“What are the plans?” She looked at each of us in turn. “Can I ask? If I’m going to be working here...”
“Part of your job would involve helping coordinate this new project we’re planning.” Nash pointed at me. “You tell her, it’s going to be your rodeo brother.”
“A rodeo?” Ruthie blinked rapidly. “I don’t know anything about rodeos.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “No, it’s not a rodeo. It’s a kid’s camp, after school, school breaks and so on. In fact, it was Cassidy, Miss. Turner’s idea.”
“It was?” Swallowing, she looked out of the window where Lily and the kids were walking back to the house in the dimming light of the early evening, their breaths misting in the cold. “She’s been good for Lucas. Not that Lily wasn’t. She was too.”
Nash laughed. “It’s fine, I know how great my wife is.”
“It was yours and Lucas’ situation that gave her the idea.” Something started to build in my chest and my stomach felt weird.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You having to work such a distance and Lucas having to wait at school.” Her bottom lip trembled as she swallowed. “She wanted to help you.” That feeling in my chest grew as I continued telling Ruthie about the kid’s camp. “Her idea was that we become a place that the kids can come to and work with the horses. Like therapy as well as teaching them things, giving them an experience of working.”
“We haven’t discussed the finer points yet,” Nash added. “We need to speak to Cassidy about what her vision of it is, but it’s going to happen seeing as Gunner is on board.”
I respected that it had been ultimately my decision, but it had felt like I was carrying a big weight. Thinking it through, though, it had been a no brainer. How could I not want to help kids out while doing a job I love.
“But we would like you to start working here as soon as you can.” The mounds of paperwork on my desk was a clear sign of that.
“The camp sounds amazing,” Ruthie replied, wrapping her arms around her middle. “I just feel bad that Miss. Turner was worried about Lucas enough to create something like this. A good mother shouldn’t need help like that.” Her voice cracked.“But I’m grateful. So grateful. It’s just... you work so hard to give your kids everything, and sometimes it feels like you’re just failing them anyway.”
“And that’s why we want to set up the camp,” Nash said softly. “Because life is damn hard for parents, no matter how hard you try.”
“The camp will be great, and Lucas will benefit from it along with a whole other bunch of kids,” Wilder added. “Cassidy had a great idea.”
It was then that I realized what the feeling in my stomach was. Pride. And it wasn’t for me it was for the woman who incensed me more than any other had or probably ever would. The same woman whose ideas about mixing tradition with progress I’d once dismissed so easily. Looking around the ranch now, I could see exactly what she’d meant that night - this wasn’t about changing our way of life, but about sharing it. About giving kids like Lucas both roots and wings.
As the horse trotted around the schooling ring, I watched his form carefully. “He’s still got a limp,” I told Charlie.
She was watching from her perch on top of the fence and taking a video. “It’s only slight”
“Yeah, but it’s still there.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “I think maybe we have to up the hydrotherapy. Can you ask Soloman if he can come next week? I know he’s not scheduled, but I think it would help.”
“Really? Not call Rose instead?”
I shook my head. “Nah. I don’t think it’s anything too serious that a little more time in the water won’t solve.” I guided him around another loop of the ring and was confident that I wasright. He was limping because he was afraid to put his foot down. Soloman would encourage him, with a massage, that it was fine.
“Want me to call her anyway?”
My head whipped in her direction. “No,” I snapped. “Contact Soloman.”
“Rose is the best vet in three counties,” Charlie pushed, a challenge in her voice. “Unless you’re avoiding her for some reason?”
The insinuation in her tone made my jaw clench. Charlie had been hinting at things she knew nothing about ever since the Momma’s Pride incident. “The horse needs hydrotherapy, not a vet. Take him back to his stall and call Soloman.”
She had the nerve to sigh but I chose to ignore it. Her attitude since the argument about Momma’s Pride was getting worse by the day, and I was starting to wonder if there was more behind it than her own wounded pride.
Charlie walked over to me and grabbed the lead rope from me without saying a word. For a second I almost told her to change her attitude, but I didn’t have the energy for a fight. Plus, I needed to meet Wilder and Nash. Charlie was a battle that I’d fight another day.
The ground was hard underfoot as I walked toward my brothers. They were laughing loudly, and it made my chest burn. Nash had been sad for so long until Lily came home and now he never stopped smiling. It was all I’d ever wanted for him to be happy and now he was. I wondered if I’d ever want what he had or whether I’d always be happier with my horses.
“What’s got you two giggling like toddlers?” I asked, pushing my hands into the pockets of my denim jacket. “And why are you dressed like it’s the middle of winter?” They were both wearingthick Shearling jackets with gloves, Wilder wearing a wool cap and Nash his usual ball cap.
“Because it’s fucking cold.” Wilder clapped his hands together. “We can’t all be warm blooded like you.”
