“… under the mistletoe?”
Oh.Thatnight. The one I couldn’t stop thinking about every time he was near. The one that drifted into my fantasies when I was alone in bed. I bit my lip and nodded slowly. “I do…”
“It’s ancient history, right?”
“It is. Forever ago. Another lifetime.” I said it like I was trying to convince myself.
He smiled shyly. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but… I wanted to keep kissing you.”
The shock nearly made my jaw drop. I managed to keep a poker face, but I felt my palms go clammy. The fact that Declan was staring at me, his beautiful face just inches above mine, made coming up with a response impossible.
The slow song ended and the DJ switched on the mic, sending piercing feedback around the room. “Okay, folks, who’s got an achy breaky heart out there? Let’s go!”
People swarmed the dance floor and Declan finally let go of me. He stepped away, still searching my face while I tried to come up with the right response to his confession.
Should I tell him that I’d wanted it too? That I still did? Or would that confession just send him running? He’d said it was ancient history, after all. Maybe he’d only brought it up because it didn’t mean anything to him anymore.
“Get in line!” Josh laughed, bumping his hip against mine, oblivious to what he was interrupting.
The group of people started moving in unison all around me as I watched Declan turn his back and walk away. Dammit. I wanted to follow him but I’d gotten swept up into the dance, and breaking away would make scene. Plus, my brother’s face was lit with a joy that I only saw when he was with Zoe. Reluctantly, I joined the line and danced with everyone else, but every time we turned, I tried to find Declan in the crowd. It was as if he’d disappeared.
FOURTEEN
DECLAN
Iarrived at Lost Valley and parked in front of the barn. In the paddock, Shannon was working with two mares. I assumed they were the two she’d picked for us to choose between, since I didn’t have enough horse semen to try to impregnate two. I grabbed the temperature monitored cooler and my bag and walked out to join her.
“Hey,” I said quietly, surprised when she jumped. Unless she was very distracted, she should have heard me drive up.
“Hey.” Her voice was subdued.
“You look like you might have cold feet?” I suggested.
She kissed the nose of the chestnut mare. “Cold feet, legs, hands, arms. You name it.”
“Would you rather try this another time?” I wanted to give her a slight push but from the look on her face, she seemed downright distraught. Horses were sensitive, and these animals that she’d trained were especially attuned to her. If she was agitated, the mare would be agitated, and that would make it hard to place the semen.
“Yes. No. Maybe.” She blew out a breath and shook her hands out. “We need to do it today. If I push it off, it’ll only give me an opening to cancel all together. So, what do we do first?”
I set my gear down and put one foot up on the split rail and looked at the two mares. “I’m assuming we’ll be working with one of these two?” She nodded. “Okay, it’s just like natural breeding. Where are they on their ovulation cycle?”
She pointed to the pretty little chestnut. “That’s Petal, and the Cremello is Iris. They’re both within a four-hour window, so either one should be fine.”
I tapped the information into my tablet while nodding to keep her talking. “Okay, good. And you’ve been feeding them the higher nutrient feed like I suggested?” I looked up to see her nod. “Age?” I scrolled through the Cafferty file. “Looks like… Iris is six and Petal is four? And both have conceived and carried to term, twice now?” When I didn’t hear Shannon’s reply, I looked up to see her nodding, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the mares.
“Hey, if you’re not ready, we really can wait,” I said again but she shook her head and huffed out a harsh breath.
“No. I need to try. Iris’s last attempt at breeding didn’t take and she’s become a bit nervous around stallions. Unless you say otherwise, let’s go with her. She’s a great mama and I’m hoping breeding her this way will be easier on her stress levels.”
I didn’t want to say it since I knew it would annoy her, but I was proud of Shannon for stepping so far outside her comfort zone. As much as she was against this, she was also looking at what was best for her horses.
“Okay. Why don’t you bring her back to her stall and I’ll get started.”
She nodded firmly. “Right. Meet you inside.” Shannon climbed between the rails and stepped over to the Cremello, reached for her bridle and walked her into the barn while I followed from the other side.
As I walked, I watched Shannon’s slumped shoulders. I wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. That I’d done this hundreds of times now without harming any of the mares. Maybe even remind her that she’d said she trusted me—but I kept silent. Walking into the barn, where I’d spent so much time as a teen, I met Shannon at Iris’s stall. Someone had already rolled a cart over for me to use, so I set my stuff down on top and began to prep everything I would need.
“Did you happen to look at any of the links I sent you about working with frozen semen?” I asked her.
