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Would that be so bad? Henry would likely make sure she was taken care of. At least that was something.
“Athena! So help me, if you take one more step—” Henry’s voice rang out over the commotion of the other cowboys and yet she still couldn’t stop her progress.
“Shh. Shh. Shh,” she soothed. “You’re okay. It’s me. Remember?”
The horse didn’t move. He remained right where he was even though different parts of him twitched.
“Hey, buddy,” she murmured, finally getting close enough that she would be able to touch him if she only reached out with her hands. “Did those mean cowboys bring you out here when you weren’t ready?”
His eyes opened a little more and then returned to normal. He snorted and bobbed his head.
She let out a soft laugh. “I know. I don’t like it when that happens either.” Athena placed her hand on his nose softly at first, then she held onto him with both hands. She scratched his cheeks and hummed a little tune. “It’s gonna be okay, you know? Wherever you came from, it’s not going to be like that here. The people here, they’re good. They’re going to make sure you’re fed and warm. They’re going to make sure you don’t get sick. But you’re going to have to let them teach you some manners.”
The horse snorted and pulled his head from her grasp. It was as if he could actually understand what she was saying.
She smiled, shoving her hands into her pockets to show him that she wasn’t going to push him too hard. “You’re stubborn… like me. And that’s okay, too. Eventually, you’re going to learn that it’s easier to let yourself trust. It’s too exhausting to be on guard all the time.”
Her words hit her harder than she expected them to. With a glance over her shoulder, she found that several other cowboys and a few of the women who hung around the ranch had gathered. “I know it’s not going to be easy, but I have faith in you. Don’t listen to what they say. You’re not a beast.”
He blew out a heavy breath through his nostrils and bobbed his head.
Athena bit back a grin. “Yeah, maybe the name fits you better than I thought.”
Beast took a step toward her, and she reached for the lead rope at his chin. With one final hoof hitting the dirt, he gave a shake to his head. She tugged on the rope and wandered around the perimeter. The closer they got to the group, the more agitated Beast became, but with her hand firmly holding the lead, his attitude remained in check.
The second they stopped at the gate, Daniel and the other cowboy carefully entered the corral. Their wide gazes shifted from Athena to the horse and back. She held the rope out to Daniel, giving him a pointed look. “Next time, go a little slower. Talk to him, tell him what’s going on.”
Daniel lifted a brow. “You want me to talk to the beast?”
She smiled up at the animal. “I think he’d appreciate knowing what’s coming. I know I would.” Athena didn’t care if they thought she was crazy. She’d made a connection with the beast—a fact that none of them could say they did themselves.
Athena slipped out of the corral, blood on fire, heart racing, and breathless. She’d never done anything like that. It wasn’t until she was a few yards away from the corral that she realized Henry was guiding her toward the house—and he was talking.
“I don’t know what you were thinking. You’ve got to be crazy, or you’ve been holding out on me.” His tone was sharp, but there was an underlying relief to it. “I swear, if something had happened to you…” His voice trailed off, giving away more than he might have intended.
Athena avoided his eyes, pretending she hadn’t been listening.
“Athena,” he said firmly, “you can’t do stuff like that. It’s reckless.”
She glanced up at him. “I talked to your brothers.” It was the only thing she could say. Not only had she opened up to Henry, but now she was allowing his family to slip through her defenses. Sure, she’d been talking about the horse, but she’d actually said more than two words to them. And now they knew her name.
Henry’s open mouth shut tight. She couldn’t be sure if it was because she’d disregarded his lecture or if he had realized what a milestone it was for her to be speaking to people other than him.
Athena took in a deep breath and settled on the porch steps to the house. “It wasn’t reckless.”
He snorted. “Yes, it was.”
“I think it was amazing.” The new voice drew Athena’s attention, and she glanced up to come face-to-face with someone new. The woman had pink hair and tattoos. She even had a piercing on her nose. Athena’s eyes widened. This was the bride from the night she’d shown up. She looked different without the white gown. The woman dropped down beside her on the steps, much to Henry’s disapproval. “You’ve got something special, you know that? I think you need to harness it.”
“Harness it? Harness what, Harley?” Henry demanded. “She can’t just go into corrals with dangerous animals.”
“She can if she has a gift, and I think she does. Mason said himself that if she wasn’t there, it would have taken several guys with ropes just to get him back in his stall. She did it all on her own.” Harley bumped her shoulder against Athena’s. “Take it from me. If you got a gift, you need to take advantage of it. Maybe these guys should hire you—then again, maybe I’ll get Mason to hire you for my uncle’s farm. We don’t have a lot of horses, but some of them could use training.”
“Not gonna happen, Harley.” Henry crossed his arms.
She winked at Athena. “Think about it, will you? Someone with your talents shouldn’t be hiding them.” Harley got to her feet and sauntered toward the corral where the two cowboys were fairing a little better.
“Don’t worry,” Athena murmured. “I’m not gonna do any of that.”
