Riding High

“Rescue chickens. I have nine of them.”

“How the hell did that happen?”

“I said yes to one person, and before you know it, I had nine.”

Nick sighed. “Do you know anything about chickens?”

“Enough to know I don’t want a rooster!”

“That’s a start.” He didn’t sound quite as confident now.

“I’m okay with the chickens, Nick. Mom and Dad had some a few years back, so they’re helping me figure it out. I also have two potbellied pigs. You’d be amazed how much info Google can dig up on potbellied pigs.”

“Good Lord. You know, Lily, you don’t need to accept every animal that shows up at your gate.”

“That’s what I tell myself, but I worry what will happen to them if I don’t.”

He sighed. “Yeah, that’s a problem when you get into the rescue business, but here’s the deal. You have accepted twenty-one horses, nine chickens and two pigs. I’m sure they keep you busy.”

“They do.” She had almost no downtime these days. She hadn’t played a video game in weeks, and her meditation practice was shot, but so far she’d kept up with the critters.

“Think about the animals you already have before you take in any more, okay? You owe those animals your best, and the larger your numbers, the less you’ll be able to give them your best.”

“I could hire help.”

“You could, but you’re still limited to the space you have. When winter comes, you’ll want to keep the horses in the barn most of the time, and that barn’s not big enough for twenty-one horses.”

“I could add on or build another one, like you said.”

“But where does it stop? Are you planning to buy more land and just keep building barns? How big an operation do you want?”

Lily took a deep breath. “I don’t want a big operation. I love this property just the size it is. It suits me, and the idea of employees gives me hives. I’d have to fill out IRS stuff and get them health insurance and learn how to be the boss of them.”

“If you don’t want to expand, you know what you have to do.”

“Right. Turn away any incoming horses until I adopt some out and make room.” Her stomach hurt. How could she refuse to take a homeless animal? That would kill her.

“Good. And about letting them roam everywhere, you might want to—”

“I know. Regan pointed out that they won’t be adoptable unless they have good manners, and some of the younger ones aren’t all that well behaved. A couple of them act like they want to fight with each other. I probably need to stop letting them run loose.”

“Yes, you do. They need to adapt to normal restrictions or nobody will want them. A well-trained horse is much easier to adopt out.”

For the first time since she’d moved onto the property, she felt uncertain that she’d done the right thing. She should have asked more questions instead of blithely leaping into something because it had sounded cozy. She’d liked the idea of doing something good for the planet. On the surface a horse sanctuary had seemed romantic and not particularly complicated. She’d loved the name of the place. Someone with the last name of King should have a kingdom, right?

If she’d understood that she was only supposed to take care of animals on their last legs, she might not have bought Peaceful Kingdom. Sure, somebody needed to do it, but she didn’t have the temperament. She’d be bored out of her tree, which might have been why she’d encouraged the locals to bring in more horses and liven things up.

Now she had to whip these newly acquired equines into shape fast and find them good homes so she could keep taking in the needy ones that would be lining up outside her gate with woeful expressions in their beautiful big eyes. The word was spreading, and in tough economic times, many people couldn’t afford to keep the horse they’d bought in a burst of optimism. That was the story most everyone had given her when they’d arrived at her gate.

Her next admission was so hard to make. “Nick, I don’t know how to train a horse.”

“That’s no problem. You’re a smart person. I’ll talk to Regan and see if he can help you. I’ll help you, too, when I can, but Regan has a little more free time than I do. He’ll probably agree. He’s a good guy.”

She latched on to this new topic with relief. “Speaking of Regan, what’s his deal, Nick?”

He hesitated. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t have to tell me if you shouldn’t, but I get the impression something bad happened to him recently. He seems...wounded.”

“What made you think that?”

“He didn’t take off his shades.”

“He examined all the horses with his sunglasses on? That doesn’t sound like Regan. He’s usually super professional.”

“He didn’t examine the horses. He’s coming back tonight when they’re all in the barn.” As she said it, she realized that expecting him to make a second trip really was ridiculous. Both Regan and Nick were right. She had too many horses and no control of them. That had to change.

“So what did he do while he was out there, if he didn’t examine the horses?”

“Helped carry the pig crate in here, and then we talked for a little while. That’s when he mentioned that I might be headed down the wrong road here at Peaceful Kingdom.” She gazed at the porch rail Sally was currently chewing on. Then she walked over and gave the mare a swat on the rump. Sally barely flinched and kept chewing. “So am I right? Is Regan hiding behind those shades?”

“I never thought about it before. He does wear them a lot. Most of us are fine with using our hats to shade our eyes. Sunglasses just get in the way.”

“He had the hat on, too. Double protection. I just thought, if he’s going to be advising me, I should know if there are certain subjects to avoid. I don’t want to stumble over a psychological land mine.” That was absolutely true. Regan was beginning to look like her savior, and she didn’t want to tick him off accidentally. She’d already created a problem for herself with the horses. She couldn’t afford to make the situation worse by alienating someone who could help.

Nick was silent for a moment. “I suppose it might be good for you to know. Everyone at the ranch does. But you can’t tell him I told you.”

“I won’t.”

“Okay, last Christmas Eve, he found his fiancée with his best friend.”

Lily’s chest tightened. “In bed?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn.” Now she wished she hadn’t been right about Regan’s vulnerability. “No wonder he’s wearing shades. I would, too. I’ve never had a fiancé, but I can imagine that would feel pretty awful, especially if it was with your best friend.”

“Don’t let on that you know, although maybe it is better that you do know. We all feel protective of him. He’ll be fine, but I don’t think he’s totally over it yet.”

“How could he be? Poor thing. It’s only been six months.” That meant he was off-limits to her, though. She had no interest in being some gorgeous guy’s rebound girl, even if she did want to soothe his wounded heart. She’d tried that once and it hadn’t turned out well. The rebound girl served a purpose, she’d discovered, but once that purpose was gone, so was the guy, which left the girl feeling used. “Anyway, thanks for filling me in.”

“You bet. Gotta go. He just walked into the office.”

“Okay. ’Bye.” She disconnected the call. What a shame about the fiancée and the best friend. Good to know, she supposed, and she owed Nick big-time for telling her. But her Johnny Depp fantasy had officially bitten the dust.

* * *

TECHNICALLY, REGAN SHOULD be frustrated as hell with the situation in Lily’s pink-and-turquoise barn. The quarters were cramped and the horses tested him continually. He’d countered every attempt to gain control with a stern word and a flick of the lead rope. So far that had kept any misbehaving animals in line.