Oddly enough, Zach, Beth and Sophie worked in tandem, he on the left side of the horse, Beth on the right, and Sophie leading Sam.
After three times around the ring, Zach felt the strain in his arms and legs. He stumbled, and his artificial leg folded underneath him, and he fell to the ground.
Andy cried out in dismay. Beth raced to Zach’s side. Sophie started to move away from Sam, but Zach waved her back.
“I’m okay.”
All the activity in both rings stopped. One of the sidewalkers from the next ring came to Zach’s side. The man stopped and said, “How do you want to handle this?”
He would’ve rather faced a terrorist in the streets of Baghdad, instead of being facedown in the dirt in front of his sister and the woman he’d been attracted to. He rolled to his side and told the man how to help him stand. It was slow and awkward as he struggled to his feet. When he stood, Andy clapped.
“You need any more help?” the man asked Zach.
Zach shook his head. He limped over to a bench under the stable’s awning, which sheltered the entrance to the stables. He’d been thrown by plenty of wild broncos and bulls in his rodeo days, but there’d been no shame in it. This time, he’d fallen flat on his face walking.
Walking.
What kind of man can’t walk?
He closed his eyes and rested his head against one of the porch posts. He knew that coming here this morning was a mistake. He just didn’t know how big a mistake it would be.
Sophie looked at Zach. Her heart had skipped a beat earlier when she glanced up and saw him standing above her. Beth had called Sophie at the beginning of this week begging for help with Zach. Beth and Sophie had kept in contact since their college days when they roomed together and Sophie was more than happy to offer her friend a helping hand.
Zachary McClure still took her breath away. Tall, with wide shoulders and narrow hips, he cast a large shadow. Somehow, that handsome face seemed to have aged more than the few years since she’d last seen him. The weariness in his deep blue eyes matched the new lines bracketing his eyes and mouth.
“Is Zach feeling okay?” Andy asked, snapping her out of her memories.
Turning to Andy, Sophie saw the frown crossing his young face. “I think he’s fine.” She prayed he was.
For the next few minutes Sophie walked Sam, but Andy remained quiet. When she guided Sam toward the steps, she motioned for another sidewalker to help Andy dismount. The instant Andy’s feet touched ground he raced to Zach’s side.
“I’m sorry you fell,” Andy whispered, tears in his voice.
Sophie’s heart contracted.
Zach opened his eyes. Sophie felt Beth stop behind her. They both waited breathlessly for Zach’s answer.
Reaching out, he ruffled the boy’s hair. “I’m okay. Only my pride was damaged.”
Andy nodded and moved closer. “I hate it when I trip and the other kids laugh.” His lower lip trembled.
Zach slid his arm around Andy’s shoulders and pulled him to his side. “I do, too. Makes me feel bad.”
Andy nodded. “That’s why my mom wanted me to come to ride on the horse. She said it would help me.” He touched his stomach. “She said it would make my tummy stronger. Maybe it would help you, too.”
Zach’s brow arched and he glanced at Sophie as if accusing her of planning that little scene. He couldn’t believe that, could he?
“Thanks, buddy.”
The boy accepted the praise and leaned against Zach. “Will you be here next time I ride?” The youthful hope in Andy’s expression pulled at Sophie’s heart.
Zach rubbed his neck. “Well—”
She knelt by Andy’s side. “Zach isn’t trained for this. He only came today to see what we do here.”
Andy faced Zach. “I’m learning. So can you.”
Well, Andy certainly didn’t beat around the bush.
Andy’s mother walked up to the group. “Did you enjoy your ride?” After two sessions when Andy hadn’t left his mother’s side, she agreed to disappear until the session was over.
“I rode Sam,” Andy explained, throwing out his chest. “And I met a new friend, Zach. He’s got a fake leg. But he helped me get on Sam. You want to show my mom your funny foot and leg?”
Andy’s mother’s face lost all color. “I’m—”
Zach stood and smiled at the woman. “I’m glad I could help Andy.”
“I asked him to help me again next time, but he told me no.” Andy crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his bottom lip.
Things were quickly getting out of control.
“Andy, Zach needs some practice himself,” Sophie gently explained. “Why don’t you come back next time and we’ll see what we can work out.”
Andy glared at the group. “I’d want Zach to help.”
Andy’s mother stepped in. “We need to get going. Why don’t you put up your helmet?” She unbuckled the strap and Andy ran to put his helmet on the rack.
“Thank you,” Andy’s mother said. After shaking everyone’s hand, she led her son down the breezeway to the parking lot behind the stable.
Zach sat back down and closed his eyes.
Sophie faced Beth. Before Sophie could say anything, Beth shook her head.
Sophie knew brother and sister needed time to themselves. She turned and headed toward Sam, who’d been left tied to the ring by the mounting steps and needed to be unsaddled.
Tears gathered in Sophie’s eyes as she walked Sam back to her stall. She knew the battle that raged inside Zach. She’d seen that clash countless times in each of the men she treated in Iraq as a medic. She helped soldiers, airmen and civilians survive their wounds. Now she wanted to help those brave men and women win the heart-and-soul skirmish to gain back their lives.
She stopped and pulled off the saddle blanket, resting it on the half wall of the stall.
“I want to save as many as I can,” she whispered into Sam’s neck. And maybe, just maybe, she could atone for the one life she couldn’t save.
Zach sat in the tack room. The humiliation this afternoon hadn’t been any worse than when he fell off his horse at his parents’ ranch in full view of his family and all the ranch hands. It was the first time he’d been on a horse since before the attack. He’d tried to ride away from the stable and his mount spooked and he fell off. Unfortunately, his prosthesis didn’t come out of the stirrup and he’d been dragged around in front of the stable. When his brother, Ethan, caught the horse, he hit the release
