Page 57 of Ethan

“What’s next?” she asked.

“I thought we’d hit Paige’s.”

“What’s Paige’s?”

Serena grinned. “Lingerie.”

Naomi didn’t hesitate. “We’re absolutely hitting Paige’s.”

Serena laughed and they turned down the sidewalk.

****

Ethan entered the barn office, strode around the desk, and dropped into the chair. He didn’t feel like being cooped up inside the house, so he’d work out here instead. The barn sounds helped him think, horses moving in their stalls, the occasional nicker, the swallows in the rafters.

He pulled up the books and got to work on the paperwork for the sale. Carl Pruitt had seemed like a good man who knew exactly what he was looking at. He’d just purchased a champion, and Ethan had no doubt Copper would earn back her price many times over in the right hands.

He hoped she’d be happy there too. He always did with the ones he sold. Every contract he drew up had a clause in it, if he ever found one of his horses being mistreated, he’d take it back. No negotiation, no refund. It had never come to that, but the clause was there and he meant every word of it. He had no tolerance for people who abused animals. None.

An hour later he pushed back from the desk, stood, and stretched. He’d been sitting too long in that uncomfortable chair.

He walked out into the barn and found Rowdy and Kurt talking near the far end. They both turned when they heard him coming.

“Hey, boss,” Kurt said.

“Afternoon.” Ethan stopped beside them. “How’s it going?”

“Almost done with the stalls,” Rowdy said.

“Once you’re finished you can head out.” He looked at Kurt. “Who else is here today?”

“Curly. He’s getting ready to ride the fence line.”

“Make sure he takes a radio. You know how he is.”

Kurt grinned. “Gets in a hurry.”

“Every time.” Ethan turned toward the tack room. “I’m going down to the pond. Get some fishing in.”

“Hey, uh.” Kurt shifted his weight. “Where’s Naomi today?”

Ethan stopped and turned to look at him. “She went into town with Serena.” He held Kurt’s gaze for just a beat. “Why?”

“Just wondering.”

Ethan looked at him a moment longer than necessary, then nodded and walked to Vulcan’s stall. The horse’s ears came forward the moment he saw him.

He saddled Vulcan, grabbed his fishing rod and tackle from the tack room, and rode out the back of the barn toward the pond. It sat on the south end of the property, fed by the same creek that ran past the cabin, tucked in a hollow between two gentle rises that kept the wind off it on most days.

He tied Vulcan to a low branch at the edge of the tree line, baited his hook, and settled into the folding chair he kept stashed under a tarp near the bank. He cast his line and watched it settle on the still water.

He liked fishing for the same reason he liked the cabin. It required just enough of his attention to quiet everything else.

Almost everything.

He thought about Kurt asking where Naomi was. The way he’d shifted his weight. The casual tone that wasn’t quite casual enough. It was a joke around the ranch that Kurt fell in love at the drop of a hat, but Ethan would keep an eye on him and if he stepped out of line with Naomi, he’d talk to Kurt.

Ethan wasn’t the jealous type. He’d never had much patience for it in other men. But there was something about the way Kurt had asked that sat wrong with him and he wasn’t going to pretend it didn’t.