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“You’re up early, aren’t you? Don’t city folk tend to sleep in when they’re on vacation?”
“I like to get up early to write—” She shook her head. “Work. I like to get some work in early so I don’t have to worry about it in case Katrina needs me for something later in the day. It makes things a little easier.”
The horse that had been running rounds in the corral ran along the edge of the fence and came up close to the spot where Becca stood. She jumped backward, and a gasp tore from her throat.
A small smile tugged at his lips, and he reached out to pat the horse’s neck. “I thought you said you weren’t scared of horses.”
“I said I wasn’t not scared, remember? And I told you that I preferred my feet to remain on the ground.” Becca’s gaze remained locked on the animal, and there was no humor in her eyes.
“And yet you’re acting like you expect this one to attack at any moment. If I had to guess, I would say that you’re actually terrified of horses and you’re just not willing to admit it.” His tone was light, bordering on teasing.
“Fine. I had a traumatic experience as a child. Is that what you want to hear?”
In contrast, Becca’s voice was sharp. Her defenses had shot up and her face flushed with indignation. With her arms crossed and the tightness in her features, there was no denying that she was doing whatever it took for her to protect herself from the animal in question.
“You want to talk about it?”
Her eyes shot to Ethan and back to the horse. He didn’t expect her to spill anything, so when she started talking, he couldn’t help but be surprised.
“I had this friend—she adored horses. You know, the typical kid who thought horses were magical. Her parents had a horse come to her birthday party. They dressed it up with a horn and everything. We got to have pony rides on arealunicorn. Whenit was my turn, the horse decided the grass wasn’t nearly as tasty as my hair.”
Ethan snorted. “I doubt that.”
“Well, you weren’t there, were you? That unicorn tried to eat me.”
He bit back a chuckle.
“It’s notfunny. You can tell me that horses are vegetarians all you want, but I’m certain they would turn on us in a second if they thought they could get away with it. I’ve never liked them since.” She glared at him. “Don’t you dare laugh.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He snickered.
Her scowl deepened.
City women might be cold and calculating but it was nice to see that at least this one had some weaknesses. Becca was real. He couldn’t explain it, but there was something about the way she spoke to him—treated him—that was different from the way others had.
It felt natural to be with her this way. It was like they’d known each other for their whole lives even though he barely knew anything about her.
Becca inched closer to the fence, and he chuckled again. “Buttercup won’t hurt you. She’s curious, that’s all. She wants to know who you are.” That made two of them. Ethan patted Buttercup’s neck. “Maybe we should head to the barn where we’ll have a little more privacy. We could compare notes about each other.”
“Compare… notes?” Even as she asked the question, her eyes remained locked on the horse.
“Yeah, I’ll give Buttercup a brush down and you can tell me more about yourself. That way Tina won’t be able to catch us telling lies.”
“I think it would be more important for me to know about you.” This time, she glanced toward him.
“Sure. We can go over everything about me—specifically what I’ve told Tina. That way, you have all that information before you guys have another girls’ night.” Ethan grabbed the lead rope and led Buttercup through the gate toward the barn. He smiled to himself when Becca remained on his other side.
When they made it to the stall where he could get to work, he shot her a quick look. “Where do we start?”
Becca rested her elbows on the closed stall door and watched with veiled interest as he brushed the animal down. He was nearly tempted to invite her in to let her have a chance to get to know the horse herself, but he thought better of it. When she didn’t ask him anything right away, he chuckled.
“How about I start? My parents are as traditional as they come. They worked hard and grew up in the country with that good old-fashioned hospitality. They moved to the city so my father could get a better-paying job. While they loved living in the area, he thought he’d give us more opportunities in the future. Better schools and all that.”
Unfortunately for Ethan, he simply didn’t have the talent for school and failed most of his classes despite working twice as hard as his peers. But Becca didn’t need to know that.
“My dad passed away a couple years ago,” he went on. “Heart attack. My mom and sister still live in Utah, but I want to move them out here. What about your family?”
Becca smiled. “Your family sounds nice.”
