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She swept several horse-treat crumbs from her T-shirt. “I know you lost your closest friend that night too.”
Dylan. “We’ve made some progress over the years.” He offered her a half smile. “And he did ask me if I’d go fishing with him this summer.”
“That is progress.” She gave him a wistful look. “Still, if I hadn’t done what I did—and if I’d been sober enough to know that you’d done nothing wrong—I would have spoken up. I would have taken the blame that was mine.” She looked up, her green eyes bright and clear. “I’m sorry too.”
He wasn’t prepared for the way her forgiveness washed over him. How the burden of responsibility had dogged him. “Thank you.”
She nodded and turned toward Tally’s stall. “I’m afraid to leave her. What if she pulls off the bandage?”
He wasn’t keen on leaving her unattended just yet either. “Cards?”
She narrowed her gaze.
“There’s a deck of cards in the tack room. How about a few rounds of Crazy Eights?”
She laughed, something light and sweet—and a little dangerous, because she stood up and looked him in the eye. “You’re on.”
He pulled two folding chairs from the tack room and handed her the deck. Let her shuffle and deal while he set the chairs up in the aisle outside Tally’s stall and stacked two hay bales into place as their table.
“What exactly do you do in Oregon?” she asked. She flipped over the top card from the deck to begin play.
“I’ve been working at a ranch, mostly training horses.” He placed a five of clubs on the five of spades.
“I know that much.” She perused her cards and dropped a seven of spades. “But, I guess, why Trinity for the summer? What’s the tie-in?”
No sense hiding the truth now. “I was let go. Difference of opinion on horse care and training techniques.” He added another card to the upward-facing stack.
Beth placed another card. She pressed her lips together, as if in thought. “But you’re not staying here in Deep Haven?”
“I’m hoping to buy my own place. A guy I know is downsizing.” He swallowed and placed a crazy-eight card down. “Diamonds.” He declared the new card suit. “I’d actually like to open my own place for youth.”
Beth held her card mid-placement. “Really? Like, a camp?” He didn’t miss the incredulous tone in her question.
“Yeah. I mean, it’ll take a while to be able to buy or train enough kid-safe horses.”
Beth placed her card. “You, running your own camp?”
He laughed. “I know. It’s an idea I haven’t been able to shake.”
“I didn’t see that coming.” Beth drew a card. Then another. “You surprise me. I was picturing you riding the range. Chasing cows. Rodeos and roundups.” She set down a jack of clubs. “Not working with youth.”
“I used to do all that at Three Sisters. I love working with the horses. That’s where my time’s been focused.” He swept loose pieces of hay from the makeshift table. “But you know, I’ve always carried with me what this camp meant to me.”
“And Oregon?”
“Winter is an actual season, not a badge of courage we endure for nine months.” He laughed. “Where I live, we get decent snow, but not like here. And we have the mountains, the sandy beaches.” He stared at his cards. “Sunrise, when the light hits the snow-capped peaks, or the sun dipping into the ocean.” He lifted a shoulder. “Whatever scenery I want, I can find it there.”
“Hmm. Sounds pretty.” She reorganized her cards and cleared her throat. “And the…sisters? What are they like?”
“Cold.”
She lifted a brow. “Like…standoffish? Or mean?”
He placed a card, realizing her misunderstanding. “They’re mountains, not people. Faith, Hope, and Charity.”
She sat up. “Mountains?” A little flush crept up her neck.
They kept placing their cards and making draws.
