M att heard her crooning to the horse, heard the words she said. The rescue driver respectfully looked away. Neither man said anything about the emotion they heard in the woman’s voice. How could they ?

Matt hadn’t had such a glimpse into a woman’s soul like that in a long time. Did she realize what she was revealing to him? Did she even realize he could hear her ?

Somehow he doubted .

It took another half an hour of her crooning to the horse before she and the buckskin mare emerged .

Giving Matt his first real clear look at the horse .

He bit back a curse, seeing the abuse and the fear right there .

But the animal was walking docilely with Pip .

“Honey, can you get her down the ramp ?”

“Should be able to.” Pip kept her tone slow and hushed. For the horse’s sake .

But his gut tightened anyway when she looked over her shoulder toward him. She’d taken her hat off. Without it she really couldn’t hide that easily. Her hair was long and in a braid, but it was starting to loosen. It was a dark mix of reds and browns that shown in the bright sun .

But it was the blue eyes that caught a man. Stuck with a man for a long, long time .

Made Matt’s gut tighten in a way it hadn’t in quite a while before he’d met her .

He forced himself to focus on the horse. The mare was going to need quite a lot of care. And if she was skittish of all men, there were going to be problems. He had one female vet tech, and she only worked weekends part -time .

It was only Tuesday. They needed to come up with another solution-- and fast .

“What’s her current medical condition?” he asked the driver from the rescue .

“She’s stable, health wise. No underlying problems, just needs some good food and a steady hand. Someone who can love her. A woman that can love her.” The driver was a man about Matt’s own age, and had a healthy appreciation in his eyes for the redhead currently leading the horse down the ramp. “Bet that one will do real good. Your wife ?”

Matt hesitated. He looked at the woman in question. The sun had turned her hair to dark fire, a stark contrast to the cream horse with black points next to her .

They were both gorgeous. And he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. There was a handful of other people across the street, watching. Watching her. Did Pip realize ?

Even that damned director Rowland Bowles was staring at her and the mare. Matt wanted to shout from the rooftops that Pip Tyler was off limits .

That she was his .

“No. She’s not my wife .”

“I see. Very pretty lady. Well, I need to get back to where I came from. I need you to sign for receipt of her .”

“What’s her name ?”

“She didn’t have one. Previous owner just called her Horse . Guy had a sick sense of humor.” The driver’s tone told Matt exactly how the driver felt about the previous owner .

Matt looked at the horse. “Apparently. Thanks .”

“No problem. Just glad to see she’s in good hands. Smaller than we anticipated, but good ones .”

“Pip Tyler’s one of the best with horses I’ve ever seen. You should see her ride. Flies like the wind. The wind just loves her .”

“I’ll bet it does .”

Pip was walking the horse around the space, crooning encouragement. Matt took the opportunity to study the animal more closely. “When she due to foal ?”

“Within the month. We shouldn’t have moved her, but we didn’t have much choice. We just found her last week and don’t have the space .”

“We’ll see she’s taken care of,” Matt promised. The pregnancy was a complication he hadn’t been aware of. He’d have to get the horse settled someplace warm and safe quickly. Matt watched the trailer pull away, then closed the gate himself .

After the driver left, Matt stood and watched the woman and the horse. It was hard to miss the signs of her pregnancy. Or how timid and frightened the small mare was .

But she was responding to Pip. He’d yet to see a horse that hadn’t .

Pip finally released her hold on the horse when the mare lost interest in the woman and found a nibble of grass more tempting .

Pip joined him at the fence. They turned and watched the mare. “What’s going to happen to her ?”

“I don’t know yet. The sonofabitch hadn’t even bothered to give her a name, honey. All I got on her is that file.” And it wasn’t very thick. He’d seen it before--the rescue sometimes just had to work with what they got and pray for the best in some cases. It would always anger him, though. Abuse always would .

“She needs a name. At least some kind of identity. How old is she? Three ?”

“Closer to two, I think.” He checked the file quickly. The horse was just a few months beyond her second birthday .

“A bit too young to be a momma .”

“Yes. She’ll probably not grow as large as an adult because of it. I’ve seen it before .”

“She’s rather large; you think it’s twins ?”

“I’ll check the files. I don’t think she’ll let me do too thorough of an exam. The rescue has never sent me a seriously unhealthy horse, though. I think she just needs ...”

“Safety .”

He’d been going to say love. But to Pip fear was the biggest motivator, wasn’t it ?

“Look at her. She’s enjoying the wind.” She laughed lightly after she said it. Matt closed his eyes for a moment and just tried to breathe her in. Tried not to act like an idiot over the woman next to him .

“From what I was told she spent most of her time in a dark barn .”

“No more. What are you going to do with her?” She looked up at him out of those blue eyes that made him feel like the center of her world in that instant .

Pip wanted her. Matt could see it in her eyes. But she would never ask. “I was going to ask you the same thing .”

The words had just popped out, but when blue eyes looked up at him and widened he knew he was making the right choice. Hell, he didn’t need another horse, or foal. He had a strict plan in mind for his own horse operation. This little girl, he estimated she was barely thirteen and a half hands tall, didn’t fit that plan. But the animal was a Quarter Horse .

Pip was raising Quarter Horses. Damned fine ones she’d trained as cutters. He’d purchased two geldings to use for that very purpose—not for breeding .

The horse’s foal would help Pip regain the strides she’d lost when she’d been forced to sell to him a few months back. Especially if it was a filly .

And he’d give her more than just a horse if she’d let him. He’d give her just about everything he could. Everything he had .

“You heard me. She is going to take too much time for me to gentle her now. I just don’t have it. Not that you do, but hell, Pip, I’m stuck out on calls all day. She needs frequent attention during the day. I just can’t do it.” A lie. They had plenty of hands on his family’s ranch. It was one of the largest spreads in the county, after all. If he wanted the horse taken care of, he had people who could do it. He just…Pip wanted the mare, and he knew it. “Take the horse. And the foal. Re-socialize her. We’ll talk about what to do with her later .”

“I ...”

“It’s not charity. At least not for you. But for her. She needs a chance, honey. A place to see that life doesn’t have to be all fear. ” He brushed a hand down her cheek, moving the tendril of loose hair off her cheek and tucking it behind her ear. Pip had small ears, and wore the tiniest little diamond stud in each one. “I can’t think of a better place for Wind Lover than at the Tyler Ranch .”