Page 144 of Kage

I’d come to know it far too well, spending several anxiety-riddled nights in the barn with Tank keeping me company.

“Well, fuck. Maybe Tank will bring him out of his shell.”

Ben grinned and looked down at the pup. “If anyone can, Tank can do it. Right, buddy?”

Woof. Woof.

Tank was ready for anything. When Ben pulled a tennis ball from his jacket pocket, tossing it out of the barn door, I shook my head.

“Why does everyone spoil my dog?”

“Because he’s lovable. Unlike his owner.”

“Very funny,” I snarked. “You mind having him as company for a little while? I want to take Sadie out for a ride.”

“Sure thing. Tank isn’t tough to love.”

Ben had figured out I wasn’t as much of an asshole as I’d portrayed myself for the first couple of weeks. With zero clue what the fuck I’d been doing, I’d used my snarly attitude as my defense mechanism.

Something Juliette would never have allowed me to get away with.

There I went again, thinking about her.

Maybe because of the last post she’d made that I’d looked at just the morning before. It was of the New York City skyline. The byline?

New life. Here I come. Look out world and stay tuned.

She’d finally moved on. Not that I blamed her.

We’d bantered back and forth with me using my private profile for a few days. Then she’d stopped commenting altogether.

As of the last couple of days, so had I. Maybe she’d navigated to my business profile. Maybe she hadn’t. I had to stop worrying or caring. It wasn’t doing me any good.

I’d ridden Sadie to work that morning, taking her down the pathway I’d created between the two properties. She loved being in the corral with the other horses. She’d taken to being the queen bee, which had allowed her to come out of her shell.

The only difficult things about the location of the pathway were the reminders of Juliette. Both good and bad. But with enough time, maybe I’d stop thinking about the moment I’d thought she’d been shot. Or finding her prepared to launch into me because someone was abusing horses.

I cracked a smile as I grabbed Sadie’s saddle. Tank was already running after Ben, determined to get into some mischief.

The snowstorms had taken a reprieve, allowing for a much easier ride every other morning or so. It was good just to be able to clear my head.

As I placed my foot in the stirrup, I thought about the second conversation I’d had with Maddox. The first had been terse, neither one of us saying much, but thankfully last night, we’d laughed about a couple of old stories.

Just like we’d done before.

Maybe we were both finally ready to heal.

If only I had a chance to tell Juliette she was right after all. Of course, then she’d never let me live it down.

Chuckling, I adjusted the reins and patted Sadie on the neck. “Come on, girl. Let’s go for a ride.”

My sweet girl was happy to oblige.

The ride cleared my head, at least enough I could get on with the rest of my day.

As always, I ended up at the lake. Only the shallow water by the shore was lightly frozen, allowing for a crystal-clear view of the fish and other wildlife. Just being on the plot of land was peaceful.

I eased onto the ground, tying the reins around a tree trunk, although Sadie wasn’t going anywhere. The sky was beautiful, light colors splashing across it as the sun rose. I made my way to the lake’s edge, enjoying the peace and solitude.

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