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All three of them had probably been bound for the auction yard when he pulled up with his truck and trailer to complete Noah’s purchase. He’d thought it was an easy favor for the camp that had introduced him to horses when he was a distraught ten-year-old.
He climbed over the top rail and jumped to the soft grass below, then took off his Stetson and ran his hand over his hair. Watched the dust lift off the corral footing.
Noah blew out a breath and lifted his hands toward the corral. “What am I going to do with them? Are they all like that?”
Noah Standing Bear. A name as impressive as the man who wielded it. He’d started Wilderness Challenge camp on the shores of Mink Lake right around when Grayson turned ten. It hadn’t taken long to branch out and add the horse camp a couple years later.
“Apparently they were drugged when I picked them up.” Disgust edged Grayson’s voice. Hopefully not all three. He shoved his Stetson back on his head. How many livestock sales had he been to over the years? He wasn’t some green rancher wannabe.
“Or could be some rough stock from the rodeo?” Noah asked. By the press of his jaws, he was probably asking a serious question.
Grayson should have known better than to have been lured by their lackluster energy and listless attention. To have chalked it up to their so-called babysitter status—the kind of horse that someone could plop a kid on, point down the trail, and not worry about.
These horses—at least Miss Tally—were anything but safe.
Noah’s hand landed on Grayson’s chest with a heavy smack, but his dark eyes held a smile. “Good thing you’re here for summer.” His brow arched with a dubious lift, and he nodded toward Tally. “Let’s not put that one in the string.”
Grayson blew out a breath. “To be fair, you’re the one that said you needed me to pick up three camp horses in North Dakota.” He let out a wry laugh. “I did what I was asked. These are the horses the guy had for you.”
“Okay, Horse Whisperer, but I thought you’d give them a look-see before you hauled them here. I asked you to come fill in as camp wrangler to help me out—not to create more work.” He crossed his arms and leaned against one of the tall birch trees that shaded the barnyard.
“Funny. And also probably fair. But look at her—other than me being an oaf getting on her like that, odds are, we saved her life,” Grayson said. And okay, Grayson was a sucker for an animal in need. An aged horse that wasn’t rideable didn’t have good prospects. “Let’s give them time to settle down. Then I’ll see what we’ve got.” He sure hoped he’d have something to work with, because he’d come to Deep Haven to sell his parents’ vacant lot, fill in as Noah’s camp wrangler for summer, and leave town with all the cash he needed to put a down payment on his own ranch in Oregon and secure his loan. “She’ll be okay.”
Noah rubbed a hand across his chin, his eyes on the buckskin standing in the corral. “I’m not the horse expert around here, but I have doubts.”
Yeah. Grayson didn’t blame him. “It’s okay. I’ve got this.” Because he would. He always did. He had to.
Noah narrowed his gaze. “You heading into town?”
“At some point,” Grayson said.
“I’ll be frank—I wasn’t sure you’d say yes. It’s been, what, six years since you’ve been home for a visit?”
Home. He didn’t think of Deep Haven as home anymore. “Work’s kept me busy—lots of horses coming through the training barn at Three Sisters. But as it turns out, I have an opportunity to buy my own place.” Oh, and here was the hard part. “And, I, uh, suddenly found myself in want of employment.”
Noah stood upright, his jaw slack. “You were fired?”
“Not exactly. Let’s just say the new head trainer and I agreed to disagree about training techniques—and since he’s the ranch owner’s brother…” Grayson wasn’t keen on reliving that barn aisle showdown. “Turns out twelve years of loyalty isn’t a match for a blood relation.”
“Ah.” Noah crossed his arms again. “But he didn’t know you already? Didn’t know you’d take issue with his style?”
Grayson shook his head. “He’d been working at a big outfit in Texas. Decided to take the vacant job at Three Sisters working for his brother when the spot opened up.” Grayson lifted his hands. “So when you called to say your wrangler was out of commission with a broken leg, how could I say no?”
Noah nodded. “God has a way of working things out. Tell me about this place you want to buy.”
Grayson wasn’t sure God had anything to do with it. “One of the other local trainers I’ve gotten to know over the years is retiring. He’s ready to downsize, move into town. Travel.” The thought of Vincent Tucker’s place caused a swell in his chest. The way the unpretentious, small cabin stood against the backdrop of ponderosa trees and the Cascade Mountain Range. The rich, green growth of the irrigated pasture, and the location—backed right up to thousands of acres of federal land. “I had this idea that maybe I could open the place up to youth.”
“A camp?” Noah asked.
“Yeah. Something like Trinity.” Because even though Grayson had been dropped off at that first camp season as an unwilling participant, all it had taken was one hour with the horses to change his mind—and his life.
Noah’s brows rose. “Wow. That’s a big undertaking.”
Grayson’s heart sank. “I know. It’s crazy, but I can’t stop thinking about it. About the kids out there who are just like I was. Kids who need that kind of opportunity.” Grayson watched a butterfly pass between them. “But it’s…not cheap.” He gestured toward the arena and paddocks, where horses of every color swished flies and dozed in the rising heat.
Noah rubbed his chin. “No, it isn’t. But you can find a way, like I did.” He set his booted foot onto a rock and leaned forward. “Can you believe it’s been twenty years since that first season?”
“I was a scrawny preteen back then.”
