* * * *
I had the young dun mare in the round pen when Lake appeared at the fence.
“Hey,” I said in a calm, even tone without taking my eyes off the horse. “Shouldn’t you be working?”
“Yeah, but Anderson called me back.”
Something akin to jealousy slithered down my back, and I didn’t like it. I knew Lake and I were on the verge of something long-lasting and beautiful, but we were still new, and Lake had history with this Anderson guy.
“Oh yeah?”
Lake hummed. “He’s coming over the day after tomorrow.” I saw him shrug from the corner of my eye. “He’s interested in helping us out, but he wants to come over first. Exactly like I thought he would.”
“Well…” I gathered my thoughts while the mare did her thing, still in rhythm with me. She was listening to Lake, too, but mostly concentrated on me, which was more than I could’ve asked, really. “I’m glad we’re getting help.”
Lake snorted softly. “I feel…weird about it. About having him visit. Not…not because there’s any lingering feelings or anything like that, but because he’s so firmly in the past, you know?”
“Past colliding with the present?”
“Yeah. I guess. We didn’t have any actual friends in New York, only one another. I guess Rey could’ve had some, but we don’t know about his past. Anyway, it feels weird to bring someone from there to here, when I’ve finally found where I belong.”
The words made my concentration slip enough that the mare tossed her head and snorted.
“And slow down,” I told her, stretching the words and watching as she did as I asked. Once she was walking again, I lowered the lunge whip to let it rest on the ground. “What do you need from me?” I asked Lake, turning with the mare as she shook herself and elongated her neck as she stretched.
“I would like you to rail me tonight. And tomorrow night. Just so I’ll have a hitch in my gait when he arrives.”
I made a choking sound and turned to look at Lake. The mare snorted again and acted as if I’d turned into a tiger.
She began to dance a little, and Lake laughed at her antics while I reeled her in and calmed her down.
“You have a name for your girl yet?”
Frowning, I glanced at him. “What?”
“She’s not for sale, ever. She’s yours,” he stated, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
I turned fully to face him while holding the lead with one hand and petting the mare with the other.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you know how you put some horses up on the website even before they’re ready?”
I nodded. That was how we sold most of our horses. There weren’t many to begin with, at the moment we had two that were ready whenever a suitable owner contacted us and went through the vetting process Ruth had come up with. Sierra did the general upkeep of the site and I added horses—well, gave her the information she needed to put up with any photos I’d managed to remember to snap with my phone.
“I know. She’s too green still. I don’t want to add her before she’s ready.”
Lake looked amused. “What if I told you she’s definitely ready if the right owner came along? You haven’t put her up because you don’t want her to go.”
I opened my mouth to deny what he was telling me, but then thought about it.
She was young and inexperienced, but she would be a perfect horse for someone who liked to put time into a young horse to build her up to their liking. She had a great, cheeky character, and she was getting braver each day, and whenever I took her for a walk—in a lead, like a dog almost—in the reserve across the road, she—”Reina,” I said. “Her name is Reina.”
Lake smiled widely, beaming at us. “Reina. I like that.”
I walked her close to the fence and she sniffed at his hand.
“I don’t think Lake has any treats.”
