He gave me a crooked grin. “I can think of something.”
Laughing I slapped a playful hand against his chest. “You think Lily would be on board?” I asked.
“Too fucking right.” He then squinted one eye and gave his head a wobble. “But maybe you should ask her. Let’s go do it now.”
He kissed the end of my nose and led me back to the house to check whether my best friend was on board with my maybe not so crazy idea.
Chapter 53
Good Time – Owl City, Carly Rae Jepsen
Cassidy
It was incredible how far the construction had come on in the last few months. The stables were taking shape, with the interior being started after the weekend. As for the camp building, the foundations had been laid, and the walls were about thirty bricks high so far. Everything was going to plan, and Lily and I were just about finished with our planning session. It was our third one and we were making inroads into how we wanted to run the school side of the camp.
“Flo Jeffreys from the stationery company has offered to give us a forty percent discount on anything we need.” Lily grinned and clapped her hands like a little seal. “It’s starting to feel real isn’t it?”
I relaxed back in the chair on the porch, lifting my face to the Summer sun, letting the heat soak in. Happiness was a strange feeling, you couldn’t pinpoint what it was or describe it, but you just knew it was happiness, and that was what I’d been feeling for the last four months. Since Gunner Miller had called mesweetheart and made some incredible, totally fulfilled, promises about his penis.
“How are you feeling about going part-time at school?” Lily asked, pulling her feet up under her butt.
Dropping my gaze to hers, I breathed out. “Okay. Mrs. Wright was good about it, and I know it’s what I want, but I’m still nervous.”
Lily had been more than on board with the idea of expanding the kid’s camp curriculum, but with her usual level-headedness, she suggested we not both leave our jobs until we knew we were on to a winning thing. Of course, I’d pouted for about ten minutes and then realized that she was right; hence why I’d asked Mrs. Wright if she’d be amiable to me becoming part-time and sharing classes with Audrey, who shared classes with Lily. Seeing as Audrey was desperate for more classes it was a win-win situation. I worked Monday through to Wednesday, and Lily worked Wednesday through to Friday, meaning the three of us got a midweek handover and catch up.
“You’re bound to be, but take it from someone who knows, I feel more refreshed and invigorated by only teaching three days.” She looked over toward the stables. Bertie and Lucas had been spending every day over there since Summer break started. Tally was brilliant with them, and she and Mikey had created a little work schedule for them to keep them occupied. They would eventually become our guinea pigs for the camp, but while construction was still ongoing they were earning an allowance with ranch chores.
“Did you see the kids riding yesterday?” she asked me. “The progress they’ve made is incredible.”
“Hate to break it to you,” I grinned, “but Bertie mentioned something about being a barrel racer when she’s older.”
Lily shrugged. “If that’s what makes her happy. And as long as she’s allowed to wear protective pads on every inch of herbody and an army strength helmet then it’ll be fine.” A shadow crossed her face. “God, the idea scares the shit out of me, but I want her to be happy and fulfilled and if that’s what it takes then so be it.” Billy toddled past with a toy horse in one hand and a guitar in the other. “And he clearly is going to be a singing cowboy.”
Our laughter was filled with joy and that happiness that was so hard to pinpoint.
Gunner
Watching Tally working with the horses was a lot like watching myself when I first started. On one hand she was eager with a whole host of ideas that she only knew how to put half of them into practice, then on the other hand she was a complete natural. She would benefit from some guidance from someone other than me, which was why I had a surprise for her. A good one I hoped.
“Tally, you got a minute?”
She looked over from where she was watching Benny working a horse that acted like he was lame even though we couldn’t find anything wrong with him.
“Hey, boss. What can I do for you?”
“You heard of Jesse Connor?” I asked as she stopped in front of me.
Her eyes widened. “Yeah, of course, who hasn’t. He’s one of the best horse trainers in the country.”
“Thebest,” I corrected her. “And he’s a good friend of mine, has been since I went to spend time learning from him about eight years ago.”
“You trained under Jesse Connor? Wow.”
“I know, I feel privileged. It’s amazing what that guy can teach you in three weeks.”
“I bet.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest, and I noticed her nails were bright pink today. That was Tally’s thing, jeans, Western boots, a flannel and a Stetson were her regular attire, but her nails were always painted and manicured to perfection. “I hear he’s quite hot, too.” She laughed loudly, the shyness of her first few weeks completely gone, except for when Wilder was around strangely.
“Yeah, he’s a good looking guy,” I chuckled. “Anyway, how do you feel about going and spending some time with him on his ranch? Learning from the best.”
