“Then maybe you should show me what I can do to help.”
His hold loosens only for his fingers to weave with mine, leading me to the stables.
“Mind brushing these babies for me?”
The stables appeared large from far away, but up close, it’s clear they are massive. Just like everything else here, it seems. As far as I can tell, each stall holds a unique beauty.
“How many horses do you have?”
“Twenty-four.”
My eyes go wide. I mean, this is farm country out here, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve lived in this area my whole life. But somehow, I hadn’t expected Gray to have so many on his property.
“Why so many?”
He leads me to the first stall. “This is Rocket. He was a ten-time champion barrel racer. When he was retired, the racer wasn’t. It wasn’t his lack of fight that took him out; he had some medical problems, so I took him in.”
“Are all of these…” I can’t finish the question as I look into the eyes of the horses staring back at me.
“Except for Chocolate and Bunny down at the end, yes. They are all retired competition horses or rescues that I saved from being killed. Like people, sometimes animals need a place to go.” His hand slides up the powerful neck of Rocket, the horse huffing loudly but leaning into his touch.
“Gray.” My hand finds his chest again. “You’re amazing. You know that?”
A sheepish smile stretches across his face, head shaking so those dark curls move at the nape of his neck. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s everything,” I smile up at him. “Don’t downplay what you’ve done.”
He removes his backward ball cap, scratching his head. “I’ve got a few other things to do. I’ll come check on you in a bit.”
“I can handle it.”
There’s no time to react when he pulls me into him, a hard kiss crushed against my mouth. A kiss that feels like a silent thank you. A reminder of the gratitude that soars through me when someone acknowledges the good I’ve done.
Kindred spirits. That’s what we are.
Still, I can’t help but blurt out my question with a giggle on my lips. “What was that for?”
“So I could hear that.”
Then he’s gone, strutting out of the barn with those tight Wranglers hugging his perfect ass.
I just might be a goner.
Chapter 7
Grayson
IleftRiveraloneforover an hour while I went and vaccinated some of the new cows that came in this week. That smile she seemed willing to give me was right there on her face when I found her with the horses. She’d already brushed each one but was back with Rocket, examining his legs and gait.
I hadn’t even told her he had a problem with his legs, but she figured it out. Talking to him as if he were one of her patients, while relaying the treatment regimen she would put him through. I could only lean against the stall door, watching in awe as this woman loved on one of my horses.
When she finally noticed me there, she didn’t hesitate to follow me out to the cow fields. I swear she made a point of talking to each one, petting them, and then hugging them.
I admit I spent more time watching her than I did checking the fences and feeding the little troublemakers.
The River I met in the med room was so different. She was cold and authoritative.
Then, there was the version from the bar. The one who let her guard down when she saw how much we were the same. The both of us exhausted from always having to prove ourselves to or against someone else.
