“No, but I think your daddy here does. You should hassle him.”
I chuckled and shook my head at him. Not that he was wrong. I dug out a piece of carrot and gave it to her.
Lake pulled out his phone and texted someone. He glanced at me. “I just told Sierra to make sure her name is Reina de mi Corazón in her paperwork. In addition to the fact that you’ve been her official owner for a while now.”
“I…what?”
“Yeah. From the first time you showed her to me. She’s so obviously yours. Maybe even your heart horse.” He grinned. “Thus, the name.”
Feeling overwhelmed, I nodded at him. I’d never thought of the whole heart horse thing in the same way Ruth had. Her heart horse, the one that she said was forever etched into her heart and no other horse could quite measure up even though she gave each and every one a chance anyway, had been Delilah. She was even part of the rescue’s logo with the two stars, her twin foals that didn’t make it long past birth.
Likely noticing my mood shift, Reina moved closer to me and put her head on my shoulder from behind. Then she breathed there, happy to snuggle, while I tried to gather myself.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Bucky approaching and Lake crouching down to pet him.
Reina had never been this calm or come this close before, yet somehow, Lake had known all along she was meant to be my horse.
Since we’d gotten some proper work in before Lake came by, I picked the lunge whip off the ground and made sure Reina knew where it was so I wouldn’t spook her, then went to the gate and walked her out.
“Hey, I have some potential news of my own,” I told Lake as he and Bucky began to walk with us toward the stable.
“Oh?”
I explained my thoughts about one of the new drafts and calling Jules.
“That’s great!” Lake beamed. “That’s the best-case scenario for the horses, really, isn’t it?”
“If they’re still young enough, then sure. Getting to do things they love and have a responsible owner.” I put the whip away and took the bridle off Reina, then slid a halter on her before putting her in the cross ties. “Want to help me brush her?”
Lake was eager to help. We paid special attention to my special girl—I felt foolish now, not having had the guts to admit I’d found my horse—and chatted as we worked.
“You want me to do what?” Lake’s eyes were wide.
I grinned. “I thought you’d be light enough to see if the ponies we got will accept riders and assess where we are with them. I can ask Penny or Poppy to do it, too, but—”
“No, I…I mean sure. If you think it’s safe? I’m rusty as fuck though.”
“We’ll make sure it’s as safe as we can make it. I’ll be there the whole time and have the pony on a lead each time. It’s just to see if they’ve been saddled before and how they react to the reins and such. Besides, it’s only Seb’s favorite first, we’ll give the new ones some time to get settled.”
“Okay then, sure. Is tomorrow good?”
Smirking at him, I replied, “I mean, if your ass can handle it tomorrow after the railing you’re getting tonight?”
* * * *
I didn’t end up railing him, but we did make love that night. It was slow and nice, and reconnecting even though we’d not been separated in any way.
The pony riding went as well as it could’ve, really, and told us a lot about the mare. She didn’t enjoy having anything on her back, but she was also gentle and submissive enough that she let us figure out that she’d definitely been ridden before, even as young as she was.
“Do you think she’s sore?” Lake asked when he lifted the saddle off her. “I know you said she was at the beginning, right?”
“Yeah, I think she needs some massage therapy to start with and lots of exercise with a suitably-sized rider when we can be sure there’s nothing serious going on with her back.”
“Are there like…chiropractors for animals?”
“There are, so I might contact one of those, too. Good call.”
We brushed the little mare and gave her extra treats before returning her to the paddock where she was most comfortable these days.
