“Let me take him,” Grayson said.
“That’s fine,” Evangeline told him. “I’ll bet he’s mostly just sleepy from all the excitement.”
Sure enough, the moment they had him unstrapped and in his daddy’s arms, Leo snuggled into Grayson’s neck and grabbed a handful of his scarf in his little hand, his sobs fading as his eyelids fluttered shut.
“Wow,” Evangeline said. “He knew what he wanted.”
“So do they,” Grayson said, pointing to the field where the two horses were trotting over. They looked a lot bigger as they got closer, and Evangeline almost felt scared.
“They’re big,” Grayson said quietly. “But remember that they’re domesticated animals, and their whole job is pulling families around in carriages.”
“You read my mind,” she replied, laughing nervously.
“Grab an apple out of the bag and hold it out on yourpalm,” he told her. “Keep your fingers and thumb down flat.”
She did as she was told, proud that her hands weren’t shaking too much to get the apple out.
“Yup,” Grayson said. “Just like that. If you want, you can do one in each hand.”
In for a penny…Evangeline thought to herself, grabbing another apple, and holding both hands out flat in front of her.
The horses were really close now, and she couldfeeltheir hoofbeats reverberating slightly in the earth under her feet.
When they reached the fence, the one on the left tossed his mane and the one on the right snorted, as if in greeting.
“Hey, guys,” Grayson said quietly. “Evangeline, you want to show absolute confidence. Horses are nervous by nature, so they gravitate to people who don’t waver.”
Me too,Evangeline thought to herself, feeling an instant connection with the big animals.
She moved forward, thrusting her hands over the rail with the apples on her flattened palms.
“That’s Peanut Butter,” Grayson murmured, as the horse on the left came forward and nosed her hand with his velvety muzzle.
“Hi,” she whispered to him.
Peanut Butter took the apple delicately with his lips and teeth and crunched it up in about two seconds.
“Oh wow,” Evangeline laughed, just as Pickles took the other apple and made short work of it.
Peanut Butter snorted at her and tossed his head back.
“He wants to know if you have more,” Grayson laughed.
“Do I?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” he said. “But one apple is just fine for him. It’s a good treat. Now if you want, you can scratch behind his ear. He’ll like that.”
And though she would have thought she’d be too frightened, she found that she actually wanted to scratch the horse, even when he butted his snout against her and snuffled loudly against her front, as if he thought maybe there were more apples hidden in her coat.
“This is so amazing,” she told Grayson as she stroked the warm, smooth fur on Peanut Butter’s neck. “Thank you.”
He didn’t reply, and when she looked up at him, there was a thoughtful expression on his handsome face.
After Leo’s nap,which he spent in his daddy’s arms while Evangeline and Grayson visited with all the animals, they sat at a picnic bench and shared an apple cider doughnut and a large hot chocolate while Leo wolfed down his bottle.
One fresh diaper later, they were ready to go pick out a Christmas tree and some decorations. Grayson adjusted the carrier and put it on so that he couldtake a turnwith the boy. Evangeline knew it was supposed to be her job totake care of Leo, but she wasn’t going to argue with her boss.
“What kind of tree do you like?” Grayson asked as they headed past the nursery to the freshly cut trees.
