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“Like I said before, I’d like to help.” He pulled into his own property, but rather than take the main drive to the house, he headed east onto the dirt road that led to the stables. “And I think I have an idea, but I want you to tell me what you think.”
“Okay. Let me have it.”
Two horses, saddled and ready, were tied to the wooden corral fence. Jared slowed the car and hopped out. “You do ride?”
Her gaze went from the horse to him. “Assuming you want to continue this conversation on horseback, it’s a little late to be asking, don’t you think?”
Oops. She had a point.
A bubble of sweet laughter erupted. “Don’t look so aghast. Of course I know how to ride.”
“You’ll like Sugar. She’s sweet and does exactly as told.”
Eve scratched the large animal’s jaw and murmured something he couldn’t quite hear, but the horse’s ear twitched, her lips moved, and her head dipped closer to Eve. Whatever she’d told Sugar had made the horse happy. Suddenly, he found himself wishing she’d scratch under his chin and whisper sweet things into his ear. Wouldn’t that be something?
Chapter Seven
Eve had no idea what all this was about, but any chance to get to know Jared better was fine with her. Even though she was positive that the teasing from her brothers could only escalate, she was also positive that he was worth it. And he was right, Sugar was a seriously easy to handle horse. They’d ridden away from the stables in silence and had just left the edge of all the ranching buildings when the soft hills of the property rolled out in front of them. “So what have you got in mind?”
“We’ve got a lot of land.”
“You do. Texas is a big place.”
“And I have a few horses that aren’t always in use.”
Now he had her interest piqued.
“Some are incredibly easy horses, like Sugar.”
“I know you’re going somewhere with this.” Letting go of the reins with one hand, she patted the sweet horse lightly.
“I’d like to find a way to use my ranch to help the families of traumatized veterans. I know that equine therapy is popular for diagnosed disabilities, I also know that some of the kids are stressed by what’s happened to their families. These kids aren’t disabled themselves and don’t qualify for special services, but their worlds are still upside down and the aftereffects can linger for years.”
So far, he’d nailed one of the bigger loopholes in veteran care that she’d noticed through the years. And she liked where he was going with it.
“There are lots of programs for doing trail rides with kids. Mostly they consist of walking a line of horses, nose to tail, with little else along the way. A novelty for city kids, but far from the freeing experience a real ride can be.”
Didn’t she know that. As a kid they’d all learned how to saddle and care for their own horses and they’d enjoyed being tossed out the front door in the morning and spending the entire day riding the land. Up the hills, over the creeks, racing in the empty pastures, stopping to lunch with a packed picnic, and sometimes they’d tie up the horses and swim in the pond. It was a ton of fun and had helped every one of them a lot more than just learning to be responsible around horses. “Are you thinking free range trails, so-to-speak?”
He smiled at her. “Exactly. A morning or afternoon I think would be best. All day for kids who have never been on a horse may be a bit much. We’d have to do some simple horse instructions first. Basics.”
“You’d need plenty of volunteers too. Can’t just let kids run off on their own.”
“Joys of liability. I figured we’d need some help but haven’t a clue how many is wise.”
The way he stared off into the distance, Eve could tell that in this short time he’d given the idea a great deal of thought and wished she better understood what had brought it on. The idea had a good deal of merit. It also sounded like a goodly amount of expense too. “There are some equestrian therapy centers who I can talk to. They might be able to give me some good advice. And maybe a good lawyer for this sort of thing.” She’d donated time and money to charities but didn’t have a clue about the legal side of any of it.
They’d come over a hill top by Texas standards and looked down on a massive pasture with a pond, a few scattered trees for shading the cattle, and the same creek that ran through Baron land.
“There.” He pointed to the outrider shack that all ranches had scattered throughout the land for the hands to use in an emergency of some kind. “I thought we could convert that into a slightly more comfortable rest stop. Bathrooms. Kitchenette for hot chocolate in winter and cool drinks in summer.”
“You could do an occasional camping night. Fire pit, S’mores, sleep under the stars, but with running water for toileting.”
His head turned to look at her and a broad grin stretched from one side of his face to the other. “I like that.” The same far-off twinkle of a short while ago reappeared.
“It’s a good idea. Running water just makes it a little nicer.” She shifted in her saddle. “May I ask how you came up with it?”
His gaze lingered in the distance a little longer than she’d expected, then he leaned one hand heavily on the saddle’s horn and faced her. “Long story short, I was ten when my grandparents died. Nothing helped the hurt as much as the land and the horses. If sharing this with others can help, then I’m all for it. I just wasn’t sure if the idea might be overly ambitious of me. I know the project will be a huge undertaking with some up-front costs.”
