He looks down at Carli’s boots as if they’re evidence enough that she knows her way around a ranch. I guess they are.
She takes the lead, says something soft and assuring to Storm and then she climbs up the pen fencing, disregarding the mounting block altogether. Ray shoots me a look that says he’d be smitten too if he were me. She gives a click and a nudge and Storm responds, taking off away through the grass behind us. I watch them for as long as I’m able to keep a visual on them.
Ray says, “I had a friend like that once.”
I turn my head toward him. “Did you?”
“Yessir. Married her as quick as I could.”
I chuckle. “Well, we’re still seeing how things go for now.”
“I’m not one to discuss who came to see my horses. You’re here on behalf of your dad. Who came with you isn’t mine to tell.”
I don’t know how Ray picked up on the nature of our situation. Maybe his words simply come from having lived in a small town. We’re all the same as far as that goes. Sneeze and someone down the road blesses you.
“Thank you,” I say as Carli appears over the ridge—sitting deep in the saddle, blonde hair flying behind her.
Whatever I thought I was risking by taking this day, I’d risk it again for this moment alone.
Chapter 21
Carli
I love Nashville. It seems like everywhere you walk,
there's great music coming out of every wall.
~ Imelda May
I sigh,leaning my head back on the headrest as Cody backs down Ray’s driveway.
“So?” I ask Cody.
“You tell me.”
“What I think of Storm?”
“Yeah. What do you think?”
“Steady. Not skittish. Honest. Not soft in the mouth. He read my pressure and transitioned well. And he never fought me.” I pause, smiling over at Cody. “I think I’m in love.”
A soft laugh bursts out of him. “Should I tell Lark?”
I laugh along with him, warmth filling me.
“It’s a shame he’s a gelding,” I lament. “They’d make the prettiest babies.”
“We’d have a whole runway of supermodels,” he says, laughing. Then his tone shifts to serious. “I’m going to call Dad real quick. Tell him our thoughts.”
“Our thoughts?” I ask.
“I’ll claim them all,” he winks. “Besides, I agree with your assessment one hundred percent.”
We ride down the road, going a different way that bypasses Franklin this time. Cody calls his dad with a quick check-in about Storm. I gaze out the window at long fence lines, copses of trees and spacious rolling ranch land.
“Looks like you might have a new neighbor,” he says after he hangs up.
I sigh, studying Cody’s profile. “This is my favorite day ever.”
