Chapter 12
Athena all but inhaled the lunch Henry had brought for them to eat. Eating fast was part of her ability to survive. It wasn’t until she looked over at Henry and found him staring with a nearly full sandwich in his hand that she realized what she’d done.
She ducked her head and blushed fiercely. If she was going to stay here for a few days—maybe weeks—then she’d have to retrain herself to slow down a bit.
“It’s… it’s really good,” she said quietly, blushing even more.
“I’m glad you like it.” Henry looked down at his sandwich, then held it out to her with a crooked grin. “You want some of mine?”
She fought the urge to scowl at him. It was sweet, actually, for him to be offering her more. Unfortunately, her innate nature didn’t want to be dependent on anyone—not even the handsome cowboy sitting across from her.
A cowboy exited the barn at that very moment, leading the beautiful black horse she’d come to love so much. The horse stomped and tossed his head. He kicked out his back legs, making another cowboy jump to the side.
Athena shot to her feet, much to Henry’s surprise. She brushed off the crumbs that had landed in her lap. “I want to see the animals.” More specifically, she wanted to find out what they were doing with the horse they’d deemed a beast. She pointed toward the cowboys with the horse. “Where are they taking him?”
Henry followed the direction of her gesture. “Looks like they’re going to do a training session.”
“Can we watch?” Athena didn’t wait for him to respond before she marched after them. The horse didn’t seem to like the fact that he was being dragged out to the corral. His ears flicked backward, then to the sides.
She rushed forward, able to catch a glimpse of his wide eyes before they closed the gate behind him. Athena climbed the fence, placing her boots on the bottom rung as she watched the men work.
Nothing they seemed to do was able to calm the beast once he was in there. He was jumpy any time one of them came close to him. They hadn’t even put a saddle on his back yet. The beast bucked and leaped around wildly. He threw his head hard enough that the lead rope fell from the hands of the cowboy who was supposed to keep him steady.
As soon as that happened, the horse charged toward the cowboy. In less time than it had taken her to scarf down her lunch, both cowboys had jumped the fence and were standing on the other side near Athena.
“I don’t know what Brielle wants us to do. Obviously, this horse can’t do dressage. He should be entered into the rodeo instead.”
“You know how Annabel feels about that,” the other one muttered, gesturing. “Just look at him, though. You know he’d win competitions if we could just get him to calm down. Have you ever seen a coat like that one? It’s practically cobalt when the sun hits it right.”
Henry’s chuckle interrupted their chat. “I told you guys that it wasn’t going to work. That horse isn’t happy unless he’s in his stall with a big pile of oats.”
The first cowboy turned around, leaning against the rail as he crossed his arms. “That’s what I said. No one is going to teach that beast how to have manners. He’s too old for that.”
His brother nudged him in the side. “Well, I’m not telling Annabel. That’s on you.”
“Come on, Daniel. I thought you weren’t scared of anything,” the first cowboy teased. “You’re the biggest out of all of us. You were supposed to be able to show that animal who was boss.”
Athena listened to the interaction with half an ear. Her eyes remained on the horse who was still cantering around the corral. Round and round he went, but he never got close enough to their side of the corral to cause them any worry. He tossed his head, sending his mane into the air.
If the cowboys were right about one thing, it was that this beast was too beautiful to be put in an arena with men who only wanted to prove how long they could remain in the saddle. This gorgeous specimen needed to be showcased like the piece of art he was.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Athena slipped her leg through the metal bars and stood just inside the corral. She marched toward the horse, her heart pounding with exhilaration. Athena paid no heed to Henry, who called after her. Instead, her eyes remained fixed on the creature she’d befriended the moment she’d seen him.
The beast slowed his steps and stared at her from his place on the far side of the corral. His ears twitched. His nostrils flared. Then he pawed at the ground.
Athena held up her hands, inching ever closer to the animal. She didn’t know what she was doing. If she’d been separated from her body, she would have been yelling at herself to get back to where it was safe. Clearly this animal wasn’t friendly. Just because he appeared to like her when he was caged didn’t mean he would like her now.
Her head buzzed with these thoughts, weaving doubt through her brain with each breath she took. What if the beast trampled her? She wouldn’t be able to leave. She’d be stuck here until she got better.
Would that be so bad? Henry would likely make sure she was taken care of. At least that was something.
“Athena! So help me, if you take one more step—” Henry’s voice rang out over the commotion of the other cowboys and yet she still couldn’t stop her progress.
“Shh. Shh. Shh,” she soothed. “You’re okay. It’s me. Remember?”
The horse didn’t move. He remained right where he was even though different parts of him twitched.
“Hey, buddy,” she murmured, finally getting close enough that she would be able to touch him if she only reached out with her hands. “Did those mean cowboys bring you out here when you weren’t ready?”
His eyes opened a little more and then returned to normal. He snorted and bobbed his head.
She let out a soft laugh. “I know. I don’t like it when that happens either.” Athena placed her hand on his nose softly at first, then she held onto him with both hands. She scratched his cheeks and hummed a little tune. “It’s gonna be okay, you know? Wherever you came from, it’s not going to be like that here. The people here, they’re good. They’re going to make sure you’re fed and warm. They’re going to make sure you don’t get sick. But you’re going to have to let them teach you some manners.”
The horse snorted and pulled his head from her grasp. It was as if he could actually understand what she was saying.
She smiled, shoving her hands into her pockets to show him that she wasn’t going to push him too hard. “You’re stubborn… like me. And that’s okay, too. Eventually, you’re going to learn that it’s easier to let yourself trust. It’s too exhausting to be on guard all the time.”
Her words hit her harder than she expected them to. With a glance over her shoulder, she found that several other cowboys and a few of the women who hung around the ranch had gathered. “I know it’s not going to be easy, but I have faith in you. Don’t listen to what they say. You’re not a beast.”
He blew out a heavy breath through his nostrils and bobbed his head.
Athena bit back a grin. “Yeah, maybe the name fits you better than I thought.”
Beast took a step toward her, and she reached for the lead rope at his chin. With one final hoof hitting the dirt, he gave a shake to his head. She tugged on the rope and wandered around the perimeter. The closer they got to the group, the more agitated Beast became, but with her hand firmly holding the lead, his attitude remained in check.
The second they stopped at the gate, Daniel and the other cowboy carefully entered the corral. Their wide gazes shifted from Athena to the horse and back. She held the rope out to Daniel, giving him a pointed look. “Next time, go a little slower. Talk to him, tell him what’s going on.”
Daniel lifted a brow. “You want me to talk to the beast?”
She smiled up at the animal. “I think he’d appreciate knowing what’s coming. I know I would.” Athena didn’t care if they thought she was crazy. She’d made a connection with the beast—a fact that none of them could say they did themselves.
Athena slipped out of the corral, blood on fire, heart racing, and breathless. She’d never done anything like that. It wasn’t until she was a few yards away from the corral that she realized Henry was guiding her toward the house—and he was talking.
“I don’t know what you were thinking. You’ve got to be crazy, or you’ve been holding out on me.” His tone was sharp, but there was an underlying relief to it. “I swear, if something had happened to you…” His voice trailed off, giving away more than he might have intended.
Athena avoided his eyes, pretending she hadn’t been listening.
“Athena,” he said firmly, “you can’t do stuff like that. It’s reckless.”
She glanced up at him. “I talked to your brothers.” It was the only thing she could say. Not only had she opened up to Henry, but now she was allowing his family to slip through her defenses. Sure, she’d been talking about the horse, but she’d actually said more than two words to them. And now they knew her name.
Henry’s open mouth shut tight. She couldn’t be sure if it was because she’d disregarded his lecture or if he had realized what a milestone it was for her to be speaking to people other than him.
Athena took in a deep breath and settled on the porch steps to the house. “It wasn’t reckless.”
He snorted. “Yes, it was.”
“I think it was amazing.” The new voice drew Athena’s attention, and she glanced up to come face-to-face with someone new. The woman had pink hair and tattoos. She even had a piercing on her nose. Athena’s eyes widened. This was the bride from the night she’d shown up. She looked different without the white gown. The woman dropped down beside her on the steps, much to Henry’s disapproval. “You’ve got something special, you know that? I think you need to harness it.”
“Harness it? Harness what, Harley?” Henry demanded. “She can’t just go into corrals with dangerous animals.”
“She can if she has a gift, and I think she does. Mason said himself that if she wasn’t there, it would have taken several guys with ropes just to get him back in his stall. She did it all on her own.” Harley bumped her shoulder against Athena’s. “Take it from me. If you got a gift, you need to take advantage of it. Maybe these guys should hire you—then again, maybe I’ll get Mason to hire you for my uncle’s farm. We don’t have a lot of horses, but some of them could use training.”
“Not gonna happen, Harley.” Henry crossed his arms.
She winked at Athena. “Think about it, will you? Someone with your talents shouldn’t be hiding them.” Harley got to her feet and sauntered toward the corral where the two cowboys were fairing a little better.
“Don’t worry,” Athena murmured. “I’m not gonna do any of that.”
“Why not?”
Her head snapped up. “Because it’s ridiculous.”
Henry shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Do I think you should go into a corral without backup to rein in a horse like that? Of course not. But do I think that she made a few good points?” He shrugged, but his eyes clearly confirmed his statement. “Maybe you should think about it.”