Page 26 of Texas Made
“I probably would have. But the fact remains, I didn’t.”
“What is it you want me to do, Jaclyn?”
Jaclyn passed a hand over her forehead. “What’s done is done. But I’d appreciate it if you talked to me before you do anything else this major.”
Rachel pressed her lips together but didn’t speak.
“What? Is that too much to ask?”
“Honestly? Yes. It is when you’re away like this. Besides, I’ve been with the company from the beginning. Since we operated out of your garage. If you don’t trust me by now—”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Rachel, I trust you. You know I do.”
“Sure, you trust me for minor things. But the bigger stuff? I don’t think you even listen to my opinion.”
“Of course I do.”
“If you did you’d know the situation with Lyons was becoming untenable. I’ve been telling you for months.”
She had? Jaclyn thought back. Well, sure, Rachel had complained. And said the supplier was getting worse. Always late. Always a pain. Damn. Rachel was right.
“I do trust you and I very much value your opinion. I’m sorry I haven’t conveyed that to you. Why don’t I drive up tomorrow and we’ll talk about the division of our responsibilities? Clearly, we need to discuss things. I’ll stay overnight and we can talk more Sunday if we need to.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. And, Rachel, I’m sorry.”
“Me too. I should have been clearer about how bad it had become.”
It was so like Rachel to take some of the blame but Jaclyn knew it was more her fault than Rachel’s. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Drive safe.”
Now she needed to find Damaris and Marshall and let them know her plans. It would be her first night away from Marshall since they became lovers. Maybe that was a good thing. After all, she’d be leaving once the condos were finished.
Why did the thought of that depress the hell out of her? Especially when she’d always known that very thing would happen eventually?
*
Marshall went tothe pasture to bring the horses inside. The ones in the closest pasture to the barn stayed inside at night while most of the others in the remaining two pastures stayed out overnight. His broodmares all stayed in at night, and if they were in foal, were turned out into their own pasture during the day.
He’d put up most of them before he saw Snowdrop, his pride and joy, off in a far corner of the field. That was unusual enough to worry him. He discovered the problem soon enough. She had a nasty gash on her leg and was favoring it enough that she wasn’t anxious to move.
What in the hell had Snowdrop gotten into that gave her such a nasty cut? Inspecting it as best he could in the fading light, he then wrapped a cloth around it and led her back across the pasture. He called Damaris.
“Snowdrop’s got a gash in her fetlock, just below the joint. Can you come put the other two horses up that are still in the pasture? I’m about to call Barrett.”
“Is it that bad?”
Like all ranchers, they could take care of minor injuries, but this was no minor cut. Besides that, its position meant it needed to be promptly cared for. No one wanted an infection of the fetlock joint. “It’s deep, jagged, and bleeding like he—” He stopped, catching himself just in time. “Like heck,” he finished. “I’m sure she’ll need stitches. Probably an antibiotic as well.” Which meant a call to Jason Barrett, Whiskey River’s large-animal vet.
He ran into Damaris as he was leading Snowdrop to her stall. His sister took one look at the mare and said, “It looks nasty, but I’m sure Jason will fix her right up.”
“Yeah. But what did she cut it on?”
“I have no idea.”
“Can you hand me the saline solution?”
