Page 43 of Wingwoman
I shrugged. “Guess I’m still on New York time.”
Josh released his hold on Chestnut’s reins and gave her another piece of apple before hopping over the fence like he was an Olympic pole vaulter.
“How’s your head and shoulder?”
“Sore. But both could be worse.” I inclined my chin at Chestnut. “Why is she so worked up?”
“She’s been living in a neglectful situation for a while,” Josh said. “That’s the thing about horses. People don’t realize how much care they need. And a lot of folks who get horses, don’t keep them on their own land. So to care for them either means commuting daily or hiring someone to help you take care of them. Most people choose the latter. Unfortunately for Chestnut here, the previous owners thought they could handle it themselves, but they couldn’t.”
Chestnut finished chewing her apple and came over to the fence where we were standing, hoping for more.
Josh smiled and held out another slice for her to take. “She’s not aggressive. She’s just been ignored for years. Left alone in her shoddy-built stable, sometimes where they didn’t give her enough food. She wasn’t ridden very much, so I think this attention is all new for her. My ranch hands and I have been trying for months to get the family to surrender her to us. We’d sneak onto their property and make sure she had food and water as much as we could. Finally, after months of trying, they sold her to me.”
“Theysoldher to you? They wouldn’t even give her up after all that?”
Josh shook his head. “They paid a lot of money for her. I don’t think they were being evil or anything. Just trying to recoup their losses.”
“But… but if they really wanted her, they would have taken better care of her!”
“Sometimes people don’t realize what they’re getting into. I’m not excusing the behavior. I’m just saying, I’d rather pay the money and get Chestnut the life she deserves than watch her wither away in the situation she’d been in.”
“Couldn’t you have… I dunno… reported them for animal cruelty or something? Had her confiscated?”
“Her situation wasn’t bad enough to warrant that. We’d had them do a few home checks for Chestnut, but there wasn’t anything enforceable yet. All we could do was wait for an owner surrender situation and keep trying to get them to do the right thing. And eventually they did. I thought it would take a lot more time and effort to win her over but…” he added with a grin and cautiously reached out to stroke her velvety nose. “Once I learned how much Ms. Chestnut loved apples, it was smooth sailing. Right, girl?”
I felt him turn to look at me, but my gaze was locked on Chestnut as she happily chewed her apple. She never had to go back to that life. Never had to endure being locked in a stable for days on end or being ignored or hungry. All because of Josh.
His elbow bumped my non-injured arm gently. “You okay?”
I nodded. “I’m impressed. And so glad she found her way to you.”
A thrill skittered across my sweat-damp skin as he held my gaze with a long, slow inhalation. “Me too,” he said so quietly, I nearly didn’t hear him.
“That song was beautiful.”
What I wanted to say was that he was beautiful. Anyone could sing notes. Okay, fine, notanyone. But lots of people can sing well. Whereas Josh’s voice made that song what it was.
His eyes dipped to my mouth for the briefest moment before he said, “Did you like it? I wrote it last night.”
“You wrote that last night?”
“About you.”
A storm erupted in my body. My blood rushed faster like the tides gearing up for a rocky evening. Gooseflesh rose in a path down my arms. “You wrote a song about me… last night? When? I was with you almost all night.”
When in the hell did he have the time for that? We got home from the hospital around dinner time. He cooked for me. We ate. Watched a movie until the doctor said it was safe for me to go to bed which was late… midnight. And now we were up with the sunrise.
“I wrote a little bit of it in the hospital and the rest after you fell asleep.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. It didn’t feel real. This had to be a set up. He was only saying that to impress me. “How do I know you didn’t write that song months ago and recycle it with every new girl you’re interested in?”
Blue eyes lowering, Josh frowned and exhaled a lowhmmm. “One problem with that theory,” he said. “I didn’t know you were listening to me. I didn’t even know you were awake.”
My brain flipped through what lyrics I could remember.Hair the color of wheat, whiskey-brown eyes, bewitchingly out of place, her smile a disguise. It sure as hell sounded like me.
But there were probably a lot of light brown haired, brown-eyed women he’d been with…
Even still, I felt my resolve cracking. I was drawn to him, there was no mistaking it.
