Page 116 of Pretty Little Scars

“I might get called out, but I’ll text you if I do. By the way, I hope you like green beans because we’re about to have a lot of them.”

“If you grow it, I’ll eat it.” He winks at me and then strides off, and there’s no way in hell that I’m peeling my eyes away from his fine ass. The man fills out jeans perfectly. Thick thighs, hard ass, tapered back.

Fuck, my man is hot.

When he rounds the corner out of sight, I take a breath and move to start pulling the weeds in the tomato box, but my phone rings.

“Hi, Dr. Fisher.”

“Hi, Darby. I just got a call about a horse with an injured eye that we need to go see. I’m finishing up at another ranch right now, but I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”

“No problem.” I stand and gather my supplies into my gardening bucket, place them inside the greenhouse, and set offfor the house to wash up and change my clothes. “Just shoot me the address, and I can head that way.”

“It’s actually the Kincaid ranch, where we had the breech foal last month.”

“Got it. I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”

“Thanks, Darby.”

He ends the call, and I shoot Tucker a text.

Me: Headed to the Kincaid ranch on a horse call. xo

Once I’ve washed my hands and changed into jeans and a T-shirt, I drive over to the Kincaid ranch. I hope I get to see how the foal is doing with her nurse mare. I’ve wondered how they’re getting on. Dr. Fisher has seen them and assures me that all is well, but I haven’t been back since that horrible night. That was the night of the storm, when Tucker came to rescue me from one hell of a panic attack.

Luckily, we haven’t had many storms this spring.

I wave at Mr. Kincaid after I park by the barn. He’s near the house, talking with his wife, but gestures for me to go on into the barn.

“I’ll be right there,” he yells out to me, and I reply with a nod, grab my bag from the back of the car, and walk into the barn. I can hear someone out in the paddock, likely working with another horse, as this is a pretty big ranch. Most of the stalls are empty right now, except for one stall with a pretty mare inside, and when she turns her head to me, I can see that her eye is definitely injured. Whether she hit it on something like a branch, or if it’s simply an ulcer on the eye, it definitely needs to be taken care of.

“Don’t worry, pretty girl.” I rub my hand down her face, and she leans into me with a little snuff. “We’ll get you fixed up.”

The voices outside get a little louder, and then I hear footsteps as someone walks into the barn.

“You can’t be fucking serious.”

With a frown, I turn and seePeter, the asshole farrier, smirking as he walks toward me.

“Just leave me alone, please.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he says, holding his hands out at his side, as if he’s the most innocent man in the world. “But you got me fired from my job, you stupid bitch.”

“Good. Because you’re a shitty farrier. Ellie’s hoof took almost three weeks to heal.”

“You distracted me.”

“Right, it’s always a woman’s fault, isn’t it.” I shake my head and feel the hair stand on the back of my neck when he moves to take a step toward me, and then we hear another car door slam outside, and Peter smirks.

“I like you being afraid of me,” he says so only I can hear him, and I want to punch the smirk off his face. “It’s fuckingdeliciouswatching the way those pretty blue eyes widen when you’re scared.”

“You can go fuck yourself,” I reply, proud that my voice doesn’t shake at all. “I’m not scared of you, asshole.”

Peter just laughs and goes on about his way, and I’m relieved that he doesn’t try to touch me again. Does he work here? I wonder if Mr. Kincaid knows what a complete waste of space that guy is.

Shaking my head, I turn back to the horse, and then I hear the noise coming from the paddock.

Crack!