Page 16 of The Cowboy Comes Home

“—he’s a horse whisperer,” Nic finished.

Tucker pulled back slightly. He remembered Logan Fox from his days on the rodeo circuit. They’d even spoken a couple of times. But he’d never heard of this aspect of the man’s talents. “I’ve never been sure those really exist.”

“Ten minutes of watching Logan work will convince you,” Jackson said.

“Come say hi, Uncle T!” Jeremy yelled. “He’s been missing you.”

He found himself grinning as he took off at a trot toward boy and horse. And Sorry indeed greeted him with an enthusiastically bobbing head and a couple of softer nickers. He stroked the sorrel’s nose, and knuckled him under the jaw as the big horse liked.

“Sorry, no treat with me,” he said.

“He doesn’t mind,” Jeremy explained. “You’re the treat.”

“Now that’s something I’ve never been called before,” Tucker said with a laugh.

“Well, that’s hard to believe.”

He spun around at the sound of the amused, rather luscious voice from behind him.

And found himself staring into the golden eyes of Officer Emily Stratton.

Chapter Eight

Emily didn’t knowwhy her mouth always ran away with her whenever this guy was around. She wasn’t one to make jokes like that. Double entendres and flirtatious remarks were so not her usual. The polar opposite in fact. She often got teased by her fellow officers about being all business all the time, a demeanor she had intentionally adopted when she’d first started on the job, as a defense mechanism. She’d eventually discovered it wasn’t necessary, not on a department run by the likes of Shane Highwater, but by then the façade was hard to drop. She had, eventually, when off duty with her coworkers, but never, ever in uniform.

Until she’d encountered Tucker Culhane.

“Lobo!” Jeremy yelped, and darted over to pet the big dog, whose tail wagged gently as he sat obediently still.

“Hello, Jeremy,” Emily said with a smile.

Jeremy stopped and looked up at her. “It’s okay if I pet him, isn’t it? ’Cuz he knows me?”

“It’s fine,” she assured him.

“He should meet Maverick! I’ll go get him. He’s in the barn with Pie. They’re buddies.”

The boy headed for the barn at a run. Emily looked, finally, at Tucker, who was smiling as he watched Jeremy run. Smiling with love; that connection was palpable. She had the feeling this guy had stepped up in a big way when the child’s mother had been killed. Maybe it was knowing that that had her all tangled up when she was around him.

But she refused to let the odd feeling derail her. “Pie?” she asked.

Tucker turned his head back to look at her. His eyes really were that blue. “He’s a pony. Just Jeremy’s size, for now. He learned to ride on him when they first got here.”

“So, was he the inspiration forThorpe’s Therapy Horses?”

“In a way, yes. He and Jeremy.”

She nodded. “It’s a really, really good thing they’re doing.”

“It is. To just see these kids, who arrive all weighed down and buried in sadness, get on a horse and come alive again, even if it’s only for a while, is worth all the effort.”

She thought that a lovely way to put it. Who knew the former rodeo cowboy had such depths? Then again, maybe being nearly crushed to death taught you something.

“So,” he said, sounding a little awkward, “did you just stop by to see what’s going on, or is something wrong?”

“I just stopped by,” she said, snapping herself out of the crazy thoughts parading through her mind, “to thank Jeremy’s dad for calling my boss.”

He blinked. “Jackson called your boss? The police chief?”

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