Page 11 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
Riley reined herbig buckskin King to a halt and pulled her phone out quickly when her dad’s tone sounded.He kept saying he was fine, and she kept worrying.But the reverse was true as well—when she’d been hurting, and kept saying she was fine, he’d kept worrying.She’d given up stressing about it.The man had been the rock of her life, and she’d never stop worrying and neither would he.
She shook it off and opened the texting app.Her father was quite adept at the thing and had been playing with it more and more while temporarily laid up with his knee.
Jeremy Thorpe is en route to the overlook to thank you.He comes bearing a lovely gift.
She blinked.A gift?Her brow furrowed.She’d made clear the pony was a birthday present for Jeremy, so this was hardly necessary.Puzzled, she texted back an acknowledgment and was silently glad for the good reason to stay a bit longer here in her favorite place in the world.
She dismounted and ground-tied the obedient King.It was still a little chilly, so she left her flannel-lined denim jacket on as she went over to the bench.It wasn’t really a bench, but a large, oblong boulder about that size that was worn smooth enough to sit on comfortably.She took her preferred spot and sat looking out at the rolling hills she so loved.The view expanded to the horizon with little to interfere.They’d always called it the overlook, and this glorious sight was why.The only time she loved those hills a little more was spring, when the bluebonnets arrived, and those hills were that glorious shade as far as you could see.
It always made her think of that amazing video Cody Rafferty had made for the Bluebonnet Festival website, that drone footage that captured the horizon just at the moment the blue of the sky blended so perfectly with the blue of the flowers, just before the sun rose and blasted over the hills, lighting up everything.
She sat down, soaking in everything around her.This rock had been called the bench for as long as she could remember, as long as her father could remember, and her grandfather, and according to him his father and grandfather.The heart and soul—and occasionally the blood—of generations of Garretts were poured into this soil.And she felt the pull of it, the attachment, as if it were a physical thing, a pull that reached her on a level so deep she had no name for it.
That her mother had felt no such thing was a fact she didn’t even try to deny.Sometimes she thought the only thing she’d inherited from the woman was that slight uptilt of her nose.Whereas Alexandra Garrett couldn’t get out of here soon enough, Riley could no more imagine leaving this place than she could lift off and fly like that red-tailed hawk that was circling above.
She heard the sound of the vehicle engine well before it got here.When she looked, she saw the bright blue of a Baylor ranch truck approaching.She knew Nic was booked up this next week, hence the Sunday afternoon meeting with a potential new client, so maybe it was Jackson.She smiled at the thought.Not so long ago she would have assumed the man would be above such things, but she knew better now.He made her think of the frequently seen bumper sticker that said “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could.”
But now that she thought about it, she remembered Nic had mentioned something about Jackson having a group of heavy-hitter potential donors toThorpe’s Therapy Horsescoming in this afternoon.
“The kind I try to avoid,” Nic had admitted.“Jackson’s who they want to see anyway.”
King’s head was up, looking at the approaching vehicle.She hoped whoever it was didn’t try to drive all the way up here.Even as she thought it, the truck stopped at the bottom of the rise.She saw Jeremy, carrying a big piece of paper, slide out.And then the driver got out, and she groaned inwardly.
Miles Flint.
You’d think he’d be there with Jackson, him being the big wheeler-dealer and money guy.
Jeremy headed up the rise, looking as if he’d like to run, but it was a bit too steep for his short legs.His driver, on the other hand, came up in long-legged strides that would befit a native of the Hill Country.A bit surprising for a guy who mostly walked the concrete grid of L.A.Maybe he got out of there more than she thought.
Of course why she was wondering about him at all was beyond her.
Jeremy was grinning so widely when he reached her, it was impossible not to grin back at him.
“Welcome, Master Thorpe.How’s my favorite neighbor?”
“Happy,” Jeremy pronounced.
The man who had brought him had come to a halt a couple of steps back, as if not wanting to intrude.That surprised her, too, until she glanced at his face and saw his eyes—Nic had been right about them, they were a fascinating combination of gold-flecked green—gleaming a little too brightly, as if they were…wet.
She saw that he was watching Jeremy, and was suddenly certain his eyes had welled up a little.
Happy.He’s getting teary-eyed because Jeremy’s happy.
Riley was aware she had made some judgments about this man without knowing anything about him beyond his job title.She wasn’t even all that sure what a producer did, besides bring in the money.But what she did know was that this man cared a great deal for his friend’s little boy.Which spoke volumes about the genuineness of his relationship with Jackson.
“Here,” Jeremy said, holding out the large page in his hand.“I made this to say thanks for Pie’s new friend.”
She took the sheet of heavy paper and looked at the drawing on it.There were parts that were childish, but the ponies were not.They were surprisingly detailed and accurate, down to the size and shape of the crooked blaze down the piebald’s head.
“It’s wonderful,” she exclaimed, meaning it.“You drew this?”
Jeremy nodded his head rapidly, as if he were afraid she didn’t believe him.“Uncle Miles can tell you—he saw me do it.”
The boy looked at the man who had apparently attained the honorary uncle title just as Tucker Culhane had.By his startled but very pleased look, she gathered it was recent, and that it delighted him.
That also said a lot about him.
“He did,” he confirmed.“He’s gotten amazing at it since…they came here.”
