Dean smiled. “And your dad? Does he ride?” he asked.
“He will humor my mom and occasionally ride Walk’s horses with her. We all take care of getting them out of their stalls and worked when he’s away,” I replied.
“I love that it’s sort of a family passion for you guys. Very cool.” He grabbed his water from the console and took a drink.
“Do you and Archer have anything that y'all do together?” I asked, curious about his family’s dynamic.
He smiled. “Yeah, we like to go to baseball games together, or really any sporting event, honestly. We’ve been to almost every baseball stadium in the country.”
“That’s great. Y'all must have fun doing that together.” I smiled back at him. “Is he planning on visiting anytime soon?”
“Yeah, actually. In the next couple of weeks, he’ll be flying out,” he said as he glanced in the rearview mirror to check on Coal in the back seat.
“Awesome. Well, let me know if you need any suggestions on where to take him around town,” I said, playing with the long braid I had thrown my hair into after riding.
He tracked the movement before throwing me a quick nod with a smile. “I’ll be sure to take you up on that.”
The trip back to Walker’s property was smooth sailing. Conversation flowed easily with Dean, and we didn’t have any more awkward moments like we did on the ride to MVH Farm. When I went to comfort him as he was talking about the loss of his grandmother, he acted as if I had burned him. He couldn’t get his hand away from me fast enough.
I felt this pull toward Dean that I hadn’t felt before. I wanted to know everything about the man and had this constant itch to touch him. I thought I was getting the same vibe from him until he reacted the way he did when I touched him. I clearly misread the signals, so I kept my hands to myself on the way home.
Once we made it to Walker’s, the sun was beginning to set. Dean parked the truck right outside the barn, and I jumped out to get Dahlia out of the trailer. As I walked Dahlia down the aisle of her new home, all the boys popped their heads out of their stalls and nickered a soft greeting to the new horse. I got her settled in the stall beside Cash and walked to the feed room to grab some hay for her. As I made my way back, I saw Dean standing outside her stall, watching her.
He turned toward me. “She already drank some water and made friends with Cash. I think she will settle in well tonight, but text me in the morning and let me know how she’s doing.”
I threw the few flakes of hay I’d grabbed into her stall and smiled at Dean. “Sure thing. Thanks again for today and all your help.”
“No problem at all. Glad it all worked out. I left Coal in the truck, so I’m going to head out. I’ll see you later,” he said as he hooked his thumb in the direction of the truck. I nodded and watched as Dean turned and walked out of the barn.
I turned my attention back to Dahlia and sighed. She walked over to me for some attention. I rubbed my hand down her face in between her eyes. “Ugh, why am I so attracted to that man?”
Especially when it seemed like he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
I got an early start the next morning so I could check on Dahliaand get a ride in with both her and Cash. I saw that Theo had already beat me to the barn, so I walked over to him to catch up a bit.
“Hey, Theo, you’re here early,” I said while peeking into Dahlia’s stall.
He smiled. “Yeah, I wanted to see this new mare of yours and make sure she was doing all right.”
“I appreciate that. Looks like she’s doing well this morning. I’m going to take her and Cash out for a ride today. I think Ava is planning on coming over to ride Tex and Ranger,” I replied.
We spent the next several minutes catching up on how the trip was, and I told him a little more about Dahlia’s background.
“Hello!” my sister, Ava, sang out as she made her way down the aisle of the barn, already dressed to ride. She walked up to me and Theo, giving us both hugs.
“Hey, Avs, I didn’t think you would be out until later,” I said curiously.
She waved her hand in the air. “Nah, I was too excited to see the newest James addition,” she said as she walked over to Dahlia’s stall. “Wow, she’s gorgeous, isn’t she? Let’s get tacked up so I can see this girl go!”
We spent the next couple of hours doing what we loved to do together—riding horses. This right here was reason enough to keep me home. I loved sharing this with Ava. Once we finished up with the horses and put all the tack away, we headed to the guesthouse to grab lunch.
Ava sat down on one of the barstools and popped open asparkling water, taking a long sip before looking back at me. “Adds, that mare is incredible, and Cash looks great as always. Happy to have you back here so we can do this together again.”
I grabbed my sparkling water from the fridge along with everything we needed to make a couple of sandwiches. I laid it all out on the counter and began making us lunch.
“Thanks. After everything that went down the last several months before coming home, I am finally feeling happy again and like myself,” I said with a smile.
Ava grabbed some chips from the pantry and sat back down. “Have you heard from Noah since you’ve been back?” she asked.
