Tanna must’ve looked skeptical.

Sutton grinned at her. “I’m not hitting on you. Give me your phone. I’ll plug my number in. That way, if you want to talk, you can call me, but I’ll never bother you.”

She handed him her phone.

“Sutton, I need your help,” Eli called.

“I’ve been summoned.” Sutton patted her shoulder as he stood. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.”

As she watched him amble away, she had the fleeting thought that he looked just as good from the back as he did the front. Sure, Sutton was a very attractive man, but that wasn’t his pull for her. He’d been in the darkness and found his way back to the light.

Maybe there was hope for her.

That thought gave her the courage to step foot in the pasture. And when the horses came running, expecting treats, she didn’t hide or retreat.

One step at a time.

Tanna returned to her trailer more rung out than if she’d run a marathon. Her shift at the bar didn’t start for hours and she didn’t know what to do with herself so she crawled back in bed.

That’s when the nightmare came again. A continual loop of blood, death and horses. She’d lived the events, making the nightmare realistic—right until the part where her horse plowed through her mother, turning her into smoke. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. She tried to call out for her mother. For Jezebel. She gave it one last scream.

And that’s when she woke up.

“Tanna?”

She froze at seeing Fletch standing in the doorway.

“You all right?”

“Yeah.” She raked her hand through her hair, hoping he didn’t notice how much it shook. “Just a bad dream. Guess that’ll teach me not to nap in the afternoon.”

He frowned. Seemed to want to question her further but didn’t.

“What are you doin’ here?”

“I was in the neighborhood.”

“Ha-ha. You know that’s the first time that line has ever rang true.” She patted the mattress. “Care to take me for a tumble?”

“As much as I’d love to crawl between your sheets and thighs, I need to make a grocery store run. Anything you need?”

Yeah. Can you pick me up a gallon of courage? And a bottle of fear retardant?

“If you’re coming over after I’m done working, we probably need more popcorn.”

“Done. And I’ll pick out a movie.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “And if you need to talk about your bad dream—”

“I don’t.” She gave him a smacking kiss on the mouth. “Better get condoms too; we’re goin’ through them like crazy.”

Chapter Nineteen

At the end of the week Fletch finally ventured to the big metal building across from the barn. The structure had been jammed in at an angle—the front door was on the side opposite the barn, which meant access to the closest door was through the corral, and he cut through the rough stock horses. Hard to look at these beauties and imagine them trying like hell to buck you off.

“Knock knock,” Fletch shouted into the cavernous room.

A chair squeaked and Tobin yelled, “Back here.”

Despite the vast emptiness of the space, Fletch’s footsteps were muffled.

Tobin leaned against the doorjamb. “Is Hugh having an issue with an animal he forgot to tell me about?”

“No. Since my morning was free I thought I’d take a look at what you’ve got regarding the commercial stock-breeding program.”

“Come in and grab a cup of coffee. I’ve stored the info on a flash drive.” He pointed to a long conference table. “You can set up over there. I have an extension cord if you need to power up.”

“My laptop has a full battery so I’ll be good for a while.”

“Knock yourself out,” Tobin said, tossing him the flash drive.

Less than five minutes later, Fletch looked up from his laptop and said, “That’s it?”

“Seems like there should be more, huh?”

“Has any other work been done on this at all?”

Tobin crossed his arms over his chest. “Not really.”

“Because you’re short-staffed?”

“More like shortsighted,” Tobin muttered. “To be honest, I think Renner has bitten off more than he can chew.”

After he finished typing in a few notes, Fletch met Tobin’s gaze. “You wanna explain that?”

Tobin shoved his laptop to the center of their shared work area. He took a long sip from the scarred insulated mug before he spoke. “Is there such a thing as doctor-patient confidentiality for vets?”

“Absolutely. Whatever cattle tell me when I’m doctorin’ on them stays strictly between them and me.”

“I’m serious, Fletch. If I can’t share my honest thoughts with you, without worrying that you’ll take them to Renner, I’ll just keep my mouth shut and take my coulda, shoulda, woulda lumps from you.”

First time Tobin had taken that tone and Fletch definitely wanted to hear what was on his mind. “The only way I’d talk to Renner about what we’ve discussed is if the information you share adversely affects the health of the animals. If there’s something he’s not doin’ that he oughta be doin’, or something that he is doin’ that he shouldn’t be doin’.”

“Fair enough.”