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Both twins raced to the door that Monte held open for them, but he waited for Jessy. “I only hope my gift meets with your approval,” he murmured to her. “I’m afraid I have been a bit presumptuous.”
Jessy suspected he had been very presumptuous if he thought she would be excited to receive one of his registered Highland cows. For the time being she chose to say nothing at all.
Trey pounced on Monte the minute they stepped onto the veranda. “Where’s the s’prise?” he demanded with suspicion.
“Down there.” Monte gestured toward the Range Rover he had parked on a flat stretch of ground at the base of the knoll.
With a sinking heart, Jessy noticed the closed horse van that was hitched to it. It was all she needed to see to become convinced that his surprise was a shaggy-coated beast.
“Where?” Disappointment was already starting to cloud Laura’s expression.
“I’ll show you.”
Monte took the lead, descending the steps and striking out toward the trailer. Trey trotted after him, followed by Laura, while Jessy lagged behind all of them.
He went directly to the rear of the horse van and paused with one hand on the gate. “All three of you stand over there and cover your eyes.” He directed them to a spot near the trailer gate.
Obediently Trey and Laura stopped and reached up to cover their eyes. Laura stole a peek at Jessy. “You’re supposed to hide your eyes, Mommy.”
Complying, Jessy bowed her head and cupped a hand over her eyes, going through the motions for their sake. She heard the snick of the latch unbolting and the thunk of the gate ramp being lowered to the ground. She wasn’t at all surprised to hear the clump of hooves on the ramp.
“Are you ready?” Monte called, dragging out the moment to Jessy’s annoyance.
The twins shouted, “Ready!” in an excited chorus.
“Very well. You may look now,” he told them.
Jessy lowered her hand and forced a smile onto her face, then froze at the sight of a pony, its chestnut coat brushed to a high gleam. Neck arched and ears pricked, the pony swung its head toward the trio of onlookers, showing off a snow white stripe that ran from nose to forelock.
Laura oohed and clasped her hands together in delight. Trey wasted no such time. He ran straight to the pony and held out his palm for the pony to nuzzle. Laura followed at a more composed pace.
“He’s beautiful, Mommy,” she proclaimed on closer inspection.
“Indeed he is,” Jessy agreed and shot a glance at Monte, catching the hopeful way he was watching her.
“I warned you that I was being a bit presumptuous,” he reminded her.
“So you did.” Joining them, Jessy ran a hand over the pony’s sleek neck.
“Does he have a name?” Laura wondered as the pony obligingly dropped its head to her level, allowing her to pet its cheek.
“He’s called Sundance,” Monte replied before bringing his attention back to Jessy. “He is a six-year-old registered Welsh, extremely well-trained, with an extraordinarily gentle disposition. The perfect mount for a child.”
“And I thought you were bringing over one of your Highland cows,” Jessy remembered with amusement.
“But it is a breed from another part of Britain,” Monte said. Turning his attention to Trey, he said, “Would you like me to lift you aboard so you can ride him for a bit?”
Trey immediately stepped back from the pony and gave Monte a look that said he had lost his senses. “He’s too little to ride yet.”
For an instant, Jessy was too stunned to react. Then her mind flashed back to all the times she had said something similar to Trey when she had taken the twins to see a newborn foal. Trey had obviously taken her words to heart.
Monte responded to his assertion with a low chuckle. “Sundance may be on the small side at just under fourteen hands, but I promise you that he is full-grown.”
When Trey remained skeptical, Jessy added her assurance. “It’s okay to ride him, Trey. That is as big as he will get.”
A frown puckered his forehead as Trey made another critical study of the pony. Finished with his assessment, he looked up at Jessy. “But Molly’s bigger, Mom.”
“I know,” Jessy murmured and realized at once that, when compared with Quint’s horse, the pony didn’t measure up. “I’m sorry,” she said to Monte in a voice full of apologetic regret. “I’m afraid Trey has his heart set on a horse like his cousin’s.”
