Outlaw Hartes. RaeAnne Thayne

in—and her opinion of him went up another notch.

      “Sorry it took so long.” She immediately went to the sink to scrub. “Anything new happen while I was gone?”

      “No. She’s just as upset as she was before.”

      She snapped on a sterile pair of latex gloves and was pleased he had the sense to open the stall for her so she could keep them clean.

      “What do you need me to do?” he asked, his voice pitched low to avoid upsetting the horse more than she already was.

      “Can you hold her head for me?”

      He nodded and obeyed, then scrutinized her closely as she approached the animal slowly, murmuring nonsense words as she went. Mystic, though still frantic at the tumult churning her insides, calmed enough to let Ellie examine her.

      What she found heartened her. Although she could feel contractions rock the horse’s belly, the foal hadn’t begun to move through the birth canal. She pressed her stethoscope to the mare’s side and heard the foal’s heart beating loud and strong, if a little too fast.

      “Can you tell what’s going on?” Matt asked in that same low, soothing voice he used for the mare.

      She spared a quick glance toward him. “My best guess is maybe she got into some mold or something and it’s making her body try to flush itself of the fetus.”

      He clamped his teeth together, resignation in his eyes. “Can you give her something to ease the pain, then? Just until she delivers?”

      “I could.” She drew in a deep breath, her nerves kicking. “Or I can calm her down and try to save the foal.”

      He frowned. “How? I’ve been around horses all my life, certainly long enough to know there’s not a damn thing you can do once a mare decides a foal has to go.”

      “Not with traditional Western medicine, you’re right. But I’ve treated similar situations before, Matt. And saved several foals. I can’t make any guarantees but I’d like to try.”

      His jaw tightened. “With your needles? No way.”

      She wanted to smack him for his old-school stubbornness. “I took an oath as a veterinarian. That I’ll first do no harm, just like every other kind of medical doctor. I take it very seriously. It won’t hurt her, I promise. And it might help save the foal’s life where nothing else will.”

      Objections swamped his throat like spring runoff. He liked Ellie well enough as a person—too much, if he were completely honest with himself about it—but he wasn’t too sure about her as a vet.

      Her heart seemed to be in the right place, but the idea of her turning one of his horses into a pincushion didn’t appeal to him whatsoever.

      “If she’s going to lose the foal anyway, what can it hurt to try?” she asked.

      Across Mystic’s withers, he gazed at Ellie and realized for the first time that she still wore the soft, pretty skirt she’d had on at dinner and those fancy leather boots. The boots were covered in who-knew-what, and a six-inch-wide bloodstain slashed across her skirt where she must have brushed up against Mystic’s belly during the exam.

      Ellie didn’t seem to care a bit about her clothes, though. All her attention was focused on his mare. She genuinely thought she could save the foal—he could see the conviction blazing out of those sparkly green eyes—and that was the only thing that mattered to her right now.

      Her confidence had him wavering. Like she said, what could it hurt to let her try?

      A week ago he wouldn’t have allowed it under any circumstances, would have still been convinced the whole acupuncture thing was a bunch of hooey. But he’d done a little reading up on the Internet lately and discovered the practice wasn’t nearly as weird as he thought. Even the American Veterinary Association considered acupuncture an accepted method of care.

      Mystic suddenly jerked hard against the bit and threw her head back, eyes wild with pain.

      “Please, Matt. Just let me try.”

      What other choice did he have? The foal was going to die, and there was a chance Mystic would, too. He blew out a breath. “Be careful,” he said gruffly. “She’s a damn fine mare, and I don’t want her hurt.”

      He watched carefully while she ran her hands over the animal one more time, then placed her finger at certain points, speaking quietly to both of them as she went.

      “According to traditional Chinese veterinary acupuncture, each animal’s body—and yours, too—has a network of meridians, with acupoints along that meridian that communicate with a specific organ,” she said softly as she worked. “When a particular organ is out of balance, the related acupoints may become tender or show some other abnormality. That’s what I’m looking for.”

      Mystic had a dozen or so needles in various places when Ellie inserted one more and gave it a little twist. Mystic jumped and shuddered.

      He was just about to call the whole blasted thing off and tell Ellie to get away from his horse when the mare’s straining, panting sides suddenly went completely still.

      After a moment, the horse blew out a snorting breath then pulled away from him. With the needles in her flesh still quivering like porcupine quills, she calmly ambled to her water trough and indulged in a long drink of water.

      He stared after her, dumbfounded at how quickly she transformed from panic-stricken to tranquil. What the hell just happened here?

      Ellie didn’t seem nearly as astonished. She followed the horse and began removing the needles one by one, discarding them in a special plastic container she pulled out of her bag. When they were all collected, she cleaned and dressed the self-inflicted wounds on Mystic’s belly, then ran her hands over the horse one last time before joining Matt on the other side of the stall.

      “Is that it?” he asked, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.

      Her mouth twisted into a smile. “What did you expect?”

      “I don’t know.” He shook his head in amazement. “I’ve got to tell you, Doc, that was just about the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.”

      Despite the circumstances, her low laugh sent heat flashing to his gut. “I had the same reaction the first time I saw an animal treated with acupuncture. Some animals respond so instantly it seems nothing short of a miracle. Not all do, but the first horse I saw responded exactly like Mystic just did.”

      “Was she another pregnant mare?”

      “No. It was a racehorse that had suddenly gone lame. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I tried everything I could think of to help him and nothing worked. He just got worse and worse. Finally, as a last-ditch effort before putting him down, the owners decided against my advice to call in another vet who practiced acupuncture.

      “I thought they were completely nuts, but I decided to watch. One minute the vet was sticking in the needles, the next he opened the door and Galaxy took off into the pasture like a yearling, with no sign whatsoever of the lameness that had nearly ended his life. I called up and registered for the training course the next day.”

      Her face glowed when she talked about her work. Somehow it seemed to light up from the inside. She looked so pretty and passionate it was all he could do to keep from reaching across the few feet that separated them and drawing her into his arms.

      “How does it work?” he asked, trying to distract himself from that soft smile and those sparkling eyes and the need suddenly pulsing through him.

      “The Chinese believe health and energy are like a stream flowing downhill—if something blocks that flow, upsetting the body’s natural balance, energy can dam up behind the blockage, causing illness and pain. The needles help guide the energy a different way, restoring the balance and allowing healing to begin.”

      “And you buy all that?”