“I have a full-time job. And my part-time job has been your –”
She got distracted, her head whipping around. “Are those elk?”
He slowed the truck down and saw that there was a herd standing in one of the open fields. “Yep, looks like it.”
She smiled. “I haven’t gotten used to that. Just seeing elk milling around, grazing in a whole herd. I did see a moose once.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, there are a small number in Vermont. But it’s not like… Herd, just off the side of the road. But they are massive. And scary.”
“Kind of like horses?”
“Scarier,” she said. “I wouldn’t try to ride a moose.”
“You haven’t tried to ride a horse yet.”
“True. True.”
They rattled up the dirt road that led to the working ranch side of Painted Ridge, and he was relieved to see that it was pretty cleared out, because it was edging into the middle of the day, and everyone was out working their assignments.
“There’s a horse here that I have in mind for you. His name is Billy. He’s a gelding, and he’s very gentle. Have you met Billy before?”
“I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not a hundred percent up on the horse names, because usually I’m just too busy being scared of them.”
“All right,” he said. “That’s fair enough. But let’s get you introduced to Billy.”
When they both got out of the truck, he took her hand and let her into the barn.
Billy was in a stall at the center of the large stable, and he had a gentle look about him, at least in Zane’s eyes.
He was a beautiful horse. A blonde mane, and soft, brown eyes with long lashes.
“I missed the horses,” he said. “When I moved in with my grandparents, it was a neighborhood. And I really missed living on a ranch.” He was quiet for a moment. “All the money from the sale of the ranch and all the livestock went to me. And it’s just been in an account the whole time. I’ve never known what to do with it. Because it just felt wrong to use it. But this is what I’m thinking of doing now, investing in this business.”
“You should do it,” she said. “You should start building something that belongs to you. A legacy.”
A legacy. What kind of legacy could he possibly have? He had never been close to his dad’s side of the family, and if there were cousins, he didn’t know any of them. His mother had been an only child, and that was that. His grandparents were gone, his mother was gone. Right now, it felt like everything was going to end with him, and it felt like there wasn’t a legacy to be had. But what was the point of letting that money sit there? What was the point of living the whole rest of his life like he hadn’t made a mark on the Earth at all?
“I think I will,” he said. “Thanks.”
“I think you were going to make the decision to do it anyway.”
“I don’t know if that’s true.”
He looked at her for a long moment and then decided it was time to get the ride moving.
Because his chest was starting to feel a little bit too heavy, and his body felt like it was on the edge of something, a cliff, a knife-edge. He wasn’t quite sure which. Cara stoodway back while he tacked up the horse. “Come on,” he said, grabbing her hand and drawing her slowly toward Billy. “Put your hand out, let him sniff you.”
She did, her eyes round.
“You don’t have to ride today if it’s not feeling like the thing to do. The last thing I want is for this to be scary. I don’t think it will be, I think it’s going to be great. I’m going to take you out to the arena, where the dirt is soft, and if anything happens, I promise I’ll be right there.”
She nodded slowly. “I don’t really trust the horse. But I trust you.”
He couldn’t remember the last time he smiled quite so easily. Not just a small smile, but one that moved his whole face, one that moved his spirit.
“You can trust me,” he said.
