Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Fisher
Well, shit. Literally.
I knew she’d be surprised to see me, but I didn’t anticipate her falling into a wheelbarrow of horse shit to avoid me.
Now I’m stuck with Ruby, who’s taking her sweet time showing me every inch of the ranch.
We’ve been inside every barn, storage shed, hay loft, and pasture.
I’ve also pictured a dozen places to sneak around with Noah if she’d give me a chance to explain why I’m here.
Assuming she’ll even want to talk to me.
“If you want the retreat tour, you’ll have to get it from Noah or one of the boys. I’ve gotta get back to stall duty before Ayden covers me in shit next.” She laughs as she drives us back to the stables.
“Does it matter where I start?” I ask as she parks next to my truck.
“You’ll have to ask Noah. She’s kinda the boss when it comes to the schedule.”
I open my door and hop out. “I thought Ayden was the boarding operations manager?”
“He is, but Noah trains most of the boarders, which means the schedule depends on her and what she has to do. No one really understands her madness, so we just roll with it. Best you do, too.”
“Duly noted.”
“You’ll need to back up your truck on the other side of the barn and set up away from this entrance. Noah brings out the horses on this end, and you’ll just be in her way.”
“Alright, sure.” I don’t need to give Noah more reasons to hate me by pissing her off at work.
“She just texted she’s leavin’ her house and should be here in a few minutes. She’ll let you know where to begin.”
I head to my truck and then drive to the south side.
Once I’ve backed in close enough to the concrete block, I unlock the back of my rig where all my tools and machines are kept.
Instead of a cub trailer, I opted to get a built-in shoeing rig so I could still pull a trailer when I moved locations. Now it’s a nice convenience to have.
I clip my leather apron into place over my jeans and then grab my hoof stand and tool kit from the back seat of my truck.
Mr. Hollis printed out the shoeing cards of each horse from Mr. Ryan’s last visit.
It tells me their toe length, angle of the foot, and what size shoe they use.
Each horse will vary on their specific activities, but it’s still useful to have ahead of time.
Some of the horses are new since the last time Mr. Ryan was here, so I’ll have to spend a bit more time on them.
It’ll take a few weeks to get caught up and then maintain a routine between Noah’s training schedule and the trail horses’ daily riding.
Unsure of where to begin, I fuss with my equipment and supplies while I wait for Noah.
When her truck appears and she parks next to mine, she stares at me through the windshield. With a shake of her head, she opens her door and walks toward me.
My heart falls to the pit of my stomach at being face-to-face again. It’s only been a week since our night together, and I haven’t stopped thinking about her. Even if she left the morning after and hasn’t responded to my calls or messages, I’m still happy to see her.
“You stalkin’ me?” Her voice is coated in irritation.
I ignore her accusation and take a step. “Are you okay?”
“From fallin’ in horse shit or because you miraculously showed up on my ranch?” She crosses her arms.
“Pretty sure I should be the pissed one here.” I mimic her stance. “If you’d bothered to respond, I could’ve told you I was the new farrier, and you wouldn’t have been so shocked to see me that you’d fall into a pile of horse shit.”
She drops her arms and narrows her eyes. “You knew?”
“Not at first, but I put two and two together once I learned your last name. I figured we’d talk later, and I’d tell ya then. But since you couldn’t return a text, I reckoned ya could find out the hard way.”
She shoots me a death glare. “So you knew before we slept together?”
I swallow hard and answer honestly, “Yes.”
“That woulda been nice to know.” She walks around me, and I follow.
“Would it have mattered?”
She ignores my question as she grabs a lead rope, then opens one of the horse’s doors.
“This is Buttercup. He leaves tomorrow, so you’ll start with him.
Then I’ll note which ones are a priority on your sheet.
After you do the boarders, you’ll move to the trail horses, and then finally, our personal horses.
I assume Ruby showed you their locations? ”
“She did.”
She brings Buttercup out, and after sniffing me, he lets out a whinny.
“He doesn’t like men,” she states flatly. “I’ll have to stay with him so he doesn’t try to kill you.”
“I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not.”
She holds up the rope. “Take him and find out if you don’t believe me.”
“I’d rather not risk it. I’ve been kicked enough to last me a lifetime. But I do wanna see him walk first.”
“I can tell you anythin’ about this horse you need to know. Level heel. Thick frogs. No fungus. Size four shoe.”
“Unless you wanna do my job, I need to witness his walk.”
“Fine.” She pinches her lips together as if she doesn’t want to cause a scene with Ayden and Ruby nearby. “Go to the end of the aisle.”
I go to the doors and then turn around just as Noah leads him toward me. Buttercup has a steady walk, and his hooves land at a good distance apart. His shoulders move freely, which means he’s maintaining his balance as his neck moves up and down in time with the rest of his body.
“Now turn around and walk away from me for a few seconds.”
With a huff of irritation, she does as I say. If I didn’t know any better, Noah Hollis isn’t used to taking orders, and she’s not a fan of it either.
Once they walk ten feet, she turns him around and comes back toward me.
“Well?” she asks as she approaches.
“He looks good and healthy. Nice gait.”
“Told ya. I’ve trained him for the past four months.”
“And you’ve done a great job, but in order to do my job, I need to assess each horse properly before I work on them.”
“You’ll have to get someone else to walk them for you, then because I’m either in the corral, at the trainin’ center, or workin’ on the fundraiser,” she says, following me back outside.
“What fundraiser?” I ask, intrigued.
Her shoulders relax. “It’s in a couple weeks. I’m raisin’ money for a charity that helps rescued and injured horses. It’ll be like a mini rodeo with barrel racin’, mutton bustin’, show jumpin’, and more.”
Wow, impressive. That’s a big undertaking, but I don’t say that. She’s being snippy with me, and I’m not about to go soft on her now.
There’s a post to secure the rope, and once he’s clipped in, I rub my hand over his back and let him sniff me.
“My clipboard’s on my rig if you wanna mark which order I have to go in, and then I won’t bother you again till I need ya.”
I avoid looking at her face when I dismiss her, but by the way she scuffs her boots on the ground, she’s not any happier with me than she was before.
“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you,” I tell Buttercup when he stomps his back foot, almost as if he’s mocking Noah’s actions. I resist the urge to laugh while dragging my hand down his leg to check his hoof.
“Before I forget to tell you, Shelby and Taylor Alison Swift’s stalls are next to each other, and they don’t like being apart too long. So you’ll wanna let them say goodbye and give them a couple minutes together before you switch them out.”
I snap my head up, wondering if she’s fucking with me. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, I know dependency can be bad, but they’ve been next to each other for two years.
Taylor Alison Swift is Mallory’s horse—my little cousin—so she’s not goin’ anywhere since Mallory lives here.
Shelby’s been here for a few years and is a full-time boarder since their owner lives in the city.
We let them stay together since neither will be leavin’. ”
Standing, I meet her eyes. “You have a horse named Taylor Alison Swift?”
She blows out a deep breath. “Yes. We call her Miss Swift if you must know.”
“So you’re a Swiftie?”
“We’re not doin’ this...” She points at me, then motions between us. “Business talk only.”
“Said who?” I grab my toolbox kit and wheel it to Buttercup’s front leg.
“Me. You’re a ranch employee, and I’m a professional horse trainer on said family’s ranch. The only reason we’d need to talk is to discuss the horses.”
I get into position, then situate Buttercup’s hoof between my legs and squeeze my thighs to keep it in place. He nudges my head and nips at me, pulling a chunk of hair before Noah notices and scolds him.
“Guess you weren’t lyin’.” I laugh, grabbing my buffer and hammer to raise the clenches.
“Nope.” She stands next to me, then hands me my shoe pullers once I’m done.
“Thanks,” I say, changing out the tools and then going around the shoe until I can effortlessly pry it off. “I take it his owner is a female?”
“Yes.” She hands me my hoof knife.
I bite back my laughter as she keeps Buttercup calm while handing me tools as if she’s memorized every step of my process. As I remove the excess dirt and scrape away the dead sole, she rubs his head and, eventually, hands me my loop knife.
“You sing to all your horses?” I taunt when I catch her humming a Taylor Swift song.
“You gonna tease me about the one thing that’s keepin’ this horse from kickin’ you? Pretty bold, Mr. Underwood.”
“Mr. Underwood?” I scoff, shedding the frog until it’s a nice V-shape. “Does that mean I should call you Miss Hollis?”
She lowers her gaze and glares while handing me my rasp.
“I’d prefer you didn’t.”
I double-check for any flakey sole and inspect for defects or infections before I smooth and flatten the entire bottom. Then I flip the rasp over and run it over the hoof again.
“You hand Mr. Ryan all of his tools or am I just special?”
“Don’t get excited. I’m only helpin’ to make sure you’re doin’ it right.”
“Oh, now you’re supervisin’ me?” I ask, using my hoof knife again to scrape more of the sole until it feels waxy.