“All right then.” Kyle beamed, revealing brackets at the corners of his mouth. She’d never noticed what a nice smile he had.
“Is tomorrow night too soon?”
“Tomorrow night is perfect. Pick you up at six?”
“Sounds good.”
“All right. I’ll see you then, Charlotte.” He touched the brim of his cap.
“See you.” She watched him stride from the barn.See, Charlotte? You just have to give the guy a chance.
Twenty
He was going to get through to this horse if it was the last thing he did. Gunner mixed some oats and honey and walked it over to Midnight’s stall.
His chores were done for the night. He’d put in a full day and the horses were stabled. Midnight stared at him from across the stall and tossed his head.
Though the horse had plenty of company on the ranch, he felt alone. He’d lost his home, his companions, and any faith in a hopeful future. Gunner hoped to change that.
“I know how you feel, buddy.” He kept his voice soft and his tone low. “But I brought something you like.” He’d learned over the past few weeks that while Midnight liked carrots, helovedoats and honey. Gunner held the pail over the stall door. “It’s your favorite. But if you want it, you have to come all the way over here.”
Midnight snorted.
“I’ve got all the time in the world, big guy. You do realize your friends would be all over this, right? But hey, take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
The black gelding stared at Gunner as if appraising his trustworthiness.
“I’ve been here every morning and every night, haven’t I? I’ve kept you fed and taken care of all your needs—we don’t need to talk about that incident with the farrier. Granted, that was a mistake. But we’ve come a long way since then, haven’t we?” He lifted the pail. “What do you say? Come have a treat. You know I won’t hurt you.”
Holding Gunner’s gaze, Midnight took a step forward.
“That’s it. Good boy.”
The horse took another step. And another, within reach of the pail now.
“Good boy, Midnight,” he crooned. “Good boy.”
Midnight stuck his nose in the bucket and went to work on the oats, snuffling his way through the mixture.
“Isn’t it good?” Gunner maintained pressure on the bucket until Midnight pulled his nose out and licked his chops. He set the empty pail at his feet and leaned on the stall door. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? You got your treat and nothing bad happened. When will you figure out you can trust me, huh?”
Midnight turned in the stall, giving Gunner his backside.
He chuckled. “You’re a stubborn one, I’ll give you that. But guess what, fella? You’ve just met your match.”
The sound of an engine carried into the barn. Kyle Lemmings’s truck passed the barn and headed for the house. Had Charlotte called the vet with a problem? Gunner wasn’t aware of anything that needed the man’s attention. He went two stalls down to check on Rogue, who’d been vaccinated yesterday.
The horse neighed and moseyed over to the stall door to greet him.
“How you feeling, Rogue?”
Gunner checked the vaccination site. No swelling. The horse was alert, and there were no signs of fever like sweating or shivering. In short, he seemed his usual curious self.
Gunner gave him a few good strokes. “You’re doing all right, buddy.” He gave the horse a final pat and headed toward the barn door. Maybe Kyle just came to check up on Rogue.
But when Gunner neared the barn door he stopped short. Kyle escorted Charlotte down the porch steps. Her hair fell in golden-red waves around her shoulders, and a grass-green dress fluttered about her legs.
Gunner pulled back into the barn. Charlotte was going on a date with the vet? How long had this been going on?
