Page 77 of Sunrise & Serenity

She gives me a half-smile, then faces straight ahead, lifting her camera with one hand and snapping a photo.

“What was that one for?”

“Have a look.” She holds her camera out.

I nudge Whiskey forward until we’re close enough that our legs brush, then I inspect the image. She captured the mountain peaks in the distance, framed perfectly by Cozy’s pricked ears.

“If I were a horse rider,” she says, “I think that would make me want to come here and experience this.”

“You are a horse rider.”

She gives me a hint of a smile. “In progress, maybe.”

A few minutes later, I spot a fence break in the distance. The wire is sagging just enough to catch the light wrong, the post leaning a few degrees off where it should be. “Up ahead,” I tell Sage, tipping my chin toward it.

As we approach, the break becomes more obvious. I angle Whiskey toward it. “Stay there a second.”

Sage pulls Cozy to a stop as I assess the damage. Not too bad. Shouldn’t take long to fix.

After swinging out of the saddle, I pull the pliers from my saddlebag, followed by the coil of wire. When I test the fence, it gives under my hand. Not enough for cattle to get through yet, but another storm might finish the job.

I work quickly, cutting the loose section before threading in the new wire. Behind me, I can feel Sage watching. Not hovering, not asking questions. Just… paying attention.

The way she always does.

I finish twisting the wire, give it a practiced pull to set the tension, then step back. “That’ll hold,” I say, more to myself than her.

“How did you spot it from so far away?”

I glance back at the fence, then at her. “You get used to what it’s supposed to look like. When it’s off, you see it.”

She hums. “Apparently so.”

I slip the pliers and wire back into the saddlebag and swing back up.

“You good to keep going?” I ask her, though she hasn’t had any trouble so far.

“Absolutely.”

I scrutinize her to make sure she’s not just putting on a brave face, but the way she grins at me tells me she’s not. And when she nudges Cozy forward, that smile still curving her lips as she glances at me over her shoulder, the urge to chase after her hits me hard and fast.

It’s a dangerous feeling.

Makes me think that if I start chasing, I might not stop.

CHAPTER 20

SAGE

Iwas worried spending time with him like this would be too awkward to be enjoyable, but it hasn’t turned out that way. Even when there’s silence between us, it’s the comfortable kind. Maybe that’s because it’s filled with the whisper of the breeze through the long grass, the hoofbeats of the horses, the occasional snort, and the high-pitched cry of a hawk circling above us.

Peaceful doesn’t begin to describe it.

Over the next few hours, we stop several more times. While Holden makes repairs, I take photos, even capturing the hawk mid-spiral, wings outstretched, head angled downward as it searches for prey.

The steady rhythm of the ride is beginning to feel almost familiar when Holden stops again. “Hold up.”

I rein Cozy in. “What is it?”