Page 8 of His Wilde Little (Saddle Up #2)

Every idea, notion, and thought about what was going to happen next seemed to be obliterated with every other word that came from Jace’s mouth. I couldn’t predict it, but I liked going along with it. The cupcake, the kissing, and now the question. Did I like him?

“Of course,” the obvious answer. “I have no reason not to like you. You bring me food, you see an appeal in my mouth, and you’re easy on the eye.”

“Is that all?”

“You’re kind,” I added. “And a little adorable when you’re scared around Mary.”

“Adorable isn’t a word I’d like to go by,” he said, scowling, but the scowl eased. He was lying to me. He absolutely wanted to be adorable, and by denying it, it only made me want to push that button a little more.

“Ok, cowboy, let me know what you like to go by.”

“Strong, kind is a good one, funny, creative, amazing baker,” he said, listing out on one hand while also teasing me with the thermos with his other hand.

“You mean a master baker?”

“Yep, I’m a master baker,” he said, nodding with a smile before it faded, realizing what he’d said, and what it sounded like. “Wait. Did you—”

“It’s a little fun to say, isn’t it?”

“In that case, yes, I am a master baker, and I master bake all the time,” he said with the most adorable giggle like punctuation to his words. “I’m gonna remember that.”

The kissing broke the ice between us, as did the joking, and now, sharing the coffee as I got to know which goats I could milk, and which ones would sooner break my shins than be milked.

Even the cats came down as we sat on bales of hay, they stroked the sides against us, and no more hissing was heard.

“They’ll get used to you,” he said. “And I’ll get used to you as well.”

“In what way?”

“I’m still trying to figure that out.”

I nodded. I was still trying to figure me out as well.

I was adamant about not wanting to start something romantic, but my actions seemed to have said otherwise, and I couldn’t take back any of those kisses.

I don’t think I would even if that was an option.

Those kisses were like sunbeams parting heavy gray clouds in my mind, and I was far too uncomfortable asking him for anymore.

He’d done all that heavy lifting himself.

We milked the goats, opened the barn up for them to go out onto the grassy pastures that weren’t too wet for them.

And then we headed to the coop. The chickens hadn’t come out, but the rabbits had left their hutches, hopping around in the grass now they didn’t have to contend with the hens.

It was still surprising to see the dynamic all the animals had with each other. A lot of fun, but surprising.

Shortly after collecting the eggs in, my phone rang.

“ Lolo, it’s Tom, just got a call off the transport, they’re about thirty minutes out,” he said. “ If you and Jace could make it to the stables and finish preparing everything, we’ll be able to get these horses rehomed in their new stalls.”

“Of course, sir,” I said. “We’ll head up right away. Do you know what physical state they’re in? With the weather, we might need to get some weighted blankets and heaters around. Sometimes when they’re too thin, they can’t regulate their body temperature.”

“ Right, well, I’m not certain on that, but ask Jace, he’ll show you to the shed. We’ve got plenty of supplies. ”

I nodded and before I could respond, the call was cut.

Jace stared at me. “Almost here?”

“Yeah, I still think we’re biting off more than we can chew,” I mumbled. “Anyway, your dad said you’d show me to the shed for supplies.”

He groaned. “The shed. I hate that place. It’s where things go to die.” He shuddered.

“Color me intrigued, we need to go and see about some space heaters and weighted blankets or just blankets. I know some horses find the weights soothing, especially those with anxiety.”

“I don’t know about those, but there’s plenty of blankets.”

“Good, great, well, it’s go time.”

Jace rolled his eyes and groaned a little louder.

“Come on now, no more of that. Tell me how excited you are.”

He bit his bottom lip and nodded, as if taking my orders. “I’m very excited to meet three new horses that will also scare the life out of me.”

“Or they’ll love you for taking care of them,” I told him. “Same reasons I don’t see the goats ram you or the hens peck you when you go for their eggs, you’re taking care of them, they trust you.”

Jace smirked and had a little shimmy strop walk. “Since you put it like that, I suppose I’m like the best person they knew, and they would go to war for me if I asked them.”

“Ok, maybe take it back a notch.”

“Don’t make me set the alpacas onto you.”

This was a much nicer vibe. Playful and fun. “You already promised you wouldn’t let them, since I’ll be helping you with your fear of horses.”

As we walked to the shed, which I’d seen briefly on the tour around the ranch, but we hadn’t gone inside. It was a big building that looked like it had seen better days with the paint chipping and peeling away from the wood.

“This place is going to be crawling with spiders,” he warned me.

“I’m fine with. them,” I told him. “Or is that for you to tell me you want me going in first.”

“Oh my god, you already know me so well,” he giggled.

“Almost like that taste of you stuck with me,” I quipped, but he either didn’t hear, or was good at masking his facial expression suddenly.

The shed was a graveyard for everything the ranch no longer had any use from, filled with large plastic boxes of what seemed like paperwork, and other large metal appliances just laying around collect rust. Bicycles and even a motorcycle were hiding amongst it.

Jace stayed outside the door, just pointing and telling me to look in certain places. “They must be in a box somewhere.”

“Does anyone ever come in here?” I asked, moving one large clear plastic container to see another.

“Nope. Only if my mom knows something is in here and we basically do roshambo to see who has to come in here with her and find it,” he said. “I always win, so I never come in. Usually Olivia, or dad but he will use his back as an excuse to get out of the heavy lifting stuff.”

After moving a couple boxes and being covered by a layer of dust from above, I found a box. It was labeled blankets. I pulled it out and hauled it to the doors for Jace to help me out with it.

“I guess he wasn’t lying about this,” I said. “Now I need to find some space heaters, if you want to go through this.”

He winced slightly. “What if there’s like a nest in there just waiting to jump out at me?”

“You can’t be scared of some insects,” I said, popping the lid off for him. “Please look for some substantial blankets. Remember, these are for horses. I’ll do the real work.” I winked at him. It wasn’t exactly an intentional wink, but it happened, and I could see the way it eased him.

He rummaged through it as I went deeper into the shed in search for some space heaters. I would’ve already hoped stuff like this would be readily available considering they lived here where the weather got cold and the rain felt like it was sinking into your bones.

“Do you have any idea where they might be?” I called out to him.

There was no response. He was quiet. Too quiet, almost like he’d left me. I stepped away from the pile of hunking metal that loomed in the corner to see him on his knees in front of the plastic container hugging at a quilted blanket.

“You good?” I asked.

“I thought I’d lost this,” he said. “Smells a little, but it’s—” he pulled it away from his nose. “It’s mine.”

“Ok, so not for the horses then.”

He laughed. “Oh no, this was mine from childhood. I didn’t even know where it went, and one day I guess I just forgot all about it.”

Blankets spilled out of the container as he’d dug deep into it for that one. “Well, let’s find some for the horses as well,” I said, “and do you know where these heaters might be?” I did a quick glance to my watch. “We don’t have long left before they’re supposed to get here.”

He pointed at the other side of the shed. “We get them out in winter, so should be close. They might be covered, actually.”

“In what?”

Rubbing his face with the quilted blanket, he was not thinking about the radiators at all. “Like maybe a blanket.”

And to my surprise, that’s exactly where they were. Two big space heating radiators were covered in fleece blankets and seemingly tied together with bungee cord. “And they still work,” I mumbled. They must’ve done, and if they didn’t, it would be a priority.

Jace threw all the blankets back into the box while keeping hold of the quilted one.

He dragged it along to the stable while I carried the two space heaters, almost dropping them a couple times in the process.

They were quite heavy. I didn’t know what state they were in, but they seemed protected with the cover so that was a huge bonus.

At the stable, Mary’s head was over her stall, her hoofed feet clomped down with excitement as she spotted me. “Hey girl,” I said.

“Who?” Jace asked, stopping just inside the stables.

“The horse,” I said.

He sat on the container and turned himself around to face the inside of the stables where I was already leaving the radiators in the center and approaching Mary. “It’s going to be hell,” he grumbled. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it.”

“Listen, you’ll be fine,” I said. “Grab a little treat for Mary and come feed it to her. We need to throw you right into this. And what better way than with the horse that’s already here.” We didn’t have time for a slow approach; he had to overcome this fear quickly.

Jace approached Mary and held his hand out with the sugar cubes which she lapped right out of him with her tongue.

The infectious giggle he had tickled right out of him.

I could’ve listened to it on repeat, it meant that this was working.

He would soon have no fear, and we had less than twenty minutes.

There were so many things these horses could be through when they got here, malnourishment, dehydration, parasites, infections, mental trauma. I figured the parasites, and any open wounds would be taken care of by the vet, but I’d have to make sure those wounds were dressed and taken care of.

One was manageable. Two was pushing it. Three was almost certainly going to be a disaster.

The low grumble of a car engine caused us both to race to the door of the stable.

That’s where we saw the large white horsebox trailer carefully maneuvering itself around the barn in front of the stables.

I rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath.

Once I got eyes on the horses, they were in my care, and they had to trust me from the bat.

Tom came walking up behind as a man and woman from the van came out.

“Mr. Wilde,” the woman said, approaching me. “The horses are still under light sedation, I want to do a quick inspection of stables, if that’s ok.”

“I’m not—” I began before Tom butted in.

“I’m Mr. Wilde,” he said. “You can absolutely inspect the stables. They’ve got access to clean water, food, fresh bedding—um, even space heaters and blankets.”

Which they didn’t have in the stable until just twenty minutes ago.

“This is Lorenzo, he’ll be the one taking care of them,” Jace said, stepping beside his father. “I’m also Mr. Wilde; I’ll be working with them. So, anything you’ve got to say, we should know.”

His father laughed. “Ok, Jace, you’re sounding like Olivia now.”

“Well, as long as they have a safe and healthy environment to heal in,” she said. “Oh. I’m Janine, working with the Vermont wildlife department. This is Eric, he’s the vet who will inform you on where some of the problem areas are with the horses while I inspect the space.”

I nodded. “I’ve been working with horses for about twenty years,” I said. “But I’m always open to learn if you’d like to tell me where I’m lacking.”

“Good to hear. One of the reasons Mr. Wilde’s bid for the welfare was accepted,” she said. “Now, I’ll head inside. If you could all wait while I check this place out.”

As she went inside the stable, I headed over to the horsebox. Jace and his father got into it with heated whispers about being sassy. Eric joined me at the door of the horsebox as I looked through the grate to see one of them.

“You’ve got three fine horses, but they’re going to be a handful,” Eric said.

“I wasn’t even aware there were three until the other day,” I told him.

“We were going to split them, but Coal is protective, he’s pretty much a father figure to these two,” he said, pointing through the grate.

All three of the horses were laid down, almost on top of each other, by choice, since there was plenty of space for them in there.

“Coal’s the Mustang. He’s about twelve. Then you’ve got Bramble, the Arabian Cross, she’s roughly five.

And in the back, you’ve got Ashwind, a Quarter Horse.

They’re all pretty thin, and very intelligent.

They might not want to live in separate stalls.

They’ve been cooped up together for so long now. ”

Looking into Bramble at the front of their pile, she had a red-brown coat marred with tiny scratches. Her big eyelids flickered open slowly and shut again in her sleepy haze.

“Are you licensed to offload some sedatives to me?” I asked. “In case they need it.”

He sucked on his teeth and shook his head. “Nope. I can prescribe some, if that’s what you mean.”

“Of course. And it’s a last resort, but if they’re in pain, or anxious, I want to ease it while they’re getting better.

” Almost like I could feel their pain. While the Mustang had jet black coat, it was faded an almost gray in patches almost like it was matted with scabbing.

“People who leave animals in this state should be thrown in jail.”

“Yeah, they should,” Jace said, peering through the slat window area of the horsebox. “They don’t seem too bad either.”

“Still sedated,” I told him. “We’ll see what they’re like soon.”

A couple of claps called my attention from behind. Janine was dusting her hands down the front of her slacks. “Looks like you’re all prepared,” she said. “Let’s offload the precious cargo. And good luck.”

Wishing us luck didn’t seem promising, this should’ve been easy, it should’ve been one horse and a manageable schedule. It should’ve been a lot of things that it now wasn’t.