Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
The Ranch
Lenni blew into the main house, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
“I love horses!”
I looked up from placing the lasagna noodles on top of three types of cheeses. “I thought we knew that already.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I mean I really love them! Mr. Powell took me to the barn and Brooks showed me how to brush and care for Goldie. That’s Hadley’s horse.”
My lips flickered with a smile. “She’s sweet, isn’t she?”
“So sweet,” Lenni agreed. “Then I watched Archer shoe a colt.”
I didn’t miss that she’d called her father by his given name.
“He’s really good,” Lenni went on.
“The colt?”
She shook her head. “Archer. Have you ever seen a farrier in action?”
“No,” I admitted.
“Well, it’s cool. He let me file a hoof. It’s called rasping.”
I held in my sigh of relief. Archer had found a way to connect with his daughter.
“You have to see it,” she said, taking my hand and tugging me toward the door.
I laughed. “Hang on a second. I’m in the middle of making a lasagna.”
“Please?” Lenni begged.
The back door slid open and Muddy came inside, holding an empty wicker basket.
“Hey, sugar,” Muddy greeted her.
“Hi.” Lenni beamed.
“She wants to show me a horse hoof,” I explained with a laugh. “Archer let her help shoe one.”
“Go,” Muddy said. “I’ll finish the lasagna.”
I let Lenni drag me out of the house. “Did you know a farrier shop is called a forge?”
Lenni didn’t wait for my reply as she kept up a steady stream of excited chatter. And I couldn’t be happier that she’d found something to connect with her father over.
We arrived at Archer’s workstation in the barn.
Son of a bitch.
He was wearing chaps.
CHAPS.
He placed a tool in one of the pockets and turned his attention to us. His smile widened when he saw me.
“Ma’am.” He doffed the brim of his cowboy hat.
“Farrier,” I greeted.
“I told her you let me rasp a hoof,” Lenni explained. She still had a hold on my hand.
“She’s a natural,” Archer said to me.
“Must be in the DNA,” I quipped.
“Hey, Half-Pint,” Brooks called as he stepped out of a stall. “You want to feed some horses?”
She dropped my hand and ran toward Brooks, leaving me alone with Archer.
Alone with Archer, whose gaze was openly appreciative.
“Is it me, or is it kind of hilarious that your stoic brother is already calling Lenni half-pint?”
“No one is more shocked than me, believe me.”
I cleared my throat. “What about you two? Things must be going well.”
“It’s easier to talk to her when there’s something to teach her,” he explained. “Otherwise, I’m tongue-tied and frankly, terrified of her.”
“You’re not really terrified of an eleven-year-old girl,” I said with a laugh.
“No, I really am.” His grin was lopsided. “I’m not around kids a lot. So I don’t know what they’re like. Are they always so . . .”
“Curious? Talkative?”
“Emotional.”
I raised my brows. “Emotional? What happened? What did you do?”
“Me? I didn’t do anything. I just talked to her. One minute she was eager and excited to help me, the next she shut down. A few minutes later, she was happy and excited again.”
“You’re sure you didn’t say something that gave her emotional whiplash?”
“If I did, I don’t know what I said.”
I chuckled. “How like a man.”
“Hey,” he warned. “Give me a little credit.”
“Fine. How like a father,” I teased. “I distinctly remember being Lenni’s age, and my father would say something that would have me running to my mom in tears.”
“Oh good. Glad to be right on par with the rest of the dads,” he muttered.
I thought about Lenni crying over her lost Christmas decorations.
“You might’ve said something, not thinking anything of it, and it reminded her of her mother.”
“You mean I’m walking all over landmines and I have no idea when one will explode?”
“Kinda, yeah.”
He sighed. “Damn.”
“Welcome to parenthood.”
Several hours later, after swinging by the bookstore to give Poet back her coat and pick up Mildred, Archer collapsed onto the couch and closed his eyes. Mildred ran over, stood on her hind legs, and pawed at him.
He lifted her onto the couch, but she wasn’t satisfied with a cushion. Instead, she wanted to use Archer as a pillow, so she stepped on his lap and flopped down, curling against him.
Get it, sister.
“You look completely shot,” I said with a laugh.
“I am shot.” He cracked an eye and looked at me. “You don’t even look winded.”
“Winded? Honey, that was just a warmup,” I said with a snort.
“Noted,” he murmured.
I took a seat in the living room chair. “You never go shopping like that, do you?”
“Never.”
“What about when you need new . . . farrier clothes? Or boots?”
“There’s this thing called online shopping. Ingenious really.”
“Yes, I’ve heard of it.”
He laughed. “It was fun though. In a way. At least seeing Lenni get excited about paint swatches.”
It was a little after five and the three of us had been out running errands for the last many hours. Lenni was currently in the basement, putting her new comforter into the industrial-sized washing machine.
My phone chimed with a text, and I fished it out of my purse that was still slung across my chest.
Poet
Still good for dinner?
Me
Yes. I’m starving. I’ll head your way.
I rose from the chair. “Okay, so I’m gonna head out for a bit.”
“Head out? We just got home.”
“Poet and I are grabbing dinner,” I explained, shoving my phone back into my bag.
“We didn’t discuss your nights off,” Archer said. “We should probably do that.”
I waited.
He stared at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh my God. You can absolutely hang out with your own child for a few hours unsupervised.”
“You’re the buffer,” he explained. “Without you, I don’t know what to talk to her about.”
“You did fine when you were letting her rasp a hoof,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, because there was a common goal.”
“Archie,” I said.
“Yeah, Wynelope?”
“Grow up.”
“Ouch,” he said, his tone light. “That hurt.”
“Just . . . talk to her like you talk to your brother.”
“You want me to haze her?”
The door to the basement opened and a moment later, Lenni appeared in the living room.
“I’m going out with Poet for a few hours,” I said to her.
She shot a look at Archer and then back to me. “Do you have to?”
“Yep. You guys will be fine. I swear. It’s just for a few hours. Don’t forget to feed Mildred.”
With a wave, I headed for the front door. I grabbed my jacket off the coat hook and left.
I trekked to the bookstore, but instead of entering through the front, I decided to go around to the back. Brooks had put in a security system and an intercom. It felt like I was back in New York, buzzing Poet’s apartment to be let in.
The lock clicked and I opened the door and headed up the backstairs toward the landing. Her apartment door was already cracked so I rapped on it a few times and then popped in.
Lottie came to greet me, her little pink tail swishing back and forth.
Poet had completely transformed the tiny apartment over the bookstore.
There was a small two-seat table that looked like it belonged on a New York sidewalk café, and she’d hung plants from hooks in the ceiling that Brooks had installed for her.
The space was somewhere between a studio and one bedroom apartment.
It was feminine and inviting. If Brooks hadn’t left a pair of his giant boots by the door, no one would know a man lived there.
“Hey,” she greeted from the bed as she pulled on a shoe. “I’m almost ready to go.”
“No rush,” I assured her.
The apartment door opened, and Brooks strode in, carrying a brown Dusty’s bag. “They were out of Elk Tracks, so I got you three other flavors of ice cream instead.”
“My hero.” Poet beamed at him.
If my best friend hadn’t been so damn happy and in love, their display of affection would’ve made me nauseous.
“Hi Brooks,” I said with a smile.
“Hi.”
“How the hell are you going to add a baby and all the baby stuff to this place?”
“Prayer,” she said. “And organization.”
“A bassinet and a changing table will get us through until the house is built,” Brooks said.
I frowned. “House? Hadley’s house? Why would that matter?”
“Not Hadley’s house. Our house,” Brooks corrected.
My gaze darted from Brooks to Poet. “You’re building a house?”
“Yeaaah. We’re going to build a house,” Poet said.
“Where?” I demanded.
Brooks looked at his fiancé. “You haven’t told her yet?”
“No,” Poet said, her voice sounding thin. “Not yet.”
I took a deep breath. “Tell me what?”
“Mr. Powell sold Brooks ten acres of Elk Ridge. We’re going to build a house near Salem and Hadley,” Poet said, her eyes wide behind her glasses.
I swallowed. “Well, that’ll be nice.”
Silence descended in the small apartment.
I wasn’t hungry anymore.
“Where are you guys going for dinner?” Brooks asked, clearly attempting to revive the halted conversation.
“The Copper Mule,” Poet said. “It’s the only place open that serves food. We need more restaurants in this town.”
Brooks riffled through the grocery bag and pulled out the three pints of ice cream. “Hopefully The Diner will be up and running soon.”
“One can only hope,” Poet agreed. She walked to her fiancé and placed a hand on his chest. She tilted her head back and he leaned down to kiss her.
I turned away, but not before I saw the love and devotion in Brooks’ eyes as he stared down at my best friend.
It was strange—fighting the battle inside me. I was happy for her, and all my friends who had found love, but I was devastated for myself.
Because I was scared I’d never get that.
“Ready?” Poet asked as she pulled away.
“Yep,” I said.
Poet squeezed Brooks’ hand and then followed me to the door. She grabbed her coat and purse, and we headed down the stairs. We were silent until we got into the back alley.
“When were you going to tell me you guys bought land to build a house?” I asked her.
“Now?”
I sighed. “Salem and Hadley already know, don’t they?”
“Well, yeah. It’s their family’s land. Of course they know.”
The Copper Mule was only a few doors down from the bookstore. I opened the heavy wooden door and let Poet enter first.
It smelled like paprika and grease. A few people were at tables, but it was still early enough to be quiet.