CHAPTER EIGHT
Danica
“Aunt Gabrielle is going to feed you,” I said as we pulled into our driveway and I parked my RAV. “She’s in charge.”
“Where are you going?” my kid asked, her arms crossed tight over her chest since she was still frustrated that I had pulled her away from the barn. “Are you going back over to Tom’s? That’s not fair!”
“You have school in the morning.”
Her scoff was full of sass. “What help can you provide?”
“Watch your tone, young lady. I don’t know, but I don’t think he should be alone right now. He has a mare bleeding out and a foal that might lose its mother. That’s a lot for anybody to take on by themselves.”
“So then we can both help.” She met my gaze with a glare of her own. “This isn’t fair.”
“Life isn’t fair. Get out and go find your aunt. Remember to do your homework. And you can stay overnight in Laurel’s room if I’m not home by the time you go to bed.”
Her mouth hung open. “What? You’re not coming home?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I will eventually. But I’m not having this conversation. Your aunt is waiting for you. They’re holding dinner, so go.”
I swear I could see the red rage-ball pulsing around her like some freaky aura thing as my child flung open the door, grabbed her backpack, and stomped out. She knew better than to slam the door, but the look she gave me as she closed it spoke volumes.
I backed out of the driveway. “Call Fred Love,” I said to my phone via Bluetooth.
“Calling … Fred Love.”
“Danica?” Fred answered on the fourth ring. “What can I do for you?”
“Hey, Fred. You wouldn’t happen to have a bunch of goats’ milk, would you? A foal was just born on the island, and its mother is sickly and not producing any milk. Storm is keeping the vet from getting here.”
“Where are you?” he asked, with zero panic in his voice, even though I’m sure there was a lot in mine.
“Ten minutes from your place.”
“Come ’round to the house and we’ll have it ready for you.”
“You’re the best, Fred.”
We hung up, and I may have pressed down a little harder on the gas to get there a bit faster. I had to take my wipers up a notch to compete with the rain and wind as the clouds grew darker around us, threatening a brutal spring storm ahead.
“Thanks, Fred,” I said, grunting as we loaded up the last of the goats’ milk. “You’re a lifesaver. Literally.”
“Who’s got the foal?” he asked, not seeming to mind at all that we were standing out in the pouring rain getting soaked.
“Tommaso Barone. He has the animal sanctuary on the other side of Bonn Remmen’s land.”
Fred scrunched his nose. “There’s a sanctuary here? How long’s he been here? I’ve never heard of him.”
“A few years, I think. I also think he likes that not too many people on the island know about him.”
Fred chuckled and helped me close the hatch of my RAV. “Anybody that can keep themselves a secret from Jolene Dandy has my respect. Let me know if you need more.”
“Will do.” Then I raced around to the driver’s side of my SUV and climbed behind the wheel.
The roads on the island were riddled with potholes and had no streetlights, so you couldn’t go too fast. But I knew how fast I could go and still be safe. So I cranked it up to maximum safe speed, but it was all I could do to keep my knee from bouncing with nerves as I drew closer to Tom’s house.
Please let me not be too late. Please let me not be too late.
Bennett McEvoy’s big pickup truck was parked near the barn, which meant Justine was still there.
I had no idea if that was a good sign or not, but I didn’t spend too much time thinking about it before I parked my RAV beside the truck and climbed out.
Fred was kind enough to warm some of the milk up and put the bottles in a flexible cooler bag with heating pads surrounding it.
He even loaned me some bottles. The rest of the milk was from his freezer stash and still frozen. But I wasn’t going to complain.
His goats were all currently pregnant, and some had already given birth, but the kids were young and still nursing. So the milk he gave me was from past years.
With the cooler bag of warm milk slung over my shoulder, I ignored the raindrops colliding with my face like angry, wet bullets and yanked open the barn door.
Tom’s head popped up from inside the stall, and his eyes widened with surprise. “You are back?”
Jogging toward him, I nodded. “I … I have milk. From … from the goats at Fred Love’s.
It’s the next best thing. That’s what I read anyway.
” I reached the stall, and he opened it for me to reveal Justine, on the phone with probably Morty, little Midnight asleep beside his mother, and Angel—still alive.
Relief swamped me.
An IV had been inserted into Angel’s neck, but a big pile of blood-soaked wet towels sat in the corner.
Crouching down beside Tom, I opened up the cooler and pulled out one of the bottles.
He leaned over and drew a groggy Midnight into his lap, and together, we roused the little guy and placed the bottle nipple to his lips.
He took a few moments to figure out what to do, but when he realized there was milk involved, his eyes opened a little wider and he started to eat.
He was sloppy for a while and kept moving his lips too much, losing the nipple, but within a few minutes, he had it figured out enough that he’d drained the bottle and eagerly searched for more.
I grabbed the second bottle and held it to his mouth.
“Grazie mille,” Tom whispered, his voice slightly choked.
“Thank you, Danica.” Glancing up at me with those light, soft-brown eyes of his, I was momentarily transported out of the stall, out of the barn, and to some magical place where only the two of us existed.
I’m not sure any man had ever looked at me the way Tom was looking at me right now, and the way it heated my chilled-to-the-bone body had me itching to take off my jacket.
Justine clearing her throat broke our moment, and we both glanced up at her as she stood up to her full height. “Hey, Danica. Nice to see you.”
“You too,” I said grimly.
Justine removed her blue surgical gloves, turning them inside out.
“I’ve done all I can for her at this point.
The island clinic isn’t set up for animals, and I’ve done everything Dr. Harrison told me to do.
I can come check back on her in the morning.
I’ve left another IV bag. You watched me set it up, right, Tom? ”
He nodded. “Si.”
Justine’s brown eyes were sad before she glanced back down at Angel, which didn’t give me much hope. “She’s lost a lot of blood. And she was so weak to begin with.”
Tom nodded again from his spot on the ground with Midnight.
“I’ll see you out,” I said to Justine, offering Tom a small smile to say that he didn’t need to move.
She gathered up her medical equipment into her doctor’s bag, and together, we vacated the stall.
Justine Brazeau was a beautiful woman. She reminded me a lot of Lucy Liu with her high cheekbones, slender, athletic figure, and the freckles.
She’d only been on the island since the summer, but had quickly become everyone’s friend.
We also all appreciated her adding her medical expertise to the clinic, since Grayson Malone was pretty busy manning the place with just himself and three nurses.
And now we had the new nurse practitioner too, which was just a godsend.
“Be honest,” I said to her, once we were far enough away from Tom, “what do you think her chances are?”
Justine remained grim. “Not great. As frail and malnourished as she was when she arrived, the fact that she’s lost as much blood as she has …” A big sigh escaped her, and she hung her head. “I’d be surprised if she lasts the night, the poor thing.”
I swallowed. “And the baby?”
“I’m not a vet, but … if he continues to eat the way he is, then he might just have a chance.
While you were gone, Tom did make a call about a nurse mare to see if he could get one temporarily if Angel doesn’t make it.
” She reached out and rubbed my arm, giving it a friendly squeeze before letting it go.
“I’m glad he doesn’t have to handle all of this by himself. ”
“Happy to help any way I can,” I said softly.
She gave a half-hearted smile, then we said our goodbyes.
I tugged off my jacket as I stalked back toward the stall. Tom was right where I left him, on the floor among the straw with a now milk-drunk and sleeping Midnight on his lap.
“Well, that’s probably one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen in my life,” I whispered.
Glancing up at me, he conjured a lopsided smile, but didn’t stop stroking his hand gently over the small tuft of mane at the top of the colt’s head.
“Thank you for coming back. And bringing milk. You didn’t have to do that.” The way his rough voice scraped through me was nothing short of electrifying. Add in that accent and the way his gaze bore into my soul … I had to subtly reach out and grab the wall before my knees buckled.
“Well … I, uh … I knew with the weather that if you couldn’t get the vet here, there was no way you’d be able to get mare’s milk, or horse formula, or whatever over here.
So …” I was burning up inside now. Lifting one shoulder, I leaned harder into the wall, but my hand slipped along the surprisingly smooth wood, and I nearly face-planted on the concrete.
I tripped a few times but managed to catch myself, only to land on my knees. Nothing about it was graceful though.
“Are you okay?” he asked, gently moving Midnight back to the towel near his mother and getting to his feet with alarming speed. His hand wrapped around the inside of my elbow, searing the skin through my hoodie and long-sleeve shirt. He helped me up and, once again, our eyes met.
“I … yeah, sorry.”
“No apologies. You did nothing wrong. Only right.” With his hand still on my elbow, he glanced back at Midnight. “You saved him.”
“You did. I just … I just called Fred.”
“Have you eaten? You must eat.”