Page 18 of All We Carry Home

“That is customary for hauling horses, yes.” She nodded. “Sometimes you have to work with what you’ve got.”

“Now you tell me.” I rubbed my arm stiffly, the crude bandage peeking under the sleeve of my T-shirt.

Her expression shifted to that of a combat nurse. She reached over, pulled up the sleeve, and peeled back the gauze that covered a long gash.

“Hey, wait,” I protested. Her hands were smooth against my skin, and it took everything I had not to pull away.

“Who bandaged this?” She pulled back the entire wrapping. “This is atrocious.”

“I did.” I winced. “I didn’t have many supplies on hand.” Not to mention I was in a rush to get Phantom somewhere safe after being run out of Stanton’s.

She handed back my truck keys. “Come to the house so I can clean this up. Then we’ll firm up our training contract.”

“You mean our one-month trial.”

“I said what I said.” She motioned for me to follow, leading the way to the ranch home and leveling a challenging smile back at me. “I’ll have you convinced in no time.”

Four

Eva

One month. Phantom. Warren Hayes, walking right behind me into Gramps’s kitchen.

My kitchen.

I pointed him to the table and retrieved my medical bag. My head buzzed, my thoughts whirled. Phantom’s poor condition. How to reassure the captain that I could handle this. Evaluating the cut on his arm that looked infected. So much to do, so much to process.

Warren paused in the entryway of the small house, looking at the photos and ribbons nailed to the wall in a cluttered, chaotic manner. I approached with my bag in hand and looked at the photo where he lingered. Me as a young girl and Gramps next to me in the show arena, his presence commanding. I sat on a white Arabian in a western saddle, with a big cowboy hat, brilliant grin, and grand champion ribbon.

“That was my first championship win,” I said with a smile. “I was eight years old.”

Admiration flashed in his gaze. “And that’s your grandfather?”

I nodded. “That was his best broodmare, also Polish bred.” The memories were sweet, but the loss of Gramps was still raw.

I went into the kitchen and set the bag on the table, and Warren followed. He lowered himself into a chair beside the table and lifted his sleeve over his shoulder. At least with this problem to solve, I could fall back on my training. I could almost hear the echo of artillery in the distance. Was I treating a fellow soldier or my new client?

It didn’t matter. The gash was jagged, dirty, and inflamed, and I couldn’t in good conscience just let him walk away in such a state.

Those piercing eyes shook me to my core, as if I were back in Germany, ordering him around as Mira gave birth. But I wasn’t a lieutenant anymore, and he wasn’t a captain. I was the trainer and owner of Birkstrom Ranch. He was my first—and only—client. His patronage and Phantom’s success could save me from foreclosure, or worse, the Merricks.

I pulled out gauze, bandages, and iodine rinse.

“When were you discharged?” His gaze remained on my face, which affected me differently than the other soldiers who’d stared without reserve. It made my stomach flutter and my mouth go dry.

“Six weeks ago.” I pushed back at all the memories that surged when thinking about the past year. The jungles and the mosquitos. The enemies at our doors and the smell of death in the air.

“You were in the Pacific until then?”

“Until mid-March, yes,” I said. “Then I went back to Europe, searching for Mira.”

“I heard things were bad in the Philippines.” There was a catch in his voice.

My hands trembled the slightest bit. I needed to change the subject. “Tell me more about the past month with Phantom. Have you been trying to find a trainer this whole time?”

“Yes, though I would have come here much sooner if I’d known Bill Birkstrom was your grandfather. I was hoping to find something a little closer to home in Pennsylvania.”

I poured iodine onto the gauze and then pressed it to the wound, carefully scraping away the dried dirt and blood. “Who turned you down?” It was gossipy of me to ask, but I wanted to draw his focus away from me.