“I know the perfect spot for it.” He led her over to a nice, level spot adjacent to the pavilion. “What do you think of right here?”
“Looks perfect.” She set the bag down on the table. “I’ll just put these here for now.”
The honk of a horn had them turning toward the driveaway.
Hawk and Charlotte were pulling up, and they backed in and parked next to Luna’s car. He climbed out, hurried around to open Charlotte’s door, lifted her out of the truck, and set her down.
She kissed him, and he opened the back door of the truck. Remy, his black lab partner, bounded out, headed straight over to a fence post, and lifted his leg to relieve himself.
The couple walked hand in hand toward the pavilion, with Remy running to catch up.
“Welcome.” Boone kissed Charlotte on the cheek and gave Hawk a backslapping hug.
He leaned down and gave Remy some attention. The dog was a trained ESD dog—electronic storage detection. He could sniff out a tiny thumb drive in a house filled with bacon. Not that that particular scenario ever presented itself. But he had found one in a shoebox filled with mothballs once.
Remy looked up at Hawk with anticipation.
Hawk turned to Boone. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” He chuckled, knowing exactly what Remy wanted.
Hawk looked down at Remy, who wiggled with excitement, and said, “Go ahead.”
The dog jogged into the barn and came out with a big fat carrot in his mouth. He plopped down in the shade beneath a tree and enjoyed his spoils.
“Hey, Luna.” Charlotte hugged her. “Is that a cornhole set?” She looked over to where they’d set up the boards. “I played it when we were at Hawk’s mom and dad’s house.”
“She’s pretty good, too.” Hawk kissed her temple.
“He’s biased.” She gave him an adoring smile and a quick peck on the lips.
Boone wasn’t normally the jealous type, but he sure was envious of the relationships his teammates had with their significant others.
“Hey guys.” Viking reached into the cooler and grabbed two sodas. He popped one open and handed it to Marigold.
“Thanks, babe.” She lifted the can to her mouth and took a sip.
Calliope looked over her shoulder and waved from where she and Lucas stood on one of the rails of the corral fence. She was petting and talking to Sassy. It figured that particular horse would warm up to Calliope—they had similar personalities.
She hopped down, took Lucas’s hand, and they strolled over.
“Beautiful cornhole set.” She walked over to check it out.
“Michaleen and Molly made it for me,” Boone said. “Can you believe it?”
“I definitely can—they’re good people.” Lucas would know. He’d told Boone about how when he was a kid, he spent a few weeks every summer at their place in Washington. “Uncle Michaleen made us a couple of his famous Adirondack chairs.”
“Oh, my gosh, they’re so comfy.” Calliope squatted down and ran her hand over the polished wood of the cornhole board. “My dad commissioned him to make new rockers for him and my granddad. They love sitting out on their porch.”
“Oh, shoot. I left the carrots in the car.” Charlotte turned to walk to the car.
Remy lifted his head and hopped to his feet at the mention of carrots.
“Not for you, dude.” Hawk shook his head and placed a hand on Charlotte’s arm to stop her. “I’ll get ’em, honey.”
“Thank you.” She watched him walk away, then turned back to Boone. “I hope you don’t mind. I know Sassy and Patience like them, and since Remy helps himself every time we come here—”
“I don’t mind at all, and Remy can eat as many carrots as he likes.” Between the two horses and their love for carrots, one more animal didn’t much matter. “Speaking of … Who would like to take a ride today?”
