Her Four Cowboys

“None of them,” she repeated. “Don’t you think it’s time you actually let yourself enjoy life, and handsome men, and your own rapturous beauty?”

“What are you, a romantic poet?”

“Pay attention!” she snapped. “You only live once. I say you do what—and who—makes you happy. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said. I knew that the certainty in my voice was a complete and total lie.

18

AUSTIN

“I gotta say, I wasn’t sure that she’d pull through when you told me what happened,” I said to Aaron as I ran my hand up Briar’s nose and she stuck her tongue out to lick my hand, nuzzling me gently. “You’re a survivor, little one.”

“She really is,” Aaron said, his voice gruff and soft as he looked at Briar from his spot next to the wall where he was leaning with his foot propped up against the wooden beam. “I was scared for her.”

“I don’t blame you,” I said, looking over the healing cuts on Briar’s belly. “Thank God for Lucy.”

“Now, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear from you,” a voice said from behind us, and I stood up quickly to look over at where Lucy was coming into the barn, holding her medical bag and coming straight toward us. “It sounds like you might actually mean it, though.”

“Of course, I do,” I said, heading toward her. “If it weren’t for you, we might’ve lost Briar.”

I reached forward to wrap my arms around her, feeling as though my body was acting of its own accord. She set the bag down next to her as she returned the hug, and as stiff as it might’ve started, she wound up relaxing into my arms.

“There was no way on earth that I was going to let that happen,” she said as she pulled away from me, squeezing my arm tightly as she cleared her throat. “No way.”

“Aaron told me about what happened that night, and he said that you had none of your usual tools, or a CT scanner or anything,” I said as I picked up the bag and started walking with her toward the back of the barn. “He said that you were amazing.”

I felt Lucy stiffen next to me, and as we approached the stall where Briar stood, peacefully munching at the very healthy feed that we’d been buying for all of our horses, the tension seemed to thicken to the consistency of Jell-O.

“Hey, Aaron,” she said, smiling at my brother as she put her bag down next to the stall. I couldn’t tell for sure, but there seemed to be something a little stiff and strange about the smile that she sent in his direction. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” he said, his voice low as he looked away from her. I raised my eyebrow at him, unable to figure out quite why he was being so awkward around Lucy. There was something between the two of them that just seemed… off.

Could they have had an argument the night she’d come out to take care of Briar?

Could he have criticized whatever she was doing? I didn’t think it was very likely, given how much he’d raved about what she’d done for Briar and what he thought of her work in general.

“How was your week?” she said, ducking down to begin her examination of Briar’s belly and the scars that her neat stitches had left there.

“Not bad,” he said, looking down and moving his toe through the straw on the floor. “Just busy as usual.”

Really. My brother was known to be a man of few words, but this was ridiculous.

“Actually, I should go check on the horses in the east pasture,” he said, setting his foot on the ground and walking out of the barn.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for the examination?” I asked as he headed for the door, my eyes widening. “You’ve been sleeping in here practically every night.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “She’s in good hands.”

He didn’t say much more as he slammed the door of the barn shut behind him, and I couldn’t help staring after him in disbelief as I turned back around to look at where Lucy was already getting to work, running her hand soothingly over Briar’s nose and neck as she did so.

“I’m sorry about him,” I said, coming closer to her and shaking my head. “I don’t get what’s going on with him. He’s been acting weird since the night Briar was attacked.”

“Well, he cares a lot about his animals,” she said, not looking at me as she picked up a portable ultrasound machine. Then she turned it on, prepping the areas on the mare’s belly and chest where she would be administering the test. I stepped closer to where Lucy worked and ran my hand over the horse’s nose, grazing the white stripe with my fingers as Lucy pressed the ultrasound sensor into her belly, and Briar started to dance around in discomfort. “My dad always tried to make sure we knew that these animals weren’t just property. They were a calling, and that came with a huge responsibility. I think that’s one of the reasons why Aaron cares the way he does.”