Page 30 of The Rancher

He waved away her concern. “I don’t care about that. I just want him to recover. If I need to, I’ll put him out to stud sooner than I anticipated.”

“Okay. Hold him still while I clean and dress the injury.”

Ray grabbed the lead rope at the bottom of the halter close to Stormchaser’s head. “You be a good boy. I’ve got some cookies and an apple if you hold still for Lyris.” He gave the animal a horse cookie from his jacket pocket. Then he turned toward her. “I’ll make the call for the trailer to get out here.”

She nodded and then cleaned the wound as much as possible with antiseptic wipes, applied the antibiotic gel, and wrapped it well with gauze and plenty of tape to stabilize his leg. She wanted him to move the injury as little as possible. Lyris knew she’d have to take it all off back at the ranch, but Stormchaser’s comfort was paramount for now.

“What’s the wound look like?”

“It’s deep into the muscle where the teeth of the trap were. He didn’t help the situation when he tried to escape. They dug in, but at least they didn’t break the bone, though it might be cracked. Even so, he should make a complete recovery.”

Ray petted the animal’s head. “He didn’t know he would hurt himself more, did you, boy? He just wanted to be free.”

“I know. I’d have done the same thing.” She ran her hand down the horse’s right front leg, stopping before she reached the wound. “He seems to be okay otherwise, thank God.”

“How long before it’s healed?” Ray looked down at the bandage.

“I’ll know more when we get him back to the ranch. I’ll need to deep clean the injury before I can say for certain. If you’re asking if he’ll race anytime soon, the answer is probably no.”

Ray sighed. “I was afraid of that. I’ll have the men come out and look for other traps. I can’t believe this is the only one out here.”

She shook her head. “It can’t be. The odds are too great that he found the only trap in this large pasture.”

“This is the smallest of my pastures. It’s only about seventy-five acres. The others are two-hundred acres or more.”

“Well, they should probably take ATVs; otherwise, their horses could become victims of a missed trap.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “I realized that. You don’t need to tell me how to run my ranch. I don’t want any more of my horses hurt. Either way, it is going to take days to cover this entire pasture.”

“What about your other fields?” She wiped her hands on her jeans and stood.

“I raise a few cattle and use those pastures for grazing them. I doubt whoever set this trap is looking at hobbling a cow. We would just slaughter it.” He pursed his lips before moving to rub his hand over Stormchaser’s back. “They want to injure my racing stock. That is what I use this pasture for.”

The rain tapered off, but the wind didn’t.

Lyris was wet clear through and started to shiver. “I hope your people get here with that trailer soon or we’ll both be in bed for a week.”

Ray cocked an eyebrow and grinned. “I can handle being in bed with you for a week.”

Her eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened. “Ray! That was totally inappropriate.”

He didn’t look very contrite. “You’re right but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun.”

She shook her head. She’d received similar offers that hadn’t been nearly as nice from other men over the years. Yet with Ray, she wasn’t really upset. In fact, she was a little intrigued. Finally, she laughed. “You’re a bad man, Ray Kincaid.”

He chortled. “I’m glad I could take your mind off the chills. What do you say we tie Stormchaser to the truck and climb inside to get warm? Then we don’t have to spend the next week in ourseparatebeds?”

“I think that’s a good idea. He can weather the storm without us making ourselves sick.”

Lyris got into the truck and tossed her hat into the backseat so it wouldn’t drip on her.

Ray tied Stormchaser to the front bumper and then climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. He waited a few minutes for the engine to warm up before turning on the heat.

With the fan going full blast, it didn’t take long for the cab to get warm.

“Your jacket is soaked through. You should take it off. You’ll warm up faster,” said Ray.

“The same ca..can be sa…said of you.” Her teeth were chattering so much she was surprised she got the words out at all.