“I think it’s more accurate that the ranch is having a rough time adjusting to me.”

He laughed again and shook his head. As they finished cutting the treats, their conversation about her problems continued, with Erin venting and saying most of the things she’d told Jonas last night.

Kennedy began filling sandwich bags with fruit and vegetables. “I know the rule about always letting a horse know you’re behind it may seem a little over the top, but after you’ve come to understand horses, you’ll no longer feel that way. I’m sure when you were a cop you took training to handle a variety of guns. If someone was checking the chamber for bullets in a rifle and had the barrel pointed straight at your chest, what would you do?”

“I’d tell the person to point the barrel at the ground. Only an idiot points a loaded weapon at someone unless he intends to shoot him. And to be safe, one must consider every gun to be loaded and ready to fire.”

“Yep. That’s one of the top rules of gun safety, and when you see somebody pointing a gun toward other people, all your alarm bells ring, because you know that person knows very little about guns. It’s the same for us guys when we see you around horses.”

“I’m trying to learn.”

“But you need to practice all the safety protocol until you’re more familiar with horses, just like someone who’s holding a gun for the first time. Point the gun at someone, and you’re bound to get yelled at. Same goes when someone does stupid shit around a horse.”

Erin gathered the treats into a mound on the countertop. “I don’t know how I’ll carry all these bags.”

“Make an apron pocket out of your front shirttails. That works for me. And be careful about the bags. I leave them outside an enclosure and load the goodies into my pockets when I’m working with a horse. The crinkling of the plastic can sound frightening.”

“Really?” Erin found that bit of information mystifying. “Why?”

“Nobody really knows, but the theory is that crinkly things, especially tinfoil, make a sound similar to a rattlesnake, and most horses are instinctively fearful of them.”

Erin tied her shirttails at her waist to form a pouch and began loading up the bags. “I forgot to ask how your visit with Jen went yesterday.”

Kennedy’s eyes filled with shadows. “She was glad to see me. Her face is all swollen and black and blue, but her blood pressure is remaining stable now, so she’s out of the woods. Lots of pain from the surgery on her arm, but the doctor says they got it repaired. She’ll have full range of motion and full use of her hand after a lot of physical therapy.”

Erin was relieved to hear that. “She’s a very lucky girl. I think Rob Sorensen meant to end her life.”

“Yeah,” Kennedy said in an oddly thick voice. “I hope he’s put away and never allowed to be loose again.”