The drive is tense. I know he’s driving slowly and carefully to keep the sad horse from falling down. I’m not sure who he was talking to on the phone, but whoever Em is, he must be a close friend, judging by the soft sound of Kyle’s voice.

We pull onto a winding dirt road and I hold on as the rough road jolts the truck a bit as we hit potholes. When he pulls to a halt before the old ranch house, I see a slim, pretty girl hurry out. She’s a few years older than I am, I think, with incredible reddish gold hair and sparkling green eyes that are remarkably radiant.

Kyle gets out and she throws herself into his arms.

And I sit, frozen in the passenger seat. “Em” is not a male friend. She’s a beautiful woman holding onto Kyle a bit too tightly.

They part a bit and she brings both hands up to cup his cheeks, a wide smile on her beautiful face. And suddenly, I feel ugly and out of place. Of course Kyle would have a beautiful woman like this on the hook.

Her lean arms look strong as she lets him go and takes his hand to walk around the truck toward the trailer. I hunch in my seat, petting Sentinel as Jax presses his nose into my shoulder to leave a damp spot in my favorite sweater.

The couple stops at the passenger door and I try to make myself invisible through force of will.

Of course it doesn’t work.

Kyle opens the door and Em beams at me, her pretty face shining brighter than the sun as she offers me her hand. “I’m Emma!” She says, her pretty voice as upbeat as she looks. I feel frumpy and depressing in comparison.

“Victoria,” I say, my voice timid even as Kyle’s incredible blue eyes meet mine.

Emma lets me go to ask “Who’s this?” to a bored looking Sentinel. At least he’s not drooling all over her like I’m sure every other guy in her life does.

She beams up at me and I feel bad. She seems genuinely nice and I’m just internally hating on her for no real reason. “He’s Sentinel. Kyle saved his life.” I glance over at Kyle again, who’s still watching me.

Emma looks form Kyle back to me and at Sentinel again, before lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Well isn’t that something?” She straightens up and beams at me again.

“It’s nice to meet you. Let’s see that horse now, shall we?”

I nod and she walks off, leaving Kyle with me. He takes my hand and helps me from the truck. And I glare up at him. He could have at least warned me he was taking me to his lover’s house. Or ex lover. Or his love. There’s something between them, I’m just not totally sure what yet.

Still, he could have given me a head’s up that it would get weird.

With the solid ground under my feet, I walk toward the trailer as Emma opens the back and lowers the ramp.

“Oh, darlin,” she breathes out on a sigh as she walks up and in with the horse. The horse looks over at her with the saddest ears I’ve ever seen. The horse’s ears are just hanging to the sides, sagging there like she doesn’t even have the energy to keep them upright.

“She was lying down,” Kyle’s telling Emma, who clicks her tongue.

“Not good. I’ll get her fed. Need pictures?” she asks as she backs the horse down the ramp slowly with words of encouragement.

“Pictures would be good, just to cover my ass.” Kyle seems sheepish and I pull my phone from my pocket.

“Why kind of pictures?” I ask him. Emma walks over to me as the horse stands there, her head lowered and her breathing labored. She lifts my phone and talks in a lowered voice.

“Like this, show her ribs, her hips. Try a few from the sides, a few from behind, the front, every angle you can. The more detail, the better.” She gives me that smile and a quick, one arm around my shoulders hug. “Thanks. I’m going to get her some mash, okay?” She thumbs up Kyle who nods and rubs the horse’s neck.

With my task realized, I take pictures from every angle that I can to show how bad of shape the horse is in. Kyle is talking quietly to her and I feel bad for him. I know this is killing him; he’s got such a soft spot for animals.

So I take my phone to him to let him see the images. “I got some good ones,” I say as I offer him the phone. But he doesn’t take it. Instead, he fixes me with a serious expression.

“I trust you,” He says and my heart does a backflip in my chest. Don’t do that, I want to tell him. Don’t trust me. I’ll let you down. I’m not the kind of person who can always come through. Don’t give me the power to hurt you, please. I don’t want the responsibility.

Seeing the ache in his eyes, I pull him into a hug.

“Emma seems capable,” I say softly as his arms come around me. “The horse will pull through, I’m sure of it.” To my surprise, I realize I mean it. If anyone can bring this sad animal around, I’m betting it’s Emma. Not that Kyle can’t or won’t just that she seems dedicated and amazing.

As if on cue, Emma walks up, her green eyes shifting from me to Kyle as I awkwardly pull away from him.

She’s holding an odd bag that she loops around the horse’s nose and buckles it behind her ears. “Dad’s old recipe,” She tells me in a stage whisper. “Makes them right as rain pretty quick.”

“What’s in it?” I ask, curious.

“Egg, molasses, oats, nutritive pellets, and a heavy duty vitamin mixture. A load of calories and sugars to get her back to normal.” Emma gives me a knowing grin. “So, Victoria, do you like horses? Or just handsome hunks who save them?” She says, needling her elbow into Kyle’s side.

“Oh, he’s just helping my dog.” I don’t want her to get the wrong idea or ruin his chances with her. It’s obvious there’s something between them, and I don’t want to be in the way of that. “But I do like horses,” I say as her expression shifts into something unreadable for an instant before her exuberant smile returns.

“So let’s get this little lady into a pasture to finish her treat before she grazes. You can meet some of the pals she’ll have once she feels better.” Emma takes my hand and the horse’s halter in her other hand and we walk through the grass lawn toward some open pastures with a few horses speckling the green fields.