Page 120 of Iron Unicorn

“You’re fine,” she assured me with a smile of her own.

While silent, Jane cried, burying her face against my shoulder while I held her. I rubbed her back. “I’m glad to see you’re doing better, Jane. I saw how much you loved ponies, and while your service pony is going to be a great friend for you, I was at a barn where there were ponies in need of a good home. I brought this little lady here for you, and when you go back to Texas with your parents, she’ll be going home with you. Do you want to ride your pony?”

After a few moments, Jane nodded, her face rubbing against my shirt.

I transferred her to her new pony’s back, explained every part of the saddle, and eased her feet into the stirrups. I showed her how to hold the reins, and I explained how her first ride would involve a lead line so she could begin the process of learning how to balance in the saddle.

The entire process, Willow followed me, and when I stopped to explain why her body moved as it did, the stallion reached out with his nose in a bid for attention. Laughing, I told Jane she could pet him, introducing them.

All in all, I thought the whole thing went well. I walked Jane around the ranch’s parking lot for thirty minutes before Melody called a halt to the activity, came over, and claimed the girl.

“Thank you, Terry.”

“Glad to help. Are you going to be at the dinner tonight?”

“As a matter of fact, yes—and you’ll be seated next to me so I can observe how you’re progressing. I’ll go put Jane to bed, talk to the medical staff, and be back soon enough.” Melody gave the little girl a bounce. “You’ll be able to start taking care of your pony and ride again soon, but I know you’re tired. Resting when you’re tired will help you get better faster.”

In my opinion, the rather rebellious expression on the little girl’s face promised good things to come, and to support Melody, I said, “You need to get sleep, that way you can learn to talk with your ponies, okay? Riding is a conversation, and you need a lot of energy to speak with your pony. And because you’re using your body rather than words to speak with your pony, you need to get rest. If you’re not quite ready to sleep, you can think of names for your pony. I’m sure your parents or the princess would be happy to read names from a book for you until you find the perfect one, but if you hear the name you want for your pony, just clap your hands.”

“Smart,” Melody complimented. “And he’s right, Jane. When you’re ready to talk, talk. You’re under no obligation to do so until you’re ready.”

Later, I would need to ask Melody the why behind the girl’s silence.

Her service pony trotted along and kept Jane close company.

Olivia came up, leading her horse, and kissed my cheek while one of the ranch workers came to claim Jane’s pony and take her to the barn. “Ready to meet her parents?”

As I tried to be honest with the princess whenever possible, I replied, “I’m really not, but I guess I have to be. This is going to be awkward.”

“It’s only awkward because you’re not used to people actually calling you out as a knight in shining armor. Which you are, for the record. I’ve decided I deserve a knight in shining armor.”

I read between the lines: she wanted positive attention once we were somewhere private, and she liked when I showed her my muscles. “I can probably handle that.”

“I’m sure you can.”

If I viewed the meeting as no different from any other charity event where blubbering happened with alarming frequency, I’d be able to maintain my general pride and professionalism. I headed over, armed myself with a smile, as my neutral work expression often unnerved those who didn’t know me. Once I got close, I said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to talk to you before sending Jane to Maine, but there’s a timer when hearts become available, and I needed to get her on the move. And before you thank me, I would have done the same for any child in that situation. It just happened there was a heart, and I did what I could to make sure she was able to get it.”

Jane’s mother smiled, came over, and without a word, gave me a hug. I embraced her back, and once she stepped away, I shook hands with Jane’s father.

“Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome.”

Then, as I couldn’t think of anything else to say, I nodded to both of them, headed for the trailer, and went to work stripping Willow of his tack. I asked him to load himself, which he did without a fuss, and I made use of the front portion of the trailer to store his saddle. Once Willow settled, I went to attend to Olivia’s Akhal-Teke. While the princess made warding gestures, I placed my hands on her hips, lifted, turned, and set her aside so I could take care of Would Rather Be Paying Taxes and get her loaded in with my stallion.

“That was rude. I could have handled that myself,” Olivia murmured, and I appreciated the slight sense of heat that the demonstration of physical strength induced.

I translated rude to mean sexy, and while she could have handled it herself, I’d caught on to her tricks.

She enjoyed the show as much as I enjoyed the consequences once we were in private.

The truck had a cab, which meant I could drive all of us to the palace, and twenty minutes after leaving, Melody returned with Jack in tow, and they climbed into the back of the truck. Maine’s heir heaved a sigh and said, “Thank you for coming, Terry. She was stressing herself and her new heart over it, and the few times we could get her to say anything to tell us what was wrong, all she’d say was your name.”

“She’s totally naming her pony Terry,” Olivia announced, making herself at home in the front passenger seat. “You missed the most awkward meeting ever between Terry and her parents. Nobody cried, but they had no idea how to handle the situation. Terry, being Terry, told them he would have done the same for any child, hugged her mother, and shook hands with her father before fleeing to load the horses.”

“That’s all they needed,” Melody assured us. “To them, the Iron Unicorn is more of a legend than living, breathing person, so seeing the reality is good for them. Oh, and Olivia? Either abstain or take prenatal vitamins starting today. You’re going to be fertile by the end of the day, so if you don’t want children, I highly recommend that you put your stud in his stall for the next week. If you want children, rigorously exercise him at your leisure. You are exactly like your brother, and unless you abstain, youwillbe having kids.”

“How terrible for me,” my Montana princess said in her driest tone. “This is the absolute worst problem to have. Terry, we should elope so my brother gets mad but promise we will have a big wedding for his enjoyment. I will decide if I want a wedding dress with a baby bump or wait until we have an escapee to account for.”

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