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“I bought them right on the spot and brought them out here. Still not real sure what to do with them.”
Lucy’s reaches out and grabs my arm. Her little fingers are unable to fully reach around my forearm. It’s the first time she’s been the one to initiate the touch. It takes everything in me not to grab her and pull her towards me and mold her body against mine. Where it belongs.
“What do you mean do with them?” she asks, the concern clear in her voice.
“Well, normally my ranch breaks them in and then sells them.”
“You can’t split them up.” Her words are so fast I almost don’t catch them, her passion making her accent bleed through. Something about that turns me on even more. That fire lighting up her eyes.
“No. I can’t,” I confirm. “I’m not sure I can even part with them myself.” That makes her whole face light up, and I swear to Christ, my heart stops for a second. Fuck, I’ll let them move into the house if it keeps that look on her face.
“So then, you do know what you are doing with them?”
“No, I don’t know if I should leave them be, or break them in and try to train them.” She glances back to the horses, and I can’t read her expression. It bothers me that I can’t fully understand her every thought. Know all the little signs of what she’s thinking.
“They look happy out here.”
Luciana looks happy out here, too. It makes me believe that maybe she’d want to stay here too, because, like that wild horse, if someone tried to break us up I’m not sure I could go on either.
“I like watching them like this, too. It’s why I haven’t started to try. I’ve just let them be. I come out from time to time to check on them, but I have a feeling it won’t be long until she’s carrying a foal. Already might have one.”
Her hand on my arms slides down to my hand, her fingers lacing with mine. “I think we’ll keep checking on them, see how things go,” she says, looking up at me. “I'd love to be here when she births.”
“I like the sound of that,” I confirm. I like the idea that every day we’ll take a trip out here together. That she’ll be here when the horse does foal, because that would mean she's planning to stay longer than her set farm hours. I wonder if she even realizes what she said. “Come on, let’s get back. We barely covered any land today and have a lot to cover tomorrow. I’ll get you fed and into bed.” I don’t let her hand go as I walk back towards the Gator. I let her climb into the passenger’s seat, and only then do I finally let her hand go. I walk around to the driver’s side, hop in, and take off back towards the house.
When I pull up to the front of the house, I see Dolly leaning against her truck. My hackles start to rise when her mouth doesn’t turn up into a smile like it usually does. Dolly’s always happy, even when she’s being a sassy pain in the ass.
“What’s wrong?” I say, pulling up next to her.
“Ty called and said he hasn’t gotten a hold of Trace all day. You talk to him?” she questions, her eyes going over to Luciana. Dolly gives her a small wave.
I’m not sure if they’ve met before or not, but normally no one is a stranger to Dolly if she has her way. So I’m guessing they’ve shared a hello or two.
“No, but that’s Trace. He can go days without talking to anyone.” It’s not unheard of. Hell, a few times he’s taken off camping on his own land for weeks on end. It's not news that he likes to be alone.
My dad struck oil long ago when we were kids, and all the rigs are on Trace’s land. He just has to keep an eye out and run a few day-to-day things. We have an oil company that manages them for the most part. It’s easy for him to come and go as he pleases. That’s the way he likes it.
“Yeah, but I guess he was supposed to meet with Mr. Benson about some feed and never showed. Nor did he show to pick up the pies MJ made him.”
Trace might like to be alone, but he’s always punctual. If he says he’ll be somewhere, he’ll be there fifteen minutes before that time and then get pissed if you aren’t there at that time, too.
“You didn’t just drive over and check on him yourself?” I ask. Usually Dolly would be all in this wondering where Trace was and what he was doing.
“Ty called me not even two minutes ago. I was already here dropping off your pies from MJ. They’re on the kitchen counter, by the way.”
“All right. I’ll drive over. His road can be a pain. Even more so after last night’s storm. And the fact that he still hasn’t lain new gravel this year.” I sigh, not wanting to leave Luciana. I still haven’t gotten to feed her yet, but I don’t want Dolly getting herself stuck in the mud, not to mention if Trace is MIA, it’s for a reason, and I’m guessing having Dolly ask him five million questions wouldn’t help whatever it is.
I turn to look at Luciana. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Make yourself at home.” I want to lean in and kiss her, but I don’t know how she’ll take it. Plus, Dolly is standing right here.
“I’m going to make something to eat and head to bed,” she tells me as she steps out of the Gator.
“I think I’ll join you. I haven't eaten all day,” Dolly says, and I know that’s bullshit. Dolly can out-eat me and has probably already eaten three times today. She wants to get Luciana alone and dig. “Besides, I didn't know you were staying out here, Luciana. I thought you worked at the vet office in town with Dr. Long.”
“She’s training here,” I tell Dolly, cutting in. I really don’t want to leave now. What if Dolly offers Lucy a place to stay? “Don’t you have school work or something?”
“Don’t you have a brother to check on?” she fires back, and I know I’m not going to win this. Dolly can be just like our ma. If she wants something, she’s getting it, and nothing will stand in her way. Hell, I think we all are like that. Right now she wants to talk to Luciana, preferably with me not around.
“I’d love if you’d join me,” Luciana says, and we both look over at her. “My sister and I normally cook dinn
er together if we can. I think it’s important for family to be as close as they can be.” She narrows her eyes at me, clearly not liking that I was trying to get my sister out of here.
Fucking shit.
“All right. Save me some,” I tell them, pulling my Stetson from my head and handing it to Luciana. “I’ll be back.”
“We really should save him something or he’ll starve. He can’t cook to save his life,” I hear Dolly say as I pick up the pace, almost running to my truck past Lucy’s beat-up little bug. I really need to get rid of that thing and another vehicle. The sooner I get gone, the sooner I can get back.
After hopping in my truck and taking off, I pull out my phone and call a dealer in town for a quick chat. I tell him what I want, what needs to be towed, and where the new truck should go. I know that’s probably going to be a fight. I don’t care. I’ll give Lucy anything she wants, unless that something puts her in danger. After spending the day with her, I know one thing: Lucy is always worried about the people around her. She likes to make sure everyone else has or gets what they need. Well, I’m going to make sure she’s the one getting what she needs.
Chapter 6
Luciana
We stand there as Blake takes off, nearly tearing up the gravel driveway as he goes. I hear Dolly laugh and I look over to see her shaking her head.
“I’m so excited. I finally found something to get under his skin about. Nothing ever gets to Blake. It all rolls off him. Or it did.” She puts her arm through mine and steers us towards the house. “Now let’s see what we can find in here to eat. I have groceries delivered once a week so I have something to cook when I come over. He should be pretty stocked up.”
Her red curls bounce as we enter the kitchen, and she goes to the fridge and starts pulling stuff out like she does this all the time. It’s sweet that she looks after Blake and that their family is close enough that they all watch out for each other. It reminds me of home, and I know not every family is like this. I go over to the sink and wash up, then move to the large island and start chopping some vegetables, thinking about doing this every night for Blake. I love that he has his sister to help him, but I prefer the idea of filling this spot for him.
