down. But she knew better than to fuss over the man and insist he rest. Will wouldn’t stand for that. He’d be out there pushing till he dropped. Some things never changed.
Natalie’s white SUV was parked next to the porch. Seeing it, she remembered that her friend had promised to come by this morning and check Tesoro’s shoulder wound.
She found Natalie in the kitchen, drinking coffee while Lauren finished a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Jasper had gone, and Erin was nowhere in sight.
“Your daughter’s getting her coat,” Natalie said. “Do you want to come out to the shed with us?”
“If it won’t take too long.” Tori had planned to drive into town to check her house and take care of some legal matters. Even with Will’s case pending, there were other clients who needed her. She couldn’t fall behind on the work that was her livelihood. “Lauren, you’re welcome to go in and rest on my bed.”
Lauren rose, gathered up her dishes, and carried them to the sink. “I’ll rest better at home after a shower and a change of clothes,” she said, loading the dishwasher. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine driving back to town.”
Erin burst into the kitchen, wearing her fleece-lined denim jacket. “I hope Tesoro’s okay. He looked fine when I went out to feed and water him before breakfast.”
“Even if he’s fine, we’ll need to check the wound and change the dressing,” Natalie said. “Did you wash your hands, Erin?”
“I did. Let’s go.”
Tori slipped on the old work coat she wore around the ranch. “Be careful, Lauren, okay?”
“I will.” Lauren found her coat and purse and headed for her car. Tori hurried through the back door after Erin and Natalie, who’d brought her black leather medical bag.
Until his shoulder healed, young Tesoro couldn’t be allowed in the paddock with his roughhousing friends. A stall-sized enclosure at one end of the hay shed had been blocked off for the palomino foal and his mother, Lupita. The buckskin mare raised her head and nickered at their approach. “I bet she’s lonesome,” Erin said. “She doesn’t understand why she and Tesoro can’t be with the other horses.”
“Smart thinking, Erin.” Natalie set her bag on the ground outside the enclosure. “How did you figure that out?”
“Sky’s always telling me to think like a horse, so that’s what I try to do,” Erin said. “I wish he was here. I really miss him.”
“We all miss him,” Tori said. “At least your dad said he was doing better this morning.”
“Next time somebody goes to see him in the hospital, can I go, too?”
“We’ll decide that later.” Seeing Sky burned and bandaged could be too much for the girl, Tori thought. But then, her daughter was mature beyond her years. She would probably handle it fine.
“Remember what we talked about in the kitchen, Erin. Are you ready?” Natalie pulled two sets of latex gloves out of a packet in her bag and handed one pair to Erin. “Can you hold the mare out of the way, Tori? She might not understand what we’re doing to her baby.”
“Got her.” Tori didn’t have the Tyler touch with horses, but she was confident enough to grasp Lupita’s halter and, with pats and reassurance, ease the mare to the far side of the makeshift stall.
Erin had put on the latex gloves Natalie had given her. Tori watched in disbelief as Natalie took Tesoro’s head and stepped back to make room for Erin in the stall. “You’re the one he trusts, Erin,” Natalie said. “Go ahead.”
The area around the gash in Tesoro’s shoulder had been lightly shaved, and there was a gauze dressing taped in place. Singing softly to her trembling foal—as Tori had known Sky to do—Erin stroked his neck with her left hand, while her right gently peeled away the tape and lifted off the gauze dressing. “What do you think?” she asked, stepping back so Natalie could see.
The eight-inch wound, probably a skin rip from an exposed nail or splintered wood in the barn, didn’t look as bad as Tori had feared it would. However, the sight of the torn edge, gleaming with ointment, made her knees go watery. She soothed the nervous mare, her hand gripping the rope halter, her eyes on her daughter. She’d never realized Erin was capable of doing what she was doing now.
“The wound doesn’t look infected.” Natalie spoke in answer to Erin’s question. “But it’s still oozing a little. I’d say we should keep the dressing on it at