Page 57 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

CHAPTER TWENTY

REECE

Istared at my phone screen and sighed. It had been three days now, and there was still no response from Gage. I’d really thought it could work, but he didn’t seem active on any of his accounts. Maybe he’d abandoned them for new ones.

Feeling disillusioned that I couldn’t do this one thing for Booker, I shoved the phone into my pocket and looked up at the little mare in the stall in front of me.

She moved forward, sniffing at my outstretched hand, and then gave me a look I always interpreted as complete disbelief that I’d dare to come around without an apple slice or two for her.

“You know I wouldn’t forget,” I said, taking the Ziplock out of my pocket and laughing as she shuffled closer in anticipation.

“She really trusts you,” a voice came from behind me as the little mare happily chomped down on her favorite snack.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Cole approaching, carrying his bag of supplies.

“I didn’t realize she was due for another check-up today.” I racked my brain, wondering if I had my dates wrong, as Cole shook his head.

“I was just driving past, so I thought I’d come visit my favorite patient. Don’t tell Booker, but this is honestly the best part of my day. It does me good to spend time with the success cases. Helps balance out the sadness with the others.”

Cole came and leaned against the stall door next to me, his gaze moving over the mare as he cataloged the changes in her.

“She’s moving well, and she’s definitely getting some weight on. Has Booker tried her out of the stall yet?”

“We’re all scheduled for tomorrow. I think he’s going to see if she will walk around the training ring first. He wants to see how well she’s moving.”

Cole nodded. “They can get some pretty severe muscle wasting in cases of neglect like this. Giving them too much space to move about can do them more harm than good sometimes. Booker’s definitely one of the best at rehabilitating these horses, though. He seems to have a never-ending supply of patience for them. People, not so much,” he added wryly.

I grinned happily. Everyone seemed to say this about Booker, and yet I’d barely ever seen that side of him.

To me, he was the man who took a chance on a woman on the side of the road. A man who protected what was his and stood up for what was right.

I might even say he was perfect. Not that Booker would ever accept such a label.

“I think you’re selling him short there. Look at what he’s doing here.”

“You’re right.” Cole nodded. “It’s hard to see people differently when you’ve spent your entire life growing up alongside them. The stories I could tell you. It’s the small-town curse, you know. Everyone knows everything, and it’s hard to prove them wrong.”

“I’ve never really had that many people in my life that gave enough of a crap to get to know me that well. It might not be as much of a curse as you think it is.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Cole conceded. “Don’t get me wrong. I love this place more than is probably healthy. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world.”

I looked around the dusty barn that I spent far too much time in and knew exactly what he meant.

“Do you think it will feel different with more people coming into town?” I asked.

It was the goal at the end of the day, but maybe the charm of Willowbrook was that it was this sleepy little town nestled among the rolling green fields. You didn’t have to fight through the crowds to get where you needed to be. You couldn’t get lost in the anonymity that a city provided. Which probably sounded like a nightmare to some people, but not to me. Not when I’d only just escaped the isolation and the dangers that hid inside it.

“Nah. Willowbrook has this special quality that will always be there, no matter how many come to enjoy it. It’s not just in the place. It’s in the people, and I think the world could benefit from having more people touched by that who then take it home with them.”

“Awww, that’s really poetic.”

Cole was good-looking, rocking those country boy muscles every girl dreamed of, and a goddamn vet to boot. He had to have the ladies beating down his door for a date.

“Yikes, don’t tell anyone. It will ruin this bad boy image I have going on for myself.” And then he hit me with the cutest silly grin that made me cackle.

“Yeah, I can see how well that’s going for you.”

He laughed, shaking his head as he ducked down to grab a stethoscope from his bag. “I might as well check over my favoritepatient while I’m here if you don’t mind me barging in on your time together.”

---