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“What do you mean?” She looks at me as we pass the first set of stalls.
“We rescue the horses and then train them so they can work with people who are in therapy.” I smile at her as she looks amazed. “He deals with a whole slew of people, but he is really set on domestic violence survivors and military members who suffer from PTSD.”
“That’s amazing,” she says with wonder in her eyes.
“This here is Misty.” I point at the brown horse who is watching us, unsure. “Daisy.” I point across from her, seeing another girl who is also a little apprehensive. We walk down the whole row as I point out Sugar, Holly, Sierra, Poppy, and Serenity. “My newest girl," I say, pointing at the last stall, “Fireball.” She laughs at the name. The white horse just leers at me. “Don’t laugh, she fucking hates me with everything in her.”
“I find it hard to believe that anyone could hate you, Gabriel,” she murmurs softly, walking to the stall. I am two steps behind her, making sure Fireball doesn’t nip at her, like she used to do.
“Then meet the first person to hate me,” I tell her as she gets to the gate and Fireball comes over to her.
“Hi,” she coos, “I’m Zara.”
“Hold out your hand so she can smell you,” I tell her and she does what I say.
“I don’t like him either, most times,” she says of me and I put my hands on my hips and shake my head laughing. “Like this morning after he left, I didn’t like him at all.” Zara side-eyes me. “We said we would keep things between us and he didn’t do that.”
“What are you talking about, Sweetheart?” I ask her.
“Don’t think you can soften me up by calling me Sweetheart,” she chides while Fireball goes to her hand and sniffs it. “Besides, I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to her.” She turns back around. “Imagine my surprise when Sofia calls me and asks me if I slept with her cousin Gabriel.” I look up at the ceiling of the barn. “Because he called her and asked her for my number.”
“How was I supposed to get it?” I cut into her conversation with the horse.
“And instead of asking me for my number, he calls my sister-in-law,” she answers the horse and not me.
“Would you have given me your number if I asked for it?”
“He will never know if I would have given it to him or not since he didn’t ask me first,” she confides to Fireball, whose tail flies up, scaring her.
“That means she probably agrees with you,” I reassure her.
“Obviously, she agrees with me.” She doesn’t even look at me. “She looks like she is a great judge of character.”
“Do you want to ride her?” I finally ask her, and she tries to hide the smile at first, but it fills her face.
“Can I ride you, pretty girl?” she asks her. “And you have to promise not to freak me out.” Fireball just steps back, waiting for the gate to open.
I step in front of Zara before opening the gate and reaching out for her halter. “Come on, girl, let’s get a saddle on you.”
“That isn’t going to, like, hurt her, is it?” Zara asks me as she steps out of the way for Fireball to walk out of her stall. “If it’s going to hurt her, we can do this another time.”
“It’s not going to hurt her, Sweetheart,” I assure her softly. “Do you want to walk her to her saddle?”
She scoffs. “No.” She shakes her head. “What if she is like, ‘I’m going to dip as soon as he lets me go,’ and she escapes and gets lost in the woods?”
“Zara.” I try not to laugh.
“What? She might not want this life for herself.”
“Her old owners used to dope her up and make her perform at kiddie birthday parties,” I fill her in, earning a gasp. “So she may be stubborn, but I think she’s happier.”
“Fine.” She gives in when we stop for a second.
“I’m going to get you a saddle and bridle,” I tell her. “Watch her.”
I don’t wait for her to think twice before walking away, but listen to her conversation. “I’m going to need you not to escape while he’s gone,” she tells her. “He may seem like a brute sometimes, but he’s a really good kisser.” I silently laugh. “Not the best I’ve had, but it’s decent.”
“I heard that,” I say, peeking around the wall.
