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“You miss having one, don’t you?” Ally squeezed my fingers. I hadn’t even realized that I’d reached for her, but her warm hand in mine felt so right that once I’d grabbed a hold, I couldn’t let go. She didn’t seem to mind it though, as she led me over to a beautiful black-brown mare with white socked feet.
“She’s gorgeous.” We stepped up onto the metal railing, and I held out a handful of the pellets the lady handling her poured into my palm. “C’mere, girl.”
“What’s her name?”
“Daisy.” The smile in the lady’s voice said it all. She was a favourite of hers, and I could see why. Daisy was nibbling the feed from my hand, her soft whiskers and lips brushing against my calloused palm. I petted her nose and neck, scratching between her ears and watching her every move.
“She broken in?” I asked as the lady stepped away to collect a printout on Daisy.
She handed it to Ally. “Absolutely, and she’s good with a beginner level rider, but a little more experienced one would be better. Is she for yourself?”
“Maybe.”
I turned my attention to Daisy, and Ally continued, “We need another couple of horses for the station. She might be ridden by a few of us, but we’re all experienced.”
“Daisy would be perfect. She’s laid-back, good with other horses and is used to different riders. She’s confident among cattle, fast on her feet when it counts but better at longer distance treks.”
“Okay, great.” Ally smiled, shook the lady’s hand, and I gave Daisy a final scratch on her nose.
“She was a beauty.”
Ally linked her arm in mine. “She was.”
“I think I’d like to put in a bid for her. Maybe.”
“You seemed to connect with her.”
I smiled. “She had a good disposition. I could see myself riding her.”
“Sam doesn’t seem to want to do much riding.”
I side-eyed Ally. She was looking intently at me and blushed when I quirked a grin at her. She’d tried a few times that day to get me talking about him. His story wasn’t mine to tell, but I also wanted her to know that he wasn’t scared of them.
“You know Sam’s dad bred horses, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. Did he have a bad experience?” she asked, worry in her voice. A line between her brows marred her forehead. “He wasn’t hurt, was he?”
“Not in the way you’re thinking. He lost his horse when the bank foreclosed on the Hayes’ farm.” Eadie may have been a standard stockhorse, but she was one of a kind in Sam’s eyes, and he’d loved her.
“Must have been rough. I couldn’t imagine losing ‘Tella.” Her voice was pained. I nodded, remembering all too well the endless days when Sam was walking around like he’d lost part of himself. He had, and knowing I couldn’t do a single thing to help him at the time had shredded me inside. Ally wasn’t exaggerating when she said he seemed to shy away from the horses. He did. But it was because he’d had his heart broken, and even a decade on, he missed his girl.
“Yeah. We grew up together, but she was his best friend. Don’t think that any horse will ever compare to Eadie for him.”
We walked and talked and checked out a few more of the horses. I registered as a bidder and confirmed Daisy’s lot number before a text came through from Scottie. He was wrapping up at the bank having transferred through the funds. They’d be on their way in a few.
“Any of the horses grab you?” Scottie asked when Ally called.
“Craig’s found a horse. Next time we’ll bring Sam; see if we can persuade him to get one.”
“Great, good luck!”
We kept walking, looking at a few more of the horses, but we didn’t get to see as many as I would have liked before the beginning of the auctions were announced. Didn’t matter though. I kept coming back to Daisy. I knew she was the one, but I couldn’t help the niggling feeling that Sam would be upset if I arrived back at the station with a horse. It was stupid to think of it as a betrayal, but I didn’t want to hurt him. Thing was, I wanted this. I was ready and I didn’t know whether Sam would ever be.
The auctioneer stood on the walkway suspended above the pens and announced the lots, stepping over to the next horse to auction it. They were still a few sections away from us, so Ally and I got positioned at the front. Before I knew it, Daisy’s auction was happening. The auctioneer, dressed in tan pants, a blue check shirt and a brown ten-gallon hat, announced the lot in a warbly voice. Holding a gavel, he started the bidding, speaking so fast that his words ran together. Before I knew it, the bidding was upwards of two grand and I hadn’t even put one in yet. My hand shot up, but Ally clamped her hand over mine before the auctioneer saw it. “Not yet. Wait another minute until they finish fighting it out.”
Sure enough, two people were going up in two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar increments. Three grand.
“Three-two,” the man behind us yelled out, mumbling something I didn’t catch under my breath.
