Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Zeke
Z odiac tossed his head, impatient.
I stroked a hand along the gelding’s neck. “I know, pal. You’ve had enough of confinement. But it’ll all be worth it in the end. We’re gonna get you home to your daddy.”
I bit back my grin of giddy excitement. There was absolutely nothing better than giving the perfect, unexpected gift to someone, and no way was my best friend expecting this. Hell, he might even cry. Not that I was aiming for that, but I knew how much this horse meant to Raleigh and how much it had killed him to see the gelding sold off. Being able to finally right at least part of the wrong that had been done to him was so very worth it.
Assured Zodiac was secure, I stepped out of the van and shut the door. It was a nifty setup, having the trailer and truck all in one unit. Kinda like an RV for horses. I could see how it’d be easier to drive on these narrow roads than a truck and separate trailer. In all likelihood, I could’ve managed it myself, but that would defeat the second purpose of my trip. I’d managed to wrangle a whole extra day to spend one-on-one with Pippa. No way was I wasting this opportunity.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
“As I’m gonna be.”
We rounded to our respective sides and climbed in.
“You’re in charge of snacks and music,” Pippa informed me as she buckled into the driver’s seat and checked all the mirrors.
“Yes, ma’am.”
The bag of supplies we’d picked up was nestled on the seat between us. We’d agreed to pick up some hot food for takeaway at lunch to limit additional stops, as we’d be getting in close to nine tonight even if we drove straight through to Glenlaig. With a break every three or four hours for Zodiac to stretch his legs, we’d be pushing sometime after ten. Not exactly ideal, considering Raleigh and Kyla had a toddler now, but Pippa had promised barn space for the horse and a pullout sofa for me so as not to spoil the surprise before morning. If that wasn’t precisely where I’d prefer to be spending my night, I sure as hell wouldn’t force the issue. I’d be so damned tired by then, it would hardly matter.
Under the auspices of digging through the snacks, I glanced at Pippa. Her myriad of tiny braids were pulled back into a larger plait that trailed over one shoulder. It left her fine-boned features on clear display, with all that smooth, brown skin shining like polished walnut. Her heavy framed glasses perched on that pert little nose that turned up slightly at the end and had inspired a host of sexy nerd fantasies over the past three years. And maybe that would’ve been where it ended for me, except she had such a warm, loving heart to go along with that devastating brilliance, and a total lack of awareness of her appeal. The combination slayed me. And that was before her cheese. The woman was a fucking magician when it came to making cheese.
Not that I’d told her any of that. Well, except for the part about my obsession with her cheese. There was no hiding that.
I’d been playing the long game, getting to know her, assessing my chances. And I’d made a wonderful friend in the process. If that was all we ever were, I’d consider myself a lucky man. But damn if I wasn’t greedy enough to want more from her. By the end of this drive, I hoped I’d have a better idea of whether that was a possibility.
“Zodiac seems like a verra sweet horse. What’s the story there?”
Jerking my gaze away from Pippa, I settled in my seat. “Well, how much do you know about Raleigh’s background before he came to Scotland?”
“I expect mostly what’s common knowledge around the village. He grew up as a rancher in Texas. Then he lost his ranch, and that was how he ended up in Vegas, where he won the estate from Afton in a poker game.”
I still couldn’t quite get over the turn my buddy’s life had taken. I’d been the one to drag him to Vegas, but I’d never expected him to enter a high stakes poker game with some runaway bride who wanted to offload her inheritance. That had been wild enough, but imagine my surprise when he’d gone to Scotland to claim the property and found out he’d also acquired an arranged marriage in the bargain if he wanted to keep it. Of course, it turned out that he and Kyla were perfect together, and their little girl Lily was currently one of my favorite tiny humans, so in the end, everything had worked out well. But I could admit to having a little bit of envy for my friend’s luck in love.
“All true,” I confirmed, “but there’s a bit more to the backstory than that. See, Raleigh’s family ranch was from his mama’s side. It had been passed down on that side for several generations, and he had every expectation that it would come on to him, as he was her only son, and he’d been raised to run it from the time he was knee high. She passed away from cancer when Raleigh was in high school, and, well, his daddy didn’t take it real well. Now, not to speak ill of the dead, but Luther Beaumont was a jackass. After Lily died—that’s Raleigh’s mama—he and Kyla named their daughter after her, Luther ended up remarrying this young little thing hardly older than Raleigh himself. She hated everything about ranching. Hated living in the middle of nowhere. Hated the cows, the horses, the whole shebang. But she liked the money and the status that went along with being Mrs. Luther Beaumont. And when he up and died, he gave every blessed thing that should’ve been Raleigh’s by right to the stepmonster.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Oh, it gets worse.” Warming to my topic, I shifted in the seat to face Pippa. “She not only sold the ranch out from under him to a bunch of developers, she sold his horse as one of the ranch assets. Raleigh raised Zodiac from a foal. Trained him into one of the best damned cutting horses in the country. Just gone. Poof. Guy that bought him refused to sell him back to Raleigh.”
Distress flickered across those delicate features. “Poor Raleigh. I can’t even imagine.”
“Total shit show. Anyway, it’s taken me the last three years to basically browbeat the guy who bought Zodiac into selling him to me, so I’m taking him back to Raleigh as a Christmas present.”
She glanced over, big brown eyes magnified by the lenses of her glasses. “That’s an incredibly generous, sweet gift. On so many fronts.”
I shrugged. “He’d do the same for me, were the situation reversed. I’m just grateful I was in a position to do something about it.” And grateful I was in a financial position to do what Raleigh couldn’t and offer well above market value for the gelding. Not that I had any intention of ever telling Raleigh what I paid to get his horse back. That wasn’t the point. I could afford it, and it would be a million times worth it for the moment of seeing the look on his face when I brought Zodiac out of the trailer.
“So, what’s been going on with you? How are all your ladies?”
Pippa’s affectionate name for her herd of Highland cattle never ceased to amuse me.
“They’re good. And, actually, I have some prospective news about my cheese business.”
“Oh?” I hoped my voice came across as casual as I intended.
“I got contacted by some potential investors.”
“What kind of investors?”
“It’s a group out of Glasgow. Angel investors, who are offering me funds to expand my operation.”
“That’s incredible. Under what terms?”
“Part ownership of the company, but a more than reasonable split, considering what they’re offering. It would be enough to buy some land, more stock, more equipment…” She trailed off, her fingers drumming on the steering wheel.
“You sound like you’re not quite sure.”
“I’m still thinking about it. I mean, cheese is my passion. I love making it. I’d love to have a bigger operation. One that would be large enough that I could quit my day job. But there are scaling issues to think of. Highland coos dinna produce as much milk as dairy breeds, and what they do produce is higher in milk fat, which is part of why it lends itself well to cheese. So that leads to questions of how big the herd would have to be, whether I’d have to take on staff to assist with the milking, not to mention all the other pieces of the process. And beyond all that, it’s that thing where I have to ask myself…will I still love it when it’s the thing I do for a living?”
“That’s fair. I think that’s a decision that a lot of folks have to make when they choose to follow their passion.”
“Do you have other concerns?”
“I mean… there’s a degree of it feeling just too good to be true. I’m just a small, one-woman operation. I ken word of my product is spreading, but this just seems so huge, and I havenae done anything.”
“You made a superior product. A product that, by your own admission, people are talking about. Why is it so unbelievable that someone with assets would take notice?”
“I dinna ken. It’s just a lot.”
“Fair enough. But you’re considering it?” At her glance, I knew I sounded too pushy, so I forced a grin. “I have a vested interest in your expansion. Bigger operation means I can get more of your cheese.”
She snickered. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I am that.”
I was also the money behind that investor group out of Glasgow. I knew I had to tell her at some point, but I didn’t want it to influence our relationship. Since I’d come into my money in my twenties, I’d fended off enough people who were more interested in my bank account than me. Pippa had no idea about any of it. I was just Raleigh’s cowboy friend. A guy who loved farming as much as she did. I loved that. I loved being seen just for me, and I wanted the chance to woo her without dollar signs interfering.