Gemma looked at her brother and asked what I didn’t want to. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because he’s going to pay big bucks and I really want that swimming pool for hydrotherapy.”
“Not a water treadmill?” I asked, because that would be a lot cheaper.
Hawk shook his head. “I feel like a pool would be much more useful in the long run. But I want it indoors and while we have the space on the property, we don’t have a ready building.”
“So, we’re looking for a horse that’s impossible to find so we can get a pool house for ponies,” Gemma summarized, clearly happy with the alliteration. “What else?”
“Well, I also want to build a few things for training. Like the wobbly bridge and a couple of other things. We can put them where the old corral was near the paddock on this end.” He gestured toward the windows.
I hummed thoughtfully. “You’ll need more hands for building?”
“Yes, but I can only have Gemma for half a day, while I also am not going to put more than half a day into the project, and if our halves don’t match….”
“That’s where I come in.”
“Exactly. I’ll also want another person with me whenever I drive to auctions, so depending on where it is, if you don’t mind Mom watching your kiddo….” He trailed off, but his tone and body language suggested I had all the say on this matter.
“I would rather not go far enough for an overnight trip, unless I can bring him with me, and he’s starting daycare in a few weeks.”
“We can work with that,” he said in an easy tone.
We chatted for a while longer, before Gemma left to check on some of the rescues, and Hawk and I went to figure out the space for the new stuff.
Coincidentally, it was next to the paddock where I had Jaina. Not because it was close to the stock barn—because the distances were quite big here—but because said paddock was huge and I’d wanted her to be able to stretch her legs.
“This used to be a corral?” I asked as we examined the ground, walking around the spot that was still reasonably even.
“Yeah, there was a shelter over there and it was fenced in. We need to build a new fence just in case, then… the wobbly bridge here?” He gestured to one end of the space. “If we place it this way, there’ll be plenty of room if a horse needs to jump off it.”
“Sounds good. And the rest can go—” A loud, familiar neigh that turned into nickering was followed with the thundering of hooves.
Hawk looked over to the paddock and laughed. “Someone spotted her human.”
I sighed, trying to look exasperated, but nobody believed that. I walked over to the wooden fence and climbed up a rung, then waited until Jaina got there, letting us hear just how happy she was.
“I know, girl.” I patted her neck and let out an “oomph” when she swung her head over the fence to get more cuddles.
“Wy says you have a special connection,” Hawk stated, coming to the fence. He climbed two rungs, since he was shorter, then loved on Jaina when she moved to him for pets.
“We worked hard. She was this miserable, gangly two-year-old and just needed someone willing to connect with her.”
“Don’t downplay it. It’s rare to see a horse who is this into their person. I’m glad you got her back.” He gave her a couple of more pats, then pushed her back my way.
“Yeah.” I stroked her ears and she let out a long, happy exhale.
“Crew wants to see people happy,” Hawk murmured thoughtfully. “If he sees someone has a hole in their heart and there’s something he can do to help, he’ll try. He might strongarm them a little to get his way, but he only ever means well.”
I snorted. Yeah, that sounded about right. “I’m still not used to everyone… caring so much.”
Hawk looked at me, something older than our years—I was a year older at twenty-five—in his gaze. “When it comes to the family, yeah, we’re a force of nature. We want everyone happy and settled. My brother, on the other hand….” He shrugged and smiled at Jaina who was trying to steal my ball cap. “He’s… special. He doesn’t connect easily, but when he does, he holds a torch something fierce.”
I had no idea what Hawk meant and why he’d share that with me, but then his cell rang, and he stepped away to take the call.
Hawk gestured for me to wait for him, but also frowned at his phone, so I figured it would take a while.
Since she was right there, I climbed over the fence and used the height to get onto Jaina. She tossed her head in her excited happy way, then perked her ears to listen to what I was going to ask of her.
