Eric gripped the steering wheel of his truck tightly as he bounced down the dirt road leading to his house. A bead of sweat trickled down his neck and he wiped it away with the palm of his hand.
What was he doing starting something up with some woman? He had a lot on his plate. Right now wasn’t the time to lose focus by mixing in some boyish crush with the thought he might get sex. But he knew it was more than that. If he’d only wanted to be physical with someone, he had options. This was deeper. Susan was different.
Eric rolled his shoulders back and tried to ease the pinch between them. The conversation he’d had with his father yesterday over his uncle’s gambling addiction pressed its way into his mind as his house came into view. They all sought to lose if Elias Morgan took over the property. He wondered how his cousins Jake, Todd, Pearl, and Audrey felt about their father’s betrayal. Poor Bethany was so disconnected to all of it he wondered why she’d even stayed the few days she had. But then he realized she and Susan were kindred souls. They were both looking for something new and they’d found that in the strangest of places—his grandfather’s funeral.
Regardless of what happened to his home, this was a turning point for his family. Eric vowed at that moment, to himself, that he’d take care of Bethany. It was obvious her father wasn’t going to make her part of the family. A wave of disappointment washed over him when he realized that her brothers and sisters didn’t seem to be making advances there either.
He still had a good mind to talk to Elias Morgan, with or without Smith and Wesson. However, he’d give it a few days and let his father and his lawyers continue to work on it a bit. Then he’d move in.
Eric knew he could build a house somewhere else. Georgia was big enough. Hell, if things worked out, he could move in with Susan—though the thought of city life left a vile taste in his mouth. But there were options. The one thing he wasn’t going to let happen was the dismantling of his family.
It hadn’t gone unnoticed to him that his father was looking worn down and weak. His brothers seemed to be on edge and he’d be damned if they ever moved his mother from the cemetery in which she rested. The Walkers were not going to be torn apart just because Byron was an idiot.
As Eric pulled up to his house, he had a sense of rejuvenation. The Walkers weren’t going down without a fight.
Eric stepped out of the truck just as Dane ran around the side of the house from the barn.
“Whisky River,” was all he said on a raspy breath from running.
Nothing more needed to be said. Eric ran toward the barn as quickly as he could with a panicked jolt running through his chest.
When they arrived, Whiskey River was lying still, on his side. His breathing was labored.
“What happened to him?” Eric knelt down next to him, brushing his coat with his hand.
“I don’t know. I came out here looking for you and I found him this way. He looks really sick.”
“No, shit!” Eric ran his hand over the horse’s body looking for traces of a bite or a cut. “Get on the phone. Call Dr. Parks. Tell him it’s an emergency.”
Dane nodded and ran for the office.
Eric sat down next to Whisky River’s head and ran his hand down his nose. “C’mon, ole man. Hold on there. We’ll get you fixed.”
He pressed his head to the horse’s and a tear fell from his eye. Nothing had been as precious to him over the years as the horse, which lay next to him, struggling to breathe. How sad was he to have only had a relationship with a horse? But that’s what it was. They’d built his business together, he and his trusty horse. He couldn’t lose him now.
Eric was aware of the other horses in the barn. There was restlessness among them. Something had set them off, he thought. Was it more than Whiskey River falling sick?
He gave the horse another pat and stood to survey the stalls. Each horse was there, but they neighed and moved between their walls as if they had something to say.
There was a huge responsibility to him to keep the other horses calm and safe. They were his business.
Dane ran out of the office. “He’s on his way.”
“Check out that mare on the end. Raven Wing. Make sure she’s calm.”
Dane gave him a nod and ran toward the horse, which reared up on her hind legs just as Dane reached her. Her front hooves caught him on the jaw knocking him back into the wall of the barn.
Eric ran toward the horse, grabbing a rope off the wall as he passed. The horse spun circles in her stall as Eric approached. Her eyes were wild and a moment later she too collapsed onto her side.
“What the hell?” Eric moved in, dropped the rope, and touched the horse. She too labored at her breathing.
The groan behind him reminded him that his brother was hurt. He turned to see Dane on his hands and knees, blood pouring from his chin.
“Christ, you need a doctor.”
“You think?” Dane stayed on all fours as if he too couldn’t move. “Damn horse. I don’t think she broke my jaw, but I’m going to need stitches,” he said as he turned to sit on the ground.
Dane pulled his outer shirt off and pressed it to his jaw.
“You’re going to have one hell of a black eye too.”
“What happened to them? This isn’t normal.”
Eric continued to pet the mare as she fought to breathe. “I don’t know. I don’t see any bite marks or cuts.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket and called Ben. They needed help and Dane needed a hospital.
Within ten minutes, Ben and Russell had both arrived. Russell, the brother with the queasiest of stomachs, helped Dane to his truck and headed toward the hospital.
Ben moved through the stalls and checked the other horses. “They all seem fine.”
“Whiskey River?”
“He’s fighting,” Ben said as Dr. Parks’s truck pulled through the large door to the barn.
Eric moved toward him swiftly. “I have two horses down. No bite marks, no earlier signs of sickness.”
Dr. Parks nodded. “Were they together?”
“No. The mare on the end is a boarded horse. Her owner usually works her out every day.”
“What symptoms?” he asked as he knelt down next to Whiskey River with his medical bag.
“This is how he was when I got here. Dane found him like this. Raven Wing was agitated and then she completely freaked out. She kicked Dane in the face and then she collapsed.”
Dr. Parks looked up at him. “Dane? Is he okay?”
“Russell just took him into town to get stitches. He’s going to look nasty for a few weeks.”
With a nod, Dr. Parks went about his assessment. Eric stood and looked around the barn. The horses seemed to have settled down. Ben sat with Raven Wing, but the look on his face when he made eye contact with Eric, wasn’t promising.
What had gotten to his horses? It was obvious his lack of focus toward his animals and his business had caused this in some way.
Regret buried into his gut. He was responsible for this.