24. 24 MCKENNA
24 MCKENNA
Three months later…
“Mckenna, thanks for coming down so quickly,” Grace Ellison opens the paddock gate.
“I don’t know what I can do.” I wipe off the hair that’s clinging to my tank top. It’s a never-ending battle being around these hairy beasts, but I’m not complaining.
“Alice said she was on her way and that if you were around, she would ask you to take a look. You’re the closest thing to a vet here at the moment.”
“I’m just a groomer, Grace.” I walk towards Melody, the gorgeous Appaloosa mare with a distinguished white cap covering her hips. This girl usually trots right up to us, so the fact that she’s staying by the fence, away from her herd mates, is curious.
“I didn’t notice anything obvious when I turned her out,” Grace says.
“You would have spotted it if it was obvious,” I reassure the experienced horsewoman.
“Hey Melody,” I get a little closer, cautiously, and notice she’s keeping her weight off her hind leg.
“What’s your guess, Grace?”
She turns from petting Sundust, one of the most affectionate mares I’ve ever met. “I don’t want to say it, Mckenna.”
Melody staggers toward me, pushing her muzzle into my palm. “Are you uncomfortable, girl?”
I give her a snuggle while paying attention to that back leg.
This herd is a dream, and Melody is the most mild-mannered of these Appaloosa mares. I can’t believe that I ended up here.
The sun dips behind the clouds, and the gray light paints the pastures like postcards. Who wouldn’t want to live here?
“Can I take a look at your back leg?” I move to Melody’s side and gently skim my palm along her rump. She doesn’t back away.
“Good girl,” I purr. She lets me touch just above her hoof, but not her hoof.
“I’m not a vet-”
“Yet,” Grace says.
Her confidence in me is what’s kept me going all these months.
“Yet,” I concede. “But acute laminitis. There’s Alice.” I know the sound of that truck anywhere.
“Yeah, I suspected as much. You’re going to be okay, girl. We’ll take care of you.”
I hear the slam of the truck’s door, but don’t take my eyes off Melody as she moves closer to the gate.
We need to get her inside with lots of soft bedding.
Laminitis is common and can be treated, but it’s often painful, and the less time in the pasture, the better for Melody.
“Once she’s inside, I’ll take x-rays,” Alice says. “I’m glad you’re here, Mckenna.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You reassured me!” Grace calls over her shoulder.
I roll my eyes and follow Alice inside, behind Grace and Melody.
Alice carefully watches how Melody walks.
Even though I’m ignoring their praise, I’m so happy to be here.
Here in this eleven-acre picturesque equine heaven, home to a herd of Appaloosas. The property features a twenty-eight-stall barn, an indoor arena, large paddocks, and a separate stall area for boarders.
Grace gives lessons and shows her Appaloosas.
Living here has healed my broken heart and kept my mind occupied.
I only think of the thing right in front of me. I don’t think of my mother’s cold shoulder or my father’s reluctance to see me in person.
I don’t think of Adrian.
At least not much.
I help Alice take X-rays, then get Melody into her luscious box stall with the soft bedding.
“We’re going to make her comfortable and give her plenty of rest,” Alice says.
“Thanks, I’m glad you came so fast.”
“That’s what you pay me for.” Alice grins. “You got me out of going to my kid’s soccer game, so thanks.”
Grace laughs. “Mckenna has to hurry up and be a vet already.”
“She’s sitting that exam in November, even if I have to drive her to the facility myself,” Alice grumbles.
“I told you, I’m going to do it!”
“You bet your ass you are,” Grace says.
I busy myself, helping Alice pack up, grinning the whole time.
Even though it hurts to be distanced from my parents, I can’t force myself on my mother.
The day after Club Lust, when I told her that I could move us anywhere, she shook her head, her expression angry. “I’m waiting here, Mckenna. You do whatever you like, but leave me here.”
“Mother, I can’t just leave you in this awful apartment.”
My heart broke. I didn’t tell her what I did to get the money, or that I had seen Adrian.
I only told her I had money, and she didn’t have to worry.
“No. You get out of here as soon as you can!”
I had never heard her voice so harsh before, but I had to tell her about Adrian because photos of us attending Ava’s event were everywhere online.
“He was in town, so I went on a date with him.”
My mother pressed her hands to her temples. “I don’t know why you can’t let it go, but now’s your chance. Take this money and get away from here. Leave me.”
Biting back tears, I escaped into my bedroom, closed the door, and sobbed.
Then my phone chimed with a message from Grace, saying, “Hello stranger!”
It turns out that someone from my old life was happy to see me. While my family’s fortunes had been turned upside down, Grace was finalizing a divorce she kept quiet about and living in Oregon. She had inherited this sprawling equine facility. I sobbed, reading her messages, and asked her to call me. Two minutes later, I heard her voice and couldn’t stop crying.
“Mckenna, I’m so sorry I didn’t reach out sooner. Or is it Dr. Moran?”
“No. I haven’t sat the exam yet.”
“Want to come here? I have a cottage that you can have if you want it.”
She didn’t have to ask me twice.
That was the perfect arrangement.
I packed my bags, hugged my mother, and was on the next plane to Oregon.
Grace’s vet, Dr. Alice Hearthstone, took me under her wing and offered me a job if I wanted it. But I didn’t.
I was happy mucking stalls, grooming the sweetest horses–besides Penelope and teaching.
For the first time in my life, I was choosing exactly what I was doing with my time without looking after one of my parents.
The cottage Grace had free comes with a comfy kitchen, a washroom, and a porch where I can watch the herd while sitting on a swing while the sunset darkens the sky.
“Ms. Ellison!”, the office manager, comes running into the stall.
“Clark, I’ve told you lots of times not to run into the barn! What’s going on?” Grace crosses her arms in front of her chest.
“There’s cars and a TV reporter outside asking if they can speak to the owner.”
“I’ll come by tonight to check on Melody. I’ve given her pain relief, and she’s not going to like being kept in the stall, but keeping her comfortable for now is what we’re going to do. I think it’s time for me to get out,” Alice says.
“Lucky you,” Grace mutters.
“Tell them the owner isn’t available.”
Grace and I exchange a look, knowing what it’s like to have the media chase us. It could be because of Grace’s ex-husband. In the time that I’ve been here, the press has come twice after Brett has won a big case. They’re divorced but civil to each other.
“They insisted! Said they want to know what it’s like harboring a fugitive.”
My face pales. “Grace, I’m so sorry, I …”
She puts a palm up to stall my words. “That’s what they’re going to say to get you to show your face. One, you’re my friend. Two, you’re not a fugitive, and neither are your parents. Nobody has been charged with anything. I’ll call Brett if I have to, but he’s in court on Tuesdays.”
“Want me to drive my truck through them?” Alice smirks but her tone suggests she’d do it.
Grace’s expression mirrors mine. We come from a world where lawyers deal with the media pests, not taking it into our own hands.
We break out into laughter.
“He’s an excellent lawyer,” Grace says.
Alice grins. “It’d be worth it once. I have a good replacement waiting in the wings.”
“I’m not your replacement! I don’t even know if I’m going to work for you.”
Alice has offered, which is so generous and motivates me to study at night, but I don’t know what I want right now.
I thought I would have it figured out by now, but it’s been nice to have a place to destress...
“So what should I do?” Poor Clark is stressed, and his expression makes us laugh.
“Tell them to go away.”
“They’re shouting comments about associating with criminals.”
“I have no knowledge of where my parents are,” I murmur.
Grace squeezes my arm. I give her a small smile and try to calm my racing heart.
I took my phone out of my pocket and scroll for headlines to see if there was any reason for the press to descend here.
“That bitch,” I mumble before I can get the words out of my mouth.
“Who?” Grace asks.
Melody gives a neigh in her stall. I pat her rump and step away, headed for the small coffee station by the tack room that gives me a view of the front lawn.
“Ava was asked about my appearance at her concert.” I don’t know why it took so long for her to comment on it, but she just got back from a tour in Europe. Some journalist decided to bring it up, asking her about me.
“Listen to this. ‘I’ve never been close to Mckenna. Honestly, it’s disgusting how she’s thrown herself at my brother all these years. I don’t know why he thinks he can trust her, but I guess everyone’s allowed to make mistakes. I’ll be here for my big brother when he realizes that Mckenna Moran is not someone you can trust.’”
“She’s awful. Don’t worry about her.”
“How am I going to be a vet with everything attached to my name?”
Grace gives me a hug. “It’s going to be okay, Mckenna.”
I want to believe her, but I spent so much time under the stress of my parents, under the cloud of their tarnished reputation.
And now, when I’ve put distance between my past and them, trying to build a reputation for myself, I can’t even do that.
Alice’s phone rings. She answers it while cleaning up the equipment. I rush over to help her.
“You tell them I don’t care who Mckenna’s parents are. I’m happy to be working with her, and she will be an outstanding vet. Tell them we have no further comment on the matter.” Alice ends the call. “That’s what I think of those vultures, Mckenna. Do you have any idea how they found out you’re here?”
“I didn’t exactly hide it, but I didn’t think people were still interested in me. I should have known better.”
“I’m going to call Brett, just in case.”
I’m blinking back tears because this is the support I wanted so desperately when everything happened and didn’t get.
“Thank you.”
Grace squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, but I’m here now. You deserve to be happy, Mckenna.”
I nod, not able to speak due to the sudden tightness in my throat.
Looking after these beautiful creatures makes me happy. Living here in Oregon, the first time I’ve truly lived on my own, has been a healing balm to my soul.
But every night before I go to bed, Adrian’s face swims in my mind, confusing me, as I wonder how can I trust that man ever again?
“You weren’t hiding it, Mckenna, but it doesn’t help that you’re on Alice’s website.”
“She is not,” Alice says.
We step out together through the back door.
“I can’t remember the last time I looked at my website. My oldest daughter looks after that. I told her not to put Mckenna’s picture on there.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Grace says, reading from her phone. “Mckenna Moran is a welcome addition to Hearthstone Veterinary; with her love and passion for horses, she’s a natural fit.”
“Consider her fired,” Alice says.
“I can’t hide from the world forever.” I glance at the little cottage on the hill. It’s so perfect. It makes my heart all gooey just by looking at it. I try to imagine Adrian in jeans and a plaid shirt, with muck boots on. It’s a very sexy picture, but I don’t see it happening.
We may be from the same world, but I’m determined to leave it.
How can I trust someone who won’t forgive my father?
I would always wonder if he loved me or if he was going to hold what my father might have done over my head, if it’s going to be a kernel of resentment between us, just there slowly growing under the surface.
“You deserve to be happy, Mckenna. No matter what’s in your past,” Grace says softly.
“Thanks. Should I come around with you and face them?”
“No, it’s private property, and they need to leave. I’m on it.” Grace squeezes my hand. “See you later.”
“Thanks,” I tell my second mother.
“Don’t let other people tell you how to live, Mckenna. You’re going to be a great vet.” Alice claps me on the shoulder.
I want to cling to her words and show her how much I appreciate her, but I can’t trust myself to speak.
I do want to be happy, but as much as I tell myself I can be, I don’t think I will be without the man with deep chocolate eyes who calls me hellion.