“No, not quite. I mean, he is hot, but…but…he’s a total asshole. Even before I knew he had ulterior motives, I knew he was smug and cocky. But this…this just takes him to a whole new level of ick, right?”
Louisa opens her mouth to say something but stops. “How do you know he wants to buy the land?”
“He told Poppy’s father that he did, which made Poppy’s father, in turn, give me a business card. When I asked Jacob about it, he didn’t deny it.”
A moment of silence goes by before Louisa speaks again. “I can see how that’s annoying, but if you’re not selling then I don’t see why you’re so angry. Don’t put the farm up for sale and he can tell you all he wants how much you need to run for the hills, but it won’t matter. And I know you well enough to know you never back down from a challenge.” She nudges me with her elbow. “So, what’s really bothering you here?”
Tears prick the corners of my eyes and my stomach starts to clench. “I tried so hard not to like him, Lou. But I…I…thought I saw a different side of him. I just got little glimpses, but…” I hesitate again, feeling an ache deep inside my heart. “…what I saw, I liked. And tonight…tonight he was charming and funny, and we had a good time.”
I close my eyes and think about us dancing, not having a clue what we were doing yet doing it anyway. My heart skips a beat when I see his face flash before me, blue eyes shining as he stared into mine. His hands felt good against me, and I’m sure they’d feel even better if they slipped under my dress.
“You were starting to fall for him.” Louisa’s words jar me, only because they’re true.
“If I say yes, it’s going to sound so stupid.”
“How is it going to sound stupid?”
“Because I should have known better. I shouldn’t have trusted him, and I should have seen the writing on the wall.” My eyes fill with the tears I was so desperately holding back. “I should have known that this would happen again. I thought he liked me too. But he just…” I angrily wipe away a tear and shake my head.
Louisa wraps her arm around me. “You can’t think like that. You are my sister and I love you and someday you are going to find someone capable of handling just how badass you are. If this Jacob guy really did try to get into your head and make you think that you’re incapable, then he’s a fucked-up jerk who doesn’t deserve anything from you. Not your love or your money. And I realize how that sounds, but I mean money from vet bills.”
“Hah. If there was another vet in the area, I’d switch.” I sniffle and rest my head on Louisa’s shoulder.
“It’s late and we’re both tired,” she continues. “And one thing we both inherited from the Walker side of the family is getting extra emotional when we’re tired. I don’t want to minimalize what you’re feeling, but I do think revisiting this after some sleep would do you some good.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “You’re right.”
Louisa gives me a squeeze and then we get up. I call Riley in, lock up the house, and get back into bed. Lou is right to say I get even more emotional when I’m tired, but I know I’ll feel the same tomorrow.
I might be able to lie to Lou, but I can’t lie to myself. I let my guard down and did something I swore I’d never do.
I let myself fall in love with Jacob Harris.
I get out a little pad of paper to write down another number, squinting to read the tag of the horse limping around a small pen. I knew it would be heartbreaking to walk up and down the aisles of horses waiting to be ridden through the auction, but I didn’t realize it would be this bad. Not all of the horses are in horrible condition, but the ones that are…well, it's bad.
Large saddle pads cover up how skinny some of them are, and large men sit on the backs of skinny, weak, or old ponies. Horses with obvious wounds are pushed forward, and I saw one horse with a broken leg get knocked down and nearly trampled when one of the auction workers spooked a small herd to run through the gate. The humane thing would be to buy him and have him put down, and I’ve already written down his tag number.
It's the sad truth of the auction industry. While a decent number of these horses have no limitations and will probably fetch a fair price, this place isn’t set up to find good homes for the horses at all. I walk down another row of stalls overfilled with horses and hear a man shouting. He raises his hand and smacks a horse. I can’t see him since my line of sight is blocked by other horses, but the smack can be heard from all the way over here.