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“I want to see that one so much!” she enthused.
He chuckled. “You make the sun come out, kid. You’re always upbeat, always brimming over with optimism. I’d fallen into a deep place before I met you and your mother. I was so depressed that I didn’t care about much.”
She beamed. “I’m a good influence, I am,” she teased.
“You truly are, Teddie,” he replied. “I never thought I’d enjoy teaching anybody anything. But this is fun.”
She grinned. “It is. I’m so glad you don’t mind teaching me about horses. But gosh, it’s complicated. There’s so much you have to learn, about what not to do. It’s a long list.”
“You pretty much learn as you go along,” he pointed out. “It takes time to get used to an animal you’ve never been around. But you’re really getting the hang of it. You sit like a cowboy.”
“Thanks. I love what you’re teaching me,” she told him. She ran her hand gently over Bartholomew’s mane. “I love Bart, too. He’s the nicest horse in the world.”
Bartholomew actually seemed to understand what she was saying. He turned his head around toward her and made an odd snuffling sound.
“Smart horse,” Parker remarked. He smiled. “I think he understands a lot more than we believe he does.”
“He’s so easy to ride.”
“He’s been through a lot,” Parker said. He didn’t add what he’d learned about the man who’d been so cruel to Bartholomew. It seemed that he’d escaped the abuse charge by daring them to prove it. It had maddened Parker, who knew the man was lying. But it was going to be hard to get any evidence that would stand up in court.
However, Parker thought, he knew people in the community who would keep an eye on the horse’s former owner and tell Parker anything they learned. It might still be possible to put the man behind bars, where he belonged.
“You’re awful quiet today,” Teddie remarked.
He smiled. “I’m just thinking.”
“You are?” She gave him a wicked smile. “Mom bought some lipstick that won’t come off. The saleslady teased her about you.”
He felt a ruddy color climb up his cheeks, but he laughed in spite of it. He knew there would be gossip about him and Katy. He didn’t even mind.
“You’re really nice, Parker,” Teddie added with a fond look. “You and Mom look good together.”
“Dark and light,” he mused.
“You aren’t that dark. But you look like a Crow. You really are handsome, like Mom says.”
He whistled. “She thinks I’m handsome?” he asked, and laughed.
“I do, too. Now what about trotting?” she replied.
He jerked himself out of his ongoing daydreams about Katy and they went on to the next step in her riding education.
Chapter 6
While Katy was waiting at home for Parker and Teddie to come back, she had a telephone call from the vet who’d treated Bartholomew’s wounds.
“I thought you needed to know that the man who abused Bartholomew had the charges against him dropped,” he said with some rancor. “He’s friends with the prosecutor, it seems, and since there were no witnesses, they dismissed the case. He’s out again.”
“He should be tied up in a stable somewhere and doused with recycled grass,” she muttered.
“I agree. He says he wants his horse back. If I were you, I’d think seriously about getting an attorney. You’re going to need help.”
She drew in a long breath. “That’s good advice. Teddie’s so attached to the horse. It will kill her if they give him back to that . . . that animal. I won’t let him take Bart. I’ll fight him to the last ditch.”
“I feel as if I should salute you,” he teased.
“The Army missed its chance when I didn’t enlist,” she said with a chuckle.
