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“Oh no, not the marriage talk.” She rolled over on her back, pretending to whine.
“I promise not to harp. You said next October, right?”
“Did I? October is a long way off.” She got back up on her side. “I want to stay in the here and now and enjoy the spring and summer. What will we do to entertain ourselves?”
“Don’t you remember summer here when you were a kid? You will not want to do much but sit in front of a fan during the summer.”
He leaned against the headboard. “You came here in August but it was cooler last year. When it gets too hot, we row out to the middle of the cove and lie in a boat, naked.”
“Not as an adult!”
He got down in her face, smiling. “No, not yet. But I remember sneakin’ up on you when you were a girl, sitting right on that porch in your underpants and undershirt.”
“I should call the cops,” she said, pushing him away. She laughed out loud. “What a pervert.”
“I remember your little breasts,” he whispered, reaching down to squeeze her. “They were the beginning of these beauties.”
“If I tell my aunt you were peeping at me, she’ll never speak to you again.” But she threaded her arms around his waist. “That’s the only thing about the rescue being here by the cottage. We can’t sit on the porch in our underpants.”
“We can lie up here naked, though,” he said, kissing her. “Let’s get you naked.”
Saturday morning, Maggie got up with Justin before he left for the veterinary clinic. They had coffee out on the porch, the smell of fresh horse manure pungent but clean, not bad in Maggie’s opinion. But it wasn’t to everyone’s liking.
“I’d better get out there with my rake and bucket before Rose comes. I’m sure she’ll have plenty to say.”
Rose Angel was Maggie’s mother, a lovely woman romantically involved with Justin’s father. After a childhood spent at the cottage that Maggie now owned, the rustic lifestyle didn’t appeal to her, and although she admired her daughter for her loving restoration of the cottage, the addition of the wild horses was out of her comfort zone.
“I wish I could help you scoop,” Justin said, kissing her goodbye. “Gloria and Bruno from the wild horse group will be by later this morning to help.”
“I’ll pick up around the cottage at least.”
They held on to each other for a while, hugging. “I hate leaving.”
“Someday, maybe you’ll have a clinic here at Bayou Cottage, and then you’ll be right back in the barn instead of all the way in town.”
“It’s another goal to set,” he said, kissing her again.
Watching him drive off reminded her that recently she’d resisted living with Justin, wanting a little more time alone. It didn’t take long for her to get used to Justin living with her, and now it was painful for them both when he had to work extra, weekends or going out for emergencies.
“I guess I’ll go scoop,” she told the dog. “You’ll stay here.”
She went out to the side yard and scooped horse poop for a good hour. They had started a big compost pile far to the rear of the property, and she pushed the wheelbarrow to dump it in back.
Suddenly, a man appeared out of the woods, scaring Maggie so badly she yodeled.
“I’m sorry,” he shouted, raising his hands in the air.
“Who are you?” she asked nonsensically. “This is private property.”
“I’m Austin Macon,” he said, getting out a leather ID folder and holding it open for her to see. On one side was a photo ID, on the other, a gold badge that said Criminal Investigator, Bureau of Land Management.
All Maggie could think of was the horses that had come on her property last night, and a chill went through her body, the pregnant mare and the connection they’d made. Was this guy coming to take her away?
The sound of an all-terrain vehicle interrupted their introduction. It was the Gator owned by the rescue, driven by Kelly Casson, the woman who ran the rescue and Annie’s sister-in-law. She came to a screeching halt and jumped out with a shotgun in her hands.
“Maggie! Are you okay? We heard you scream.”
“I think so. I was dumping poop, and this man popped up out of the woods.”
