Chapter 14

Itry to move quicker, but it still takes me another forty-five minutes to finish cleaning them out and then thirty minutes to toss down the new bedding. When I’m finished, I come strolling out of the barn to find Wiley driving up with his little side-by-side again. He’s always smiling when I see him. The man is ridiculously carefree and I kind of like it. He’s completely at home here on the ranch, but I have no doubt he’d be that way no matter where he goes.

“All done?” he asks as he leans his forearms on the steering wheel. He’s wearing tan gloves now, but that’s the only change from earlier. He doesn’t look nearly as sweaty or tired as I do. I can’t wait to take a shower.

“All done,” I confirm with a sigh.

“Good. Get in,” he instructs, patting the seat next to him.

I frown. “We’re not done for the day?”

His laughter makes my insides twists despite my exhaustion. “Around here, work don’t stop until it’s done or it’s dinner time.”

Grimacing, I climb onto the side-by-side. “Are there any days off?”

“On the ranch? No. But for you? You get Sundays off, half day Saturdays, and most days won’t be as grueling as this one. We’re making up for lost time and we’ll have more help in a few days, as well.”

“Okay,” I puff, trying to scrap my hair back into some semblance of order. “Where are we going now?”

“I need to check on the new horse. Dakota wants me to check its hooves and make sure they look okay, plus it probably needs a good cleaning. The folks at the rescue center try their best, but they can only do so much with their limited funding.”

“He’s a rescue?” I hadn’t realized that horses could be rescued the same way cats and dogs could be. I’ve just never thought of it. We don’t exactly have horses at the rescue shelter in Jersey, not that I’ve ever seen anyway. There’d been a duck named Donald once. If I’d have had the room, he would have come home with me. William came from the same rescue.

“She is,” he corrects. “We brought her in a few days ago. Last owner apparently just left her out in a pasture and never checked on her. No water or food. She’d been skin and bones and still has a long way to go even now, but we’ll get her fixed right up.”

The horse is in a small pasture by herself closer to the house. She’s a pretty brown horse, but she’s as skinny as Wiley said. “How long until she’s better?”

Wiley shrugs as he climbs the fence instead of using the gate further down. I hesitate but when he reaches down for me, I follow. He helps me over. “A couple of months, at least. You can’t just give a horse all the food after they haven’t had any. It’ll fuck with their stomach, and they could die. For such large creatures, they sure are delicate.”

“She’s beautiful,” I muse as she meanders up to us and sniffs at our hands.

“She is. She’ll be a great horse one day, and I’d say she’s earned her happiness.” Wiley strokes along her back. “Nadia down at the shelter said she’d been on the brink of death when someone had called it in anonymously. I’d like to meet the asshole who treated an animal so cruel.” He grins. “Not that I don’t have Dakota looking into who owns the pasture she was found in.”

My respect for Wiley soars. Any man who cares so deeply about animals is a green flag, and so far, that’s all I’ve seen from Wiley. He seems so carefree, so happy. I can’t imagine him being any other way.

He leans down to start checking her hooves, nodding in approval at the horseshoes there.

“Does she have a name?” I ask. Her eyes are bright and intelligent as she looks into mine. She seems grateful for the attention and despite how skinny she is, there’s strength in her gaze.

“No name yet,” Wiley grunts as he moves around her, checking her over. “The shelter hadn’t given her a name yet and here we like to let the horses settle into their personalities before we name ‘em.” He reaches into a bucket and tosses me a brush from it. “Can you brush her mane? I’ll get her tail. Later, we’ll give her a bath. She’s a bit dusty.”

I get to work untangling the knots in her mane, brushing at them gently until it’s as smooth as possible. Once we’re finished with her brushing, we lead her over to give her a good bath. I use the hose to get her wet and when Wiley wiggles his brows at me, I jerk the water hose toward him like I’m going to spray him. He dances out of the way with a laugh.

“Whoa, city girl! Watch where you’re pointing that thing!” he says, that permanent grin on his face. “Hey, so, you never did say where you’re from. I can tell by your accent you’re not from the south, at least.”

“I didn’t say,” I reply, focusing on washing the horse.

The next time I glance at him, that smile is gone, replaced with a hard expression. His eyes are narrowed as he watches me.

“You runnin’ from something, city girl?” he asks, his voice low.

I hesitate, but I take too long to answer, which is an answer all in itself.

“I see,” he says, before patting me on the shoulder. “As long as it’s not murder, it’s fine. I won’t pry, but I’m here if you need me.”

My heart blooms at his tone, at the way he lets it go without pushing and then offered to talk if I need to. What a fucking gem this man is. “What if it were murder?” I tease, wanting to see his smile again.

He laughs, giving me exactly what I want. “I think I’ll be alright against your five foot nothing, city girl.”

I scowl. “Maybe being underestimated makes me a good murderer.”

“Maybe.” He grins. “But I doubt it. Now, let’s get this horse washed off and put back out to pasture. She has a few hours yet before it’s time to go into the stables. Let her enjoy herself.”

I can’t help but smile over at Wiley as he works, as I work, and our eyes meet a few times. It makes me feel like I did in middle school when I had a crush on a boy. Wiley is adorable and the absolute sweetest. So every time he looks at me, I flush, but I’m not alone in my flirting.

Something tells me the cowboy enjoys my company just as much as I enjoy his.