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“Oh. Well, that was nice of you.” My hands had shook from nerves at the hope that he might want to be near me as much as I’d wanted to be near him.
He’d stepped forward. “Here, let me help you.”
I’d been saddling horses since I was six years old. I didn’t need his help. Still, the close proximity of him, had me letting him.
When his shoulder had brushed mine, I knew I would do anything to stay that close to him forever.
I’d secured the saddle and clipped on the lead line. I’d handed him the rope. “Do you want to walk her out?”
He’d taken the rope and given me the smile that continued to melt my heart.
“This stall okay?” Jacob asked, breaking me from my daze. I blinked rapidly and shook the memory from my head.
Lane rubbed the nose of one of his quarter horses. “That’ll work.”
I went to the back of the barn and grabbed a Sharpie marker sitting next to a whiteboard. “Lane, I’m going to write her name and stall number on the board. I have a.m. and p.m. instructions, as well as notes for a vet appointment coming up later in the week.”
“Sounds good. I’ll show Jacob where to leave the trailer.”
Lane and Jacob left the barn.
When I was finished writing, I held another apple and a mint under my horse’s nose. “It’s you and me, girl. You and me.”
Leaving the barn, I saw that Jacob had moved the trailer, parking it next to the ‘Whitehorse Ranch’ trailers and was waiting for me, truck running.
He jumped out of the truck to get the door for me.
Lane hugged me, and when he released me, I said, “I’ll be gone when the vet comes. Can you make sure he takes good care of her?”
“Where you headed?”
I rolled my eyes toward Jacob, holding the passenger door open. “I told Jacob I would help him with a whitewater camping trip.”
Lane laughed so hard, I thought he would choke. “How did that happen?”
Jacob responded, “Blackmail.”
Lane snickered again. “I’ll take good care of her.”
I said another good-bye and stepped toward Jacob. I reached for the inside handle as Jacob pushed on my bottom to help me into the oversized work truck. Gently, he shut the door after me.
After he climbed in, started the truck, and buckled his seat belt, I waved good-bye to Lane, and then glared at Jacob when we were out of sight. “That was unnecessary.”
“What was?” he said, his brow furrowed as we drove through the gate and back out onto the road.
“Honestly? All of it.”
He actually looked a little shocked. “What are you talking about?”
I mimicked him. “Blackmail.”
He shrugged. “It was.”
“And being rude to Lane.”
He rested his forearm on the top of the steering wheel as he drove, and frowned at me. “Everything is just so fucking easy for you, isn’t it? ‘Jacob, I need a place to live.’ ‘Lane, I need a place for my horse.’” he mimicked me.
“That’s harsh.” I scowled.
