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Chapter 16
Rodney watched Mark and Pam walk away, feeling good deep down in his chest the whole way to his toes. He loved the fact that he’d been able to give them a little gift for their wedding. It wasn’t very often that couples got married in Strawberry Sands, although there had been a rash of weddings in the last few years. If one or two weddings per year could be considered a rash.
Still, it gave him hope. Hope that he’d be able to go to college and come back to Strawberry Sands and be able to make a living. He loved it here. His parents had always looked at it with derision, because it was poor and rural and not as classy as Blueberry Beach, but it had the same wonderful people, who looked out for each other. He wanted to be a part of that. Offering a ride as a wedding gift was just one way that he was able to give back a little to the community.
He couldn’t believe how good it felt.
He hummed softly to himself as he walked around the carriage to the heads of his horses.
He’d fallen in love with them the day that Cord Stryker had brought them, and he took care of them like they were his children.
He named them Cinderella and Ashley and called them Cinders and Ashes for short.
“Hey there, girl,” he said as he walked around the near side of Cinders. She wore blinders, but she moved her head and nuzzled his ear.
Both of them were over eighteen hands high, and they towered over top of him, even though he was an easy six foot, but he loved the feeling of power that he had when they both pulled the carriage. He loved walking with them too.
“Hey there, Dixie. You’re out late.”
He smiled, recognizing Becky’s voice right away.
“Bekpet,” he said, using the nickname that he’d called her since the first few times he’d seen her struggling to get into his bedroom, trying to find food.
It was funny, the tables had totally changed on each of them. Becky had been adopted by a really great family, who’d even adopted her sister. She was happy in her home with Kristin and Luke, even if her adjustment time had been a little rough.
He on the other hand, had come from money and privilege, but his mom had shot his dad and then shot herself. There had been money left for him, eventually, although it had taken a while to get everything straightened out.
Now it sat in an account, and even though he’d offered to give it to Chi and Griff for taking him in and allowing him to live with them, they refused it.
It was his, whenever he wanted to use it. He just... He was happy with his Percherons, his carriage business, and while he wasn’t excited about the idea of going to college, he thought it was going to make Griff and Chi happy if he did, so he had plans to do so in the fall.
“I can’t believe you’re allowed out this late. Your parents know where you are?” he asked, trying to be the big brother he was supposed to be to her.
She was growing up, looking less and less like a belligerent little kid and more and more like a beautiful young lady. She was still just in her mid-teens and way too young for him, but... There had always been something about her that had drawn him.
“They know where I am. I told them I wanted to come talk to you, and they said it was fine. Dad saw you driving along the beach and said that you’d be unhitching your carriage and rubbing your horses down and I could give you a hand if I wanted to. So I came.”
“I see. Are you going to just stand around and talk, or are you actually going to help me?” he said, giving her a hard time.
“You need to lead the horses so they park the carriage first. I’ve done this a few times, you know,” she said, lifting her brows and giving him a superior look.
It was true, he always had the horses pull the carriage to where he parked it in a lean-to along the barn. He covered it as well, trying to keep it nice.
He had a hold of Cinders’s lead as he clucked to her, and both horses started out at a slow walk. Although, with legs as long as theirs were, their slow walk ate up ground quickly.
Becky was almost jogging trying to stay ahead of the big hooves. Neither one of them would hurt a fly, but if they stepped on her, it was going to hurt, even if their feet were as big as dinner plates which definitely spread the weight around. Still, a ton was a ton, and it hurt when that ton was on top of a foot.
“So, you didn’t get enough work in today, or what?” he asked as he made a big loop with the horses and they circled around, heading straight for the barn and lean-to.
