Chapter Three
Hunter stared after Zoey, the sway of her hips a blur in his vision. What had just happened?
She’d been glad to see him. He’d been … drawn right back to her, worse than a horse to a bucket of grain. For a moment there, he’d thought they could start over—or even laugh at what happened at the wedding.
That wasn’t going to happen.
Although he still wasn’t sure what had happened at the wedding. Yes, he said something about Brandon and asking him about asking Zoey to dance, but that shouldn’t have been the wet blanket it was. Unless Zoey was ultra-sensitive about being her own woman and making all her own decisions. Which was possible, because she had two brothers who were much older than her.
His little sister, Tess, had “youngest child syndrome,” as the rest of the family called it. She’d always wanted to grow up faster than she should and do all the things her big brothers and sisters were doing. It irked her to no end when she couldn’t go out and play night games with them because they’d be out past her bedtime. Maybe that was Zoey’s issue.
But then, if that was the case, why was she moving in here? Tess couldn’t wait to get out of the house and be on her own. She’d made it clear that none of them were going to be part of her life just as soon as she hit it big in country music. So far, she’d flopped at every turn. He hoped she’d make it. He really did. Tess was a handful and a half, but she was his sister and he wanted to see her happy.
So none of that explained what had happened with Zoey.
He ran a hand down his face as he considered the time. Three more horses to shoe would take him three hours, depending on their temperaments. The horse auction started at three. Darn it all! He had a day planned, and Zoey had come in like a hurricane and thrown everything out of whack.
He called his younger brother, Maverik. “Hey,” he said when his brother picked up. “Wanna make a hundred bucks?”
“Depends on what you’re doing,” Mav replied. “I do not want to drive into town.”
Hunter didn’t blame him one bit. The Harvest Festival was about to start, and it seemed like the whole town had caught a fever—just like they did every year. His cousin had a booth, and his aunt and uncle ran a hot chocolate stand every year. The family always pitched in, but festival time was crazy time downtown. “I’m shoeing horses at Brandon’s. But I’m not going to be done in time to make it to the auction if I don’t get some help.”
The sound of a truck door squeaking open came through the line. “I’m on my way.”
“Thanks.” They hung up, and Hunter went back to work.
He had Brandon’s horse, Titan, done and was putting him back in the stall when Maverik pulled up. He got out of his truck, scratching under his ball cap as he took in Zoey’s rig. He grabbed a hoof stand and toolbox out of the truck bed and headed into the barn. They’d share the anvil and portable forge Hunter already had set up.
Maverik entered the barn and saw the horses waiting for their turn. “Is Brandon bored or something? Why’s he buying new horses?”
Hunter rolled his eyes. “No.” He paused, working to keep his voice from cracking as he said her name. “They’re Zoey’s horses. She’s moving in.”
Maverik chuckled. “I guess that’s good news for you.” He headed toward the first horse—the oldest one of the three—untied him, and brought him over to the shoeing area, where he tied him back up to a ring welded to the wall.
Good news, ha! “Not really. I messed that one up at the wedding—not even sure how. And I did a poor job of trying to make up for it today.” He glanced down at the tools in his hand, trying to remember where he was in the process. He looked at the horse’s hoof. Oh yeah, he was just taking off the old shoes. “I don’t think she sees me as anything more than a ranch hand.” He lifted the horse’s back foot and began to file off the ends of the nails to make pulling the shoe off easier.
Maverik was silent for a moment as they both grunted and pulled to remove horseshoes. “I guess in a way, that’s good.”
“What way is that?” Hunter hooked the pullers under the edge of the shoe and bent back. It popped off the foot and clanked to the wood floor.
“You’re busy getting your horse-breeding business going. If you were all twitterpated over Zoey, your time would be divided and you wouldn’t be able to focus.” Maverik’s shoe clanged to the cement.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Hunter ran a rasp across the hoof wall and evened it out.
“You know what I mean. Women are trouble.”
Hunter grunted as he dropped the foot and stood up, arching his lower back to stretch. “How would you know?”
“Don't get all upset with me. I’m just looking for silver linings.” Maverik set Clover’s foot down—the last of Brandon’s horses—and reached for the pullers as he made his way to the other side of the animal.
Hunter wasn’t sure there was a silver lining. Zoey was … amazing. She’d done something new with her hair—taken it out of the braids or whatever. It flowed behind her in big curls. He couldn’t NOT think about the way it swayed as she walked.
He was hopeless. How was there a silver lining about that?
“You got a plan. You gotta stick to that plan,” Maverik added. “And let’s face it—you’ve been an idiot over Zoey since you saw her picture on Brandon’s phone.”
The plan, otherwise known as THE PLAN, had been Hunter’s focus for the last five years when he’d bought his first broodmare.
