Chapter 28
Sierra gripped Benji’s arm as she stumbled blindly down the stairs. ‘Benji, is the blindfold necessary?’
‘Yes,’ he laughed. ‘Stop being so grumpy. It’ll be worth it.’
Sierra grumbled anyway, but her heart tapped with excitement even though turning thirty didn’t really feel like a celebratory milestone.
Benji’s surprises were always the best – a spontaneous night away at Wrangler’s Clearing with champagne and cheese and charcuterie neatly packed into Tupperware, a sunset ride, a quick weekend away on the coast …
He opened the door and led her outside. ‘Ready?’
‘Yes!’ she practically shouted, unable to hide her excitement.
Benji reached up and removed the blindfold, an old bandana of his.
It fell from her eyes to reveal her birthday gift. Mav held a huge Thoroughbred horse by the lead rope. The gelding was a grey, his white coat glossy. His mane and tail had been braided, and a huge red bow had been loosely tied around his neck.
Sierra’s hands shook.
She had lost her old horse, Jasper, only three months earlier, and even though she knew she would eventually fall in love with another, she hadn’t been in a rush to go looking. Every time she thought she should try, she’d felt sad and ended up talking herself out of going.
‘I know it’s been hard for you,’ Benji said gently when she didn’t move from her spot on the porch. ‘But I went out and met this one, and I just got a feeling. If you don’t click, we can add him to the barn’s riding horses, but—’
‘Benji, stop.’ Because the gesture had been sweet, she turned into his arms and hugged him.
‘Thank you for always thinking about my happiness.’ But because Jasper had been a Quarter Horse and they were her favoured breed, she added, ‘I find it interesting that you think I’m a Thoroughbred girl though. ’
‘Hot blooded, smart, spirited, fast. Temperamental.’ He laughed. ‘Sierra, the Thoroughbred is your spirit animal – even if you can’t admit it yet.’ He sobered, said, ‘Don’t you want to go say hi?’
Sierra hesitated, afraid that she couldn’t bond with another horse yet, and, worse, afraid that she could.
She looked at the huge horse right as he turned soulful brown eyes on her.
When she didn’t move, he stretched his neck and raised his upper lip as if to say: We both know you can’t resist this charm.
Sierra laughed. ‘He has a certain appeal.’
Benji linked their fingers and led her down the porch steps to the horse. He raised their joined hands and placed her palm flat against the horse’s warm neck. ‘His name’s Ty.’
‘Like Mike Tyson?’ she teased.
‘Like the Beanie Babies,’ he corrected.
Unable to resist, Sierra released Benji’s hand so that she could scratch the horse beneath the throat.
The horse – Ty – leaned into the scratch. His upper lip did that same extended wobble, making Sierra laugh. She couldn’t deny it. She was charmed. ‘Damnit, Benji.’
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, and Sierra let herself lean against him. ‘I know your dad got you Jasper, and that it’s hard to say goodbye, but this guy’s going to be good for you, Si.’
Mav, who had been completely silent until then, said, ‘It’s time.’ He nodded in Ty’s direction. ‘And this horse is the right one.’ He handed her the lead rope, and with one quick hug and a, ‘Happy birthday, Si,’ walked off.
Sierra’s heart swelled, and as much as it hurt to remember her dad leading her out on her tenth birthday and showing her Jasper, who had been a feisty two-year-old at the time, Sierra reached out and took the lead rope.
She looped it over the horse’s neck and through the halter ring, finished it in a loose knot in lieu of reins.
Seeing what she intended, Benji linked his hands to give her a boost up.
‘You go slow until you know him, Sierra,’ he instructed, his tone firm.
‘He’s seven. He’s been trained in dressage and started on jumping.
I’ve worked with him a few times; he’ll go in any direction you choose to take him. But—’
‘He’s a new horse in a new environment,’ Sierra finished as she swung up onto Ty’s bare back. ‘I won’t be reckless.’
She took him around at a walk, sitting on his back as he rambled and occasionally stopped to graze, and by the time she brought him back to the front porch, she was grinning.
Benji sat on the front stairs, watching her as she approached. ‘And?’ he asked, his tone cautious.
Sierra brought Ty to a stop right in front of him. She didn’t say that the horse was perfect and that she adored him already. She met Benji’s green eyes, filled with concern, and she said, ‘I love you so much, Benji.’
He smiled, but Sierra saw the relief in him too.
And it only made her love him more. Because Benji was a man who would always push her to do the things she was too afraid to do, and more than that, he would always wait for her to come back so that he could check she was okay himself.
And it made her feel so safe in his love.