Page 12 of Ride With Me
Shadow grabbed it eagerly with her lips and chomped it down, then nosed at my pocket, looking for more.
I giggled. “No more for today, girl. I’ll bring you more when I can. You be good for the kids, okay? I’m going to help with another horse, but you know I love you.” I leaned into Shadow’s neck, hugging her.
It turned out the barn was only about a 20 minute drive from the ranch. I pulled into the turnoff at the sign for Wild Horse ranch. The long dirt driveway was lined with pastures, with horses in two of them. I counted at least six horses on my way in. A chestnut horse had a large belly swaying beneath her, alone in a smaller paddock. Lena, I guessed.
At the barn, I parked next to two pickup trucks. Bailey hopped out of the SUV as soon as I opened the door, and I let her go. She’d run for a bit then find me.
I looked around. There was a house just beyond the barn. Look for Logan or go see the horses?
Easy choice. I headed straight into the barn. Horses were better than people any day.
“Hello?” I called out.
The wide hallway was lined with stalls. There was a staircase to my left, leading up to—an apartment? A hay loft?
I peeked in the stalls as I made my way down the barn. Almost all of them were empty, and looked to be freshly cleaned, with fresh sawdust blanketing each.
Toward the middle of the row there was one stall larger than the others. It looked like someone had combined two stalls into one. Extra sawdust and hay sat just outside the door, along with a large box.
This must be Lena’s stall.
I looked toward the barn door, judging the distance from the house to this stall. Not too far. When Lena went into labor, it would be easy to get here quickly. I nodded to myself.
Footsteps echoed in the barn behind me. “Hello there. You must be Savannah.”
I turned, finding an older man with a kind face walking toward me.
“I’m Craig Jennings, foreman here. Sure glad to have you here. Tom is a great man, but god forbid he let anyone else help him with the foaling. Maybe you can teach us a thing or two.”
I blushed, smiling. Craig seemed nice enough. “Well, I’m no expert, but I’ve been around a few of these. Just hoping I can help when the time comes.”
“Me too, little lady, me too. Appreciate you being here, anyway. You ride English or Western?”
How did I answer that? “I—“
Logan entered the barn and I snapped my mouth shut. Saved by the Dom.
“Hey, Savannah! Glad you made it. You have stuff in your car? Let me show you around the house. There’s a bedroom next to the hay loft in here, but no bathroom, so I figured you’d be more comfortable in the main house. I’m in there as well. Where’s Bailey?”
I wasn’t sure it would be more comfortable, exactly, being around Logan all the time. The man made me nervous and excited and aroused and terrified, all at the same time. I wasn’t sure those were the emotions I wanted running through me when I was supposed to be helping to deliver a foal. But it wasn’t exactly warm out here, and there was no bathroom, so the house it was.
“This one over here is where I’ve been staying,” Logan said, pointing out a bedroom as he showed me around the house. “There are two other bedrooms. You can choose whichever one you’d like. They share a bathroom. I have my own, so you don’t have to share with me.” Logan winked at me.
I smiled, relaxing a bit. At least I wouldn’t have to share a shower with him, right?
I looked at both rooms, then chose the room closest to the stairs. It had a feminine touch, with pinks and pale peaches standing out against white furniture. There was even a ruffled bedskirt. I was in heaven.
“Get yourself settled then come on out to the barn again. I’ll introduce you to the horses when we bring them in for the evening,” Logan called from downstairs.
I sat on the edge of the bed. This was such a gorgeous house. What would it be like to wake up every morning with horses just outside your window? I could do this.
Couldn’t I?
9
Logan
Itidiedthekitchenwhile I let Savannah get settled in her room, which is to say that I used one hand to sweep a bunch of receipts and papers from the counter into the junk drawer. I looked around. Good enough.
