Forty-Two
Branwen
After breakfast, Linc told us he had a surprise, something to show us.
I was trying to process his treatment of me and gauge what he’d meant when he said it.
He had to repeat himself for me, saying, “for y’all,” not just Stevie.
He had a surprise for us .
Stammering, I told him we would go get dressed. He then told us to wait a minute and left the room for only a minute or two, then returned, carrying a large shopping bag that said Ariat on the front.
When he walked over to me, he held it out for me to take. “You will both need these.”
The “these” were cowboy boots. Mine were a Western style with pretty aqua-blue thread woven into the brown leather. The soles were the same blue as the thread. I was smiling so hard as I studied them that my cheeks actually hurt. I’d not had a pair of actual riding boots since I had been a kid. Since…my dad.
Stevie pulled out her box and opened them up before I could help her. She held up a brown-and-teal-blue leather boot and grinned. “I got boots too, Mommy!”
I knew he hadn’t gotten them because of me. There was no way that he’d ever remember it, but I’d once begged my dad for a pair of teal cowboy boots, like the ones Kimberly Brown had worn to school. He’d told me no. That work boots weren’t meant to be pretty and cowgirls didn’t care about silly things such as that.
Stevie stopped to show off her boots to both Jayda and Luther on our way out the front door with Linc. Once we reached his truck, he paused with his hand on the door handle.
“We aren’t leaving this property,” he told me. “It’s a dirt road, and I will be the only vehicle on it. Is it okay if she goes without her car seat?”
I had no idea how much property he and Luther had behind the tall privacy fence that enclosed the backyard. From the balcony in my bedroom, I could see the fields and trees beyond what I thought was the end of their property, but a row of what looked like pecan trees cut off my view from seeing any farther.
“Sure, that’ll be fine,” I told him.
The crooked smile he gave me sent off the wild beating of butterflies in my stomach who honestly had no shame. They had no pride. They were pathetic, and I couldn’t seem to control them.
He helped Stevie into the truck, and she bounced in the seat, excited about sitting in the front without a car seat.
“You like the boots?” he asked, turning back to me.
I nodded. “Yes, thank you. They’re beautiful.”
“And comfortable? Jayda told me the size you needed.”
“Yes.”
He looked down at them. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any in a teal blue that would work well for what you needed them for. This was as close as I could get. But I did get Stevie some, so I hoped that would make up for it.”
I stared at him. What did he mean by that? Because what I thought he meant would be…sweet. Possibly the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for me. It would also mean he…had thought about me. Made an effort to please me. None of those things seemed possible.
“Uh, these are great. And Stevie loves hers. She’s never had real boots.”
The corner of his lips quirked, and he tilted his head. The dark blue of his eyes seemed lighter in the sunshine, more like the sky than the deep ocean. “But are they what your eleven-year-old heart wanted, Ringlets?”
I blanched. My breathing hitched, and my mouth fell slightly open. He’d remembered? The reckless butterflies flapped their wings, as if to mock me and my doubt.
“You—you remember that?” The question was almost a whisper.
He smirked at me. The crinkles fanning the corners of his eyes were even sexy. “Of course I do. I had to spend twenty minutes just trying to get you to smile again. Not even the fact that I brought you two daisies helped.”
This was a memory. He didn’t mean anything by it.
I sucked in a breath, then let it out. “Dad wasn’t one for flashy things, and I was dramatic back then,” I said, trying to play it off.
If he thought I was reading anything into it, then he’d stop being nice. I’d already figured out he didn’t want me to think it was okay to cross any and all lines he had firmly set in place. Not that I would try.
When he held out a hand for me, my gaze dropped down to it as if I didn’t know what it was or what to do with it. Touching him when it wasn’t sexual felt foreign and forbidden.
“I’m just trying to help you up into the truck, Ringlets.” His deep drawl made warmth rush through my body.
I placed my hand over his, and that single touch of his skin on mine sent a shiver over me that I hoped I masked as I stepped up into the truck. Then, I quickly pulled my hand free and placed it in my lap. It was if he’d branded me.
We drove slowly back through his property as Stevie chatted about her new boots and being a big girl in the front seat while I worked on pulling myself together. The tingle that still covered my palm from his touch wasn’t much help.
With my gaze out the side window and my thoughts on everything that had happened since I had woken up, Stevie’s, “I SEE A HAWSE!” caused me to jump.
I snapped my gaze from the fenced-off fields on my right to look directly ahead. Several yards away sat a red barn, and just outside of it was a buckskin quarter horse.
“I want to pet it!” Stevie exclaimed, her hands clasped together at her chest as she peered over the dashboard.
Linc slowed the truck and came to a stop outside the barn.
“Then, let’s go,” Linc said as he swung open his door.
“Is that…do you have stables?” I asked him.
He reached to take Stevie as she crawled over to him, and his eyes lifted to meet mine. “They’re part of the reason we bought this property. Cash Stables is where the family raises their thoroughbreds in Mississippi, but I wanted something smaller. Mine. But I just never got around to getting horses moved into it. These two had been at Cash Stables for about a year now. I’d bought them on a trip to Alabama with Bane to look at a thoroughbred he wanted to buy.”
He had stables. This was not the surprise I had expected. I’d not really thought too much about the surprise, honestly. I’d been too wrapped up in my boots and Linc buying them because of a memory I hadn’t realized he had.
Stevie slapped his back as he held her. “Let’s go!” she urged him.
He nodded, smiling at her before looking back at me. “Get out, Ringlets.”
I reached for the door handle and pushed it open, then hurried to get down out of the truck. My gaze took in every detail of the scene around me. There had to be over thirty acres out here that was fenced in. That wasn’t bad for only two horses. The barn looked freshly painted, although the rustic older-style feel to it remained intact. I loved that. It wasn’t flashy, like the rest of his life seemed to be. This was simply functional.
Linc put Stevie down, and she took off running over to the fence where the pale golden horse watched us. Its black mane and tail fluttered gently in the breeze.
“I’m ashamed to say that she’d never been around horses until we were in Ocala,” I told him.
“She mentioned that. But she’s young. We’ve got plenty of time to turn that around.”
I smiled and watched her as she held on to the wooden fence with her head tilted back so that she could stare up at it.
Linc walked up behind her and picked her up under the arms, then sat her on the post while keeping his arm wrapped around her waist. “Stevie, meet Diane,” he said as he reached out and ran a hand down the horse’s head.
“Diane?” I asked, scrunching my nose. “Odd name for a horse.”
He cut his gaze to me. “Shh, you’ll hurt her feelings.”
I suppressed a grin.
Linc let out a whistle. “Jack!” he called out, then pointed toward the barn as a blue roan quarter horse emerged.
I’d only ever seen photos of a quarter horse this color. They weren’t easy to breed for, and they weren’t cheap.
The names clicked then, and I swung my gaze back to Linc.
“Jack and Diane,” I said aloud.
He nodded. “Yep. Life goes on.”
A laugh bubbled out of me.
“Don’t laugh at theyah names, Mommy,” Stevie scolded me. “It’s not nice.”
I nodded, looking at him one more time before shifting my attention back to Jack. “You’re right, Vivi Lu,” I replied. “I’m sorry.”
“Can I wide them?” Stevie asked, turning her head to look up at Linc.
He nodded. “Want to go inside and check out your tack?”
She had no idea what tack was, but she nodded her head as if she did. I watched as he put her booted feet back on the ground. She immediately reached for his hand, and seeing him wrap his much larger one around hers never got old for me.
They started in that direction, but I didn’t follow. He hadn’t mentioned it, and I didn’t want to intrude on a bonding moment they might have.
Just before I went back to admiring Jack and Diane, Linc glanced back over his shoulder at me. “You coming?”
Oh. He wanted me to go too.
“I wasn’t sure if this was a, um…bonding kinda thing.”
He raised his eyebrows slightly. “It is, but she has two parents.”
Seven words couldn’t have held more security in them if they tried. She did have two parents, but I often feared that he wished she hadn’t.
I licked my lips. “Okay.”
They continued to the wide double doors, and Linc pulled one open. Stevie let go of his hand and darted inside. He held it for me, and every hair on my body came alive as I passed by him. His eyes following me didn’t help.
The inside momentarily distracted me. The ceilings weren’t vaulted with extravagant fixtures. Instead, they were mass timber beams that had a rustic feel I loved. The ground was paved with black brick, and the far wall had been built from stacked stone. On the left were six stalls. On the right was an open door that I could see held the tack. A barrel had been built into the wall, made with the same stacked stone as the wall down at the end. On the other side were two more doors, but both were closed.
There were no connecting buildings or flat screens hanging on the walls. It was simply a functional, well-kept stable. Stevie ran ahead, peering into each stall, and then peeked out the far-right exit that led into the fenced-in fields, where Jack and Diane were currently.
“What do you think?” Linc asked, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“I think it is perfect. I love it,” I finished and turned to him.
The pleased glint in his eyes continued to add to my confusion about his sudden change in personalities. At least where I was concerned. He’d always been this way with Stevie. But me? Not even in the same ballpark.
He nodded his head toward the tack room. “Come check out your saddle, Stevie,” he called out, keeping his eyes on me.
Stevie’s little legs ran back toward us. “I got a saddle? To wide a hawse?” she asked, wide-eyed.
Linc turned his attention to her. “You’re a cowgirl, aren’t you? And you’ve got your own horse.”
She frowned. “I don’t have a hawse.”
He rubbed his bearded chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I could have sworn that Jack’s registration papers said that he belonged to a Stevie Hester.”
Her mouth opened wide, but this time, I wasn’t surprised. I’d assumed he had chosen to give her one of the horses. His elaborate gifts were getting to be the norm.
“It does?” she asked in awe.
He nodded and adjusted his hat on his head. “Sure does. Now, let’s go see if we can find a saddle in this tack room that will fit you just right.”
Stevie rushed past us and into the open door. Her eyes scanned all the items until she found a tan child-sized barrel racing saddle with a turquoise padded seat, matching crystals on the trim, and other splashes of bling that were worthy of a show saddle rather than an everyday one.
“I like this one!” she called out, going directly to it. Her eyes swung back to me, and she grinned. “See it, Mommy?”
I nodded. It was fit for a princess. I didn’t want to dampen the moment, but one day soon, we were going to need to discuss that if he continued with the gifts, she was going to turn into a spoiled diva. Mix that with her teen years, and whew. Neither of us wanted that. He just didn’t know it yet.
“It’s beautiful,” I replied.
She pointed at her chest. “It’s mine.” Then, she reached to pick it up. “I want to wide now.”
Linc chuckled. “Looks like it is time for the first lesson.”
I stood back and watched as he squatted down and began to talk to her about the saddle and what every part on it was for. I couldn’t remember my dad ever giving me that lesson. Sometimes, it felt as if I had been born riding.
Dad would have loved this. He’d have wanted his granddaughter to ride horses. For them to be a part of her. Something else that Linc could give her that I couldn’t.