“That’s true.” Maybe she should approach Emerson about it. Charlotte could afford small payments, and it might give her sister financial peace of mind to have a little coming in each month. “I’ll think about it. Things are precarious between us right now. She’s been a little put out with me since I found Craig.”
“I wish she could be happy for you. Even I can tell having an answer has brought you peace. It’s something you’ve been questioning all your life.”
“I know, but . . . we’ve always been so close and she’s just afraid of losing me.”
***
If Gunner were in Charlotte’s shoes, he wouldn’t be so understanding, but he held his tongue. It seemed selfish that Emerson wasn’t happy for her sister. But she was young. Maybe he shouldn’t be too hard on her.
“It’ll work itself out in time,” Charlotte said. “Anyway, I can’t bring myself to regret it. I like Craig a lot. He’s trying really hard to get his life in order, and that’s something I can respect.”
After that first meeting in the park, Charlotte had met with her father alone. There was no need for a buffer now that she knew he wouldn’t reject her. They needed to get to know each other, and that was best done privately.
But Gunner asked regularly how things were going. And if the man ever hurt Charlotte, he’d have Gunner to answer to. Especially when she was putting so much on the line, holding back that information from Gavin and Cooper. Gunner wasn’t sure how her brothers would respond to being kept in the dark for months.
But Charlotte was in a tricky spot, and that wasn’t his decision.
“Are you looking forward to working at Belle Vista?” She released a self-deprecating chuckle. “Uniform or no, that’s quite the step up from this place.”
He hadn’t given much thought at all to moving on, which was odd as he’d always aspired to work with a Derby horse. “Don’t sell yourself short. This is a great place to work. It’s been fun, being part of its growth. I’ll be sad to go.”
It was true, and not just because of the ranch. He thought back to the stable when he’d read so much in her eyes. He’d wanted to kiss her in that moment. Wanted to wrap his arms around her and make her forget Kyle Lemmings. Forget that he was her employee.
Makehimforget why he avoided such connections.
Absently his fingers found the scars, raised and bumpy, beneath his shirt. Everything could be taken in the blink of an eye. Better not to get attached, to things or to people, than to feel that kind of pain again.
“Let’s take him on the trail.” Charlotte urged her horse toward the woods where the trail picked up.
As they neared the path, Maxwell whinnied and reared. His forelegs clawed at the sky.
“Whoa!” Charlotte leaned forward at a precarious angle.
Gunner pulled Rogue away from the distressed horse even as he watched Charlotte, his heart beating against his rib cage.
The gelding’s legs returned to the earth, and she gave him a kick. The trick worked. The horse leaped away from the woods and back the way they’d come.
Gunner followed the spooked horse until Charlotte brought him to a stop by the creek that ran through the valley. It had only been her expertise that kept her seated.
She was talking softly to the horse as he approached.
“That was some nice maneuvering back there.”
She tilted him a sideways smile. “I couldn’t end up on my butt in front of my trainer.”
“We’ve all been there a time or two.”
She straightened in the saddle as a knowing look settled over her features. “It’s the trees. Maxwell’s afraid of the trees.”
Gunner gave her a nod as pride swelled inside. “Well done, Charlie. Well done.”
She’d be just fine when he left. The thought carved a hollow space in the confines of his chest.
Thirty-One
Gunner never should’ve come back to the ranch tonight. Daisy had seemed fine when he’d left. But once he was home, sitting across the chessboard from Mr.Dixon, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the horse needed him. And like a fool he’d come running.
Now he was being subjected to something he’d never wanted to see. But like a rubbernecker at a ten-car pileup, he couldn’t look away as Kyle leaned in and kissed Charlotte right there on her front porch.
