Chapter Seventeen #2
“I believe I promised you a horse sale. We’d best be going if we want to get there early enough to check out a few of them,” he said, his voice sounding strangled.
“Let me grab something, and I’ll be right out,” she said breathlessly. Turning toward her room, he watched as she took her pain pills and the cash, which she counted the day before, and stuffed them in her boot.
“Do you have a purse?” he asked.
“Nope. I prefer it this way. Who wants to lug a bag around everywhere you go? I never understood how people spent hundreds of dollars on one and then complained because they didn’t want it to get wet or set it on the ground.
Then why waste perfectly good money?” she said, making her way to the porch.
“You have a valid point,” he conceded as he helped her inside his truck and propped her leg. “I know you’ll fight me as soon as we get there about the wheelchair. If you keep it up and your toes don’t swell, we’ll use the crutches until you get tired.”
Riley smiled and happily nodded at his compromise.
His heart soared at the thought of how the simplest things seemed to delight her.
When they arrived, he pulled into a grassy spot big enough for the long horse trailer and shut the engine off. Coming around his truck, he held her by the waist as she slid down his body to the ground. The tension between them ebbed higher with each touch.
A small market with several tents stood to one side.
They arrived earlier than planned, leaving them time to wander through the makeshift area.
Riley smiled as she examined some of the handmade leather saddles.
One vendor sold leather bracelets with turquoise.
He tried to call Riley to his table, yet she refused.
Her gaze focused on a table with cowboy hats, and she gravitated toward it.
Picking one up, she examined the stitching, the material, and the sturdiness.
Her hands moved along the brim, checking the firmness.
Riley flipped it upside down, peering at the liner and sweatband.
“You picked one of my best ones,” the vendor stated as he watched her admiring it. “Don’t you want to try it on?”
“No, thank you,” she said, placing it on the hook.
“Try it on,” Garrett urged her. “You obviously like it.”
“No. It’s not a need, it’s a want,” she insisted as Garrett picked up the hat and placed it on her head.
“Sometimes, it can be fun,” he countered as he adjusted the brim. The hat fit her personality and complemented her.
“How much?” he asked as he turned her toward a small mirror, showing her reflection. Her hand went up as she adjusted it slightly and moved a section of her hair.
“This one goes for three hundred,” the vendor said proudly.
Riley yanked it off and set it on the hook again. “Thank you,” she said, walking away.
“Didn’t you like it?” Garrett asked. “It suited you.”
“Yeah, but I have other things to buy. It reminded me of my mom’s hat.
After she died, I wore it all the time. One day, my dad returned home in a drunken rage and burned all her clothes, hats, boots, and anything that reminded him of her.
He said there’s no use keeping her stuff when she’s never coming home,” she murmured, glancing down at her boots.
“It sounds silly, but in the darkest times, I craved the feel of her hat to remind me I was her daughter.”
Garrett used his finger to lift her chin, making her gaze into her eyes. “I’m buying you the hat. Don’t argue. Consider it a gift to remind you you’re stronger than you think.”
“No, Garrett,” she protested as she grabbed his arm. “Please. I don’t know why I told you about it. We came to check out the horses.”
“You coming with?” he asked, ignoring her and continuing to the hat vendor’s booth.
“Damn it, Garrett. Don’t buy it,” she ground out.
He took out his wallet and handed the man cash as she reached the edge of the table. Garrett held it as he walked toward her.
“I can’t replace the one your dad burned, but it’s worth every penny to see you smile. Don’t get mad. Search your heart and accept the gift. Maybe it’s your mom’s way of replacing what you lost,” he said, pressing his forehead against hers. “Please take it,” he pleaded, setting it on her head.
Letting out a shaky breath, she touched the hat and adjusted it. “Thank you, Garrett,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
He swiped them away with his thumb and lightly kissed her. “Help me find my horse. Old Gus has decided he likes the pasture more and more each day. I’ll never get my work done if he gets any slower,” he grumbled.
He walked beside her, taking in the horses. Every now and then, she stopped, checked their mouths, and ran her hand down their legs. Her knowledge of horses impressed him, and he agreed with her judgment.
They walked three-quarters of the way down when her gaze was pinned on one stall. The pretty grey and white horse whinnied as she approached.
“Aren’t you a pretty girl?” she greeted the horse. “May I check your teeth?” she asked, rubbing her hand down the length of the grey’s neck. She checked the legs and hooves. “Put her on your list. She’s solid,” Riley advised him. Garrett took his turn inspecting the horse and agreed with her.
They went outside to the corral, and Garrett’s eye caught sight of a brown quarter horse with black stockings. “What do you think about him?”
Riley smiled as she watched the horse prance around the ring, full of spirit and energy. “I like him. Did you add him to the list to check out?”
With seven horses chosen, they sat on the bench with Riley’s leg propped up in his lap. He fed her bites of a corn dog while she ranked them. “What do you think about the grey one?”
Garrett made a face. “She’s my last choice.”
Riley stopped chewing, and her face fell. “You didn’t like her?”
“I’ve seen better,” he said, goading her and pressing her to eat more.
“What do you mean. She’s a beauty. I don’t think you know your ass from your head,” she grumbled as she added the grey to the bottom of the list.
She took the phone from her pocket and checked whether Tara texted or called. When she saw Tara seemed to have forgotten her, she scowled.
“Leave her alone and stop worrying. Julio and Rebecca promised to stay with her and bring her right back home,” he chastised her. “It’s not a crime to have fun, too, you know.”
“I’m having fun,” she said, stealing one of his fries. “Here comes your horse,” she said, pointing toward the auction block.
Garrett bid and won, making Riley squeal with excitement. “Yes,” she exclaimed as she kissed him full on the mouth. “I can’t believe you got him.”
Chuckling, he offered her another mini corn dog.
She opened her mouth for him to pop it in and smiled. “What will you name him?”
“I don’t like to name my horses right away. It’s important to get to know them, and over time, their name comes to me,” he said, adjusting her foot.
“I owned a horse, once. The bank took him with the ranch. I called him Sir Richard. His coat reminded me of gold silk. Every morning, I’d go out into the pasture and call for my knight, and no matter where he grazed, he’d come running.
For weeks, I tried to get the bank to sell him to me.
They auctioned him off, and I never saw him again.
I wonder if he thought I abandoned him,” she said, watching the next horse coming up for sale.
Garrett watched her expression as she recalled the memory. The horse meant something to her.
He bid on two more horses, losing both of them.
The grey mare came up next, and he almost laughed.
Riley sat on the edge of her seat, her eyes gleamed and she sucked in her lip as the bidding started.
The auctioneer called once, twice, and Garrett raised his number and called out, “Five thousand dollars.”
The auctioneer started the countdown again and hit his gavel on the block. “Sold to number forty-six.”
Riley turned, her mouth dropped open, and she grinned. “You teased me,” she accused, pushing him and laughing.
Garrett grabbed her hand and wrapped his arm around her. “I think I’m done. Do you want to stay?”
She shook her head as she watched the men lead the grey from the area.
“I need to settle up and get the horses loaded. Will you be all right if I leave you here?” he asked.
Riley rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I mean There’s always a chance I go home with one of those boys over there,” she said, nodding her head toward a group of older men.
Garrett narrowed his eyes and growled as he gave her a peck. “Be good. I have another surprise.”
Her eyes lit up as she nodded and turned her head toward the auction platform.
Garret rose, setting her leg down gently on the seat.
He didn’t miss the men stealing glances at Riley as they walked by.
Some lingered close to her when he went for the snack.
His fierce scowling and blazing eyes sent them scattering as he returned.
He didn’t set her leg on his lap because he acted as chivalrous as her Sir Richard.
It was a mark of possession. He wanted Riley to be his.