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“Always,” Wayne said. “I’ve got Black Pepper Spray as well, and he’s a fine stud horse.”
“Yep.” Blaine tipped his hat, and Wayne Harvey rumbled away in his gigantic truck. He looked at Tam. “Three for three.”
She smiled back at him. “You Chappells seem to draw all the luck.”
He put his arm around her and scoffed. “Luck? You’re joking, right? We’veplannedthis breeding week down to the minute.”
“You’re certainly lucky to get Barely Audible.”
“Thatwasa bit of luck,” Blaine said. “But Wayne and I go way back, and I’ll call him next week to schedule for next year. He gives me a date, and we cover whoever we have in heat.”
“How much does he get paid?” Tam asked as they started toward the homestead.
Blaine looked at her, and Tam just shrugged. “What? I want to know what that foal cost you.”
“You’ve never wanted to know before.”
“Yeah, well, we’re dating now, and I want to know. I want to know how much of this ranch you own too. And how much of it you’ll inherit, if any. I want to know what I’m dealing with…with…you.”
His eyebrows went up, and he dropped his arm. “Dealing with with me?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Say it was you who got in a car accident and had to go get a new truck tonight. Which you’re still coming with me, right?”
“Of course,” he said. “I can’t let you come home with another rust bucket.”
She just rolled her eyes. He’d hated her old truck, but Tam had loved it. Maybe it growled a little when it should’ve purred. It got the job done, and it had once been her father’s, which made its loss all the harder.
“What would your budget be? Would you be financing this truck or buying it with cash?” Tam wasn’t going to let this drop. Besides, a girlfriend should know the financial situation of her boyfriend.
She noted that he had not objected to nor corrected her when she’d said they were dating. She wasn’t sure what to make of that, but when he slipped his hand into hers, it didn’t matter.
“Oh,” she said softly, and Blaine’s fingers in hers tightened.
“Is this okay?”
“It’s fine,” she said, clearing her throat. It was far more than fine. It was downright wonderful.
“We paid Wayne one-seventy-five as a stud fee. And that’s cheap. His fee is private, Tam, and we don’t—can’t—announce it.”
Tam nodded, her movements tight and sharp. That was more money than she could even fathom. “And you? What do you make every year?”
“Well, I’m no Triple Crown stud,” he said, his eyes lighting up.
Tam couldn’t help laughing, because that really was funny. Blaine joined in with her, and it was moments like these that she really started to fall for him. Sometimes they argued. Sometimes they disagreed. The last few weeks had been stressful, but all of that washed away as they laughed together.
He took her to the front shed where he kept an office of sorts, and he pulled a couple of sandwiches out of a mini fridge. “Coke?” he asked, handing her a can without waiting for her to answer. He sighed and groaned as he sat down, and Tam laughed again.
“You sound like you’re seventy,” she said. “Not thirty-eight.” Her back twinged a little bit, but she would take that knowledge to the grave. She wanted to stay at Bluegrass, and not just because they were paying her three hundred dollars a day to get bottled water out of a cooler for a horse owner.
“Sleeping on your couch has kinked my back,” he said.
“So it’s my fault.”
“Yes.” He passed her a sandwich. “I’ll come tonight, though. You sure you don’t need me?”
Tam looked at him, and the moment between them sobered. “You know what? You can come if you want. I don’t think it’s necessary, but…” She shrugged and focused on her sandwich as she started to unwrap it. She didn’t know how to say she liked having Blaine in the house with her. She’d told him a couple of weeks ago that she was tired of going home to no one, but she hadn’t exactly used the wordlonely.
It stung her tongue, and she couldn’t say it now either. She picked up her sandwich and took a bite, finally looking up at Blaine. He hadn’t moved at all, and he kept his head down.
