“Shit!” Riley said as he got up.
“Are you hurt?” I asked him, assessing the situation.
“No, but Tigger is,” he said.
Perceptive.
“We’ll see how bad,” I said as I ran my hand over the horse's leg.
After a few moments, I determined the injury was only minor, nothing we needed to call the vet out for immediately. She was scheduled to be here in two days for routine checkups on some of the older horses. She could check it out then.
“He will live, and he will race another day,” I said.
“Just not today.”
“Thank god.”
“You pull on his lead to help him up. He’s going to favor that foot,” I told him.
Riley coaxed him up with a sugar cube in his pocket, and I helped Tigger keep stable as he tried to get up with one less leg.
In the stable, I wrapped Tigger’s leg, and we left him to relax in his stall. Athena was anxious to get into her stall as well. No doubt it was to keep an eye on Tigger.
“When the vet comes by in a couple days, I’ll have her look at his leg,” I told Riley.
“Thank you.”
“Does that happen often? I’ve seen Tigger lose his footing twice now.”
“Not that often, but I guess now it is becoming a trend.”
I nodded.
Another thing to speak with the vet about.
“Emma?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. Tigger and I are lucky to have you here.”
I was a little shocked by his thanks and compliment. This was the first time Riley had ever even hinted at me being appreciated. The first time I had gotten any positive recognition at all. It felt weird coming from him—but good, nonetheless.
“Damned right you are,” I said. “I don’t do it for you, though; I do it for the horses.”
I needed to keep my walls up. Protect my heart from that weird beating it just did at Riley’s words.
He nodded like he understood that, like he’d feel the same way.
“Do you want to come out with me tonight?” he asked.
“Didn’t we go over this already?” I asked.
“Yes, but that was a different day. Things change every day. Your mind could be one of them.”
“Not about that, not this,” I said as I walked away.
Too much had happened for me to pretend we were friends. I was his mentor and nothing more. My heart dropped at the words I told him, but it needed to hear them. This was for its own good.
