Chapter 5 #2
With steely determination, she pulled up near where Hayden had explained he was then killed the engine.
The air was cool and laced with the faint tang of native trees and horses.
She was already moving before the dust settled, grabbing her vet kit from the passenger seat and slamming the door behind her.
She spotted Hayden immediately. Down by the southern paddock, crouched beside a collapsed chestnut, his hat tossed on the ground nearby and his hair tousled by the wind.
Duchess stood tethered a few metres away, watching everything with twitching ears and wary eyes.
Brianna jogged down the slope towards them, her boots thudding lightly against the ground.
As she approached, Hayden looked up. And for just a second, despite the urgency of the moment, something passed between them again, something unspoken but understood.
‘You weren’t wrong,’ she said, already crouching beside Diesel. ‘He’s in a bad way.’
Hayden shifted to give her room. ‘I’ve kept him down. He was thrashing pretty hard when I found him. He’s cooled a little but still looks bloated.’
‘He’s definitely twisted,’ she said, already pressing her fingers into the gelding’s belly, gauging the tension. ‘Let’s get his heart rate.’
He handed her the stethoscope without question.
Their movements folded into one another seamlessly.
With urgency driving her, Brianna worked quickly, voice low as she rattled off numbers, symptoms and next steps.
Hayden nodded, already ahead of her, fetching the IV pack from her Hilux before she’d even asked, securing Diesel’s halter to a nearby tree post for gentle restraint.
She had to silently admit that as a man who lived and breathed horses, he made the perfect assistant.
‘How long did he graze this paddock yesterday?’ she asked, prepping a needle.
‘About six hours. It’s the new ryegrass section,’ he replied, worry tightening his voice. ‘I rotated him in with the others but pulled them yesterday arvo, before I headed into town. Didn’t spot anything wrong then.’
‘Colic can hit like a truck,’ she muttered. ‘Could’ve been something he drank, or just bad luck.’ She met his gaze then, and the furrow in his brow caught her off guard. Deep, worn-in lines of worry.
This wasn’t just a routine emergency for him. This horse meant something.
‘You’ve had him a while?’
‘Since he was four,’ Hayden said, voice low. ‘We cut cattle together for ten years. He’s one of the good ones.’
Brianna reached out instinctively, her gloved hand brushing his arm for the briefest moment. ‘Then let’s fight for him.’
He nodded once, a flicker of gratitude in his eyes. But beneath it was something else. That same heaviness she’d sensed the night before. The kind that lingered long after laughter had faded, and the bar had closed. She didn’t ask. Not yet. But she filed it away.
Twenty minutes later, the first bag of fluids was in, Diesel’s spasms had started to subside, and Brianna finally let out the breath she’d been holding. ‘He’s stabilising,’ she said. ‘Still touch and go, of course, but we’ve bought him time.’
Hayden crouched beside her again, elbows resting on his knees. ‘Thank you, Bri.’
She looked at him, really looked this time. The stubble on his jaw. The crease in his shirt. The quiet in his eyes that seemed to say everything he hadn’t spoken yet. ‘You did everything right, Hayden,’ she offered softly.
‘Yeah,’ he murmured, though the words didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘I’m just glad you answered the call.’
She packed her supplies away slowly, giving herself a moment to breathe, to steady her own heart. ‘I always will,’ she replied, not meaning to say it so plainly. But it was out there now, suspended between them like the morning mist over the paddocks.
Hayden didn’t reply straight away. But when he stood, brushing the dirt from his jeans, he turned back to her with something close to a smile. ‘Coffee while we wait it out?’ he asked. ‘I’ve got roasted beans that’ll put Molly’s to shame.’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Now that is a dangerous claim.’
He shrugged. ‘Guess you’ll have to come find out.’
And before she could talk herself out of it, she nodded.
Hayden led the way towards the homestead, his long strides relaxed now that Diesel was stable.
The silence between them wasn’t awkward; it was the kind of quiet that came after intensity, as if both of them had stepped out of a storm and were still catching their breath.
The scent of warming earth and sun-dried grass trailed after them as they crossed the paddock.
Duchess grazed nearby, already calm again, and Diesel, still tethered in the shade with a second fluid line running, was dozing in the dirt, no longer trembling.
The back door creaked open as Hayden pushed it inwards, holding it for her. ‘Don’t judge the mess,’ he said, glancing over his shoulder. ‘I wasn’t exactly expecting company this morning.’
Brianna stepped into the farmhouse kitchen and instantly felt the warmth of it – wooden countertops worn smooth with age, iron pots hanging above the stove, a windowsill lined with little pots of herbs. It wasn’t fancy, but the home felt real. Lived in. Cosy.
‘I’d be disappointed if it was spotless,’ she replied. ‘It would ruin the whole rugged charm thing you’ve got going on.’
Hayden gave her a mock glare. ‘Are you saying I’m predictable?’
She shrugged, her lips curving. ‘I’m saying you’re on brand.’
He chuckled, opening a tin and scooping freshly ground beans into the filter. ‘You take it black?’
‘Sometimes. But I wouldn’t say no to a dash of milk. And maybe a spoon of sugar, if it’s strong enough to wake the dead.’
‘You’re in luck. This stuff could raise Lazarus.’
While the coffee brewed, Hayden grabbed two matching mugs from the shelf and filled them.
The aroma was rich and sharp, cutting through the morning stillness like a call to attention.
He handed her one with a small nod. They leant against opposite sides of the old timber table, the mugs warm between their hands.
‘So,’ Hayden began, watching her over the rim of his cup, ‘do all your Sundays start with adrenaline, rural rescues and strong caffeine?’
Brianna grinned, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ‘In all honesty, it’s not that far off.’
‘I’m sorry I dragged you out here so early.’
‘Don’t be,’ she said. ‘Diesel needed help. And I didn’t mind.’
There was something unspoken in her voice, a softness that lingered on the edge of something deeper. She could sense that Hayden felt it, too, as the weight of everything unsaid hung gently between them.
‘I’m glad you came,’ he said, quieter now. ‘I didn’t realise how much I needed someone to have my back until you showed up.’
Brianna held his gaze. ‘That’s what I’m here for, remember?’
* * *
Hayden smiled at that, but it faltered just a touch as the guilt crept in again, a shadow at the edges.
The bet. The dare. The damned five hundred dollars hanging over this fragile connection like a blade.
He couldn’t tell her. Not yet. But the moment was coming.
And when it did, it had to be on his terms.
Honest.
Clean.
Brianna tilted her head, studying him. ‘You okay?’
Hayden nodded slowly. ‘Yeah. Just … thinking.’
‘Dangerous habit,’ she said softly.
‘For me? Always.’
They both laughed, and the tension eased again, like an exhale they didn’t know they were holding. Outside, a kookaburra cackled in the distance, breaking the quiet with its wild, joyful call.
Brianna took another sip of coffee and Hayden let the moment settle around him. This gorgeous woman, sitting in his house, on a Sunday morning – it was all starting to feel familiar in a way that made him nervous. Not because it was bad. But because it was good.
Too good.
‘You’ve built something solid here, Hayden,’ she said, her tone gentle. ‘It shows. In your horses. In your land. In the way people talk about you.’
He looked at her, surprised. ‘You’ve been talking to people about me?’
‘People talk. Especially in small towns.’ She laughed a little uncomfortably. ‘You know that.’
‘I do.’ He gave her a long, amused look. ‘And what exactly have they been saying?’
She grinned. ‘That you’re a good man. A great horseman. Maybe a little stubborn. Maybe a little guarded. But solid. Reliable. Someone they’d trust with just about anything.’
He didn’t reply to that. Just looked at her, trying to figure out how to reply bigger than words allowed. But instead, he raised his mug again. ‘Here’s to early mornings and second chances,’ he offered.
Brianna clinked her cup against his. ‘To horses and Sunday-morning distractions,’ she returned, her eyes gleaming.
Hayden chuckled, but beneath it he felt something shift. A tug of something real. Something dangerous. Because he knew now this wasn’t just some crush. Or flirtation. Or dare. This was the beginning of a story he wasn’t sure he deserved to be written into.
And he needed to put a stop to it, before it got way out of hand.