“Yeah, a little. It’s just that it’s mostly with me. Ruth could handle her as well and one of our volunteers who moved away last year. Oh and our farrier and vet, they’re both fine with her as well.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask about that, about who the farrier and vet are?” Lake re-checked Salem’s hooves and picked them just in case.
“The farrier’s name is Poppy Newton and the veterinarian is Sebastian Palmer. They’ve both worked with us for the last…five years at least.”
“When’s the next time the farrier is due?”
I thought for a moment. “Probably next week, actually. I’ll need to check the calendar in my office.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure to be there for introductions.” He grinned. “And here’s hoping I won’t meet the vet anytime soon.”
For a moment I didn’t get it, but when I did, I found myself laughing. “Right, that’s a good point.”
Once we’d led Salem and Ursula to a paddock, we made vague plans to bring the horses inside together later not only because it would be faster but because we needed to make sure we had everything we might need for the newcomers.
As we were leaving the stable to go find lunch—he’d insisted I go to the house with him—he glanced at me in a way that suggested he wanted to talk about something tricky.
“What?”
“I just…I asked Sierra if we had the funds to hire someone to work here a few hours on weekdays.”
I frowned. Part of me wondered if he was thinking because of my depressive episode or whatever this funk was if it would make me unable to do my job. Before I could say anything, Lake hurried to explain.
“Not because I don’t think you can do it all, but because I’d like you to have more time with the training side of things. If there was someone who would come in and do the cleaning every day, fix things that need fixing, that sort of thing, I think it would free up time for you to do the other things.”
I hummed. “I guess so…” It wasn’t a bad idea. “I mean, that’s what we did while Ruth was around. She handled all that other stuff and I did most of the training. Of course she had some things she liked to do, like all the dressage stuff, she really liked that.”
“You haven’t thought of it yet, because it’s going to be a lot to have someone here doing the things she used to,” Lake said quietly. “And I get that, but I think it would be better for you to get to do the things you like most.”
I glanced at him briefly and saw him duck his head so I couldn’t see his face. Was he blushing?
My eyebrows rose before I could control my reaction, and I snapped my gaze forward as we got to the stairs.
Did helikeme? It seemed so…unlikely. Or maybe not? My brain instantly revolted and decided we weren’t going to think about that right now. There was enough on our plate without that sort of stuff, especially because I was just starting to feel a little bit better.
We left our shoes on the front porch and went to the downstairs bathroom to clean up a little. I waited while Lake washed his hands.
“You have a smudge on you,” I said, pointing at the mirror.
He looked at himself and tilted his head to see the dirt on his jawline better. I didn’t know if it was the new angle or what, but suddenly he was…breathtaking. As he wiped the dirt off and rinsed his hands again, I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry.
“Okay, your turn!” Lake smiled at me brightly as he slipped out of the bathroom, his body brushing mine where I was standing barely inside the room, frozen to the spot.
DidIlikehim?
Chapter 13
Lake
I woke up earlier than on the mornings when I’d wanted to be at the stable to help Theo. We were going to feed and turn out the horses, then have breakfast and start the drive to this Jules person’s rescue.
There’d been a sort of careful, almost measured fondness in Theo’s tone as he’d told me more about Jules last night as we packed for the trip. He said they were in their thirties, French parents—thus the fun pronunciation of their name—and non-binary. They’d started the rescue by accident and now couldn’t turn anyone away even when they should. They’d become so well known that the other responsible rescue places wouldn’t even ask them if they could take some animals before they knew what they had already. Apparently, the small ranch Jules owned had twice as many buildings now than when they’d bought it, and Ruth had said it reminded her of mushrooms popping up in the forest with each new building.
It made sense, the whole thing about wanting to help every animal. I could see myself trying to do the same thing if I was in that sort of situation.
I took a quick shower, got dressed for the day still half asleep, and staggered into the kitchen. I’d told River and Rey they shouldn’t bother getting up on my account, I could handle my own breakfast, but it didn’t surprise me to find River in the kitchen, sipping from a mug.
“Morning,” I managed to get out.
