Read The Cowboy And The Debutante Online
Authors: Stella Bagwell
The Cowboy And The Debutante (12 page)
He examined the bottom of the hoof, then slipping a small knife from his jeans pocket, he gently tapped it against the metal shoe. The horse immediately flinched and tried to jerk his foot away from Miguel's grasp.
Miguel looked up at Anna who was hovering a step away. A worried expression marred her face. “When was this horse last shod?” he asked her. “These shoes look new.”
“Iâ” She shook her head as she tried to remember exactly. “The farrier has been here twice since my parents left. I think he shod this horse yesterday afternoon. Yes, I'm sure of it now. He'd already been exercised.”
Still holding on to the horse's hoof, he nodded grimly. “I think his hoof has been cut back too short or he's been quicked with a nail. Get me a pair of pliers from the tack room. This shoe needs to come off.”
Anna hurried after the tool, then back in the stall she watched Miguel carefully pry the shoe with its running cleat off the horse's hoof.
“See this,” he told her pointing out one of the nail holes. “The farrier missed the wall and went into the sole. From the looks of this drainage it's already infected.”
“Oh, my! I'm so glad you found it, Miguel. The poor animal was in misery! Why didn't Dr. Dalton have the foresight to remove the shoe?”
Because he'd been too busy looking at you, Miguel thought, but kept the opinion to himself. He'd already shown too much of the green monster inside him. He lowered the horse's hoof to the ground.
“The vet told me he believed the horse might have a hairline fracture or a torn ligament!” Anna exclaimed without waiting for his reply. “Now I won't have to haul him into Ruidoso tomorrow for X rays.”
“Yes you will. The horse still needs treatment.”
“Just tell me what to do to him,” she said.
Anna's confidence in him was something he'd never expected, and he was overwhelmed at the pleasure it gave him. Charlene had never thought him clever or admirable. She'd simply liked the way he looked in a pair of jeans and cowboy hat. She'd never bothered to find out what was underneath. She hadn't cared what was underneath, he thought bitterly.
“It'sâ” He cleared his throat as his voice threatened to go husky with emotion. “I could tell you a few things to do. But I prefer you take him into the vet. The horse will probably need to be prescribed antibiotics. I can't do that.”
She stuffed her hands into the front pockets of her jeans. “When can you go with me?”
He looked at her sheepishly. “I'm not going.”
Anna's mouth popped open. “But you said...”
“Forget what I said. I was out of line.”
His gaze fell to his boots, and Anna studied his downcast face. If he'd felt a streak of jealousy over her earlier, he was obviously regretting it now.
“I've grown used to you getting out of line,” she said with as much teasing humor as she could. “I'd think you were sick if you weren't trying to boss me.”
He couldn't think of any other time Anna had teased him or smiled at him in just the way she was doing now. And though he wanted to be cool and unaffected, he was actually floundering like a lost goose.
Miguel knew, just as Anna knew, that in the past few minutes things had forever changed between them. No matter what happened in the future, he would never be able to look at her again without feeling her hands upon his face, her lips pressed to his, her voice whispering she wanted him.
“I'll see you when you get back tomorrow,” he said abruptly, then left the stall without giving her the chance to argue. Or provoke him into another kiss.
The next day it was nearly noon by the time Anna drove the lame horse into Ruidoso, waited for Dr. Dalton to examine him, then drive back to the Bar M.
Driving up the lane to the ranch, she glanced grimly at the sack of medicine on the seat beside her. There was a bottle of liquid antibiotics to be injected, plus a solution to spray on the wound itself. The doctor had appeared a bit annoyed that Miguel had taken it upon himself to remove the horse's shoe and make his own diagnosis, but in the end the veterinarian had agreed, albeit reluctantly, the foreman was correct. Anna could see he'd been embarrassed by his own oversight.
At the ranch, she was surprised when she pulled down to the stables and parked. Her cousin Emily and little second cousin Harlan walked out of the building to greet her. Even more amazing was to see Miguel a step behind the two of them. But then she should have known the man knew her family better than she did.
“Anna!” Emily exclaimed as she fiercely hugged her cousin. “Every time I see you you've grown more gorgeous!”
This was the first Anna had seen her older cousin since she'd come home last Valentine's Day for Charlie's wedding to Violet. Little Harlan had only been a newborn then. Now he was a chunky toddler, and Emily looked radiant with happiness. Anna was thrilled for her cousin. She'd suffered through many hard years before she'd been reunited with her true love.
Laughing, Anna gestured to her dusty jeans and plaid work shirt. “Oh, I'm sure I look good like this! But thanks for the compliment, anyway.”
“Miguel tells me you have a lame racehorse. Does your mother know about him yet?”
Anna nodded. “I told her last night when she called.” She glanced at Miguel, who'd yet to say anything. “She says as long as she knows Miguel is keeping an eye on him, she won't worry.”
“Chloe's confidence is misplaced,” Miguel spoke up. “Anna is quite capable of seeing after the horse.”
His remark floored Anna, but Emily seemed to accept it as genuine.
“Well, I'm just glad Chloe's not fretting,” the older woman said. “I'd hate for her vacation to be ruined. I can't ever remember her taking off like this. Wyatt makes business trips at times, but your mother rarely leaves the ranch. She was due for a break.” She arched a brow at Anna. “What about you? How does it feel being home again?”
“It feels wonderful,” Anna said, and then realizing how very much she meant it, she knelt down to greet Harlan. He had pale blond hair and blue eyes like his mother. At the moment one hand was clinging to a fold in the leg of her jeans, the other went straight to his mouth where he immediately began to chew on his forefingers as he studied Anna carefully.
“Hi, Harlan,” she spoke gently to the child. “I'm your second cousin, Anna. Are you saying words yet? Can you say Mama or Dada?”
The toddler continued to look Anna over, then glanced at Miguel and finally his mother to make sure the woman kneeling in front of him was acceptable. Once he decided she was safe, he pointed a finger over her shoulder and blurted, “Horse!”
Anna laughed heartily while Emily made a helpless gesture with her hands. “What can I say, it's in his genes.”
“Do you like to ride a horse, Harlan?” Anna asked the child.
He pointed eagerly again to the pen behind her, which was filled with working cow ponies. Emily said in a hushed tone to Anna. “Don't get him started. Once he gets on a horse, you can't get him off.”
Laughing again, Anna smiled at the boy, then patted his rotund little tummy. “You just wait, Harlan. When you get a bit bigger, you can ride with me all day long.”
Emily groaned with fond humor. “That's right. Be just like Coop and spoil him rotten. I'll pay you back when you have a child, Anna.”
Feeling like an interloper, Miguel slipped away while the two women continued to visit. As it had before, the sight of Anna with her family bothered him. Especially the sight of her with little Harlan. He didn't want to picture her as a warm, loving mother. It was easier to think she'd never fit the role. But the adoration in her eyes for Emily's child was already stuck in his mind. Along with many other things he didn't know how to forget.
At Anna's truck and tailer, he unloaded the lame horse, put him back in his stall and placed the antibiotic in a small refrigerator in the tack room. As for discussing the animal's treatment with Anna, he decided he could do that later after her cousin went home. He had plenty of work to do himself, and anything to get Anna out of his mind would be a relief.
Outside the north end of the stables, the two women continued to catch up on their family news. Until Emily looked around in sudden horror.
“Where's Harlan? He was standing right here beside us just a minute ago!”
“I don't know! I didn't see him move away,” Anna exclaimed.
Both women spotted the child at the same moment. Emily screamed and Anna gasped with sheer terror. The toddler had wandered past the pen of cow ponies, then crawled beneath the metal rail fence and into another holding pen where a stallion had been let loose to exercise. The animal was huge in size and possessed a testy disposition. Anna had no idea how he might react to the child.
Anna and Emily raced toward the baby at the same time the stallion noticed the little intruder inside his domain.
“Harlan! Harlan come to Mommy!” Emily shouted.
The frantic tone of his mother's voice only frightened Harlan. The baby stopped in his tracks and began to cry in earnest. Behind the baby, the stallion began to paw the ground and snort.
There were two fences separating the women from the toddler. They both climbed as fast as they could, but Anna had the horrible fear they would never reach the baby in time. Then out of nowhere she heard Miguel shouting for them to get out of the way. He flew past her and Emily and leaped into the holding pen just as the stallion started to charge.
Both Emily and Anna watched in stunned horror as Miguel threw himself between the baby and the vicious horse. With his back to the stallion, he scooped Harlan protectively against his chest.
Then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The animal reared on his hind legs, then brought down both front hooves against Miguel's upper back. The force of the horse's blow staggered Miguel. He went to his knees, but somehow managed to hold on to the baby.
By the time the two women clambered to the ground inside the pen, the stallion had reared and struck Miguel a second time, then trotted away to one corner where he nervously pranced, snorted and tossed his head.
Emily snatched her son into her arms and quickly inspected him for injuries. Anna grabbed Miguel's arm as he lurched forward like a drunk man.
“Miguel! You're hurt!”
“The babyâ”
Anna glanced at Emily who was nodding with relief. “He's fine, Miguel. But you're not!”
“Can't...breathe. I...”
If Anna hadn't been holding on to him he would have fallen in the dirt rather than into the circle of her arms. As she tried to support his sagging weight, she looked frantically at Emily.
“Go call 911!”
With Harlan clutched safely in her arms, Emily raced off toward the house.
“The stallion...” Miguel wheezed through clenched teeth.
“I'll take care of him,” she said firmly.
He shook his head as his fingers bit into the flesh of her arm. “Get out...before he hurts you!”
She couldn't believe he was concerned about her safety when it was all he could do to keep from collapsing. “Can you make it to the fence?”
“Try,” he gasped.
The pallor on his face and his struggle for breath terrified Anna, but for the moment she tried not to think about how badly he might be injured. She had to concentrate on getting him away from the dangerous horse and to medical care.
By the time she half dragged Miguel to the corner of the pen, he was on the verge of passing out. She didn't want to leave him for a second, but from the corner of her eye, she could see the stallion was charging up for another attack.
The animal didn't like anyone in his territory. But most often he accepted it. Anna had never seen him behave so viciously, and she feared if she didn't do something and fast, he would paw Miguel again.
All the cowhands were out vaccinating cattle in one of the back pastures. She'd sent the two grooms to Alamogordo to fetch a mended saddle from a tack shop. There was no one but her to save Miguel.
Her mind spun as her eyes darted around the pen. How was she going to get the animal out of there without him hurting her, too? And then she spotted a coiled lariat resting atop a fence post. She made a dash for the rope and quickly built a large loop. A few yards away, the black stallion began trotting back and forth and shaking his head from side to side.
Slowly, with the lariat rope held close to her side, she began to inch nearer the animal. He rolled his eyes, snorted, then kicked out with both back feet. Hooves slammed furiously against the metal fencing. The pipe clattered loudly but thankfully held together.
With her heart beating in her throat, Anna moved closer still. The horse pinned his ears, bared his teeth and charged. Anna stood her ground until the horse was almost to her, then quickly sidestepped his path at the last moment. He ran on past her, giving her enough time to whirl the loop open above her head. When the horse turned and headed back in her direction, she was ready. With the flip of her wrist, she threw a backward loop that settled neatly over the horse's head.
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