Anderson helped Theo with brushing the gelding before watching with fascination as Theo saddled the horse.
As Theo led the horse out of the stable, I showed Anderson the twins’ stall.
“So, the two big gray ones in the paddock, Hope and Truce?” At his nod, I gestured at the stall. “This is where they stay at night. What we’d love to do is to open this wall and connect it to one of the paddocks so they can choose to come and go. Truce is easily spooked when it gets windy, and we’ve had trouble having him outside occasionally.”
I explained the whole situation to Anderson, who listened keenly to every word.
“Now, this is where people like you come in,” I told him. “We can’t make any of the upgrades without donations. We haven’t done any of this yet because we can’t afford to risk using that money when we might need it for something more urgent, you know?”
He nodded seriously as we wandered out of the stable and toward where the twins were grazing.
“I can understand that,” he hummed as we leaned on the fence and watched the two of them and Izzy enjoy the outdoors. “What I don’t get is people acting like that man you said who withdrew his support. To take offense at someone’s sexuality or their support of the LGBTQ community that you don’t care how it affects innocent animals.”
I didn’t get it either, so I just hummed.
“Wanna meet a cool kid?” I grinned, ready to lead him to the goats.
Chapter 24
Theo
It turned out that Anderson was okay. I could see him glancing at Lake a bit wistfully when he didn’t realize anyone was looking, but Lake didn’t notice, so all was good. Hell, even if he’d noticed, I wouldn’t have minded.
I’d felt jealous that first moment I laid eyes on the man, but then Lake had so casually called me babe in front of him, and I’d instinctively known I had nothing to worry about.
Anderson was intelligent, handsome, and rich. He was also enjoying his visit, reveling in interacting with the animals, and I felt sorry for him for having been denied this kind of connection with animals before.
Lake had put Anderson in the unoccupied cabin next to mine for the two nights he would stay here.
Meanwhile, I spent the nights in Lake’s bed, making love and falling asleep with him in my arms.
I had my partner, job, home, dog, and now a horse. It felt as if everything had fallen into place around me and I couldn’t have asked for more.
* * * *
A week after Anderson went home, Sierra sent an SOS to the group chat we had with Lake. I immediately dropped what I was doing—luckily it was only fixing a stirrup on one of our Western saddles—and ran to the office.
Lake met me at the door, wild-eyed and flustered. I shook my head, knowing his question, and wrenched the door open.
Sierra sat behind her desk, looking stunned.
“What’s wrong?” Lake and I asked at the same time.
She shook her head and pointed at the nearby couch, then gathered herself while we sat down. Lake had grabbed my hand or maybe I’d grabbed his, but we sat there, leaning forward, holding hands when she finally got the words out.
“I…uh…I was processing donations,” she said, then blew her nose. “I…I guess Anderson found some friends to help us, too?”
Before he left, Anderson had told us he’d become a yearly backer and he’d talk to some friends. We hadn’t seen any donations before, I guess, today.
“Oh?” Lake squeezed my fingers. “What’s the upset?”
“I…uh…” She gestured at the screen weakly. “It’s a bit more than we were expecting.”
“Huh?” Lake let go of my hand and got up, then went around to peer at the screen. He gasped loudly, tears filling his eyes. “I-is that…yearly?”
“Yeah. Unless they change their minds, I…”
My heart started to beat faster. “How much is it?”
