Page 96 of Nashville Cowboy
She didn’t like the idea. Had she really done that? “It wasn’t ignoring, it was just…I-I sort of gave up on him.”
Oh my Lord. She had given up on a horse.
“Uh-huh.” Jackson’s arms tightened around her. “Exactly.”
“Oh boy.” She leaned back into Jackson’s chest, realizing he was right.
“Talk to him right now,” Jackson whispered as he tickled the shell of her ear. “I think he needs to hear your voice.”
“He’s content with you riding him. He loves you best.”
“Well, he should.”
She felt a little bit silly. It had been a while since she’d talked to a horse with anyone else listening. Mostly she’d done that with Hank around, when Taco, who hated doctors, was getting a checkup. Or being treated for colic. Now, she did the same when examining her own patients. And, of course, she talked to Thimble as she would a best friend who couldn’t repeat anything.
Jackson’s chin on her shoulder, he nudged, and she relented.
“Okay. So, here we are. Yes, Taco, you might have noticed, he’s back. Jackson, your favorite. I don’t think you’ve been the same since he left. You might remember, Itriedto talk to you, and you ignored me. I know you missed him every day that he was gone. Nothing was the same without him. And…the thing is, you didn’t do anything wrong. I did. It’s all my fault.”
“Eve, don’t—”
“Shh. I’m talking to Taco.” She rubbed his mane, her throat tight. “But you see, I’ve been forgiven. You have to forgive me, too. That’s kinda how it works. We’re all going to get along now. You love him. We all love him.Ilove him. So, there it is. Even after all this time.”
Suddenly Jackson was tugging her around to face him.
A fistful of her hair in his hand, Jackson moved her to meet his eyes. “Baby, say that to my face.”
“Wh-what part?” Her voice shook, knowing exactly what he wanted to hear again.
“You know.” His thumb brushed across her chin.
“Okay, okay.” She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I love you.”
An ease and comfort wrapped around her like a cozy blanket. She took in a deep cleansing breath. Some things were inevitable. Mud on her boots. Texas thunderstorms. Falling for the first boy she’d ever kissed. Falling in love andstayingin love despite everything.
It didn’t always happen that way, she’d heard.
“I love you,” Jackson said.
He kissed her then as the sun dipped, darkening the ridge, leaving it bathed only in the dim rays of the ambient moonlight.
Chapter 31
Two mornings later, Jackson had just kissed Eve goodbye and put the horses back in the stable after she left for work. They had quite a routine going. Days were mostly spent apart, but nights were spent together. In the mornings their custom was to take Thimble and Taco for a ride before daybreak. Life was comfortable. Calm and routine.
Family life was falling into place again. Hank relied on him in Lincoln’s absence and Jackson found that it wasn’t the oppressive weight on his chest that he’d expected. He and Hank were talking again without yelling at each other. When Hank needed help, Jackson had found that he was no longer asking someone else. He was coming to Jackson more and more.
“Phone!” Mima called to him from the kitchen back door.
“Be right there,” Jackson yelled and hightailed it back to the house.
“It’s your manager.”
He accepted the phone and spoke into the handheld receiver, walking into the hallway for some privacy. “Hey.”
“Hi ho, buddy!” said his manager, Troy Larimer.
“How’s everything going? Any luck putting the house up for sale?”
