The Wounded Nobleman (The Regimental Heroes) by Jennifer Conner

Chapter 1
     
    Ellis Garrison breathed in the scent of fresh cut hay as he refolded the heavy wool horse blanket and threw it over the stable gate. He loved the smell. It reminded him of spring and everything new. He began to straighten when his ears filled with a horse’s panicked cry. The hair on his arms rose.
    The cry came again. Good God! He knew the sounds of all his beasts with his back turned. He did not recognize it. It had to be the new horse he had taken on yesterday against his better judgment.
    He looked around for his cane. It had been over eight months and he still wasn’t used to using it, or keeping track of where he’d propped it. Why could he never find the bloody thing when he needed it?
    The horse cried again, this time the protest mixed with the curses from his stable hand.
    He dragged his wounded leg and limped out of the barn towards the shouts. Ellis raised his hand against the bright light and squinted at the sun over head. The Friesian, Liber, reared up on his hind legs over the stable hand sprawled on his back in the dirt. The man fumbled under his dirty coat and pulled out a pistol.
    “No!” a female voice cried. “He’s only scared. Don’t shoot him!”
    Callie Dunning? What the bloody hell was she doing here? The feather-brained chit was going to get herself stamped to death or shot if she carried on like this. Should I care? She’d crushed his heart before he’d left for the war.
    The stable hand still had the barrel of the pistol pointed at the chest of the rearing horse.
    “Give me the long lead,” she demanded.
    The stable hand blinked.
    “Now! Give me the lead you halfwit!” She stumbled forward and yanked the rope free from the man’s hand, then spun back to face the horse. “There you go—you’re fine. Everything will be fine.” She led the horse towards the far side of the round pen.
    The horse stopped and whinnied. Callie shook her head. “No you don’t, come on, let’s all calm down.” Liber cried again but didn’t rear. She took an apple from her pocket. “One more time around without a temper tantrum and this is yours.”
    Liber stomped his foot but followed her. Amazing.
    Ellis limped into the pen. “I demand to know…”
    She held up her hand. “Hush! Do you want to excite him again?”
    “What?”
    “You heard me.” Her gaze never left the horse’s. “If you scream and yell, you will just excite him. Who knows what he will do?”
    “It’s my horse.” How dare she? Who did she think she was? He was the son of the Earl of Garrison and the owner of all these horses. She was, well… trespassing.
    “I know that full well, but I just saved him from being your dead horse. So hush.” She walked Liber to the center of the ring and left Ellis to stand alone.
    He moved to the side of the pen to give her room. They would discuss this later. Right now, she did have Liber under control. In fact, Liber dropped his head and pushed at the pocket of her dress.
    Callie smiled at the horse, took an apple from her pocket and fed it to him. He ate it in one large crunch.
    Ellis leaned a hip on the cut wood slats of the pen and watched with fascination. This was not the same girl he’d pined over in younger days. He’d remembered her always coiffed to perfection. Shiny hair. Gloves. Satin dresses. Colors that matched her creamy skin and blue eyes, anything to catch the boy’s eyes… including his . Now the dust the horse kicked up covered her plain brown muslin dress. There were smears of dirt on her cheeks and her blonde hair tousled around in wispy strands. She was still beautiful. It seemed strange to see her hands without gloves. They were so small, but must be strong. She held the beast secure ly.
    His leg ached from standing in one place too long, but Callie made a good distraction. Many things haunted him these days, and she mixed through it all. Mad at himself, he liked his memories where they were. Now that he’d seen her once again, he remembered her