CHAPTER FIVE
KYLA
Roman Mountain was even more breathtaking up close, and Cohen Roman was just as enthralling.
While Laney and I made breakfast, Cohen and Corbin checked the house to ensure things are in working order, for our stay, however short it may be.
We’ll need to leave soon. I just have this nagging sensation that the past I’m running from will find us sooner rather than later.
After we finished eating, Cohen and Corbin insisted that they’d clean up the dishes. The moment they finished, Cohen’s phone rang.
“Sorry, I need to take this,” he announced before he went out to the front porch. He wasn’t gone but just a moment, and when he comes back inside, he walks straight to where Laney sits drawing a black horse.
“Laney, if it’s okay with your momma—” His eyes cut to mine, seeking permission just as I hear noises outside the front of the house. When I look out the window, my breath catches in my chest both from relief and something else that I can’t identify.
He remembered. I can’t believe he’s done this.
There’s a man opening a gate and ushering several horses into the pasture out in front of the house.
“Do you have any boots?”
“No.” Laney shakes her head. “I don’t have any boots.”
“We need to fix that. But in the meantime, you still want to pet a horse?”
Cohen barely gets the words out before Laney squeals, “Yes!” Drawing abandoned, she rushes for the front door.
“Don’t forget your jacket!” I shout. She grabs it from the bench that is by the front door, and like a flash, she is gone. I shout after her to slow down but to no avail. She has more excitement on her face than I have seen in a long time, and that thought saddens me.
Cohen turns to his brother. “Corbin, will you head on out and help Calhoun settle the horses into the pasture?” Cohen says. “We’ll leave them here at Granny's for a while. Let Jake or Sam know I’ve rotated them a little ahead of schedule, so they are aware to tend to them here for now.”
“On it.” Corbin gets his phone out of his pocket and dials a number as he exits the front door. I can hear Laney’s excited laughter as she sees the horses.
Cohen turns to me, and I know I am smiling like a loon. He did this for Laney. He laughs a small, anxious laugh.
“Our brother Calhoun is out there; he’ll catch Laney, and we won’t be far behind. I’m sorry that I sprang this on you, but she seemed heartbroken over it yesterday. I had to make it up to her.”
He heads toward the door, and I follow, but I take a moment to examine him.
He pulls on his tan canvas jacket, concealing the form-fitting black Henley underneath.
I was right; he is in shape. He’s wearing another Roman Mountain Farm baseball hat, jeans, and boots, and yeah, maybe I checked him out. So sue me.
He is a very handsome man.
“Thank you for thinking of her. This will make her month. She’s never really been around horses or a farm, for that matter. Neither have I.”
“Well, grab your coat. Let’s change that. I’d like to show you our farm, if you’re up for it.”
He pushes open the door and waits for me to exit first, so I grab my coat, and he follows me outside. I take a second to spot Laney. Corbin is hot on her heels as they head down to the fenced pasture.
I inhale a deep, peaceful breath. There’s just something about this place that calls to me.
It lightens my burdened heart just a bit.
I take in the black fences and barns that dot the landscape interspersed with little gravel and paved roads that beckon me to meander.
That is when I realize this place is more than a farm.
It is just what Laney and I need for a few days. I don’t think it will hurt anything if we take a minute to rest. Then I can figure out our next move.
After spotting us, Corbin joins Calhoun in the pasture to help settle the horses. Cohen and I stand beside Laney at the fence, her face a beacon of happiness. I am so thankful that Cohen did this for her. She needed it.
“Do you want to pet Midnight?”
“Yes, please.” Laney follows Cohen to the fence. He clicks his tongue, and a beautiful black horse heads our way. The others, not wanting to be left out, follow.
“Ew, I stepped in mud.” Laney picks up her foot and makes a face when she sees the bottom of her sodden shoe.
“See, you need some boots, then you don’t have to worry about stepping in mud or other things.” He laughs as Laney makes another face, showing her displeasure at the thought of other things.
“Up you go.” Cohen hoists her easily onto the fence rail near a calm, lovely black mare. “She’s gentle. Hold your hand like this.” I notice that his voice around her and animals is different. It’s kinder and softer. There’s a gentleness.
The same gentleness that was there yesterday when he fixed my truck.
Laney giggles as Midnight huffs air against her palm. My heart bursts for her and the pure joy lighting up her face, but my eyes keep returning to Cohen as I move closer to Laney’s other side and place a hand beside her on the fence.
“I need boots, Mommy,” Laney says as her eyes widen, taking in all the horses.
As for me, I’ve been watching Cohen all morning, enraptured by the way he moves with quiet authority. The way his brothers seem to defer to him without question. The kindness he exhibits toward my daughter and me.
It is sad that it feels foreign after too many years walking on eggshells. This man is powerful but in a quiet way. He doesn’t need to let everyone know that he is in charge. He just is.
His gaze finds mine over Laney’s head, and he smiles. His eyes wrinkle at the corners as one hand flips his hat backwards, and I don’t know why, but that does something to me.
“You don’t have to hover,” he says quietly to me.
I blink, caught off guard. “I’m not.”
He beams, and his eyebrows lift as if to say, really?
Okay, maybe I was hovering a bit.
Then his fingers brush against mine where they grip the fence post, and heat blossoms unexpectedly low in my stomach.
I move my fingers slightly away, but he doesn’t chase me, and that small restraint does something dangerous to my heart.