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sounded relieved.
    “Gotta get going,” Martin said, whirling back the way he came. “C’mon, Simone.”
    The daughter gave Aidan one last look before following.
    Cat called after him. “I’ll let you know when one of your mares comes into season.”
    Aidan felt the tension drain out of her.
    “Do you and Martin not get along?”
    “We get along just fine,” she said in a clipped tone that didn’t convince him. Could be the problem wasn’t the man but his daughter.
    Suddenly a screech filled the air. Aidan started but Cat seemed to loosen up immediately.
    “No need to worry,” she assured him. “Teenagers are rarely quiet.”
    As they rounded the empty box stall at the aisle’s end, he could hear a girl’s indignant voice. “You think you’re so funny, I wonder how you’d look with a shovelful of horse manure on your head!”
    “Let’s not try it to find out!” Cat said, her order followed by silence.
    They turned into the center aisle where Mac Finnian was stabled. Two teenagers—a thin blonde and a husky, dark-haired boy—were squared off. Aidan realized they must be Laura and Vincent, Cat’s part-time workers. Her face flushed, Laura was brushing off her derriere while Vincent tried to hide a grin.
    “Are you working or playing?” Cat asked.
    “Working,” they said in unison.
    “Get to it, then.”
    Laura gave Vincent a shove before grabbing a mucking rake and disappearing into a box stall. Vincent snorted and did the same on the other side of the aisle.
    Cat moved in close and whispered, “Vincent has a crush on Laura. What he doesn’t realize yet is that she has a crush on him, too.”
    When her breast brushed against his arm, Aidan sucked in a quick breath. “’Tis a wonder they get any work done.”
    Cat’s good will disappeared in a snap and she stepped back. Aidan couldn’t read humans in the same way he could horses, but he wasn’t dense. She’d clearly taken that as a criticism. She certainly was on edge with him. He was glad when they got to Mac’s stall, but for once, the colt didn’t stick out his head to greet him. Instead, he paced the small space in a tight circle.
    Immediately concerned, Aidan murmured, “Mac, what’s up with you, lad?”
    The colt stopped short of the door, so Aidan opened it and stepped in, too aware of Cat right behind him. He reached out for the colt, ran a hand up Mac’s cheek to his forehead and then scratched his poll.
    “Is he all right?”
    “He’s nervous, but after what he’s been through the last couple of weeks, that should come as no surprise.”
    Except that it did. Mac was normally settled, unaffected by change or surprises. But there was something about this place that got to him. That made his flesh quiver when touched. Aidan had noticed it earlier when he’d brought the colt inside the barn. Then, too, he’d put the colt’s unease to the strain of the long move.
    Unfortunately, Mac still hadn’t settled down.
    Aidan could sense the colt’s stress as he moved closer and continued to stroke him. No matter that he ran his hands over Mac’s neck and back and chest, Aidan couldn’t read him, couldn’t say why Mac had gotten so rattled. Frowning, he took a peppermint from his pocket, and offered it to the colt. For a moment, he didn’t think Mac would take the candy. His gut tightened. Was Mac sick? Then the colt moved closer and brushed Aidan’s palm with his muzzle and lipped the peppermint before gently taking it with his teeth.
    A sense of relief washed through Aidan until Cat said, “I think I should call Helen. That’s the vet—Helen Fox.”
    “He doesn’t need a vet. He’s not ill.”
    “I can see how concerned you are, Aidan. We can’t let anything happen to him—”
    “I shall decide if and when he needs a veterinarian.”
    They stared at each other for a moment. The silence was deafening.
    “I know he’s your colt, Aidan, but I have a big investment in his well-being. And this is my barn. I’m