TRENT
Afew weeks after we’d gotten home from Chicago for the final time, the ranch felt like an entirely different place than it had before. Charlotte had walked in and rearranged the very molecules of air I breathed just by existing, and honestly, I’d never been happier.
Everything in the house now smelled like her perfume and whatever she’d decided to bake at two in the morning. Whenever shemissed her brothersand needed an excuse to text them pictures of cookies, I got treated to the actual end products.
Well, most days, they were mine, but there was also a constant parade of Westwoods showing up at our door unannounced as a result. They arrived out of nowhere, ate the cookies, crashed in the guest rooms, and took off again, like tornadoes of laughter and life that tore through our home.
This morning though, it was just us and my hands were firmly over her eyes as I guided her across the barn aisle. “Trent, if you let me trip over something and break my nose, I swear?—”
“Sweetheart, the only thing you’re fallin’ into today is a surprise.” My grin stretched wide as she tried to muffle her laughter, amused despite herself.
The fall air was cooler than it had been so far this year. Winter was definitely coming, but the afternoons were still warm enough to be comfortable. Colby spotted us when we rounded the corner, lifted his chin in the subtle greeting that saidI’m ready, boss,and disappeared into the stall to fetch her surprise.
He didn’t ask questions, but on the other hand, he’d known for days what I was planning. Hell, he helped me choose the girl.
“She’s gonna lose her mind,” he’d said yesterday, patting the horse’s shoulder. “This one is so sweet, I’m shocked she ever made it through a single day of training.”
Now, her hooves clopped softly as he let her out of the stall and I felt Charlotte frown under my fingers. “Are we almost there? Because I’m starting to think this is a trap.”
She wrapped her cool fingers around my wrists but didn’t try to pull my hands away from her eyes. I bent down, speaking quietly against her ear. “It’s not a trap. It’s a gift.”
I dropped my hands and Charlotte blinked against the sudden intrusion of light, then gasped when she saw the horse standing in front of her. A big chestnut with a white blaze and the face of absolute friendliness, like she’d been waiting her whole life for Charlotte to show up.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, then repeated it, just louder this time. “Oh my God. We got a new one?”
The mare took a step forward and bumped Charlotte’s shoulder with her nose, the touch as gentle as a kiss. Charlotte made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, throwing her arms around the horse’s neck like she’d known her forever.
I pretended my heart wasn’t melting into my boots as I watched them together. “She’s yours. Another retired racer. Just too nice and too goofy for the track according to everyone who ever tried working with her.”
“She’s…” Charlotte’s eyes went glassy as she trailed off. Then she swallowed so hard it was audible before she blinked up at me. “She’s mine?”
“Yep. You even get to name her,” I said. “Give her a barn name, I mean. I might not be able to change what she was registered as, but whatever you choose will be her name going forward.”
She looked at the mare, who blinked back like she already adored her. I didn’t know this horse from a bar of soap, but whoever had even tried racing her clearly didn’t know anything about horses at all.
“Okay,” Charlotte said finally. “Her name is… Princess Buttercup Sweet Tea.”
Colby, who had conveniently reappeared, barked out a laugh so loud the mare flicked her ears back. “Ma’am, with all due respect, that’s the most insane, adorable name I’ve ever heard.”
“Well, her name had to be just as ridiculous as all the others around here. They’ll pick on her if she doesn’t fit in.” Charlotte lifted her chin. “Besides, she looks like a Princess Buttercup Sweet Tea. Can we go for a ride?”
She turned to me as she asked the question, her eyes wide and pleading. I laughed, groaning as I thought about all the other shit I had to get done today, but I already had a picnic packed in my saddle bag, and since I’d expected this, I’d dealt with all my urgent business this morning.
“Sure,” I said, glancing at Colby, who gave me a swift nod before he disappeared into the tack room. I moved my gaze back to hers, seeing the moisture shimmering on her lids. Instantly, I stopped trying to pretend I hadn’t already melted, and pulled her into me. “The horses were the selling point, right?”
She let out a soft laugh, nodding. She buried her face in my shirt and just held on to me for a moment. “I can’t believe I finally have a horse.”
“Yeah, well, nothing you want is ever going to be too much work for me.”
Her arms wound around my waist, her grip on me tight as she burrowed further into me. I didn’t mind at all. Not even when Colby came out and started tacking up the horses for us since I was otherwise occupied.
I’d long since stopped caring who knew I was nuts about my wife.
After breathing me in for a few moments, she glanced up at me, tears still glittering in her eyes, but the biggest smile ever on her lips. “Thank you.”
I shook my head. “Thankyoufor being exactly the human this sweet girl needs.”
She inhaled a deep breath, then took a step back and gathered her hair in her hands, tying it up with an elastic she’d had around her wrist. It seemed she’d learned to always keep one of those around, and as soon as she was done, she winked at me.
