Never Say Never (22 page)

Alexis looks up, just now realizing that someone else is with me. Her jaw drops when she sees Aiden. After hearing me say his name, there is no mistaking who he is.

“Here you go,” Aiden says as he comes over to me and bends over. I take the wire cutters from him, my heart hammering in my chest.

“Thanks.” I think about how to do this. We have to get him out of here now, before he gets even weaker and before someone sees us. “Aiden, can you hold the light? Alexis, hold his head and try to keep him calm. And Judy, hold him still as best you can?”

Everyone moves into position. Aiden shines the light on the gelding’s right leg. Skin has started to grow over the wire. My stomach churns for this big guy. How long has he suffered? I find an inch of wire and put my hand on his leg.

Alexis hums to him, stroking his face. I push the clippers against his skin, and he stiffens. I clip down and he struggles.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I say. “I know it hurts, but you’ll feel better soon. I promise.”

“We’ll take care of you,” Alexis says. I run my hands over his leg, pushing back the long, shaggy fur, and clip another section. Hurting and scared, the gelding tries to get up. His leg is still too tightly wound in wire to bend. He swipes it, clipping me in the knee. I wince but don’t stop trying.

Aiden puts his hand on my shoulder, holding the light closer. I have to clip the wire around his knee so he can bend his leg. Then maybe we can get him up and into the trailer.

When I touch him again, he panics and tries to stand. Unable to bend his leg, his hoof slides out from under him and he hefts back to the ground, groaning. I push Aiden back, worried he’s going to get hurt.

“Easy, big guy,” I say. “Almost done.” Blood stains my skin and an abscess pops, green pus spilling out, getting on my hands. Its pungent odor chokes me. “That must feel a little bit better, huh?” I ask, knowing an abscess feels like a giant painful zit. Well, one that is infected.

I make a few more clips, and finally he can bend his leg enough to stand. I set the clippers down. “Let’s get him up,” I say, handing Alexis the halter. She slips it around his head. He’s panting, lying there with that look in his eyes that says he understands, finally understands we are there to help him. It takes several minutes and lots of muscle to get the large gelding on his feet. He’s limping badly and can hardly support his weight. He outweighs me by a lot, even though he’s severely underweight, but I’ll help him stand until we both fall.

Alexis keeps stealing glances at Aiden but doesn’t say anything as we struggle out of the stall. She’s a smart girl. The gelding moves slowly, each step more and more painful than the last. He’s coated in mud and feces. I’m sure once I get him home and into the light we will find more injuries.

It takes fifteen minutes to get the gelding into the trailer, and it’s not because he refuses. With his injuries, he can hardly walk up the ramp. But he gets in, and I shut and lock the doors. We’re almost out of there when a car comes racing down the road, slamming on the brakes and sliding to a stop next to us. Oh, fuck.

“Mom,” Alexis says, voice shaking.

“It’s okay, honey,” Judy says as she pulls out her phone. We’ll call the police if we have to and cross our fingers we don’t get a dick of a cop who refuses to let us save this horse.

A stout man gets out of the Jeep. He’s bald with a long beard. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demands and storms over. “That’s my horse. You can’t take my horse! Get him the fuck out before I call the police. You’re stealing my horse!”

“Your horse,” I scoff, eyes narrowing in anger. “You’re killing your horse. We’re taking him. You obviously don’t care.”

“You can’t take him. He’s mine!”

I’ll never understand why neglectful owners insist on keeping the animals they’re killing. The hoarders, well, they have a mental condition and are unable to care for their animals. It’s still wrong, but in their minds, they try. People like this guy in front of me are just evil. They know what they are doing and don’t care.

“Give me my horse and get the fuck off my property,” he says. “Before I charge you with trespassing and stealing.”

People like this set fires to their barns to save themselves a fine. People like this killed my mother. I step forward. “Get the fuck out of my way. We’re taking the horse. And you’re getting charged with animal cruelty and neglect.”

Anger flashes on his face, and then he strikes out, hitting me. His fist collides with my face and I stumble back, hair covering my eyes. I don’t see him move, but suddenly Aiden is there in front of me.

He throws two punches of his own, hitting the guy square in the temple before shoving him to the ground. “Touch her again, and I’ll wrap you up in barbed wire and leave you in a stall,” he growls, and he kicks the guy in the ribs. The man lets out a grunt and curls into the fetal position.

I’m already getting the keys from my pocket. I take the first aid kit Aiden dropped and toss it into the bed of the truck. The guy pulls his phone from his pocket and Aiden kicks it out of his hands. He steps over the guy and throws open the door of his running car, cuts the ignition, and throws the keys down the gravel driveway. It only takes a second to realize he did that so we couldn’t be followed.

“Let’s go,” Aiden says. I’m still standing there, holding the keys and watching with wide eyes. My heart is thumping in my throat. I blink and race around the truck. My hands shake as I start the engine. I go as fast as I can away from the barn, my eyes flicking to the rearview mirror.

“He won’t catch up,” Aiden says. “Are you all right?” He twists in his seat. “He fucking hit you.”

I just nod, emotions surging through me. “And you…you…defended me and the horse. Thank you.”

He holds his hand out, looking at his knuckles. Then he hunches over, coughing. “Fuck,” he says as he leans back. “And you don’t have to thank me, Haley. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Ever. You’re so good, so kind. There aren’t enough people like you in the world. I want to protect you.”

Words escape me. Tears fill my eyes yet again, but not from being sad. “Aiden,” I say. My mouth opens, but I don’t know what else to say.

He rests against the seat and puts his hand on my lap. “Haley.”

I turn my head and smile at him. Then I see the headlights quickly approaching behind us.

Chapter 18

“There’s a shotgun in the back,” she blurts.

“What?” I say, still not used to Americans and their guns.

“Under the seat. It’s loaded. If we need it, it’s there.”

I nod and look in the side mirror. Whoever is coming up behind us is going fast. It can’t possibly be that wanker, but if it is, let him try to stop us. I’ll hit him again and knock him out cold this time. He deserves all that and more.

The car zooms up then passes us. I let out a breath of relief. “We’re good,” I say. The adrenaline starts to wear off, and I’m feeling tired and sore. My chest hurts and a hot shower and a cup of tea sound good right now. I roll my neck and blink a few times, trying to stay awake and alert.

“What are you going to do with the horse?” I ask.

“Clean him up the best we can, give him something for pain, and a little bit of hay. The vet will be out tomorrow to examine him further.”

“I’ve never seen anything so horrible.”

“He’s not even the worst,” she says. “People are cruel. People are animals’ greatest enemies.”

“But people like you are their heroes.”

“I guess so,” she says softly, and I can tell this is emotional for her. I slide my hand onto her leg again. I close my eyes, seeing the torn flesh, the bloody fur, and the infected wounds. She was right. People are cruel.

My eyes flutter open and closed the rest of the way back to her house. I’m tired, and each breath hurts.

“Aiden,” she says softly when she parks the truck and trailer near her barn.

I inhale and turn to her. “Yeah?”

“Go upstairs and go to bed. I might be out here for a while.”

“I’ll help you.”

“Really, I won’t let you. You’ve done enough and you’re sick. I’m demanding that you sleep.” She smiles and opens the truck door. The dome lights turn on, and I can see a slight bruise on her cheek. I should have knocked that motherfucker out sooner.

“I won’t be able to sleep,” I say honestly. “I have really bad insomnia, so I’ll just lie awake for hours. I might as well help you.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. I’ve learned to deal with it.” I unbuckle. “How can I help?”

“Honestly, Aurelia needs some one-on-one time.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You’re just making me do that because it’s easy.”

“Maybe. But she really does.” She smiles and gets out of the truck. I meet her at the back of the horse trailer. She waits for Judy and Alexis to open the door and bring the horse inside. She gives Judy a look that says it all: they’re not sure what to expect when they open the trailer door.

Haley swallows hard then unlocks the door. She lifts up the latch and hesitates before swinging the large door open. The large horse is leaning against the trailer wall, holding up his injured leg. Haley goes in the trailer and tries to get the horse to back out. He doesn’t move. She takes his head in both of her hands and kisses his fur.

“Come on out, big guy. I have a comfy stall for you to sleep in tonight.”

She’s so gentle, so patient, and so kind. After a few minutes of trying, the horse limps out of the trailer and is in the stall at the end, next to Phoenix. The other horses whinny and show more curiosity than I thought they could. I never realized how aware horses are of, well, everything. Haley pulls a horse blanket off a rack, shakes out the dust, and sets it in Aurelia’s stall.

“Go snuggle with my baby,” she says with a half smile. “Please?”

“Of course,” I say, and I’m compelled to kiss her. “Can I help you with anything before?”

She’s about to say no, but I flash her a look that says not to bullshit me. “You can fill a hay bag.”

“Hay bag?”

“Yeah.” She crosses the barn and goes into a room I think she’s called the tack room before. “This,” she says as she holds up a large canvas bag. “It makes it so the horses eat slowly. The new guy was starved, so his food intake has to be slowly introduced. He can have a bit of hay tonight and then a diet will be worked out with the vet tomorrow.”

“I can do that.” I say, taking the bag from her. “Then what do you do?”

“Clean the wounds the best I can. He’s got so many, and his fur is so ragged and long. I think he has Cushings, actually.”

“Cushings?”

“It’s a thyroid—never mind. It’s a disease that can be treated with medication, and it makes a horse not shed.”

“Oh,” I say, remembering what she said about special needs horses being tough to place. “I think he’s in good hands now.”

“Thanks,” she tells me, and she goes into the horse’s stall. That girl—Alexis, I think—is in there, ready to help Haley clean the wounds. I open the bag and start stuffing hay inside.

“Is that really Aiden Shepherd from the Batman movies?” Alexis asks Haley, her voice a loud whisper.

Haley flicks her eyes in my direction, smiling. “Yes,” she says proudly. “He is.” I know she’s not proud of my acting, proud in a way that was really bragging about being with me. She was proud of me, the real me, and it’s been years since anyone looked at me that way. I stuff more hay in the bag then tighten the strings.

Watching Haley tonight makes me want to say those three words I wanted to say after we had sex. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I’ve had more girlfriends in the last few years than I’ve had in my whole life before being famous, and I never told anyone of them I loved them, because I never fell in love with any of them. Not even Kennedy, and we were together for over half a year. I’ve only known Haley for a little over a month and I’ve already fallen for her. What. The. Fuck.

I pick up the bag and slowly walk over, my chest hurting. A chill goes through me, and I’m positive the fever is back.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Alexis asks as Haley opens a package of gauze.

“Uhh,” Haley starts and turns, not realizing I’m so close behind her. I set the hay bag down outside the stall and look into her eyes.

“Yes,” I say. “I am. As long as she doesn’t mind, that is.”

Haley smiles, and the dim light in her eyes brightens. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Wow,” Alexis says, and I see that dying fangirl hurt in her eyes. I’ve seen it many times before. “My friends are not going to believe this.”

“Uh, Alexis,” Haley says. “Can you not tell anyone Aiden helped us steal the horse, or punched that guy?”

“Why?” she asks, her eyes wide with confusion. “He saved you, which is so totally something Gavin would do in
Shadowland
.” She flashes her braces as she smiles. “It’s so romantic.”

I smile at her. “Can I bribe you with a picture and an autograph?”

Alexis’s mouth drops, and she stares at me for a few seconds before nodding and running her hands over her hair. She moves out of the horse stall with her phone in her hand. Haley straightens up and offers to take the photo. If I look how I feel, then she’s not going to be proud of this photo. I hate bad photos of myself, but I don’t really care. The sooner I get this over with the better. I’m chilled and want to lie down with Haley in my arms.