CHAPTER FOUR #2
“It’s yours.” She gave him a genuine smile that took his breath away. He hoped to see a lot more of them in the future.
“Mine?” He pointed to his chest.
“Yep, Michaeleen made it for you as a housewarming gift. And Molly made the beanbags.” She plucked a beanbag out of a small tote and showed it to him, dropped it back inside with the others, and slung the strap over her shoulder.
“Andi flew in on the corporate jet and brought it with her. She’s at Jeffrey’s dropping off the kids and will be questioning Al-Shamrami tomorrow. ”
“I can’t believe they made this for me.” Boone had only met Molly and Michaleen once, when they invited him to a barbecue at their place in Whidbey Cove, Washington.
All new OSI operators spent about a month at the main training facility up there. And the senior O’Hallerans always had a barbecue for them.
“Do you like it?” Luna almost sounded worried.
“Are you kidding? I love it. It’s incredible,” he said. “I still can’t believe they made this for me.”
“They’re pretty special.” She waited while he lifted the set out of the car, then she pressed a button, and the liftgate slowly lowered and clicked shut. “They’ve always been so kind to me.” She slid her sunglasses back onto her face. “Even when I didn’t deserve it.”
Why would she think she didn’t deserve kindness?
“Where do you think you’ll set it up?” Despite her previous statement, she didn’t seem upset.
He didn’t want to risk spoiling her fun by asking what she meant by her comment, so he kept things light.
“I know the perfect spot for it.” He led her over to a nice, level spot adjacent to the pavilion. “What do you think of right here?”
“Looks perfect.” She set the bag down on the table. “I’ll just put these here for now.”
The honk of a horn had them turning toward the driveaway.
Hawk and Charlotte were pulling up, and they backed in and parked next to Luna’s car. He climbed out, hurried around to open Charlotte’s door, lifted her out of the truck, and set her down.
She kissed him, and he opened the back door of the truck. Remy, his black lab partner, bounded out, headed straight over to a fence post, and lifted his leg to relieve himself.
The couple walked hand in hand toward the pavilion, with Remy running to catch up.
“Welcome.” Boone kissed Charlotte on the cheek and gave Hawk a backslapping hug.
He leaned down and gave Remy some attention. The dog was a trained ESD dog—electronic storage detection. He could sniff out a tiny thumb drive in a house filled with bacon. Not that that particular scenario ever presented itself. But he had found one in a shoebox filled with mothballs once.
Remy looked up at Hawk with anticipation.
Hawk turned to Boone. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” He chuckled, knowing exactly what Remy wanted.
Hawk looked down at Remy, who wiggled with excitement, and said, “Go ahead.”
The dog jogged into the barn and came out with a big fat carrot in his mouth. He plopped down in the shade beneath a tree and enjoyed his spoils.
“Hey, Luna.” Charlotte hugged her. “Is that a cornhole set?” She looked over to where they’d set up the boards. “I played it when we were at Hawk’s mom and dad’s house.”
“She’s pretty good, too.” Hawk kissed her temple.
“He’s biased.” She gave him an adoring smile and a quick peck on the lips.
Boone wasn’t normally the jealous type, but he sure was envious of the relationships his teammates had with their significant others.
“Hey guys.” Viking reached into the cooler and grabbed two sodas. He popped one open and handed it to Marigold.
“Thanks, babe.” She lifted the can to her mouth and took a sip.
Calliope looked over her shoulder and waved from where she and Lucas stood on one of the rails of the corral fence. She was petting and talking to Sassy. It figured that particular horse would warm up to Calliope—they had similar personalities.
She hopped down, took Lucas’s hand, and they strolled over.
“Beautiful cornhole set.” She walked over to check it out.
“Michaleen and Molly made it for me,” Boone said. “Can you believe it?”
“I definitely can—they’re good people.” Lucas would know. He’d told Boone about how when he was a kid, he spent a few weeks every summer at their place in Washington. “Uncle Michaleen made us a couple of his famous Adirondack chairs.”
“Oh, my gosh, they’re so comfy.” Calliope squatted down and ran her hand over the polished wood of the cornhole board. “My dad commissioned him to make new rockers for him and my granddad. They love sitting out on their porch.”
“Oh, shoot. I left the carrots in the car.” Charlotte turned to walk to the car.
Remy lifted his head and hopped to his feet at the mention of carrots.
“Not for you, dude.” Hawk shook his head and placed a hand on Charlotte’s arm to stop her. “I’ll get ’em, honey.”
“Thank you.” She watched him walk away, then turned back to Boone. “I hope you don’t mind. I know Sassy and Patience like them, and since Remy helps himself every time we come here—”
“I don’t mind at all, and Remy can eat as many carrots as he likes.” Between the two horses and their love for carrots, one more animal didn’t much matter. “Speaking of … Who would like to take a ride today?”
“I would for sure!” Charlotte raised her hand and bounced on her tippy-toes.
“Hell, yeah, I want to take a ride!” Calliope rubbed her hands together. “I’ve only been on a horse a couple of times, but I should be okay.”
“I’m willing to give it a try.” Marigold looked up at Viking. “Will you ride with me?”
“Absolutely.” He tucked a strand of her curly hair over her ear.
“I figured you guys could take a quick ride up to the ridge, then I’ll fire up the grill.” Everyone agreed that was a great idea. “Perfect, let me get them saddled up.”
Hawk jogged back, holding a very large bag of carrots. “I’ll put these in the barn.”
Everyone, including Remy, followed Boone to the corral, where the horses happily munched on apples.
Fortunately, the horses weren’t bothered by Remy, and he had a healthy respect for the horses, too.
“You can just set it next to that bucket of carrots in there.” Boone ducked between the poles of the fence and stepped into the paddock. He got ahold of Patience’s reins, led her to the fence, and stroked his hand down the side of her big neck.
“Patience is just like her name implies—she’s gentle and puts up with a lot. Very little upsets her.” He grabbed the saddle off the fence, swung it onto her back, and adjusted it so it was in the right spot. “She’s great with new riders, too.”
Once the girth strap was secured under her belly, he gave a good strong tug on one of the stirrups to ensure the saddle wouldn’t slide off.
Luna scratched between Remy’s ears and stepped up onto the bottom rail. She leaned against the fence and stroked her hand down Patience’s long face. She didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by the horse’s size.
“Her nose is so soft.” Her gaze traveled over Patience’s face. “And her eyes are so soulful.”
She cupped the horse’s snout in her hands and rubbed her thumbs over the downy-soft fur. Patience’s nose twitched at her touch.
“You’re such a pretty girl.” She leaned close, rested her forehead against the horse’s, and closed her eyes.
Having grown up on a ranch, Boone understood the importance of the relationship between humans and animals. He was enthralled watching Luna establish a connection with his horse.
“She likes you.” And so did Boone.
A lot.
“She’s very sweet.” Luna stepped up to the next rail, swung one leg over, and perched herself on the top rail. She looked down at Charlotte and Calliope. “Maybe someone else should go first, and I’ll watch and learn.”
“You’ve never been on a horse before?” Boone assumed she had, since she was so comfortable with Patience.
“One time, a very long time ago.” She tugged a hair rubber band from her wrist, gathered up her long hair, and secured it into a ponytail.
“Dawn and I went to a fair when I was about six, I think, and I got to ride a pony around this big circle, twice.” She reached out and scratched Patience’s jaw.
“That horse was a lot smaller than this pretty girl.”
Sassy, jealous of the attention Patience was receiving, whinnied, abandoned the apples, and trotted over to them. She tossed her head up and down and showed off by doing a quick three-sixty turn to the right, then another one to the left.
They laughed at her antics.
“Yes, Sassy, we’re all very impressed.” Boone looped her reins over the top of the fence, lifted his big western saddle, and swung it up onto her back. He adjusted it before fastening the buckle on the girth strap, then tugged on the stirrup.
“Luna, why don’t you go first,” Charlotte said. “I’d like to try out that beautiful cornhole set.”
“We officially challenge you to a game.” Hawk called out to where Lucas, Calliope, Marigold, and Viking were already tossing beanbags back and forth.
“Bring it on,” Calliope said.
“Have fun.” Charlotte took her fiancé’s hand, and they headed off toward the pavilion.
Hawk whistled, and Remy bounded after them.
Boone noticed Luna chewing her bottom lip as he checked all of the fittings on the saddles.
“Don’t worry, Patience will take good care of you.” He strolled over to Luna, placed his hands on her knees, and smiled up at her. “And I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you. Okay?”
“I believe you.” There wasn’t a second of hesitation in her voice.
“Good.” He slid his hands from her knees.
“Go ahead and climb down on this side of the fence.” He stepped back to give her room to make her way down into the paddock.
“Okay, you’re going to grab the saddle horn with your left hand”—he demonstrated with his hand—“and wedge your left foot into this stirrup.” He tapped the stirrup.
“Then you’ll hop up and swing your other leg over the saddle.
” He noticed her looking at the height of the horse with concern.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be right here if you need help. ”