Page 51 of Wild and Unruly
Grabbing hold of his lead, I give a strong tug, getting his attention back. “Whoa, boy. Whoa,” I say, keeping my voice calm but firm. He yanks against me again, still neighing, his focus on the mare that’s tied to crossties in the alleyway, and I turn the stallion, taking large strides to get him back to his stall.
He hollers as we go, drawing the attention of everyone around us and making sure everyone knows what a stud he is.
I lead him on, turning him to face the door and taking his halter off, lifting a hand in front of his face as I step out so he doesn’t bum-rush the door.
“Good boy,” I say, keeping my voice calm as I exit and shut the door behind me, keeping my eyes on the stallion as I do. “There, no mares for you today.”
I turn and blush as everyone stares me down. Tommy rushes toward the scene the stallion just caused and assesses the situation. “What the hell just happened?”
His eyes scan the area and land on the girl who’s now crying as she holds her arms across her stomach. “Did you do this?” His finger points to the horse I just put away.
“He’s fine now,” I say, stepping forward and shrugging, afake smile on my face. Seems being fake is the only thing I’m able to be when I’m at this facility. “He just got a little excited, is all.”
“He shouldn’t have been out at all.” He looks to the girl. “If you can’t handle this job, it’s best you let me know now.”
Sheesh, was he going to fire this poor girl right in front of everyone? It was now a show, and everyone was watching. Not only was it unprofessional, but it was just a bad look.
She nods and turns, heading for one of the outside doors. Tommy turns to look at me and gives a nod. “Thanks for that. You always were good with the horses.”
I almost scoff but just nod back, turning to pretend I’m checking on the stallion, and Tommy walks away. Once he’s far enough off, I go to the same door the girl left through and walk outside. The summer sun was high in the sky, making it the hottest part of the day.
Squinting, I look around the outside and see the girl sitting at one of the picnic tables. There’s an umbrella on it, giving her shade.
“Okay if I sit?” I ask, resting my camera on the table and taking the strap of my bag off.
The girl shrugs, and I sit, sighing with relief at the coolness under the shade. She ducks her head, her cheeks slightly pink, and when she locks eyes with me, her eyes are glossy with unshed tears. “Thanks for helping me.” Her voice is hoarse with emotion, and I nod.
“It’s really no problem.” I shrug, giving her a soft smile. “Those big guys get pushy when they see the ladies.”
The girl smiles, and I realize this girl can’t be more than sixteen. Sheesh, her parents let her come here alone? “What’s your name?”
“Aesha.” She sniffs, looking at her cell phone and setting it down.
“That’s a really nice name. I’m Bonnie,” I introduce myself. I glance around, wondering if she is waiting on someone. “Are you okay, Aesha?”
“No.” Her voice wobbles as she says the words. “I’ve wanted to learn about horses for a long time, and I finally convinced my mom to let me try, and I’ve already messed up. I’m fired.”
He didn’t explicitly say the words, but I got her point. Plus, if I were her or her parents, I wouldn’t want her anywhere near Tommy Smith.
“And my mom already drives an hour to come here to drop me off.”
“I see.” I take a moment, letting her deal with her emotions for a moment, then I take a bit of a risk, considering that I have no idea if they’d be interested in teaching a young girl, but…
“I know this ranch, up in Acton, near Fall Springs. They’re a really great family-run place.”
Aesha looks to me with hope in her eyes, and I push forward. “I can get you a number, and maybe they’d be willing to show you the ropes.” I glance at the large barn behind her. “This isn’t really that great of a place to learn.”
She gets a contemplative look on her face as if weighing her own thoughts and possibly wondering if I was a psychopath. That’s fair, honestly.
“I don’t know if my mom would go for it, but I guess I can try.” She bites her lip, looking up at me. “He kind of gave me the creeps anyway.”
I freeze. Was Tommy hitting on his employees?
He drugs his horses, Bonnie. What makes you think he’s not doing other stupid shit?
“Oh, he did?”
She nods, picking up her phone and texting on it. Hopefully, her mom so she can get the hell out of here. “Yeah.” She sets the phone back down and looks at me. “He never hit on me, but he was singling out this other girl in there a lot, and I could tell it made her uncomfortable.”
