— ‘Ace.’ Over there is Cash the Check— ‘Cash.’ Uh...right there is Nellie...there’s Ridley. Zorro’s Last Choice and Conan belong to our stable manager, Heath. That old dickhead right there is Zazu Zebedee. In Field Two is Bench Rider,” he pointed, “and Spitfire is another one of Sam’s. And that black one there is Wizard.”
He seemed to be done when he glanced at me, so I replied, “Wow, how many horses does just your family own?”
“As of now, there are eighteen.” He turned around and faced the field behind the main house. “Two are in Field Five with their colts. We have two studs on the other side of the arena. They’re kept in pretty secure quarters,” he smiled.
“Yeah, wouldn’t want that pent-up sperm let loose.”
“Exactly. So, did you see the inside of the arena, or just the clinic?”
“Mainly just the clinic.”
“Okay, follow me.”
We entered the stable, and I eyed the rows of stalls. It was very professional—wood and wrought iron—and each gate had a plaque with a name slid into it.
“How many horses can you board in here?”
“Forty stalls in this building, and there are a few smaller barns out in the other fields that can hold fifteen more. We don’t have them all filled year-round, but this place here is usually pretty busy.”
I glanced at some of the names on the stall doors while we walked by. Most of them were extremely interesting.
“Yeah, naming horses is a big deal,” Austin said when I chuckled at “Your Highness, Cute as a Button” and “Your Antique Rolls Royce.”
I looked at another and read, “‘Wing and a Prayer for a Slothful Soul’? Do they call him ‘Wing’, ‘Prayer’, or ‘Sloth’?”
“I think I’ve only heard ‘Wing and a Prayer.’”
“So, where’s your pony?” I teased.
With a gesture of his hand he replied, “Aisle Two, milady.”
“Seriously?”
“I see you’re shocked I own a horsey,” he replied with feigned disbelief.
“You said the rest of your family does the horse-thing.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t own one.”
We stopped in front of a stall and faced a beast of a horse. He was probably the tallest one in the barn, and his stall was even larger than the others.
“Holy crap, what do you feed this thing?”
“Nova Reynolds, meet Need for Speed.”
“Well, hello, Speed.”
“Yeah, you got this nickname thing down,” Austin said, reaching over the stall to pat Speed’s head.
“Is he a race horse?”
“Yep. A pretty damn good one, too.”
“Wow, I’m afraid to tell my grandfather about this because he’ll want to hit the tracks again.”
Austin laughed. “Maybe you should take him sometime.”
“He’s sworn off racetracks.” I tried to pet the horse, but he threw his head from me, and it made me jump.
“Sorry, he’s pretty fussy. He’s probably the top of the high-maintenance list here.” He reached for the horse again and patted the side of his face. “Watch it, pal. She may give you a tranquilizer one of these days. Or a rectal exam.” He turned to me and said, “You’ll like my other kid. She’s a lot friendlier.”
“You have two?”
“Yep. She’s out back with my dad’s two horses.”
He led me past the riding arena and headed for the guesthouse. We stopped at Field Four, and Austin let out a little whistle. One of the horses responded right away, and a group of five others trotted behind it.
“This is Down and Dirty,” Austin said, petting the lead horse. She appeared to be just as tall as Speed was.
I smiled and pet the side of her face. “Do they just call you Dirty?” I asked.
“Dirty Girl paid for two years of college for me,” he smiled. “She’s retired now, but does great on the trails with these other guys.” He snapped his fingers, and another one came closer. “This is Bad Whiskey, my dad’s horse. She’s a pretty good girl. And this big guy is his other one, Okie Dokie. He’s also a retired racer.”
I was enthralled with all the horse names. I didn’t think for the life of me I’d remember them all, and I told Austin that, but he assured me it wouldn’t take long.
“I don’t remember a lot of the ones that aren’t here all the time.” He shrugged. “But I’m familiar with a name after I’ve seen it in the office.”
“Who are these two?” I asked, patting the other pair who’d come to the fence.
“Those are Katie’s horses. That’s Happy Appy and that one is Inky Black.”
“So...Happy and Inky, right?” I tried. “Does Katie compete, too?”
“Nope, she just likes to ride. These are trail horses. My mom and Sami are the only competitors in the family. My sister used to do a lot of the dressage and jumping competitions, but now she’s been doing more rodeo, like barrel racing and pole bending.”
“I think I’d like to see her compete sometime.”
“Rodeo season is always here,” he smiled. “She loves an audience, so I suggest you attend one. A lot of the employees around here will go and watch her compete. They’re kind of like our extended family. Some of the people here have been here from the beginning. Heath was my parents’ first hired hand. And his wife, Clara, runs the guesthouse. Have you met either of them?”
I shook my head. “I’ve only met Jack, your mom, and Sam.”
“Oh, you met Sam? I didn’t know she was here today.”
“She said something about going riding later.” I cringed. “I’m not an experienced rider.”
“Really? You’ve ridden a horse, though, right?”
“Well...not really. I’ve sat on one, but that doesn’t count as riding.”
“Are you afraid of them?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Then Sam will have fun with you. She’s a great teacher.”
“And what about you? You’ve got a trail horse now. Does that mean you ride her?”
“Sometimes we go up the mountain and do the whole horseback/camping thing. It can be fun, but that’s the only horse sport I put up with. I’ve gone out with my dad to search for animals—other horses that got loose in the mountains, or cattle—but that’s about it. I have other interests that I—”
“Hey, Austin!” someone hollered from the guesthouse. “Jack’s looking for you!”
I glanced at my watch, which read eleven-fifty.
Austin smiled at me and said, “Sounds like it’s necropsy time.” We began heading for the arena when he added, “By the way, can you stay for dinner? My mom wanted a head count.”
I briefly considered that option, not sure if my initial reaction was a yes or a no. “I guess so.”
Austin walked me back to Jack’s office, and then left. I took a deep breath and switched gears as I entered the back room. Marlo was tending to Goldie and the puppies, and Jack had everything set up to begin. I washed my hands and put on a pair of sterile gloves while returning Marlo’s greeting.
“Are you done touring the ranch?” she added.
“I saw quite a lot. The horses are beautiful, but it might take a while to remember names.”
She smiled kindly. “You’ll figure it out after a while. There are other animals around here that you’ll have to get used to, as well. Did you meet Tilly and Max?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Those are our other dogs. And there’s a housecat in the guesthouse, Rivera, and I have a cat in the main house, Tinker. The two barn cats are Tuffs and Swamp Grass.”
“The names around here are fascinating,” I laughed.
“Did you meet Kick in the Ass?” Jack wondered.
“Um, no. Is that a horse?”
“That’s my horse,” he replied with a nod. He set a tray of tools on the counter and adjusted the overhead light to rest over our subject. “Well, let’s get started, Nova. I’ll let you get to it if you walk me through what you’re doing.”
I glanced at Marlo, but apparently, she was planning to stay. She finished with the puppies and washed her hands, and then stood next to the counter just in time to watch me make my first cut.