Shannon stood motionless, mesmerized by the low, melodic sound of Luke’s voice, its heartfelt tone sending a shiver of warmth between her shoulders. Back when they were in high school, he’d done his job just as he was supposed to, but she’d always thought that the emotional connection with the animals that came so easily to her had been missing in Luke. Even back then she’d had the sense of how hard it was for him to share love and affection with the animals when it was clear he’d experienced so little of it himself.
But something had changed. Here he was making promises to a defenseless animal that he’d look out for him. Trust me, he was telling Manny. I won’t let you down.
Tears sprang to Shannon’s eyes. Suddenly the man who’d walked in there a week ago—brash and pushy and more than a little arrogant—slipped to the back of her mind. Now all she saw was a big, strong man acting protectively toward a helpless little horse, and it made her heart melt.
Luke opened the gate to retrieve Manny’s feed bucket. To Shannon’s surprise, the little horse didn’t back away, teeth snapping. He lifted his head questioningly, and when Luke leaned over and held out his hand, Manny stretched out his neck and sniffed it. Luke crouched down beside him and stroked his face, then eased his hand down Manny’s neck, where it tripped over a long, wicked scar.
“I’d like to strangle the bastard who did this to you,” Luke said, his voice low and angry. “If he were here, I swear to God I would.”
As Shannon imagined him defending this little horse against anybody who tried to hurt him, she choked up all over again. For the first time it occurred to her just how much Luke and Manny were alike. Shannon didn’t know the details of what had gone on between Luke and his father, but when she thought back now to the wary, defensive look she’d seen so often in Luke’s eyes, it couldn’t possibly have been good.
Manny allowed Luke to touch him for a few seconds more. Then he threw up his head and backed away, but miraculously, he didn’t try to bite.
“Okay. I hear you. You’ve had enough for one day.” Luke stood up. “We’ll talk again tomorrow, okay?”
As he retrieved Manny’s feed bucket, Shannon quickly wiped her eyes and went back to Molly’s stall, where she looked over the door and pretended to be checking her out. After a moment she heard Luke’s footsteps behind her. He tossed the bucket into the feed room and walked over, a slight limp marring his gait.
“She’s a little uptight,” Luke said. “But once she’s used to the place, I think she’ll be okay.”
Shannon turned around. “Luke. I didn’t know you were here.”
“I was out back feeding Manny.”
“How’s he doing?”
Luke looked over his shoulder dismissively. “I swear with those teeth of his, he’s half shark, half horse. Actually, he’s half a horse to start with, so what does that make him now?”
“He’ll calm down eventually,” Shannon said.
“I don’t know,” Luke said, pushing away from the mare’s stall and grabbing a broom and dustpan. “He’s pretty messed up.”
“He seemed to like you,” she said nonchalantly. “You know. Back a few weeks ago at your father’s house. Right before he bit you.”
Luke just shrugged.
“Maybe you can take some time with him. See if he’ll come around a little.”
“Nope,” Luke said, sweeping up some spilled grain. “I won’t be around that long.”
“That’s fine. It’s just that, you know, nobody else has had much luck with him, so I thought maybe—”
“Sorry,” Luke said, dumping the spilled grain into a nearby trash can. “Horse taming isn’t part of my job description. I’m just here to put in my time and then hit the road.”
Then what was with that carrot in your pocket, cowboy?
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Luke said. “You’re supposed to be letting me take the Sunday shift.”
“I just dropped by to see how things are going.”
“Everything’s handled. Go home.”
Luke put the broom back into the storage room. When he came out, she was still standing there.
“Shannon?” he said. “Did you need something?”
Yes. She needed to do something because that was what she always did. But with Luke there now…
“No,” she said. “Nothing. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
As she left the barn and walked back up the path, she felt oddly disoriented, overcome by that strange sensation of thinking she knew all there