He spun around. “Why the hell did you shout like that?”
“Because he bites! I didn’t want you to get bitten!”
“Yeah? Did you notice he didn’t bite until you yelled at me?”
“Oh, all right,” she muttered, dropping the bucket and other stuff to the ground. “Let me see your hand.”
“It’s fine.”
“Luke. Let me see it.”
He held it out. It was already starting to bruise, but at least there was no blood.
“Does it feel broken?”
Luke flexed his hand. “No. It’s fine.”
“Still, I think you should get some ice and—”
Then she saw something that made the bruise on his hand seem about as significant as a paper cut. The leg of his jeans was pulled up, revealing a knee swollen at least twice its normal size. Dark bruising spread from his calf to his thigh, along with a deep, bloody scrape.
“Oh, my God,” she said, her hand sliding to her throat. “Your knee. What happened?”
“I fell through the porch,” he muttered.
She spun around to see a jagged, gaping hole in the porch decking. Good Lord. This place was falling down around his ears. She looked back at his knee, and her stomach twisted at the sight.
“You have to get to a doctor.”
“I’ve been thinking about it.”
“Thinking about it? What would make you take action? Severing a limb?”
“I’ve just been waiting for the swelling to go down a little.”
“You’ve got a long wait for that. How much does it hurt?”
When Luke didn’t respond, she knew the truth. The pain must have been unholy. She wanted to shout at him: You don’t have to suffer in silence!
But that was nothing new. Hadn’t he always held everything inside? Pain equaled weakness, and he never let anybody see him sweat. But there had been a time all those years ago when she could have sat down on that step beside him, held his hand, and he would have told her how much it hurt.
But those days were over.
“You can’t drive with your leg in that condition,” she told him.
“I’ve been thinking about that, too.”
“And what conclusion did you reach?”
“I’m working on it.”
Shannon couldn’t stand this. Exactly how long was he going to sit on the steps of this god-awful house doing nothing because he wouldn’t ask for help? He needed a doctor, and soon. Do something, she told herself. You have to do something about this now.
“Stay put,” she told him. “I’ll catch Manny, take him home, and then come back with my truck.”
“No! That’s not necessary.”
“You need a doctor. There’s no other way.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Luke muttered. He reached for the porch railing—the part that wasn’t falling down—and pulled himself to his feet. He paused after two steps, his hands curling into tight fists. Then he started walking again, limping heavily. Shannon felt the pain of every step like a knife to her heart. He circled his truck, leaning on the hood for support, and finally made it to the driver’s door, where he placed his palms against the glass. He stood there for a long time, his head bowed, breathing heavily. When he lifted his head again, she saw pain written across every inch of his face.
“I’ll get my truck,” she said, and this time he didn’t argue.
Chapter 3
It took Shannon approximately ten minutes to grab the little horse, walk him back to the shelter, and then return with her truck, an ice pack, a pair of shears, four ibuprofens, and a bottle of water. She told Luke to take the ibuprofens, chopped off the leg of his jeans, wrapped the ice pack around his knee, and opened her passenger door so he could get inside. A few minutes later, they were buzzing down the highway, and Luke was reminded once again of how Shannon handled every task she encountered: with the tenacity of a bulldog going after a bone.
“So what’s with the pint-size horse with the great big teeth?” Luke asked.
“He was abused. I’ll spare you the details. He doesn’t trust anyone now. He’s probably going to be one of our permanent residents.”
“If he keeps on biting like that, yeah. He’s not exactly pet material.”
“I know,” she said on a sigh. “Unfortunately, most of the animals at the shelter are a little hard to love. Except the kittens. Everybody wants kittens. Sweet, fuzzy little kittens with no issues. For better or worse, we always have enough of those to meet the demand.”
At that moment Luke realized they’d just passed by the road leading to downtown Rainbow Valley. “You missed