Page 37 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

“Beautiful,” I told her honestly, tugging on the brim of the hat.

I wanted to kiss her, but it didn’t seem right. I didn’t know what she wanted out of this situation, and we needed to discuss it like adults before we got any deeper into the confusing mess we were currently in. Or I was in. Reece seemed to be actinglike she was completely fine, and that was messing with my head even more.

I was almost positive I had something to apologize for here. Her not seeming to think so was worrying, to say the least.

“You didn’t need to do this,” Reece said, picking the boots out of the box. “I’m kind of surprised that you got my size right.”

“That was all Delaney. I don’t know about that sort of stuff.”

Reece sat down on one of the chairs and kicked off her sneakers. I kneeled down at her feet and grabbed the boots as she watched me with a bemused expression.

I patted my bent thigh, and Reece put her foot on it. Gently holding her ankle, I slipped the boot onto her foot, tightening the laces and fastening it before checking the fit. It was perfect. Delaney had done a good job.

I repeated the process with her other foot and then peered up at Reece, watching me with an expression I couldn’t figure out on her face. My thumb absentmindedly brushed along her thigh as I stared up at her, frozen to the spot.

Except it wasn’t out of fear this time.

Not exactly.

Being this close to her, doing something as silly as tying her boots, I understood now that dopey expression Trace got on his face whenever he was close to Delaney.

I was starting to feel something I had no business feeling after just a week of knowing Reece.

“Come on,” I said, tapping her boot and finally climbing to my feet. “I want to do something with you.”

Reece stood, and we walked out to the barn together. We checked in on the mare, and she was actually doing a lot better than I would have expected her to be. I trimmed her back hooves yesterday when the temperature cooled down. When Reece hadn’t come to help, I’d pretty much made up my mind that I completely messed things up with her.

If this was my second chance, I was damn well not making the same mistake again.

Doc was hanging out in the training ring on the other side of the barn. I was trying to keep the small one at the front of the house empty so we could transfer the mare to it and give her some space to move around. She couldn’t go out into the pastures while we were monitoring her food so tightly, and she wasn’t strong enough to be out there anywhere. Cole had taken some blood from her, and we were still waiting for the results to make sure she didn’t carry anything that could pass to the other horses. Until she had the all-clear, she had to stay in isolation.

I’d tacked Doc up, intending to ride the pastures this afternoon and check the fence lines. As seemed to be the case for the past week, I was going to push that off to Cliff or Hank for now. It wasn’t like they were hugely busy at the minute anyway. They might as well do some work to earn their keep.

“This is Doc,” I told Reece as I ducked through the wooden fence surrounding the training ring and patted Doc’s neck. He turned his head toward me, nuzzling against my pocket to search for treats.

“He’s beautiful.”

“He was the first horse I bought when I got the ranch, and we’ve been together ever since, haven’t we buddy?” Doc snorted and went to nibble at the brim of my hat, making Reece laugh. “He’s getting to be an old man now.”

“You ride him?” Reece asked.

“Yep, and so will you.”

She looked at me with wide eyes, and I chuckled as I held out a hand, inviting her into the ring. Reece didn’t look overly confident about the idea, but she ducked through the wood rails and took my hand.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” she whispered, going to stroke Doc’s muzzle, who did the same treat inspection on her ashe did everyone. Reece laughed. “The only horse I’ve ever ridden was a pony at the county fair when I was six.”

“Well, I think you’ll find that Doc is the sweetest, most patient boy you’ll ever meet, and if you can ride that old county pony, you can definitely sit on the back of Doc.”

She looked at me like she was pretty sure I’d lost my mind, but then she shrugged and stepped to his side.

“Okay, how do I do this thing, then?”

Reece dusted off her hands and then stared at the saddle like it was something she could figure out if she just tried hard enough.

Shaking my head at her sheer determination to do whatever she put her mind to, I came to her side. “Bend your leg,” I instructed, grasping her knee in one hand when she did. “On the count of three, I’m going to give you a boost, and you’re going to swing your other leg over Doc’s back and sit in the saddle. Grab the front of the saddle with your left hand and then grab it with your other hand when you’re on the way up.”

Reece peered over her shoulder at me, and I could see the doubt in her eyes. “I got you,” I reassured. “On three, remember? One… two… three.”

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