Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
TIMOTHY
The next day, I dropped by to discuss the terms of the tractor sale with Ken Almond after he didn’t answer his phone all morning. What I didn’t expect was to see two veterinary trucks on site—Carolina Equine and Vision Veterinary.
My traitorous brain hoped it was Gia.
Inside the horse aisleway, Ken’s expensive eventing mare was drenched in sweat, eyes wild, sides heaving.
She kept trying to throw herself to the ground every few steps while Ken’s daughter, Shay, fought the lead rope with shaking hands.
Dr. Hudson Raynes stood beside the mare, jamming medication into her neck with quick, practiced movements.
His posture was tight in a way I’d seen many a vet have when they expected everything to end poorly.
“Keep her walking!” Hudson barked.
Shay nodded, tears running down her face. “Come on, Artax. Come on, girl.”
The mare staggered forward, then immediately tried to collapse again. Ken shoved against her shoulder with a grunt, forcing her to remain upright before she could go down.
“Keep her moving,” Hudson scrubbed a hand down his face. “Don’t let her roll.”
Hudson pivoted and stalked toward the adjoining cow barn. He called out, “Gia?”
Gia was here. With Hudson.
I’d been stubborn in not reaching out to her after her plea to help Josh. Everything with Jackson had been a lot. I’d planned to call last night, but I hadn’t worked out what to say. Was she already sliding into something with Hudson Raynes?
Doubtful. Not after the warning I gave him the other day.
I moved deeper into the shadows before circling around the back side of the barn. I had a hot need to hear exactly what Hudson needed to say to the woman I’d spent twenty-four hours stewing over until I realized I better convince her to marry me or I’d end up in jail or dead from stress.
Hudson’s voice carried through the open doorway, strained and exhausted. “Gia, can you palpate the mare? I need another opinion before I tell them surgery or euthanasia.” His voice lowered. “Please confirm.”
“You’re the specialist, Hud. You got the initials after your name.” Gia spoke with quiet confidence. No panic. No flirtation. Hell, she wasn’t even making eye contact. She continued to bandage the cow’s hoof. “I’m just a general large-animal vet.”
“Gia. Please. We’re going to lose her. They trust you more than me.”
Gia sighed as she finished the bandage. She nodded and released the cow’s hoof from the restraint.
I eased back toward the paddock entrance just as Hudson waved Shay and Ken over. “Bring her here.”
The mare stumbled toward them, half sedated, half mad with the need to roll. Every few feet she tried to sink to her knees. Shay was openly sobbing.
Gia slipped on a plastic sleeve, her expression turning flat and clinical as she examined the horse. The entire barn seemed to hold its breath. Then she looked up at Hudson and gave one grim nod.
Hudson closed his eyes for half a second. That told me everything before he even spoke.
Gia’s startled gaze collided with mine when she saw me there.
“What’s wrong, Dr. Gia?” Shay whispered.
Ken immediately wrapped an arm around his daughter like instinct had already prepared him for the blow.
“She’s not responding to treatment.” Hudson stopped as if he couldn’t go further.
Gia reached out and took Shay’s hand. Softly, she said, “She has surgical colic.” Her voice was steady. “Without surgery, she’s going to die. If we don’t do surgery, we should put her down.”
Shay made a broken sound.
Gia kept going anyway because that’s what doctors like her did. “Even with surgery, there are no guarantees. It’s expensive, and time matters here. I’m sorry. I know you love her so much.” She pulled Shay into her arms for a big hug.
Ken swallowed hard. “Can you do it, or Dr. Raynes?”
Gia shook her head. “I’m not an equine surgeon. But…” She nodded at Hudson.
Hudson hesitated. “My place is two hours south. It’s too far. You’d have to trailer her to the vet school or Apex. They’re only a little over an hour. I can call ahead and—”
“She won’t make that long a haul,” Gia cut in softly.
The mare groaned and tried to go down again. Ken shoved her upright while Shay cried harder.
“What about Vision?” Ken asked desperately. “They got that new-fangled surgery building.”
Hudson looked at Gia instead of answering, putting the pressure on her.
Gia frowned. “Our two lead surgeons are out of town lecturing in Ohio. That leaves Dr. Green to do the cuts right now while they’re out. She’s okay in surgery, but she’s at the equine complex three hours south.”
I stepped forward and waved, getting everyone’s attention. I looked between them. “Gia, who’s the best surgeon within an hour that can save this horse?”
Her answer came instantly. She pointed at Hudson. “Dr. Raynes.”
Hudson shook his head. “Gia—”
She stepped closer, eyes locked on his. “You’re the best equine surgeon around. This mare stands a better chance with you than Dr. Green.”
For the first time since I’d arrived, real emotion cracked through Hudson’s composure.
Not arrogance, but pressure. Suddenly, everybody was looking at him like he was the last lifeline standing between that girl and heartbreak.
Hudson looked back toward the mare fighting for her life in the dirt.
Then he said quietly, “I don’t have an operating room. Would they let me do it at Vision?”
Gia cringed. “Dr. Green? I doubt it. Maybe we could get Josh to give permission?” She swung around to look at me.
“Josh is on a plane with his baseball team flying to New Mexico. We can’t reach him. Could call Erika, but she doesn’t have a lot of control over the equine facility.” I stepped forward out of the shadows. “We’ll get her into Vision with Dr. Raynes cutting.”
Every head turned toward me. My brain was already moving ahead, making plans.
“I don’t know if we can afford this,” Ken said hoarsely. “Besides, my horse trailer doesn’t have a floor in it right now. It’s in the shop.”
Shay made a strangled sound beside him and buried her face in the mare’s neck.
I looked at Gia. Bad mistake. The second our eyes met, my stomach dropped clean to the ground.
Help me. She didn’t say the words out loud, but they were there anyway. Written all over her face. Not for herself. For Shay. For the horse. For Hudson standing there carrying the weight of a death he hadn’t caused but might still have to deliver.
Gia looked devastated. And I couldn’t fucking stand it.
I squeezed Ken’s shoulder hard. “You’re about to sell a tractor.”
His head jerked toward me.
I looked around at all of them. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll take care of it. I’ll get it arranged at Vision.”
Because I would. I’d move heaven and earth to erase that look from Gia’s face. I pulled out my phone and dialed Coby as I walked away from the paddock.
He answered on the second ring. “Yeah?”
“I need you to hook up our horse trailer and get to the Almond farm now.”
“How bad?”
“Bad enough that if you speed, I won’t yell at you later.”
That got silence.
Then: “On my way.”
“It’s an emergency,” I added before hanging up.
I turned back toward the group and called out, “Coby will have our trailer here in ten to fifteen minutes. Get the horse ready to load. Wraps and whatever you think she needs.”
Relief flickered over Shay’s face.
But Hudson still looked grim. “What about the facility? Vision Veterinary isn’t going to let me walk into their surgical suite and start operating.”
I held up a finger. “Give me a minute.”
Then I walked farther away. I already knew exactly who I had to call. I hated it before she even answered.
Dr. Amanda Green picked up within two rings. “Well, well. To what do I owe the honor of the almighty Timothy Hurst calling me personally?”
Christ.
“This is an emergency,” I said flatly. “I need your permission for Dr. Hudson Raynes to be in the equine surgical suite at Vision within the next twenty minutes with a priority colic case.”
“No.” The answer came too fast. “He’s the competition. Not an employee of Vision.”
I stared out over the dark pasture, fighting the urge to hang up and drive my truck through a wall. “This is Shay Almond’s mare,” I said carefully. “Artax.”
“I don’t know who that is.” Her tone said she didn’t care either.
“Shay qualified for Kentucky this year. She’s a hopeful for the national team. That horse matters to this entire county.” I swallowed hard enough it hurt. “The mare’s going to die if we don’t operate now.”
Amanda sighed dramatically like I was inconveniencing her morning. “You want my staff, my techs, my facility, and my supplies so Dr. Raynes can play hero?”
Every word out of her mouth made me dislike her more.
“Yes.”
“Well…” Her voice turned silky.
And there it was. The price.
I knew what she wanted before she said it.
“I’d still like that date, Timothy.”
I closed my eyes. Twenty yards away stood the only woman I’d wanted in years, maybe forever.
Here I was about to bargain myself away to save her from heartbreak.
I could practically feel Gia watching me from across the paddock.
I didn’t want her to notice something was wrong.
I turned further and hunched over the phone.
Amanda waited.
The mare made a painful noise somewhere behind me. Decision made.
“Fine,” I bit out.
Amanda laughed softly. “Not good enough.”
God Almighty.
“You’re taking me to dinner,” she continued. “A real one. You’ll wear something other than work boots.”
I looked back toward Gia. She was watching me now, brows pulled tight with concern, her face pale in the afternoon light. For one ugly second it felt like I was cheating on something that didn’t belong to me.
“Fine,” I ground out.
“At a time of my choosing.”
My hand tightened around the phone hard enough my knuckles popped. “Okay.”
“And Timothy?”
I shut my eyes.
Amanda said, “Say thank you.”
I wanted out of the line of sight of everyone so bad my skin prickled.
But Shay was crying. The horse was dying. And Gia looked like her heart was breaking.
I forced the words out. “Thank you.”