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“Yeah?” Nash asked. He even looked a little interested, his scarred eyebrow raised and looking at her, rather than Tilly. “What happened?”
“The steer got injured on the lot, no idea how. I was watching him from a distance because, you know, I’m not a complete idiot…”
A quick grin flashed across Nash’s face so fast that Meg wasn’t sure if she imagined it. She licked her lips and carried on.
“Anyway, some absolutely brain-dead farm hand started yelling and banging around to move it into a different pen because…well, I don’t even know why. Anyway, it was stressed, and then it was spooked. And then I had a steer horn halfway through my leg before I had a chance to fully clear the fence.”
Her hand reached down to her thigh instinctively. Meanwhile, Nash grimaced and shook his head.
“I hope you tore a chunk out of the guy,” he said.
“Unfortunately, he’d been fired before I was able to.”
“They could have waited to sack him until you’d been let loose on him, maybe let you kick him real hard in the leg. Seems only fair.”
Was that… a joke? Did Nash make a joke? Well, this was progress, at least.
“Do you need to sit down?” he asked.
“What?”
“Because of your leg? Do you need to sit down?”
Meg smiled, and it felt a little foreign on her face.
“I’m fine. Honest.”
“Mmm.”
He let it drop and went back to watching Tilly with eagle eyes.
Her pacing had stopped altogether, and with a huff, she managed to lay down on the sawdust, rolling onto her side and breathing heavily.
Nash took a couple of steps forward.
“Nash,” Meg said quietly but firmly. “Leave her be.”
Nash looked back at her, his face all crumpled up again.
“What if she needs me though?”
“She has you. She knows you’re here. But it’s better to give them space. She’s calm. That means everything is going okay.”
Nash took one begrudging step backwards, and Meg saw it as the sign of trust that it was. He was listening to her advice even though it looked like he wanted nothing more than to be in the stall with the mare.
“I get that you’re not just relaxing, you know,” Nash said.
Meg looked over at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Like, you’re all calm and collected, but I know you’re keeping an eye on her. I know you’re not just brushing me off. If there were anything to be concerned about, you would jump to it. Whatever you think about me, I know you wouldn’t neglect an animal,anyanimal, over it. Just so you know.”
All of the ice that had been held in Meg’s chest over the last couple of days melted in an instant. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling, the melting inside her. But at least it wasn’t cold anymore.
“I know,” she said. “Yeah, I know.”
The conversation finally stalled because what do you say after that? The silence that filled the space between them wasn’t hostile, at least. It was just both of them waiting patiently, keeping an eye on Tilly and trying to be quiet for her sake.