Leaping Hearts(55)

When the flatwork was finished and A.J. brought the stallion toward him, Devlin toyed with the idea of calling it a day. Things hadn’t gone well in the warm-up and the rest of the session probably wasn’t going to be much better. He was thinking it might be wise to hold off trying the water jump but A.J.’s face held a wealth of determination.

“You still ready to do the water?” he asked.

“You better believe it.”

Bringing up the clipboard, he detailed the jump order. “Just take it slow and easy. See how he handles it.”

She nodded, reining the stallion around.

Sabbath tossed his head, impatient to get jumping. He always perked up when they started going over fences but today his exuberance had an edge to it. When she urged him into a canter, she found herself having to hold him back.

They took the first two uprights in the rough form characteristic of their early training, and coming into the corner the stallion was shaking his head, fighting the lead change. They took the next series of oxers badly and rails hit the ground in their wake, a drumroll of failure. A.J. tightened her lips and the reins, feeling frustrated as she brought Sabbath around to face the water jump that was set up in the dead center of the ring.

It was an unassuming low rail fence followed by a square pool. The purpose was to test the horse’s ability to cover distance as well as his reaction to visual stimuli. Depending on the weather, the water could look relatively benign or very intimidating, as it did at the moment. In the gray morning, wind licked across the surface of the water, agitating the reflection of a dingy, cold sky.

As soon as Sabbath caught sight of what they were heading toward, A.J. could feel him tense. During the flatwork, they hadn’t used the middle of the ring, so it was the first time he’d noticed the jump. She gave him some encouragement with her leg and held steady, prepared for trouble. Surprisingly, he settled down and seemed to concentrate while continuing forward. For a split second, A.J. was lulled into relief, but then the stallion shied to the left so violently, she lost her seat and was thrown from him like a doll. It happened faster than a breath.

This one’s going to hurt, she thought in midair.

The ground rushed up to meet her with an eagerness she could have done without. Landing in a heap, she tasted dirt in her mouth and felt a shooting pain in her upper body. With a groan, she rolled over to free the arm that had taken the lion’s share of the impact, cradling it against her chest as she squinted up at the disinterested sky. She felt as if someone were needling her shoulder and elbow with a hot poker.

Devlin ran to her while shouting for Chester’s help in corralling the stallion, who was galloping frantically around the ring.

As Devlin’s face pierced her tunnel vision, A.J. noticed he was white as a sheet.

“I’m gonna feel this one in the morning,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Can you sit up?”

“You got a crane handy?”

With his help, she managed to lift her upper body off the ground and she found, after blinking a few times, that the stars dancing in front of her eyes disappeared.

“I don’t think he likes water,” she said, struggling to get to her feet. Leaning on Devlin, she took a few tentative steps, trying to inventory any other contusions. Luckily, it seemed like only her arm was hurt. When she felt a bit more steady, she shrugged Devlin away and walked on her own over to Sabbath. Chester had managed to catch him. The stallion’s eyes were wide with fear, his body twitching in spasms.

“He lame?” she asked tightly.

Chester shook his head. “Ya seem to be carryin’ that load.”

“Give me a leg up.”

Behind her, Devlin felt nauseated.

“I think we should break for now,” he said, trying to remain calm.

He didn’t like the wild panic in the horse or the pain carved in his woman’s face.

In fact, there were so many things he didn’t like about what had just happened, it was hard to pick the worst of it all. The moment he’d seen A.J. was going to take a fall, his life had come to a halt as he confronted losing her. In the eternal second it’d taken for her to become airborne and then hit the ground, his heart had stopped beating and cracked in half with terror.

And now she wanted to get back on the godforsaken horse.

He watched as she took the reins from Chester.

“A.J., don’t be ridiculous,” Devlin said sharply. “That stallion is a live wire and you may have a broken arm.”

“Get me up on this damned animal,” she bit out at Chester, lifting her left leg impatiently.

For a man who thought he knew all about suffering, Devlin found a new kind of hell as she settled into the saddle.

“You can’t be serious!” His voice was surging with emotion.

When A.J. headed back out to the jumps, he felt Chester’s hand on his shoulder.

“Ya fall off, ya get back on. Ya know the way.”

Devlin had done it countless times himself. Except that last time.

“Well, it’s a damned stupid idea! What the hell is she thinking?”

“You’d have done the right same.”

“And look where the hell I ended up,” he said, limping over to the rail. He wanted to leave the ring but couldn’t.

Up on Sabbath’s back, A.J. was blinded by pain. The stallion was skipping under her but it wasn’t playfully. The horse was nervous and that made him more unpredictable than usual. The fact that she had the use of only one arm made the situation especially dangerous.