NATHAN RUBBED HIS tired eyes. The sun was just starting to climb over the horizon and peek through the trees, but he’d already been up for several hours. He had just polished off his third cup of coffee when Jessie made her way into the kitchen.
She barely glanced his way as she walked by. “Been up a while?”
He was surprised she said anything, but at least she seemed friendlier this morning. Then again, why wouldn’t she be as chipper as hell after shoving him into the pool last night? “Since about four a.m. I was just getting ready to start another pot if you want me to do it.”
“I’ll get it.” She reached for a mug and poured what was left in the pot into her cup before adding cream, sipping it as she started brewing a new pot. “Why are you up so early? I know we get up with the chickens but I thought you city boys liked your sleep. And why are you in my kitchen instead of your cabin?”
He let her veiled insult slide. He didn’t even want to attempt to verbally spar with her when he was this tired. It was just easier to be civil. After his dunking last night, he wouldn’t put it past her to dump the coffee over his head. “I started there, but I wanted to catch you before you got too busy this morning. Justin stopped by and let me in before he headed to the clinic.” He held up a file folder. “I thought maybe we could go over some of these files today. Most importantly, the profit-loss statements for the ranch for the past few years.”
She glanced back at him over her shoulder before topping off her coffee with the fresh brew, and her eyes clouded with suspicion. “I don’t have time. There are other things that are more urgent today.”
“More important than figuring out where your money is going? Why it’s disappearing so quickly with nothing to show for it?”
Jessie sighed and turned to glare at him, leaning one hip against the counter. “I have three horses coming in this morning, and I need to evaluate them. If I get finished with them early enough, I’ll meet with you, okay?”
Nathan folded his hands over the spreadsheets covering the surface of the kitchen table and met her gaze. He could be just as stubborn as she was. He would figure out a way to reach her, some sort of compromise that would gain her trust again. He was here to help her, not Justin or his own reputation, but for some reason, she was still balking at his help.
“I’ll tell you what, why don’t we talk about these files over dinner? That way you can finish your work.” Leaving her with no other excuse for avoiding him.
“Dinner?” Her brows arched high on her forehead in surprise, but she ducked her chin and tried to hide it by sipping her coffee. “I don’t think so. You might ply me with a little liquor and convince me to cuddle with you again.”
It was a low blow. It was supposed to be a reminder of what happened the night before he left, but that wasn’t the way he remembered it, not even close. She might have been only eighteen, but the one bottle of beer they’d shared hadn’t impaired her judgment. By the time they’d made love that night, she’d been completely sober. Sober enough that when he tried to stay in control, she’d clung to him like a lifeline, her body hot against his, and he couldn’t fight any longer.
“It’s pretty hard to cuddle with a porcupine,” he retorted.
She lowered her mug and pursed her lips, but he didn’t wait for her reply.
“Look, Jessie, I promise, this is entirely about the ranch. I’m trying to figure out how to bring Heart Fire back into the black, but I need to find out from you which expenses are nonnegotiable. Like this stable mix—what is it and why does it cost so much?”
She chewed at the inside of her lower lip and took a deep breath, looking suddenly unsure and, for the first time since his arrival, slightly vulnerable. “Fine. But only on one condition.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, not wanting to appear too acquiescent. “That depends.”
“Before you go making any recommendations, I want you to see the horses coming in today and watch the evaluation. Then we can talk about the future of the ranch.”
“Why?”
She took another sip from the mug. “You’ll see, but it’s the only way I’ll agree to do this.”
He wasn’t about to waste the rare opportunity to gain this stubborn woman’s cooperation. It didn’t to come easily or often. “Fine, tell me what I need to do.”
She twisted her mouth to the side, trying to hide a smirk as her eyes slid over him. “The first thing you need to do is change into something suitable for working outside.”
“What’s wrong with what I have on?” He looked down at his polo shirt.
Jessie shook her head. “I can’t believe those are the clothes you brought. Don’t you remember anything?” She finished her coffee and chuckled as she put the cup into the dishwasher. “I’ll have Bailey grab you some of Justin’s clothes and swing them by your cabin before she heads to the clinic. You’ll thank me later.”
“Justin’s clothes will be too big and you know it. I’ll be swimming in them.”
Jessie didn’t even bother to hide her grin as she raised her hands in mock apology. Nathan stood and leaned over the table, straightening the documents. It was the first bit of humor he’d seen from her, the first genuine smile she’d even directed his way, and he found himself enjoying the glimpse far more than he should.
“I get the feeling you’re going to make me regret this.” When he looked up, the moment of good-natured teasing had passed. She stopped with her hand on the kitchen door.
“You probably will regret it, but it won’t be my fault.” A frown marred Jessie’s brow, and her eyes looked sad again. “I’ll meet you at the pasture by the barn in an hour.”
NATHAN SHIFTED AGAIN from his position on the porch. How in the world did Justin wear these jeans all day long? They were too big in the waist, so he’d cinched them with a belt, but they were still falling off. He adjusted the weather-beaten baseball cap on his head and sent up a prayer of thanks that no paparazzi had found him here. He’d never live down a picture of him looking like the most uncomfortable redneck alive in an oversized, ratty T-shirt, beat-up cowboy boots, and a camouflage John Deere cap.
He watched Jessie as she stood in the smallest pasture, waiting for the truck and stock trailer creeping down the driveway. She glanced back at him nervously and then leaned over to say something to her brother. Justin was standing beside her wearing the same redneck attire as Nathan, although his hat was on backward. Nathan made his way down the steps to where the pair waited and saw Jessie tense, her shoulders rising and her hands clenching into fists at her side. He wondered how many times he was going to have to apologize before she stopped getting defensive whenever he approached.
“Why don’t you stand over there, Nathan?” Justin pointed near the fence. “We don’t know how these horses are going to act, and it’s better to be safe.”
Nathan took a step backward. “What do you mean ‘safe’?”
“Be as quiet as possible,” Jessie ordered. “Stay out of the way and don’t come in here, no matter what happens.”
Her instructions weren’t putting him any more at ease. With anxiety bunching in his muscles like a current with no release, he watched the pair as the truck pulled up to the pasture and came to a slow, easy stop.
A woman leaned out the window toward Jessie. “You want them in here?”
Jessie took a few steps toward the truck. “Are they okay together?”
The woman nodded and Justin move toward the gate, opening it as the woman backed her aluminum stock trailer inside. The near silence from Jessie and Justin had him curious. He could feel the tension coursing through them, but with nothing to base it on, it seemed odd. He felt out of place, like he was missing some crucial clue, and he gripped the fence hard enough for his knuckles to turn white.
Justin stood by the gate, while the woman parked the truck and moved to the back of the trailer. Unlatching the back door and swinging it wide, she blocked Nathan’s view of the animals inside, but he didn’t miss the look of horror on Jessie’s face. Her eyes immediately widened before welling with tears, as she pinched her lips together, trying not to cry. He recognized pain and anger waging war within her and felt the desire to pull her close, to protect her from the emotions he could see written clearly in her face.
Jessie stepped into the trailer and he heard her murmuring quiet words and nonsense phrases. Slow thumps of what he assumed were hooves came from inside. While he watched in silence from the fence, Jessie led the first animal to Justin for inspection.
What little he was able to see was gut-wrenching.
The animal was nothing but skin stretched tightly over large bones, sunken in unnatural places. Ribs were plainly visible, and he could see each and every bump and ridge of the animal’s hip bones. It looked as if the miserable creature was wasting away from disease with open, festering sores dotting the mangy coat, oozing sickeningly. Its hooves were so unkempt they curled up from the ground, and the weak animal could barely lift its head.
Jessie ran a careful hand over the animal’s neck, speaking quietly in a soothing tone, almost a purr, and he watched in amazement as the neglected animal buried its head against her chest, seeking comfort.
“Okay, Justin, this girl’s going to need your help more than mine.”
Nathan heard the hitch in her voice, as if she was choking back tears, and he tried to swallow the lump lodged in his own throat at the sight of the defeated animal. Justin ran his hands over the horse’s shoulders, inspecting the festering sores. His friend had always had a soft spot for animals in need. It didn’t surprise him that, for all his talk of Jessie making them horse-poor, Justin couldn’t turn the abused animals away without helping them, any more than Jessie could.
“She needs to be in a stall, Jess.” Justin’s voice was thick, as if he was having difficulty speaking as well. “She’s going to need antibiotics, and these sores need to be cleaned several times a day, but I think they will heal up, although they might leave some discoloration on her hide. We should give her a dose of wormer and her shot series. I doubt she’s had them. Let’s get her some food and water first.”
A loud, shrill whinny came from inside the trailer where two other horses waited. There was a crash, and Jessie’s head snapped back to the trailer.
“Deb,” she called to the woman who’d delivered the animals, “why don’t you take her into the first stall on the left so we can get these other two out?”
“You might want to be careful of the next one, Jess,” the other woman said. “He’s pretty attached to the other two, and we had a tough time getting him haltered. I had to tranquilize him and put him between the mares just to get him into the trailer. He’s pretty rank.”
“Sounds like it’s worn off.” Jessie gave Deb a wary glance before looking back at Justin, who simply raised a solitary brow at her stubborn determination before shaking his head. “Relax, I’ll be fine,” she insisted. “Why don’t you man the gate and I’ll let this one come out on his own? We’ll give him some space to explore first.”
Nathan watched as Jessie headed to the side of the trailer, out of his line of sight. He quickly shot a glance at Justin, shocked he’d let his slip of a sister near that metal coffin with what sounded like a crazed animal. He heard several loud bangs come from inside. This situation was dangerous, and he felt completely helpless. He wanted to intercede, to grab Jessie, and to yank her back to safety, but he doubted she’d appreciate him butting into her business, especially after her warning. But if this animal was anywhere close to as dangerous as this woman claimed, Jessie was sure to get hurt.
Why the hell was Justin still standing at the gate? Why didn’t he go check on her?
“Justin, is that horse dangerous?”
“Of course he is.”
“Then go get her. Why are you letting her in there?” His friend’s glance instantly silenced him.
The damn fool woman was going to get herself killed. He heard another slam from inside the trailer and saw Jessie pressed up against the side through the slats. If Justin wasn’t going to make sure she wasn’t being killed, he would. He wasn’t about to stand by and watch it happen.
Nathan opened the gate to the corral and stepped inside as a jet black horse bolted from the back of the trailer like a flash of dark lightning. Baring teeth, the animal reared, striking the ground with his front hooves, intent on doing damage to whomever or whatever might be unlucky enough to cross his path. Right now, that was Nathan.
As the horse charged, rough hands yanked him backward by the collar of his shirt. Jessie ran from the side of the trailer in time to see his butt hit the ground with a thud outside the pasture. Justin jerked the gate shut just as the horse’s teeth snapped the air where Nathan’s head had been moments before. The horse spun back toward Jessie, pawing at the dirt.
Justin glared down at Nathan as he latched the gate. “What the hell are you doing? She said, ‘stay out’!”
“What the hell are you doing leaving her in there with that insane horse? She’s going to get herself hurt.” He jumped up and headed for the gate again but Justin grasped his arm.
“She knows what she’s doing. The only one who’s going to get hurt around here is you.”
Nathan watched Jessie calmly stand her ground, even as the animal reared high into the air, kicking out with his front hooves. He looked far healthier than the other two, at least physically, but he was completely out of control. As the horse dropped back onto all fours, Jessie edged away from the trailer and along the side of the fence, across from where the two of them waited. She cocked her head slightly, peering at the horse as the animal snorted loudly, eyes wide. He pawed at the ground again, watching her intently. When she didn’t react, the animal took a few steps toward her and paused, ears flicking nervously back and forth.
“You’re not so bad, are you?” She was completely focused on the horse, tuning out everything else. “You’ve just got a lot of spirit.”
Nathan’s fingers gripped the top rail, using every ounce of self-control he possessed to remain outside the fence when everything in him screamed to rescue her. The horse bounced on his front feet threateningly, but Jessie remained alert, yet oddly relaxed, turning to face the beast before taking another step toward him.
“Come on, boy. You know better than this. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Nathan couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. “Jessie, could you get your ass out of there before you give me a heart attack?”
Her eyes darted to him, and the horse snapped his teeth at her, his ears flat against his head. She immediately looked back at the horse, but a slight smile slid to her lips as she reached behind a post and grabbed what appeared to be a long stick with a piece of material tied to the end. “Watch and learn, Wall Street.” She took a length of rope from the post.
Nathan cringed as Justin laughed. “Wall Street?”
“Yes, Bailey’s been calling me that, and it appears it’s sticking.”
His eyes never left her as she pointed the end of the stick toward the ground and swung the rope at her side in circles. The horse immediately jumped into motion, taking off in a gallop around the pasture. Jessie moved to the center of the area and let the horse move out. Nathan watched as the animal circled the pasture twice before stopping and turning to face her. She stopped spinning the rope as he quieted.
He didn’t look any less dangerous to Nathan, but Jessie saw what she wanted and walked slowly toward the horse. The animal pinned his ears against his head, lunging forward slightly. Calmly, she circled the rope, and he took off at a run, circling the pasture again. When he started to come too close, she would lift the stick straight in front of her, pointing ahead, and the animal immediately moved away from it.
Seeing that she seemed to not only be safe but also in control of the animal, at least for the moment, Nathan relaxed his grip on the railing and turned to Justin. “Isn’t she just scaring him more?”
“He’s aggressive because he’s afraid. She’s just making him realize he can’t dominate or scare her. He’s trying to bluff her, and she’s not taking it from him. Watch,” he instructed.
After repeating the sequence several times, Nathan saw the horse stop and turn toward Jessie, this time, hanging his head slightly and licking his lips. He took a few steps toward her and stopped. Jessie dropped her hands to her sides, the rope hanging against her leg, but she didn’t move toward the horse.
“He’s quiet now; why doesn’t she just lead him out like Deb did the other one?”
He’d been watching Jessie so intently, he hadn’t even noticed Deb’s return until she laughed beside him. “She’s reading his body language. Dropping her hands like that and softening her body language means he’s welcome to approach. But making him move toward her means he trusts her and respects her authority. He’s acknowledging her as the leader of his ‘herd.’ It’s almost like she knows exactly what he’s thinking. That’s what makes her one of the best I’ve ever seen.“
Nathan arched a brow in disbelief. “She’s his leader? She’s five foot nothing and that animal has to weigh over a thousand pounds.”
“Yep, and if anyone can gentle that horse, it’s Jessie. She’ll teach him to lose his fear, but he will respect her.”
They watched as the horse approached her warily, his ears continually moving back and forth, as Jessie spoke softly to him. The animal stopped, stretching his neck as far as he could, sniffing at her while still trying to remain too far away for her to touch. Nathan was surprised to see her take a few steps back, away from the horse. He moved toward her again, his head low, but this time she allowed him to sniff her before sliding a rope halter around his neck. When he didn’t pull away, she moved it over his nose and tied it on one side.
Nathan stared at Jessie, walking the horse around the pasture as the animal tried to bite her twice. What in the hell was she thinking? That thing was twelve hundred pounds of muscle and temperamental hooves. He was too dangerous ever to be sellable. Even if she could, who would want to ride something that mean? She was obviously great with horses, so why was she wasting time with animals like this when she could be training animals that would make the ranch money?
“Is this what you were talking about?” Nathan asked Justin.
Justin unlatched the gate for Jessie to exit. “Yep. It’s a pretty rare gift, but now you can say you’ve seen a ‘horse whisperer’ in action.”
Jessie walked past them, pretending not to hear the conversation, but Nathan saw a flicker of frustration in her blue eyes.
“Too bad it doesn’t make us a dime,” Justin muttered.