She flushed. “Don’t pay attention to her. She’s always dreaming and scheming.” She hesitated. “But now I’m curious. What did she say?”
“Stay open to the possibilities, my friend. I started to say I didn’t understand when she interrupted me with You will. I hope.” He held Zinnia’s gaze. “Any clue what she’s talking about?”
“Absolutely not.” Her flush grew brighter and she broke eye contact.
“Are you sure? Because I think you?—”
“I really need to get going or I’ll make us late for the Stevens’ appointment. How much do I owe you?”
He longed to tell her it was on the house, but he heeded his mom’s advice and gave her a figure.
She wrote the check quickly and nicked off the corner when she ripped it out of the checkbook. “Thank you so much. That doesn’t sound like enough, but…see you tomorrow!”
“You bet.” He folded the check and tucked it in his shirt pocket as she raced away. Something had her flustered. Something to do with him.
He could go back to the barn and try to coax more details from Mari. Except Tex was in there and he’d have to extricate himself a second time.
He’d just have to deal with uncertainty. His least favorite thing.
Chapter Sixteen
She’d done it to herself. Zinnia wanted to blame Mari for her scrambled thoughts, but the decision to wait up for her sister the night before was all on her. She’d been looking for advice and Mari had given her more than she’d bargained for.
She should have seen it coming. Mari loved to shake things up, and her suggested plan had turned Zinnia’s stomach into a cement mixer.
She’d mostly kept her cool while working with Uncle Graham at the Stevens’ place. Clearly he’d sensed something wasn’t right, though. When he’d asked if she was okay she’d blamed her distraction on lack of sleep. He hadn’t pushed it.
They’d finished that job, grabbed lunch at the Raccoon and bought Monty’s birthday present at L’Amour and More, the bookshop in the purple Victorian. Another shoeing appointment that afternoon meant they had no time to explore the place, but she’d vowed to get Tex in there soon.
Graham’s new clients, a young couple who lived on the outskirts of town, had recently acquired two horses. The shoeing didn’t take long, but the couple had very little experience with horses. Over lemonade and cookies, Uncle Graham gave them a short course in equine care.
She watched as their anxiety faded. After meeting several of her uncle’s clients, she had an even greater appreciation for the man who’d stepped in to be both mother and father to her and Mari. Clearly his customers loved him.
The busy day had helped her push aside thoughts of Monty, sometimes for an hour or two. But once they were headed back home, mental images began taunting her.
She replayed the sound of his gentle voice, his laughter, his kind words to her son. Warmth crept through her body as she relived the moment his blue gaze had locked with hers, the message clear.
“Whatdya say we check in with Speckles and Monty?”
Her uncle’s question jolted her back to Earth. They were home. “Definitely.”
“I’ve been thinking of Monty off and on all day, wondering how he’s doing.” He shut off the engine and climbed out.
“Same.” She’d balked at the double name issue, but at the moment it covered her response perfectly.
Walking to the barn brought up her last and most potent image of Monty Bridger. Coming through the door this morning, her eyes had taken a moment to adjust from sunlight to shade.
When her vision had cleared, she’d been gifted with a rumpled, bearded, smokin’ hot cowboy who’d just climbed out of his bedroll. She’d never get that intimate view again. Unless….
“I’ll bet he’s steadier than he was this morning.”
Oh, he’d looked plenty steady this morning. Steady enough to sweep her up in his strong arms and—oh wait. Her uncle was talking about the foal. “He probably will.”
“I can’t wait until he’s old enough to go out in the pasture. Those videos we found of foals running beside their moms were so doggone cute.”
“Yeah, they were.”
He pulled out his phone. “I didn’t take any this morning, so I’d better do it now. Raquel asked for a few more.”
