“As it happens, I take care of his son’s cattle. I could try that angle if you like. He’s a really nice guy. I think he’d be willing if it works with his schedule.”
Her eyes brightened. “Seriously? That would be amazing. If he’d come out for the ceremony, I could surely getThe Heraldout here at least.”
Kyle beamed at her. “I’d be happy to ask him for you.”
“Thank you. You’re the best, Kyle.”
They wrapped up the conversation, and Gunner excused himself to the paddock while Charlotte walked the vet to his truck.
Gunner stared after them, noting Kyle’s body language, always angled Charlotte’s way. When they stopped by the truck, he set his hand on her arm.
Gunner glanced away. Didn’t know why he was so averse to the guy. Seemed nice enough, if a few years too old for Charlotte. He had some gray hair at his temples and fine lines at the corners of his eyes, which probably put him around forty.
Oh well. None of his business. He was here to help get this program off the ground, enjoy some time in the mountains, then he’d be off to that job as trainer of a Derby horse at BelleVista—a bucket-list job for him. He was working his way up in the world of horse training just as he wanted. The job here was an unlikely pick, but getting in on the ground of this expansion was a new experience that could teach him things he wouldn’t otherwise learn.
A while later Charlotte showed up at the rails where he was working Dominic on the lunge line again. “He’s looking good today.”
“He is. This is a good place to stop.” He ended the session and gave the horse some praise before he turned him loose in the paddock again. Then he joined Charlotte at the fence. “I was thinking about the open house. Maybe we could do pony rides for the kids. Or I could do a training demonstration.”
Charlotte beamed. “I love those ideas. I’m making a schedule for the day. Maybe you could do a Join-Up demonstration. I’ll bet I can find a horse for the job.”
“People love watching a Join-Up. We did demonstrations at Four Winds.” That moment when a horse finally decided to trust and follow his leader was magical. As many times as he experienced it, it was still a humbling thrill to gain a horse’s confidence.
“Sounds great.”
She seemed excited about the open house, but she had a ranch to run, a part-time job, and a big event to plan. “You’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“It’ll be worth it to see this place thrive. And once it does, I’ll be able to quit my part-time job. Anyway, my sister helps out some. You haven’t met her since she’s been in Asheville, but she’s coming back today. Oh—speaking of lots to do—we’ve already got a couple trail rides scheduled for this weekend.”
“That’s great.”
“It is, but it occurs to me you’re not familiar with the trail yet. I’ve been riding it with our work horses to familiarize them with it, but maybe we could do it together later today or tomorrow.”
“Sure, whenever you want.”
Charlotte checked the time. “How about in twenty minutes? That’ll give me a chance to grab some lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Eight
Charlotte let out a deep breath when she spied Emerson’s Camry in the driveway. She’d only gotten a few short texts from her sister since she left four days ago.
Since then Charlotte had had time to cool off. In fact, it was time to eat a little crow. She did tend to take charge sometimes, especially when it came to the two of them. Emerson had always needed direction, but it was probably time to stop treating her like the baby sister. The fact was, Charlotte had taken the reins of the ranch when their mom died. Someone had to.
She’d definitely made that promise to their mom without consulting Emerson. There wasn’t really anything she could do about that now, but she could at least apologize. Maybe that would put them back on solid ground.
She entered the house and found Emerson in the kitchen, slipping Charlotte’s leftovers from the Trailhead into the microwave.
My lunch.Charlotte bit her tongue and pasted on a smile. “Hi, how was your trip?”
“It was good. April says hello. Her new apartment is great.”
“I saw the pictures. Did you get to use the pool?”
Emerson closed the microwave door and set the timer. “No, it was being serviced.”
“What was wrong with her computer?”
