AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you’d miss them that much, I’m sure Luke would sign them over to you,” said Sawyer, scratching the back of his head. “You’re the only one I ever see out here with them.”
Josie couldn’t help it and smiled, just a little, at how hard Sawyer was working to come up with a solution and at how he apparently took so much notice of her. Not many people did.
“I live in town,” she said. “I don’t even have a backyard big enough for a dog. There’s nowhere to keep these guys.”
“People still board horses, don’t they?” Sawyer asked. “I’m sure there’d be somewhere around here who’d rent out a field to you?”
Josie shook her head but smiled as she did. “There are, but I can’t afford it. Especially because when this place does sell, I’m out of a job.”
He was so easy to read and he had no idea. She could practically see the thoughts running through his head as clear as a teleprompter. How the thought ofmoneyhadn’t even entered his mind, and now he was looking so guilty for not having to think about things like being able to afford something that he wanted.
Sawyer didn’t say anything else — didn’t try and offer any halfhearted solutions. Instead he reached out and let Indy sniff at his hand before stroking her neck, the horse luxuriating under all of the attention. Somehow that made Josie even sadder.
“Maybe you could work something out with the new owner,” said Sawyer. “Whoever they turn out to be.”
“Maybe,” said Josie, but she wasn’t going to get her hopes up. This was bad, this feeling right now, but hoping for something that wouldn’t work out… that would be a whole different level of crushing. She kept her hopes to the bare minimum: that the farm wouldn’t sell and that, somehow, things would all stay the same. But that was it; hoping for anything more would make her crazy.
“Should we talk about it?” Sawyer asked eventually, his voice quiet. Josie looked up at him. He didn’t need to elaborate; she knew what he was asking.
“We probably should,” she said, gravitating a few inches closer to him despite herself. It wasn’t her fault that his presence was so reassuring.
“It’s complicated, huh?” Sawyer said with a little smile. Josie matched it and nodded.
“Yeah. And Luke…”
“He would absolutely flip his lid.”
Josie giggled. “If you want to get technical about it. But it’s none of his business anyways. It’s nobody’s business.”
Why did anyone else have to know? She should be allowed to have something that was just hers, shouldn’t she?
Sawyer was looking down at her, his face so kind and warm when only a few minutes ago Josie had been feeling so utterly helpless.
“So it’s just our business, then?” he asked.
Josie thought about it and nodded. “Yeah, I think it is.”
Sawyer raised his hand, slowly enough that she knew he was giving her time to say no, much like he had at the creek. She also knew that she didn’t want to say no. Quite the opposite. Then his fingers were lightly grazing over her hair, his hand cupping the back of her head, and he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers.
Josie immediately forgot anything that had been worrying her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the solidness of him beneath her hands, his own arms curling around her like a blanket of protection from the rest of the world. The height difference meant that she was up on her toes, balancing precariously, but not once afraid of falling; she knew Sawyer would catch her.
Josie went out riding later that afternoon. Clyde was lazy and mostly just good for keeping the grass cut short, so she saddledup Indy and rode all over the vast Butler Ranch, making the most of it. Most folks only had bad things to say about chestnut mares; they were too spicy to be worth much, they had bad attitudes, they wouldn’t listen, and they were a pain and a nuisance. Josie had always told those people there were no bad horses, just inept ranchers. That usually got her a few filthy looks and a couple of insults thrown back at her in retaliation. But it was the truth. Indy galloped across the fields at top speed with Josie perched on top of her, the animal listening intently to every twitch of Josie’s reins and heels with perfect obedience. When they did this — went out riding just to ride — it felt like they were combining into one creature. It felt like freedom.
They walked back to the ranch, Indy’s gate meandering and happy after running herself ragged with a few good gallops, while Josie sat on top of her not doing much of anything. She didn’t even really need to hold the reins, considering Indy had decided that it was time to go home for dinner and she was plodding along the familiar trails with determination.
When the barn came back into sight, Josie could see Luke, Sandy and Sawyer all standing around Luke’s truck with serious expressions on their faces. That certainly didn’t bode well. Steering Indy closer to them, Josie called out.
“Did it explode?”
“Nah,” Luke called back. “Nothing that exciting. It just straight up died, is what it did.”
“Well, that’s a shame. Wanna borrow Indy to get into town?”
Luke looked up from the engine and gave her a sour look. Josie just smiled brightly while Sandy cackled behind Luke.
She’d always had more of a sense of humor during a crisis than her fiancé.
“I’m not really in the teasing mood,” Luke said. “This is going to cost a ton to fix.”
