Autumn's Hope (Cowboy Seasons) (11 page)

“Almost
there. No, yelling, screaming, roughhousing, or anything. My barn, my rules.”
He felt her head nod. He expected a rebuttal. “Here we are.”

She
gasped and kissed him on the jaw. “For me?”

He
set her in the rocker recliner. He’d placed a big pillow on it for her back and
a new woolen blanket lay on the arm of the chair. Next to the green chair were
books, bottles of water and juice. “
Here.
” He placed
the plaid blanket over her and tucked around her body.

“Why?”
Her eyes glistened but so far she held her tears back.

“So
I can keep an eye on you and make sure you stay put. I didn’t get much done
yesterday imagining you doing yoga or something.”

She
burst out laughing. “Yoga?”

“Whatever
you ladies like to do. And I know my kitchen is too tempting to you. I see how
you covet it.”

“Covet?”
She shook her head and relaxed against the back of the chair. “I thought I was
secretly coveting your kitchen.”

Her
wink stunned him. His face heated and a charge of energy went through his body.
“No secrets around here. I know everything I need to know.”

“If
you say so.”

“Listen,
Fall—”

“You
know I don’t like that.” She tried to hide her smile but it didn’t work.

“Warm
enough?”

She
nodded glancing around the barn.

“This
is where I keep the horses. Some are mine and some are the rescue horses.”

“I
heard you take in the worst cases.”

“I
do. Colt takes in a lot of them and works with them so they can go to new
responsible owners. Stone McCoy takes the overflow. I take the rest, the ones
that don’t really have a chance. They need to go somewhere for their last days
or months. Sometimes you never know. I’ve seen miracles happen in this barn.
There have been horses that I was sure wouldn’t last the night become strong
enough for Colt to take. Sadly, that’s the exception.”

“You’re
a kind man.”

“I
thought that having you here would serve two purposes.”

“Two?”
She cocked her right eyebrow.

“Yep,
one is for you to talk to the animals, it helps and the second is to keep you
busy.”

“I
should take offense but I want to see the horses.”

He
smiled. “Good thing I had wheels put on your chair. Some of the horses can’t
make it out of their stalls and it can be sad. Are you up for it?”

“I
think so. If I can ease them by just talking to them, I’d like to try.”

Her
enthusiasm warmed his heart. “They like carrots so you already have something
in common.”

Her
laughter rang through the barn. “If I had something handy to throw at you I
would.”

He
opened a stall door and went in, talking to the paint in low tones. He led her
out of the stall and brought the horse to Autumn. “Autumn this is Paint. And
yes that is her name. Paint was found in the next county wandering around.
She’s skinny now but she’s actually come a long way. According to Holden it
looked like she’d been eating rocks and twigs. Horses die from that.” He patted
Paint’s neck. “She’s gotten through the worst of it. I think a little TLC will
do her wonders.” He took off the lead rope, grabbed a shovel and wheel barrel
and went into the now empty stall.

“You’re
just going to let her wander around out here?” She sounded a bit frightened.

Jonas
peaked out at her. “Paint is gentle. She’ll probably want to smell your hair
though. It’s fine.”

She
grumbled something but he couldn’t make it out. He continued cleaning out the stall.
He cleaned the stalls for the rescue horses himself rather than having one of
his men do it. For some reason he felt a certain responsibility toward the hurt
animals. The ranch horses got the same attention from him but he usually had
Bob clean their stalls.

Autumn’s
giggle made his heart zing. He walked out of the stall and smiled. Paint was up
to her usual tricks. She had a fascination for hair, but he didn’t tell Autumn
that she liked to lick it too. Watching her try to duck and dodge the big animal
brought him a happiness he hadn’t felt in a while.

She
caught his gaze and stuck her tongue out at him. “You forgot to mention the
licking of the hair part. I smell like horse breath.” She quickly dodged her
head again. “Paint, we need to come to some kind of understanding.” Autumn
laughed some more.

“I
can take you back into the house if you want.”

“No
thanks, I’m fine.”

He
finished cleaning the stall and cajoled Paint back in. She hung her head out
staring at Autumn. He opened another stall and led Myrtle out.

“Let
me guess her name is Bay.”

“No,
I don’t name them. She is a bay and her name is Myrtle. She’s old and depressed
and almost died foaling.”

“Who’d
breed a horse so old?”

Myrtle
was another curious horse. She examined Autumn up and down before approaching cautiously.

“She’s
what you call a nurse mare. She's bred over and over. Her babies are taken from
her and then she’s leased out to nurse more expensive foals.”

“Where
is the other foal’s mother?”

“It’s
usually thoroughbred mares and they are impregnated again so they can produce
more expensive horses.”

Autumn
shook her head. “What happened to Myrtle’s foals?”

He
shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows only few survive.”

Her
brows furrowed over her blue eyes. “They keep breeding horses they don’t intend
to raise?”

“Some
breeders don’t intend on them living at all.”

Autumn
sat up straight and her shoulder’s stiffened. “Well, can’t someone do something
about it?”

“There
are some rescues out there willing to take the foals. There just aren’t enough
places for them all.” He admired her anger on the horses’ behalf. “Entertain
Myrtle for a bit while I clean her stall.”

“Does
she lick hair?”

He
chuckled. “No hair licking, I promise.”

She
gave him the sweetest smile and he went to work. He couldn’t help himself; he
needed to see how they were interacting, so he put his shovel down and looked
out the stall. Myrtle had one of Autumn’s books in her mouth playing keep away.
She’d lower the book just within reach and as soon as Autumn tried to grab it Myrtle
pulled her head up. Jonas bit his lip. He didn’t want to distract them so he
kept his laugh inside. Myrtle finally found a friend and his heart swelled. The
poor mare had been depressed for months now and had finally responded to
someone.

Jonas
turned back to his shoveling. He cleaned out the stall and walked toward Autumn
and Myrtle. “Myrtle is quite the reader.”

Autumn
laughed still trying to reach the book Myrtle held over her head. “I bet she
is.”

Myrtle
sidestepped into him and white-hot pain shot through Jonas’ hip and thigh. He grimaced,
trying not to cry out. Myrtle stepped away, quickly. He concentrated on
breathing in and out, trying to stay conscious. The barn lights seemed to have
halos around them and his vision fogged. His shoulder hit a stall door and he
slid down it until he sat on the cold floor. Fighting through the pain, he
could hear Autumn’s voice faintly in the background. Mostly he heard a buzzing
in his ears. “Autumn, don’t get up. Don’t get upset. Just the bum leg.” He took
a few deep breaths. “It’s happened before. Myrtle hit me just right. Give me a
minute.”

“You’re
pale and shaking, Jonas.”

Jonas
felt a sense of relief when Bob walked into the barn.

“Your
leg?” Bob asked as he knelt down beside him.

“Could
you carry Autumn into the house? I’ll be right behind you.”

“I
don’t think we should leave you.” Autumn put her hand over her mouth.

“It’s
fine, love. I’ll feel better knowing you’re inside and comfortable.”

She
finally nodded. She glanced at Bob and frowned. In Bob’s arms, she held herself
stiff. Apparently she didn’t like him much.

He
waited until they were gone before he yelled a string of curse words. Myrtle
walked over and rubbed his head with hers. “It’s not your fault, girl. I’m glad
you had fun with Autumn.” Jonas grabbed his leg, it throbbed like hell. “Just
an old war wound.”

Bob
came back in the barn with Mel at his side. “We’re here.”

Mel
rushed over. “Come on Bob we need to lift him and get him in the house.”

Jonas
grit his teeth as they carefully helped him up. “Hurts like the devil.”

Mel
sighed. “I imagine it does.”

Each
step became increasingly painful. Perspiration formed on his brow and his
stomach was queasy. Finally, they got him up the few porch steps and helped him
hobble inside. Both men bent and let him down carefully into the leather chair
next to Autumn.

“Bob
move that table in front of the chair so we can prop his leg up. I’ll get the
ice.” Mel instructed.

“Whiskey
sounds good about now.” Jonas called out.

“Maybe,
I’ll have to see how badly you’re hurt.” Mel shot back.

Even
through his pain, Jonas picked up on some bad vibes between Autumn and Bob.
He’d have to ask her about it later.

“Is
there anything I can do?” Autumn asked.

“No,
Fall, you stay put. I’ll be fine in no time.” He heard Mel snort but he didn’t
acknowledge him. “Thanks, Bob. Take care of Myrtle for me, it wasn’t her
fault.”

“You
got it.”

Bob
gave Autumn a long look then swaggered away. She avoided his gaze and her face
grew grim. Jonas didn’t like it but he didn’t know what to think. Bob was a standup
guy. “
Yeow
! That’s cold!” He practically jumped out
of his chair.

Mel
chuckled. “It is ice you know.”

Jonas
frowned at his friend. “I know.”

“I’ll
leave for now. I’ll come back in half hour and put some of that salve that
little, vet gal put on you last time.” He nodded at Autumn. “Now you take it
easy, miss. This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. He’ll be fine,
probably a whole lot better if you relaxed some.”

Autumn
glanced at Jonas. He nodded and her shoulders grew less rigid.

“See
ya in a bit, Mel. That salve worked well last time.”

Mel
started to walk toward the door. He turned and winked at Autumn. “Maybe it was
because that vet gal was putting it on you.”

Autumn
gasped and her gaze bore into Jonas. She waited until Mel left before she spoke.
“I guess I hadn’t realized. I mean, I thought you two were just friends.”

Her
frown and the hurt in her big blue eyes got to him. His heart squeezed. Mel was
a great guy but he had a big mouth. “We’re friends. Don’t worry about it.”

Her
body stiffened and she looked away. She laid her hands protectively around her protruding
belly. “You’re right. It’s not my business.”

Jonas
closed his eyes. The throbbing of his leg echoed in his heart. He hurt her and
he wished he could take the sad expression off her face. It would have to wait.

* * * *

Autumn
studied Jonas while he slept. He resembled a young boy. It had been a long
morning watching him in pain. Mel came back and applied the salve to Jonas’
leg, under Jonas’ protest. She smiled at the memory. Jonas protested taking his
jeans off and Mel laughed. Finally, Mel went and got a sheet to put over Jonas
to preserve his privacy. She’d offered to go into the bedroom but he wanted her
close. He said close and her heart zinged remembering it. Mel massaged the salve
into Jonas’ leg, wrapped it up and helped him back into his jeans and then left
as soon as Jonas fell asleep.

Jonas
hadn’t mentioned Dee Ann at all and she was dying to know the whole story but she
didn’t have the right to pry. Jonas stirred and opened his eyes. He looked into
her eyes and smiled. Somehow the smile reached her heart. What would it be like
to wake to that smile every morning? “Can I get you anything?”

Jonas
shook his head and yawned. “I’ll be fine in a day or two. Now you know why I’m
not married. I wouldn’t want anyone to have to go through this. I’m not a whole
or a passably good-looking man. I’m battle scarred and broken.”

“You’re
no such thing.”

His
smile was weak. He blinked then turned his head away. “I really don’t want to
talk about it.”

“Dee
Ann will be here tomorrow and it sounds like she can help you.”

He
still stared at the wall. “She does deep muscle massage and it was the best
help I’ve had for my leg in years.” He turned his head and met her gaze. “Don’t
look so worried. The horses really responded to you.”

“Is
that what they were doing?” She grinned. “I wasn’t sure what hair licking and
playing keep away meant.”

“Myrtle
has been depressed and she never engages in having fun but she was having fun
with you. It lightened my worries for her considerably.”