Page 21 of The CEO and the Mountain Man

“Exactly like you.”

He sent me a dark scowl, but I didn’t believe him. I gave him the rest of the apple, and he slowly fed the sections to her, enjoying the moment.

“You mind keeping her company while I go check the other stalls?”

“Sure.”

We had hands who took care of the stalls, and I knew they would be clean, and that all the horses would be comfortable and happy. But something told me that River needed space as much as anything else. Just a place to simply … be.

By the time I made my way around to all the horses, morning light was starting to filter through. God rays bouncing around the place.

When I went to check on Betty and River, I stopped in my tracks.

River was hugging Betty. And crying, I think.

I slipped my phone out of my back pocket and took a picture. I didn’t quite know why, but it felt like I should, with the lighting and the beauty of the moment, capture it somehow.

I pulled up Clark’s phone number and texted the photograph to him. Then grimaced. River might not have liked getting photographed in a vulnerable moment.

Clark: Is that River?

Me: Yeah. I think he’s made a friend.

Clark sent me the emoji that has the crying eyes and the smiling mouth, which I was pretty sure was a good thing. It was probably fine that I’d sent that over. I put my phone away as I went to the entrance of the stall.

“You wanna help me and Miguel set up the rope swing for the river today?”

River startled and pulled back from Betty, surreptitiously wiping his tears. “We really do need to put a bell on you.”

Shit.

“Sorry. Never thought of myself as stealthy,” I said, gesturing at myself.

He refocused on Betty, running his hand down her mane. “I kinda like this horse.”

“She’s pretty cool. If you don’t mind, though, I’ll probably have your dad on her for the trail ride.”

He made a sound almost like a laugh. “Yeah, we need a beginner horse for him.”

Grateful that I hadn’t run him off by startling him twice this morning, I repeated my question from earlier. “We’re gonna replace the rope swing after everyone’s breakfast settles this morning. Are you down for that?”

“Sure. You said you needed help?”

I nodded. “Miguel will be doing the climbing, thank God, but we need a few brave testers.”

River’s mouth seemed not to know whether it wanted to smile or frown. “Who says I’m brave?”

“You don’t hafta be brave. Stupid works just fine.”

He shot me the bird. “Meet you after breakfast?”

“Yep.”

I feltresponsible for what was happening right in front of me.

It wasn’t anything bad.

But it wassomething.