Page 9 of His Wilde Little (Saddle Up #2)

I took a step away from all the action as the horses were slowly taken from the horsebox into the stable and their new homes. They didn’t need to be overcrowded anyway, and I liked to keep my safe distance right by my dad and Daisy who was on her best behavior around the new horses.

“I’m nervous,” I told him.

“Don’t be,” he said. “They’re so frail, look at them. They’ll trust you once they start seeing you as their food source and comfort. That’s how my grandpa did it.”

“He also whipped them though,” I grumbled. I wasn’t forgetting that story.

“But he also loved the horses he had on the farm.”

“Until he had to sell them for gambling debts,” I added.

“Jeez, are you and Olivia conspiring for me to have a bad day?” he asked.

I could only laugh, it happened often where both me and Olivia would snipe at our father, especially when he was telling us how to do the jobs he used to do.

But in his respect, he did used to manage it all.

Sometimes I wondered if the sore back was just a ruse so he could finally get all those lie-ins he used to tell us to appreciate as kids.

Once the vet and wildlife officer left the ranch, I finally got a better look at the sedated horses in their stalls.

Lorenzo had a pencil and notepad in hand, scribbling away on it as I tried overcoming my fear of horses.

In their slow-moving sedations, they almost didn’t seem too bad, plus, I felt sorry for them.

Seeing the patches of missing fur along the back and flanks, the scratches slicing through them, leaving grooves in their fur.

I also hadn’t seen so many bones so visible in a horse before, the ribcages nearly fully exposed behind thin skin.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Lorenzo said. “Coal, Bramble, and Ashwind. I don’t know if that’s what they were already called or if they gave them those names, but I guess we’ll see. I’m not sure how they’re going to react once they all come to.”

I puffed my cheeks out and sighed. “I hope I’m not going to have to deal with them alone,” I was supposed to be a thought, but it came right out.

He shook his head. “Not at all, not yet anyway. Where’s your dad?” he asked. “I want to know if the vet left the prescription with him.”

I shrugged. “I think so, he was handed something before they left. It’s impossible to say what though because he definitely keeps secrets.”

“Like three horses kind of a secret.”

“Pretty much. I wonder if he already knew because he didn’t seem too surprised by any of it, and kinda just threw it on your plate, and Olivia’s. I thought she was going to be hospitalized from the way she had to get her spreadsheets to work out the costs of two additional horses.”

“Good thing the vet bills was comped by the state then, and the grant they gave,” he said. “I’m gonna be on watch here all day, I’m not sure if you need to do anything else, but I want to be here when they wake and ease them into their new lives.”

I nodded. “We didn’t take the goat milk down to the factory, so I’ve still got to do that, and then I need to find that thermos as I’m sure you’ll need more coffee to be out here.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said.

“We’re working together, I’m doing this because you need to be awake, and not for any other reason,” I said.

Lorenzo tilted his head, almost hiding the smile behind his hat. “In that case, if you’ve any more of those cupcakes, I’ll take them off your hands,” he said. “And don’t tell anyone what I did with that goat. I’m still living in horror that I tried to milk him.”

I snort-giggled remembering him chasing it around the barn. “I think he’s scarred for life, and don’t worry, if he was into it, he might’ve let you, but you wouldn’t have gotten milk.”

He swotted my arm with the side of his notepad. “You think you’re a funny ‘un huh,” he chuckled. “I’ll also take a thermos of soup if you’re offering. I’ve got tins of tomato stuff at my place, just warm one of them up for me.”

I gave him a two-finger salute. “Yes, Sir.”

“And don’t go rummaging around my things either,” he said. “And only do it if you want to, I’m not trying to order you around.”

Honestly, I wouldn’t have even minded if he was trying to boss me around.

If he’d pulled this the first day we met, I would’ve tried to make his life hell, but now that we’d kissed and I’d discovered he wasn’t here for the women, it was a secret we shared, and I wasn’t going to miss up an opportunity to do a little snooping either.

He was still an enigma, one that was nice to kiss, but nothing more apparently.

After finishing up what we hadn’t managed to get done this morning, like transport the goat milk to the factory, I went back to the house where Olivia and mom were stood around the island counter in the kitchen and several of my cupcakes had already been devoured.

“I didn’t think you’d be back until lunch,” my mom said, glancing at her wristwatch. “How are the horses? Your dad said you were harping on at him like Olivia.”

Olivia let out a squeak of laughter, raising a hand to high five me. “Good, we all should. I want to follow him around with a bell like they did in Game of Thrones and shout shame, shame at him for all the stress he’s putting on us.”

“Your father is stressed as well,” mom added. “In different ways. He’s trying to make this place something that will be profitable for future generations.”

“Not mine,” Olivia said. “And Jace is hardly going to be reproducing.”

“Hey, I could adopt,” I said.

“And Max, well, he’s going to move away for college, that’s definitely happening,” she added. “I’m just saying the truth of it all. It’ll be left to you, Jace.”

“It’ll be split between all three of you,” mom said. “And you don’t have to think about that because we’re staying around for a long time. Trust me.”

I nodded. “Can we get to the profitable part now then because I would for us to afford nicer equipment.”

“Good luck,” Olivia said. “We’re not gonna have the budget for that.

I’m still trying to calculate how we’re going to feed four horses now with the grant we got, and trust me, it’s not that much when you factor all the other costs in.

And our horsebox only has room for two, so we’re gonna need to get a new one before Saddle Up next year assuming the whole point was for him to show them off and whatnot. ”

It was all over my head. I didn’t know what dad wanted with the horses, something about studding them out, but in their current condition, nobody would want that. “Anyway, I’m just here for more coffee to take back to stable, and some cupcakes. It looks like you’ve enjoyed them.”

“Max filled a plate up,” mom said.

“I had half of one,” Olivia said.

“We shared half,” mom added. “They’re very good. Buttercream is a little too sweet.”

My eyes rolled. “It’s basically just sugar, of course it’s sweet.”

“Ok, well, I’m gonna head down to the giftshop and take stock. Then I’ll swing by and see the horses.”

A shudder ran through me out of nowhere. “They don’t look too good,” I told her. “We’re gonna need more treats for them, actually.”

Olivia huffed. “I’ll add it to the list. Actually, I’ll take a booklet out to Lolo, and we can discuss what he might need for the horses,” she said. “I think that would be best, actually.”

Soon, it was just me in the kitchen, packing a tote bag with two thermoses filled with coffee, a clear container with three cupcakes, the max it could fit until they were all smushed together. I took a third thermos, a smaller one from the cupboard for the soup Lorenzo had requested.

I was stoked to go to the guesthouse, again, where I hoped, I would live to give myself some space away from the family.

I shouldn’t have still been living at home, although we had plenty of space and the last time, I ever felt like we were all under each other’s feet was during Christmas dinner last year.

My mom’s mom visited with her new boyfriend, and the road to the ranch got snowed in so we were all stuck together for a week, and there was no escaping them, even in the barn or coop…

and I definitely hadn’t wanted to visit the stable back then.

The guesthouse was as I remembered from visiting it and the occasional evening I’d stay there and pretend I was having a vacation.

I spotted the boots by the radiator and my brow furrowed.

“Lorenzo,” I called out. “Are you in here? Did you come back?” I walked through the house to see his fancier pair of boots by the bed.

It wasn’t unusual to have so many pairs of boots, even the expensive ones. “Guess not.”

I’d seen him buy the food in the store, so it shouldn’t have surprised me, but seeing all those tins and nothing much else was still a wonder this man hadn’t keeled over from a lack of vitamins.

I heated a tin of soup, poured it into the thermos, and sliced some breads before adding it into my tote.

My sister was in the stable with Lorenzo when I went back. They were talking about things they might need and she was just giggling and swishing her hair back over her shoulders like she was trying to trap him with her pheromones.

“I brought supplies,” I announced, using my newfound confidence around horses to saunter into the stable. Still not making direct eye contact with Mary as she peered over her stall.

“Well, we’re just a bit busy,” Olivia said.

“Oh, I’ll let mom and dad know you’ve decided to help with the horses then,” I said. “I think we’ll all be happy to have another set of hands free to help.”

She stared at me, her eyes narrowing as if trying to tell me she wanted me to leave her with Lorenzo, and he just looked at little booklet my sister had with her.

It was one of the only things my dad still asked for in paper copy, a monthly subscription for people who owned animals.

It was where we bought chicken feed in bulk alongside now, all the of the stuff for the horses.

“I think we might actually be ok with just more of the nutrient rich feed,” he said. “It’s a little more expensive, but since all the horses are underweight, they won’t be eating too much of it so it’ll go further.”

A single nod and smile. She wasn’t going to roll her eyes or scoff at him for asking for something for the ranch, and yet when I wanted an auto feeder for the coop, she practically threw pitchforks and daggers my way.

“I guess I’ll put the order in then,” she said. “And how’s Mary getting on?”

“Well, she’s on the same stuff,” he said. “I think I’ll take her for a little walk around, just to give her a little exercise and a chance to look at her new friends.”

“Good idea,” I said at the same time as my sister. I could see those daggers once more. “I’ll stay in here then, and—watch.” I wanted to be several paces away from Mary at all times, in case she decided today was the day to prove me right on my fear.

Olivia left as Lorenzo put a bridle on Mary. I watched with curiosity, wondering if he was about to ride her, but he stopped at the bridle.

“This is just so I’ve got hold of her,” he said, taking the leather rope handle under her neck. “I want her to trust me to guide her, and I think she’ll let to feel the actual ground under those hoofs.” He patted her neck. “Don’t you girl.”

She pressed her head near his, knocking his hat off as if to nuzzle again him. I backed away. I didn’t want her trying to do the same with me, and if all it took was a head nod to hit his hat away, I didn’t want to think what else she was capable of.

Lorenzo found it funny, picking the hat up and dusting it off. “Let’s see your neighbors.”

I sat at the far end of the stable on a bench and placed the tote bag. “I’ve got coffee and soup here whenever you’re ready for that,” I told him. “Also, how many pairs of boots do you own?”

He cocked his head in my direction. “I thought you weren’t going to snoop.”

“I didn’t, I saw the pair by the radiator, and the pair you’ve got on now, and then—well, the pair you arrived in, so that’s three,” I somewhat lied.

“Can’t ever have too many,” he said. “I’ve also got a nice black pair. They still need breaking in. And with three horses, I don’t have time to break in a new pair of boots too.”

I watched his lips as he spoke. It was impossible to look at any other part of him. His mouth was mesmerizing, practically warranting my lips on them as he licked his between sentences. I had to look away and gather myself, but when I looked back, he’d left the stables.