Bee

The dull thud wasn't heard by anyone else, but the pain couldn't compare. Tundra skitters to the back of her stall, her hindquarters still lethally aimed towards the door. 

Eric swallows his urge to scream. He'd been kicked before plenty of times - but this one had come unexpectedly and straight to his left thigh. Though his leg had healed since his trucking accident, it was still quite sensitive, and a blow from a horse's hoof was enough to send the pain shooting through his entire leg. Tundra was a fairly new addition to the barn and had come to them with a problem of not liking people or other horses behind her. It was something they knew they'd have to break her of quickly, but it hadn't happened soon enough. Eric hadn't been careful and had only been coming to give her grain - which was now strewn across the stall floor. 

Sucking in his breath, Eric leans on the wall for a few more moments before limping back out into the aisle and shutting the door. He'd have a hefty bruise for sure - worse, just because it was his bad leg. It was just what he needed. Taking a couple minutes until the pain partially subsided, he grabs a broom to sweep out the aisle. It was usually something Dylan did, but right now, he just needed a simple task to keep moving so his leg didn't get stiff. He'd take a better look at it later. 

It wasn't five minutes before Stacy's sudden entrance into the barn startles him from his work. Straightening and gripping the broom tightly, his brow furrows. He hadn't ever seen her this riled, let alone been the brunt of her anger. 

"Now hang on." Eric's eyes narrow at her tone. "I did no such thing. Yes, I told her college ain't for everybody, but that's true. Be glad I didn't tell her how I really feel - that college graduates like to flaunt their diplomas to the world but wind up broke on school loans." He shakes his head in annoyance. "There's plenty bigger things to get a bee in your bonnet over. Don't snip at me for giving your daughter my honest opinion. I was just having a conversation with her."