“She’s a lovely horse,” she said, surprising herself when her own hand reached out to pet the creature.
“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” The eye contact Spencer maintained when he spoke made something in Trinity’s stomach dip, much like the feeling she’d had when her vehicle rolled over one of the potholes in the driveway. “Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on her progress.”
“Thank you,” Trinity said, secretly hoping the mare would take her time getting ready. She could only sell so many flowers this time of year. It wasn’t like she had an easy way to make any additional income. Of course, her parents would probably offer to cover the bill, but there were some things that Trinity wanted to be able to do on her own. Providing for her small family was part of that.
“I should get that bouquet to Josephine.” She hooked her thumb back toward the car.
“Mommy, can I stay with Bluebell and Spencer while you do that?”
“Oh, I don’t think he needs the added distraction, sweetheart.” Liam had already wandered his way over to Spencer’s side, and—much to Trinity’s shock and equal embarrassment—tucked his tiny hand into Spencer’s free one. Oh goodness, this was too much. “Liam, honey, please give Spencer some space.”
“It’s fine.” If he was humoring her, she couldn’t see it. Especially not when he lowered to lift the young boy to his hip so Liam could pat Bluebell on her broad cheek. “I don’t mind, Trinity. Honest. You go take care of that bouquet. The kids and I will show Bluebell where the good clover is.”
Trinity’s heart physically ached within her. Maybe it was the endearing sight. Maybe it was the easy way Spencer reacted to her children’s clinginess. Maybe it was something else entirely. Whatever the reason, it made her want to burst into tears right there in the gravel driveway. But she’d become a master at concealing her emotions. Eleven months of grief had given her a lot of practice in that.
As Trinity walked back to the car, her chest remained heavy with a mix of feelings. She couldn’t shake her gratitude, nor the sadness she simultaneously experienced in watching Spencer so effortlessly connect with her children. It stirred something within her, a longing for that family dynamic that they had lost.
She shook her head and straightened her shoulders, clicking open the passenger door to retrieve the bouquet. Just because Spencer offered to keep Mia and Liam busy didn’t mean he wanted to be a father figure to them. That was crazy. She knew he was just being nice, like so many other people that did nice things for her this last year. Sometimes she hated the sympathy, but other times, she needed all the help she could get.
“I’ll be right back,” she promised once she had the flowers in hand.
“No rush,” Spencer called over his shoulder. He had guided the kids and the horse back into the pasture, dodging the mucky areas. Trinity had a sneaking suspicion she would come back to find Liam covered in mud and dirt up to his shins, but that honestly didn’t matter to her. Her son had the biggest smile she’d seen on him in months. And he was washable, after all.
“Trinity.” Josephine Major greeted from the porch, intercepting Trinity before she could ascend the steps, her hip propping open the front door in invitation. “You’re so sweet to bring this by.”
“I didn’t want it to go to waste.” She passed the bouquet to her dear friend. “Plus, something about it reminded me of you.”
“Thorny and stickery?”
“Nope. Bright and cheery.”
Josephine snickered. “Not too many people call me those things these days. If you ask that grandson of mine, he’d probably just call me stubborn. Especially when it comes to my insistence that I’m still the rugged, resilient woman I’ve always been.”
“He loves you. I’m sure he’s just looking out for your well-being.”
“I know he is, but I also know I’m capable of a lot more than people give me credit lately. Yes, I had a bad spill, but that doesn’t make me fragile.”
Trinity understood the sentiment. She, too, often felt like she was capable of a lot more than people expected of her. And other times, far, far less.
“Where are the kiddos?” Josephine slipped the door shut behind them before striding over to the podium to deposit the flowers onto the wooden ledge.
“Out with Spencer and the new horse.”
“You got to meet Bluebell? What do you think of her?”
Trinity didn’t know much about horses, but she sensed this one was special. “I really like her. So do the kids. She seems calm and approachable. At least, compared to the other horses I’ve been around.”
“I like her, too. Typically, I will at least test ride a horse before I commit to buying one, but truth be told, I haven’t ridden since the accident,” she admitted, then winked when she added, “I’m taking a chance on this girl, and I think it’ll work out in the end. I’ve lived enough life to learn that things always do.”
CHAPTER 3
By the time Trinity and the kids had left, it was the point in the day when the construction crew working on Spencer’s house usually called it quits. Spencer always tried to give them their space during work hours. That was easy enough to do since the location of his future home was several acres from the main ranch house. That was by design. Even though he owned a large portion of the land, he didn’t want to encroach on his grandmother’s space. She’d resided in the same house for so long, with the same unobstructed view outside her back window that he didn’t want to do anything to alter that.
So, when they marked out the dimensions for his new homestead, he made sure to keep it out of the line of sight from the ranch house. He’d wanted his space, too. Yes, this would technically be what many might consider a bachelor pad since Spencer was currently single, but he hoped that that might change one day. He wanted to make sure there would be plenty of room for swing sets and sandboxes and all the space for his future children to roam without getting in the way of the guests at the ranch house. He’d wanted his own oasis. And within the next week or two, he would have it.
“How’d things go today, Darrell?” Spencer asked the foreman, joining him at the tailgate of the construction worker’s truck. “Still on schedule?”
“We actually ran into a hiccup with the electrician.” The man pulled off his hardhat and tossed it into his truck bed. “Apparently, the office double booked him for another job down in Sacramento this week. It’ll put us back a few days, but we should be able to make it up.”
