I nodded slowly. “I might. If I’ll be here for a bit, then I think I should know more.” I was about to comment more on how Theo seemed like a true natural with the horses, when I spotted the pit bulls gathering closer to us and froze. My heart started to gallop a little. Ha,gallop.
“These are the Golden Girls,” Lake said, pointing out each of the different colored dogs, named after the characters on that show. “And he’s Bucky.”
I forced myself to relax and exhaled loudly. “They’re intimidating.”
“For a good reason,” Theo called back to us from inside a fence thing that didn’t have any corners.
“What do you mean?” Lake asked him as we leaned onto the fence from the outside.
“We’ve had people coming by with less than nice intentions before.”
Lake seemed as surprised as I was. “What? Really?”
“Yeah. But luckily pit bulls seem to be a natural deterrent for a lot of people.”
The black one, Bucky, plopped down next to Lake’s feet, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. “You’re a terrifying beast, aren’t you?” Lake asked the dog, who wagged his tail hard enough for dust to billow around his back end.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Maybe dogs weren’tthatscary. Even though I knew that these dogs, especially the females who had gone to find shady spots while they guarded the yard and everything inside it, could probably be scary.
Theo started to do something with Izzy, and Lake kept up a commentary for my benefit.
“Is there a reason why this is a round space?” I observed the action unfolding in front of us.
“Yeah, it’s so that the horse doesn’t have a corner to hide in, more or less. It gives them nowhere to go other than keep moving unless the trainer lets them stop.”
Theo kept his eyes firmly on the horse that was prancing a bit but completely consumed by Theo somehow.
“Am I imagining it, or is he actually super into this?” I asked.
The corner of Theo’s mouth curled up, and he nodded very slightly.
Then he suddenly stopped putting pressure—Lake’s words—on the horse and turned his back to it. He didn’t even have to move. The poor gelding stopped and looked utterly confused. He tossed his head, long mane flying, then snorted.
When Theo didn’t react, Izzy hesitated. Then he stepped closer. And closer. And one more step, until he could carefully move his head close enough to Theo’s back that when he huffed out a long breath, we could see Theo’s hair move close to his collar.
Theo was grinning at us. Then he got more serious.
“Izzy? What are you doing?” he asked, and the horse jerked his head back as if caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.
When Theo turned back, Izzy backed up a couple of steps, before dancing away.
I laughed. “Okay, I guess I’m starting to see how horses are interesting.”
Lake’s phone beeped. “It’s Rey, he needs some help with something kitten related,” he said, frowning.
“I can go. You have this covered with Theo,” I found myself blurting out. I wasn’t sure why, really. “Besides, I’m not afraid of kittens.”
“You say that now,” Lake teased me. “Just follow Rey’s lead and you’ll be fine. Thanks!”
“Of course!” I turned and went back toward the house. Kittens. Right. How hard could that be?
Chapter 5
River
I escaped the breakfast table, still reeling from Ben’s innocent comment about me liking blueberries.
My chest felt tight in a not completely bad way as I drove toward Dr. Cobb’s place.
