4. Love

CHAPTER 4

love

I remembered laughing the first time I saw the gloves that were used to examine a mare. They went up to the shoulder, and that visual alone was enough to make several first-years decide to stick with smaller animals.

Which… Fair.

Especially now that Sprite was foaling and her baby needed help.

Lynn, my mentor, raised her brow. "What do we do now?"

"We have to reposition the foal."

"And do you know how to do that?"

"Theoretically, or…?"

She shook her head, and my heart sped up. "Let's go, Lovett. It's time to make the theoretical practical."

I took a deep breath, got into the power stance that we were taught—the one that was designed to save our backs—and did what I needed to do. The moment my hand landed on the little foal, my years of training clicked in. I carefully rotated it into position and then let Sprite take over. Moments later, I was covered in afterbirth, hugging a brand-new baby foal to my cheek.

Lynn sent me a wink. "Kid, you're a natural."

Sprite looked back at me, letting out an unconvinced huff, but I was grateful we'd gotten through this delivery.

Sprite had been a rodeo bronco in her early days and had bucked Luke McCall—the now-retired Rodeo King—clean off. She then kicked him, breaking his hip in two places. Surprisingly, that hadn't been the wreck that'd ended his career.

Sprite's owner had sent her to be sold for meat after the kick, but Sparrow, the former foreman at the Rebel Sky Ranch, managed to rescue her from the auction block.

He'd assumed that Luke had demanded her sale in retaliation for his injuries, but then Luke nearly wept when he discovered Sprite had been saved, and Sparrow had been forced to rethink his position.

I mean, hell. They were married now, so that must've been one helluva change of heart.

All of which was to say that Sprite was a special horse to both of them, and they'd been hovering at the entrance to the foaling stall, stressed to the max ever since they'd heard Lynn say the word breech .

I shucked off the long gloves and the plastic jacket I'd worn to protect my clothing. Sparrow, who I'd known since I was a little kid, unwrapped himself from his husband and gave me a tight hug. "Good work, Lovett. This means so much to us."

I looked over and caught Luke's gaze. He'd crossed his arms over his chest, and tears were streaming from his eyes. Sparrow had once assumed that Luke didn't care about the animals he rode, but anyone looking at the man now would know that Sparrow and horses were his entire life. In that order.

I'd been interning with Lynn ever since I got back from Colorado, and she made sure I went headfirst into everything. I'd had an excellent education, but Lynn was teaching me everything from practical diet management to setting broken bones to birthing calves to euthanasia. Just last night, we'd had to help Trip over at Rebel Sky with a rescue horse that had been too far gone.

While the process had been sad, it had been a privilege, too. That horse'd had a terrible life, but it spent its last few days on this earth being cared for and loved on like it had always deserved.

It put a lot of things into perspective.

When I was in school, Junior worried I might not want to come back to Texas. I understood why, of course. The way things had gone down with Leo still hurt. But I'd been born and raised in this little patch of the Hill Country, and I couldn't imagine settling down anywhere else.

Since Leo lived way out in Seguin, we never ran into each other, and I could build a life I'd be proud of.

While trying very hard not to think about him.

I was mostly successful, given how busy I was, but he'd been coming up in my dreams ever since I'd moved back to the area. I wondered if he knew I was here, then got annoyed with myself for caring.

I climbed into the small truck my brother Peter had sold to me and pulled up Facebook. I didn't do this often, but I went to Leo's page. He was terrible at keeping up with social media, and his selfies were the worst, but I was only interested in one thing.

I held my breath until my eyes tracked down to the word I needed to see: single. I let out a breath, far too relieved.

What in the name of all that is masochistic are you doing, Love?

I didn't know why I was concerned about his status. Hell, it might not even be accurate. He could be married and starting a family for all I knew.

Not that it should've bothered me if he were. Once Leo broke up with me, I certainly hadn't kept to myself. There was a vibrant trans community in Denver, and whenever I had thirty seconds to spare, I was with them. I learned a lot about myself, emotionally and sexually. That's what college was for, right?

At least that's what I told myself.

In my last year at school, I'd had a pretty serious partnership with another nonbinary vet-in-training. After graduation, they'd returned to their small hometown with no plans to maintain a queer identity. I'd felt sad for them but not especially brokenhearted. Our relationship, which had been respectful and supportive, had run its course.

Checking my phone again out of habit, I snarled at Leo's profile. There were plenty of queer people out here in Central Texas, and besides, he was two hours away in that godforsaken river town.

I wondered if he was still living with Ginger.

As I was pulling onto an empty stretch of two-lane, thinking about lunch, a text came in from Lynn. I had Bluetooth read it back to me.

Lynn: Tiberius tried to jump a nasty bit of barbed wire fencing. Wick thinks he needs stitches. Can you take care of it?

I dictated my response.

Me: I'm on it.

I slowed and made a three-point turn on the little highway, heading back toward Rebel Sky. Minutes later, I was in the stallion barn examining the damage to Tiberius's flank.

I whistled under my breath. "Damn, Ty. I thought Sparrow trained that skittishness out of you. What's got you jumping fences?"

Warwick entered, his typical lazy smirk in place. "There's a new mare next door, and he wanted a piece of her."

I shook my head at the wayward stallion. "This is what you get for being a ladies' man."

Tiberius let out an unhappy raspberry but didn't complain too much while I cleaned the wound and stitched him up. Grateful for the cooperation, I stepped back, admiring my work. Days like this assured me that the sacrifices I'd made to live this life had been worth it. Mostly.

"Wow, Love. Good job with those stitches."

My shoulders locked up as a warm shiver went through me. Even though it had deepened and matured, I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Leo.

I must've conjured him up by checking out his Facebook page. I wanted to look just to make sure I wasn't hearing things, but I wasn't sure which would be worse: Leo in the flesh or as a figment of my imagination.

The expression on Warwick's face told me that I hadn't imagined a damned thing.

Wick made an uncharacteristically silent exit, and I took my time removing my bloodied gloves before turning around. When I did, my breath caught in my throat. Leo stood in the entrance, backlit by the sun, wearing beat-up tennis shoes, swim trunks, and an Everly Plumbing T-shirt.

Seemed he was still working with Major.

He was a little taller, and his hair had darkened from a light brown to a gorgeous chocolate. The sweet roundness of his baby face had matured into sharp, sexy angles covered by the beginnings of a five-o'clock shadow, even as his pretty blue eyes remained beguilingly innocent. I'd thought I couldn't imagine someone more beautiful than the boy I'd left behind, but I was fucking wrong.

And God, how that pissed me off.