Page 55 of The Cowboy Comes Home

He only realized he’d said it—or whispered it—when he heard it. It was crazy. He didn’t think he’d ever heard himself sound like that.

“Hi,” she said as she came to a halt a bare two feet away. “Sorry to interrupt your work.”

He bent slightly to pat Lobo’s head when the dog nudged at him. Then he glanced at the two remaining bales. “Don’t apologize for stopping me from lifting those.”

She looked from the bales on the barn floor to their obvious destination three and four bales up on the big stack. “I’d be tempted to be looking for a really hungry horse,” she said.

He suddenly felt a bit less tense. And when Splatter let out a rather loud snort, clearly aimed at Lobo, he found himself laughing. And agreeing. “I was thinking I’d leave the last one down here for dinner.”

“It would make no sense to put it up there to sit for just a few hours,” she said, very solemnly.

He found himself laughing again. But also wondering what she was doing here. “You looking for Nic?”

She shook her head. “Saw her in town this morning. She suggested Lobo and Splatter needed another play session.”

“Oh.” He couldn’t argue with that, although he did wonder if Nic had had more than the temperamental horse in mind. “Yeah.” He glanced toward the paint, who was now thumping a hoof against the stall door. “That’d be good for him, I think. Maybe wear him out a bit.”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said, “I was thinking, it’s about time for Jeremy to get out of school, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “I’m going to go pick him up as soon as I finish this. Jackson’s on a call with Hollywood.”

She grimaced. “Sorry to hear that.”

He laughed again and had the fleeting thought that he did that a lot around her. “Nah, it’s with one of the good guys. Miles Flint, who’s one of the producers ofStonewall.”

“Trying to convince him to come back?” she asked, and he liked that she sounded concerned.

“They’re friends, above and beyond the show, so I think Miles gets that he won’t. And he’s not a jerk.”

“So not like the guy Nic told me about a while back, who came out here and tried to drag him back?”

“Felix? The Swiffer?” She laughed, and it pleased him enough that he grinned. “Nope, nothing like him at all.”

“So,” she said with a nod toward Splatter, “shall we load Lobo back into my car and go pick up Jeremy for the play date with your energetic friend over there?”

As if for emphasis, Splatter snorted again and let out a rather demanding-sounding whinny. Or maybe it was just Tucker’s mind interpreting it that way. As if he needed an excuse to say yes.

And before he could think of all the reasons not to, he’d said it.

The first part of the ride into town was silent, because all he could think of to talk about was that damned job of hers, and that was the last thing he wanted to hear about. Besides, it was her day off, so she probably didn’t want to talk about it either.

He was grateful when, just before they hit the town limits, an approaching pickup tapped a light honk of the horn. The driver waved cheerfully at Emily. He didn’t know who the dark-haired woman was, but obviously she knew Emily, and vice versa, because Emily waved back, smiling widely.

She glanced at him after they’d passed. “You haven’t met Riley yet?”

“No.”

“Riley Garrett. Her ranch is one of the bigger ones in the area. She’s another long-time Last Stander. Her great-great-great-grandfather bought the land just after the revolution, and they’ve been here ever since.”

“This place seems to hang on to people.”

“It does. If you’ve the right heart for the place, it’s a home like nowhere else.”

He thought that was an almost poetic way to put it, and it made him smile. Again. Funny how he smiled so much around her. It felt…strange. Different. New. Nice.

No, it felt way beyond nice.

Perhaps fortunately, they reached the school before he could get too deep into that. There were a few other cars parked along the street, still occupied—and running, no doubt for the A/C—so he guessed also there to pick someone up. Since it was so warm, he was a little surprised when Emily said she thought she and Lobo would get out and walk over to the entrance. But then he spotted one of the kids who had been there that first day, harassing Jeremy. Today he was with two others he didn’t recognize, but who had the same attitude and way of strutting rather than walking.

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