“Yeah?”
I cut my gaze in the direction of his house before looking at him again. “I might not be one of your boys, but I’ve been known to do an alright job when it comes to house decorating.”
He raises an eyebrow, silently asking me to elaborate.
“I’m still not ready to decorate my own house for Christmas, but I wouldn’t say no if you asked for some help with yours.” I hold up my hands. “I promise to help make it the best this neighborhood has ever seen.”
Man, if I thought the smile he’d given me earlier was special, I hadn’t seen anything. The sparkle in his eyes reminds me of the time we took the kids to see the Christmas tree lighting in Times Square.
It’s that bright.
“I’m holdin’ you to that,” he answers.
“Good.”
I watch as he heads down the stairs of the porch before turning to go inside.
“Hey, Ellyn?” he calls, making me stop halfway inside of my door.
“Yeah?”
“Nothing wrong with being too much like you,” he says.
I wrinkle my brows.
“Earlier tonight, you said your oldest is too much like you. You said it like it was something negative,” he adds. “From what I can tell she’s blessed to be just like her mama. Because the woman standing in front of me has the heart of a lioness and the will of a winner. Your daughter will come out on top just like you.”
My eyes instantly gloss over while my bottom lip starts to tremble. I remain frozen too touched by his words to move a muscle.
“Go inside,” Joel encourages softly after almost a minute of silence.
I force my feet to move. The second I close my door behind me, I press my back against it, closing my eyes.
I had no idea, and I certainly didn’t see it coming.
But this is the exact moment that I know for certain that I’ve fallen in love with my next-door neighbor.
CHAPTER 19
Joel
“How’s Ol’ Girl doin’?” I ask Randy, entering the stall.
It’s been a week since she gave birth. So far, she’s doing well, and the new foal has been feeding as needed.
“Good,” he answers, brushing her mane. “Have you decided what you’re going to do with her once she’s done feeding?”
“Not yet,” I admit. “Don’t even have a name for her.” Not sure it’s all that important to have a name for the new foal since I might decide to sell her once she’s weaned from Ol’ Girl.
“I’ll figure it out.” I slap my cowboy hat against my thigh and run my hand through my hair. “I need to drop a few things off at my office and then I’m leaving for the day. Call if you need anything.”
A while later I enter my trailer office at the same time my cell starts to ring.
“Micah,” I answer.
“Hey, Joel,” my oldest son greets. “Are you at the ranch?”
“Yeah, but I’m leaving now.”
