Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
She’d done it to herself. Zinnia wanted to blame Mari for her scrambled thoughts, but the decision to wait up for her sister the night before was all on her. She’d been looking for advice and Mari had given her more than she’d bargained for.
She should have seen it coming. Mari loved to shake things up, and her suggested plan had turned Zinnia’s stomach into a cement mixer.
She’d mostly kept her cool while working with Uncle Graham at the Stevens’ place. Clearly he’d sensed something wasn’t right, though. When he’d asked if she was okay she’d blamed her distraction on lack of sleep. He hadn’t pushed it.
They’d finished that job, grabbed lunch at the Raccoon and bought Monty’s birthday present at L’Amour and More, the bookshop in the purple Victorian. Another shoeing appointment that afternoon meant they had no time to explore the place, but she’d vowed to get Tex in there soon.
Graham’s new clients, a young couple who lived on the outskirts of town, had recently acquired two horses. The shoeing didn’t take long, but the couple had very little experience with horses. Over lemonade and cookies, Uncle Graham gave them a short course in equine care.
She watched as their anxiety faded. After meeting several of her uncle’s clients, she had an even greater appreciation for the man who’d stepped in to be both mother and father to her and Mari. Clearly his customers loved him.
The busy day had helped her push aside thoughts of Monty, sometimes for an hour or two. But once they were headed back home, mental images began taunting her.
She replayed the sound of his gentle voice, his laughter, his kind words to her son. Warmth crept through her body as she relived the moment his blue gaze had locked with hers, the message clear.
“Whatdya say we check in with Speckles and Monty?”
Her uncle’s question jolted her back to Earth. They were home. “Definitely.”
“I’ve been thinking of Monty off and on all day, wondering how he’s doing.” He shut off the engine and climbed out.
“Same.” She’d balked at the double name issue, but at the moment it covered her response perfectly.
Walking to the barn brought up her last and most potent image of Monty Bridger. Coming through the door this morning, her eyes had taken a moment to adjust from sunlight to shade.
When her vision had cleared, she’d been gifted with a rumpled, bearded, smokin’ hot cowboy who’d just climbed out of his bedroll. She’d never get that intimate view again. Unless….
“I’ll bet he’s steadier than he was this morning.”
Oh, he’d looked plenty steady this morning. Steady enough to sweep her up in his strong arms and—oh wait. Her uncle was talking about the foal. “He probably will.”
“I can’t wait until he’s old enough to go out in the pasture. Those videos we found of foals running beside their moms were so doggone cute.”
“Yeah, they were.”
He pulled out his phone. “I didn’t take any this morning, so I’d better do it now. Raquel asked for a few more.”
“When was that?”
“Last night, after I sent her some from the birth.”
“So you emailed her last night?”
“Email’s too slow. I, um, texted them.”
She whirled to face him. “You faker! You know how to text!”
He looked like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Doesn’t mean I like it. Seemed like I had no choice.”
“I’ll bet you surprised the heck out of her.”
He chuckled. “Yeah.”
Ding, ding, ding. It was official. Her uncle had a crush on Raquel, a significant one if he’d taught himself to text. She wanted to tease him but held back.
He might not have admitted it to himself yet. Better to leave it alone. He likely didn’t want to discuss his situation any more than she wanted to discuss hers.
“Well, it was very thoughtful of you to text her instead of calling. Let’s go get those videos so she won’t have to wait any longer.”
“Monty probably showed her some already.” He fell into step beside her.
“But those would be old. You can send her something more recent.”
“That’s my thought.”
A crush, for sure. She hurried into the barn ahead of him so he wouldn’t see her smile. “Mari? Tex? You guys in here?”
No response other than a short whinny from Speckles.
“I guess they’re up at the house.”
She leaned on the stall door and Speckles came over, her gaze expectant.
“Hey, girl, I should’ve stopped by the house and brought carrots.” She reached out and scratched under her mane. “I’ll just take a peek at your son and then go get some.”
“He looks good.” Uncle Graham propped his arms on the stall door and gazed at Monty, who’d followed his mom over but stood a couple of feet back, his stubby tail switching back and forth
“He does look good. Love those markings.”
“Like someone flung paint on his haunches.”
“I wanted to name him Rorschach, but I knew Tex would never go for it.”
“That’s for sure.”
“When did Monty take off Speckles’ tail wrap? Was it gone this morning?”
“I think so. He probably took it off last night.”
She’d been so focused on that cowboy she hadn’t noticed. She also hadn’t absorbed the reality of this foal.
Now that he was here, she had questions. She’d read up on training a foal, but she’d also be in charge of teaching her son the basics. She wanted him involved in those training sessions. Too bad she’d decided to minimize contact with Monty, who’d be a great source of information.
“Want to go in?”
“I don’t need to. It’s nice just watching them.”
“Mari must’ve done a little more cleaning. Doesn’t look too bad, considering.”
“In the morning we could move them to a different stall and do a thorough job.”
“Good idea.” He gave her a sideways glance. “Whatcha thinking, Zin?”
“This little colt is a blank slate and I’ve never trained a foal before. Plus I need to include Tex in the program, and I’m not sure how to do that, either.”
“You gonna monopolize that job?”
She looked over and caught his smile. “No, of course not.”
“I admit I’ve never trained a foal or trained a kid in how to do it. Neither has Mari, but we’re all reasonably intelligent. I wager we’ll figure it out.”
“We will.” But it sure would be nice to talk to Monty every now and then. If they stuck with the program they’d decided on, family visits to Laughing Creek every so often, that wouldn’t give her enough access on a regular basis.
But if she had the courage to take Mari’s advice, she’d have all kinds of access. She wouldn’t be doing it just for herself. She’d gather information that would benefit Tex.
Oh, who was she kidding? She didn’t have to become Monty’s lover to tap him for that knowledge. She could text him questions and he’d text answers. Neat. Clean. Impersonal.
If she chose to drive over to Laughing Creek tonight, she’d be doing it because she didn’t want to lose the chance to make love to the only man she’d wanted from the minute she’d laid eyes on him.