Page 27 of Against All Odds (Ember Falls #3)

The foal peeks his head around his mother, and I smile. “He’s beautiful, from what I can see.”

“Can we say hi to him?” Everett asks the horse, and she huffs but shuffles her backside to the left, giving us a view of her baby.

A baby. A little, beautiful baby. One that is close to his mom, knowing she’ll protect him, love him, give him all he needs.

I stare at the foal, my heart swelling as I think about how, in months, I’ll be the same. I’ll hold my child, hoping that I can also provide shelter, love, warmth, and security in a world full of anything but that.

The foal is a true black with just a touch of white on his right leg.

“Wow, his coloring is stunning.”

“He’s also already bigger than most foals. I think that’s why he was such a difficult birth.”

I’m hoping I don’t endure that.

“How old is he?”

“Four months.” He pats Mystic’s neck. “Soon they’ll wean him and Mystic will get a break, won’t you, girl?”

It seems so unbelievable to me that they get separated. “Why do they wean the horses?”

“Well, it’s not great for the mother to be the constant food source. We want the foal to learn on their own. It’s not so different than humans. They just do it much faster than us.”

So it seems Mystic doesn’t have it all figured out, either, but she’s doing whatever she can for her baby.

I smile. “Can I pet her?”

He smiles and grabs my hand. “Let her sniff your palm and talk to her softly. Let her know your intentions.”

“Hi, Mystic, you’re beautiful and your baby is too,” I tell her. After a few seconds, she touches her nose to my hand.

“She likes you too. Pet the side of her neck.”

I do as he says, talking to her and telling her what a good horse she is. After a few minutes, she backs away, raising and lowering her head as though she’s waving.

“See you soon,” Everett tells her.

We walk back to the barn area, and Everett shows me the cow that was struggling when we got here. She looks much better now, so I guess whatever he did was a good thing.

When we finally get to the car, it’s already past lunch. “Do you want anything to eat?” he asks as my stomach rumbles.

“I can eat something when we get back.”

“Let me at least buy you lunch after making you spend the day on the farm.”

I shake my head. “It’s fine. I need to do laundry and get some papers graded.”

“Oh, what was the paper on?”

“Romeo and Juliet’s decisions that could’ve changed the outcome.”

He laughs and then pulls out onto the main road. “I’m sure they loved that.”

“I’d like to think I make it fun.”

“I’m sure you do.”

I lean against the door, looking over at him. “You know, I never imagined you’d be a veterinarian. I guess I really never saw you as anything other than a baseball player.”

“Yeah, I had that one career aspiration, and that was it. But when I was in college, I got a cat.”

My voice goes up three octaves. “You got a cat?”

He nods slowly. “Hazel said I needed to learn how to take care of something, because she was tired of always having to take care of me. When I told you I was a fucking mess in college, I’m not even exaggerating.

It was my senior year, and I was untouchable in terms of my pitching abilities.

I had all these teams coming to watch me, and my scouting reports were impressive. ”

“And your humility?”

Everett’s lips turn up into a cute quirk.

“Never that, babe. Never that.” He chuckles.

“I was so angry. It was wild. I hated baseball by that point and the idea of playing, nursing more injuries. I even had to have another surgery before I could join a farm team. It was ... like, for what? For the hope that someday I’d be brought up?

To spend years barely scraping by and asking my parents to support me when they were barely making ends meet?

Anyway, my cat, Brunhilda, was a nightmare. ”

If I had water in my mouth, it would’ve sprayed everywhere when he said the name. “You named your cat Brunhilda?”

He shrugs. “It was that or Hazelette. She refused to allow that.”

“Naturally.”

“My cat was one that liked to do spiteful shit. I mean, all cats are assholes. They fuck with people and have attitudes like no other animal. Traveling with Brunhilda in a car was a whole other experience. I had no idea about cats when I got her, but I learned fast.”

I grin, imagining a twenty-two-year-old college kid with a cat. Not just any college kid, either, a jock who was probably partying more than he was sober.

“So Brunhilda and you formed a bond, and she is why you went into being a vet?”

“Kind of. She and I had a very contentious relationship until she got sick. I really didn’t think I liked her all that much, but when we were faced with something being seriously wrong, I was a mess.

The parasite she caught can be very serious and even lead to death.

You would’ve thought I was out of my mind.

I drove to three different doctors, and finally the last one spoke to me rationally and gave me clear instructions.

I held her, fed her with a syringe, and nursed her back to health.

After that, I had this passion to do that for someone else.

To save someone’s pet or give them hope. ”

I smile, hearing the devotion in his voice. He truly loves what he does. “That’s really sweet, and where is Brunhilda now?”

“She’s not good with dogs at all, so when we got Brutus, she went to live with my lead tech, who she loves so much more than me anyway. Erin brings her to the office twice a week so I can see her and be ignored properly.”

I can’t help the laugh that falls from my lips. I just imagine this beautiful cat walking right past him.

“Do you love it?”

“Being a vet? Yes, every day is truly special. Even the days when I can’t give good news or there’s nothing I can do to save the animal, I do what I can to make it easier for them and the owner. What about you with teaching?”

I glance up at the blue sky, remembering my own story and how I decided to go into teaching.

“My story isn’t as cool as yours, but I was studying English literature and thought I would go into publishing, like all young book lovers do, but I took a teaching class and fell in love with it.

It gave me the opportunity to combine the two things I love. ”

“I think your story is cool.”

My eyes move to his and I smile. “Most days are a testament to my patience, but then there are days where a student who struggled just gets it or I see them go from hating to read to suddenly wanting to discuss a new story. Those days are really rewarding. I don’t want to give it up again, you know?

I stopped when Dylan became this superstar actor because it was too hard with the constant media attention.

Getting to teach again has been so rewarding. ”

Everett reaches over and takes my hand in his, squeezing softly. “Why would you have to give it up again?”

I sigh heavily as he turns down my driveway. I’m sad that our day together is almost over. “Because if Dylan wants to be a part of the baby’s life, I’ll have to move.”

“Why?”

“He’s the baby’s father and will be awarded visitation, I’m sure. I can’t stick a newborn on a plane. It’s all so complicated, Everett. I can’t pretend that this is all going to just work out. It’s why days like this and nights like we’ve had are dangerous for me.”

I can see the wheels turning in his mind. “I don’t want to be a source of stress for you. Maybe you’re right, and we should stop doing whatever we’re doing and just keep it to being friends.”

With my hand on the door handle, I look into his beautiful brown eyes, so warm, so familiar, so much history there. I force a sad smile and decide to rip the Band-Aid off. It’ll be better this way. “It’s not what I want, but I think it’s for the best.”

I hate this so much.

“Okay, then.” He sounds ... resigned. Like it’s the last thing in the world that he wants, but for me, he’ll do it because I’m not in the right place for anything more.

I hate that I have to lose him too.

“Everett?” He stays silent and just waits. “Thank you for today and everything. I can’t begin to tell you what all of this has meant to me.”

“I’d do anything for you, Violet.”

Too bad he can’t make this all different. That he can’t make it so we went back in time and I never made the mistake of letting him go.

I nod once and close the car door, heading inside.

Those stupid tears start to build until I gasp as I see someone sitting on my couch. “Hi, honey, I’m home.”

“Analeigh!”