Page 42 of Redeeming Harmony

“Hey. I like your hair,” he said.

“Thanks. Dad hates it.” She bent over to kiss Winston’s head, and Nathan looked away from her ass before Warren kicked him out of the house for drooling over his only daughter.

“I don’t hate it,” Warren said as Harper straightened and grabbed a mug from the cupboard. “It’s just different.”

“Which is Warren code for ‘Oh my God, I hate it,’.” Harper poured herself some coffee and added a splash of milk to it.

She leaned against the counter. “Is this a private conversation, or can I stay?”

“You can stay.” Nathan took another sip of coffee. “So, Tammy Buchanan called this morning about two-thirty and asked me to come out to see King. He was doing poorly, she said, and she was out of gabapentin for him.”

“Did the gabapentin even work?” Warren rubbed at the back of his neck. “To be honest, the last time I was out there, it didn’t seem to help much.”

Nathan shook his head. “It was too late for gabapentin.”

Warren’s hand stilled on his neck as Harper said, “Oh shit. Please tell me you didn’t euthanize King.”

Nathan glanced at her. “I had to. He was dying when I got there.”

“Oh no,” Harper said. “You killed King.”

Nathan bristled. “I didn’tkillKing. I humanely ended his suffering. King was thirty years old, and Tammy should have put him down months - hell, two years - ago.”

When Warren and Harper didn’t say anything, Nathan stared at Warren. “Warren, I didn’t kill him.”

“I know,” Warren said. “But Tammy loves that horse, and she wasn’t ready to say goodbye. We had a long talk about euthanasia at my last visit to King, and Tammy was having a real hard time with it.”

“She did want to call you,” Nathan admitted, “but I told her you would agree with me. King was in agonal breathing when I got there, Warren. He was beyond saving, and I told her that. He was suffering.”

“You made the right call,” Warren said, “and I’ll back you on it one hundred percent.”

The sudden tension in Nathan’s back disappeared, and he took a deep breath. “I know she’s upset, but she can’t be that shocked by it, right?”

“King was her baby,” Harper said. “Tammy had plans for him to pull Santa’s sleigh in the Christmas parade this year.”

Nathan almost choked on his coffee. “You’re kidding me. Even if I hadn’t euthanized him last night, he was in no shape to pull the sleigh. Didn’t you say he could barely stand at your last visit?”

Warren sipped at his coffee. “Yeah, but Tammy is a stubborn thing. She thought King had a few years left despite what I’d told her repeatedly.”

“She was delusional,” Nathan said.

“She was,” Harper agreed, “but she’s still gonna tell everyone in town that you killed King.”

“Harper,” Warren said.

“You know she will, Dad. Nathan should know what he’s in for, right?”

“What I’m in for? The horse was thirty,” Nathan said. “The whole town knew how ancient he was. You’re telling me that people will believe Tammy when she says I killed him?”

“I’m sure they won’t,” Warren said, but the look on his face didn’t match his words.

The coffee in Nathan’s stomach suddenly felt like battery acid, and he didn’t much care for the way neither Warren nor Harper would quite meet his gaze. “How much trouble am I in here?”

“It’ll be fine,” Warren said quickly before heaving himself to his feet. “Don’t worry, Nathan. I’m about to make breakfast for Harper and me. Would you like to stay?”

“Actually,” Harper dumped the rest of her coffee down the sink and kissed her father on the cheek. “I gotta go. My shift starts in half an hour. Love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, sweetheart,” Warren said.

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