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For fuck’s sake, I was making this worse by the minute. I jumped out of the truck and grabbed my medical bag before coming around to get Gracie unbuckled and help her out. I pulled her hat down over her ears and kissed the tip of her nose, which made her giggle.
“I think we’re going to get more snow soon, but it will be a little warmer in the barn. Keep your hat and mittens on.”
“I wonder if it will snow at my Valentine’s Day party in a few days. You’re coming to my party, right?” she asked as her little mittened hand slipped into mine.
“Of course, I am. You know you’re my valentine.”
“We’re at work now, so you shouldn’t be saying that.” She looked up at me with wide eyes.
“It’s fine.” I laughed.
“Can I ride a horse yet?”
“You’re too young to ride horses, but maybe in a few months, we can give it a try,” I said. She’d been asking about learning to ride for a while, but the whole idea scared the shit out of me.
I looked up to see Presley hurrying toward us, and her eyes landed on my little girl, her lips turning up in the corners. “Hey there, Gracie. I’m so happy you’re here.”
Gracie’s hand slipped from mine, and she started running toward Presley, which took me by surprise. She hardly knew her, yet here she was, putting all her trust in a complete stranger as she flung her little body through the air. Presley caught her on a whoosh and settled her on her hip, pressing her lips to the very same spot I’d just kissed her.
“You kissed me on the nose just like Daddy did.”
“Well, it’s a cute nose, isn’t it?”
I cleared my throat. “All right, do you want to show me where Honey is?”
“Yes. Of course.” She carried my daughter and led us into the barn, heading for the back stall. I stopped and shook hands with Butch, whom I hadn’t seen in a few months since I last ran into him at my brother’s restaurant.
“Well, if it isn’t Dr. Dreamy. Isn’t that what the ladies call you?” he said with the laugh of a man who sounded like he’d been chain-smoking for 150 years.
“No one calls me that.” I rolled my eyes.
“I’m calling you Dr. Daddy Dreamy,” Gracie said over a fit of laughter.
“This just keeps getting better,” I said as Butch said hi to Gracie. They’d met a couple of times.
“You’re getting so big.” He winked before heading out to check on the other animals.
I moved into the stall and ran my hand along Honey’s face. “Hey there, pretty girl. Do you remember me?”
She was one of the prettiest horses I’d ever laid eyes on, although I’d always seen her with Presley sitting on her, smiling at me, so that was probably part of it.
“Presley?” I heard Gracie whisper from behind me as I lifted Honey’s jowls to take a look inside her mouth.
“Yeah?”
“How old were you when you started riding horses?”
“I was a little younger than you,” Presley said, and I turned around and shot her a warning look, which she seemed completely unfazed by.
“Maybe you could teach me?”
“I’d love to teach you while I’m home if it’s okay with your daddy. Horses were my first love.”
I used a light from my medical bag and investigated Honey’s mouth and gums as I listened intently to the conversation going on behind me. I moved to the other side of the horse and lifted the jowls again, repeating the process on the other side of her mouth.
“Daddy, Presley wants to teach me how to ride. And horses were her first love, so she will be really safe with me.”
I turned around and looked at my daughter. “I’m standing right here. I can hear just fine.”
