“Caring for one horse with behavioral or medical issues is one thing,” I start, shaking my head. “But when you have a whole barn full of them, it really is a disaster waiting to happen.”
“I feel like there's a story in there,” another vet says.
“Of course,” I sigh, knowing the other vets will understand where I'm coming from. This is a tough field to be in, and the burnout and suicide rates are at an all-time high. Every one of us became a vet because of our love for animals, and it's dealing with people that makes this job unbearable at times. There's heartache and loss when it comes to caring for anyone in the medical field; yet, we're quick to be called heartless when we put animals down or aren’t able to provide treatment for free when the owners can't afford it. “This one's a bit of a tricky situation.” We walk through the Convention Center, going to the little cafe area. “One of my longtime clients had a small rescue on her residence. She had the time, knowhow, and finances to run the rescue…but she died recently.”
“Oh, shit,” Dr. Brendan says. “What happened to the horses?”
“She left the rescue to her niece, who has some horse experience, but...”
“But isn't equipped to handle something of that caliber,” Dr. Brendan finishes for me and I nod.
“I tried helping her find homes for the horses, but she won't accept it.” I rub my forehead, dreading the day when shit hits the fan and we're scrambling to find something to do with the horses because Josie isn't able to provide for them anymore. I know it wouldn't be her fault directly, but if you can prevent a problem before it happens, it will be hard for me not to blame her completely. I look at Dr. Brendan. “Like it was said: it's a disaster waiting to happen.”
Feeling eyes on me, I look up, expecting to see Christina nearby again. But it's not her.
It's Josie.
And I'm pretty sure she just overheard everything I said.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
JOSIE
How could I have been so stupid?
I freeze, eyes meeting Jacob’s. It's bad enough that Jacob thinks I'm incompetent, so much so that he has to tell his vet friends about it, but it's downright embarrassing to come face-to-face with all of them after just hearing Jacob’s story.
I whirl around, wanting to walk in the opposite direction as fast as I can. But my arms are full of items I've bought today, and I move so fast that I drop a bucket full of rainbow polo wraps. I bend over to pick them up and end up dropping a sample of senior feed on the ground along with it. Jacob rushes forward to help me.
“Josie. Hi. I…I wasn't expecting to see you here today.”
“Obviously,” I snap and set down the saddle pad I had folded over my arm.
“Listen,” he starts and picks up one of the polos that came unwrapped as it fell out of the bucket.
“Save it.” I snatch the polo from his hands and shove it back in the bucket without wrapping it back up. “It's been clear from the start that you don't think I can handle running the rescue. But I didn't think you would go so far as to call me a disaster waiting to happen.” I hurriedly add the rest of my dropped items back into the bucket as well.
“I didn't mean you are a disaster waiting to happen. Just the situation is,” he says, and makes a face like he realized that he's digging himself deeper into the hole of insults. Jacob picks up the saddle pad and we both get back to our feet. He's only a foot or so from me and looks good dressed in jeans and a button-up shirt. He must have shaved yesterday, and the perfect amount of stubble is covering his face. Betrayed by my libido, I wonder what that stubble would feel like against my thighs.
“I'm capable, it's really annoying to have you over my shoulder just waiting for me to fail.”
“I'm not waiting for you to fail,” he counters. “That's the last thing I want to happen.”
“I would hope,” I add pointedly as my pulse increases. I tip my head up, looking right into Jacob’s stupidly beautiful eyes.
“I don't want you to fail,” he repeats, face set. “But I don't take back what I said. Taking care of those horses is a lot of work for one person, especially a person who has a full-time job on top of it. And that's not to mention the lack of experience taking care of horses in need of rehab. Your aunt had years and years of caring for horses under her belt, and she devoted her every waking minute to them.”
I hate that he knows I'm in over my head, and I hate that he knows I desperately need help. “We've been managing just fine, thank you very much.” Narrowing my eyes, I inch forward, not fully aware that I'm moving closer and closer to him. I sharply inhale, finding that he smells just as good today as he did on Thursday.