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Chapter Eight
Ginger paced in the stables, sure Nate had seen her indicate he should meet her there. She turned and stalled when she saw him framed in the doorway. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, and the way he radiated contriteness from his very being made Ginger’s perfectly prepared speech dry right up.
“Look,” she said. “I’ve kind of had…a rough time in the whole going-to-dinner thing, and I just got a little flustered.”
“Perfectly understandable.” He made no attempt to come closer to her. With the sun haloing him from behind, and with that sexy cowboy hat perched on his head, it was difficult to see his face.
Ginger nodded. “So, do you think you can do the riding lessons?”
“Oh, there’s no way I can do this,” he said, and while he spoke with a tease in his voice, she suspected he believed his words.
“You’ll learn it,” she said.
“You sound so confident,” he said. “I wish I had some of that.”
“Did you grow up in White Lake?”
“Yes.”
“Never rode a horse?”
“I mean, I did,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I can teach others how to do it. Especially kids.”
“The kids are the easiest group, trust me,” Ginger said.
“Did you grow up in Sweet Water Falls?”
“Right down the road,” she said. “My grandparents lived in the house where I live now, and my father added the East Annex when he moved there. I was fifteen, and he taught me how to shingle a roof and texture a wall before painting it.” She put a smile on her face, because she’d enjoyed learning things from her father.
“And I suppose you’ve been riding since you could walk.”
“Of course not,” she said. “We don’t start riding until we’re three or four, and that’syearsafter we first learn to walk.”
Nate let a beat of silence go by, and then he laughed. It was a wonderful, deep sound that set Ginger’s heartbeat racing. She joined in, glad for this single moment in time and hoping they’d have more.
She took a few steps toward him, wanting to reach out and take his hand in hers. She wasn’t quite brave enough for that. “So, you know, I eat dinner every night, and if you really wanted to eat with me, I think that could be arranged.”
“I don’t want to break the rules,” he said.
“There are no rules about who can eat dinner with who.”
“I don’t want to make your life harder.”
“Nate, I brought you here to make my life easier.”
“Then I will do my best to do that,” he said, and he was just so wonderful. In that moment, Ginger realized just how different he was than Hyrum too, and she allowed herself to believe that perhaps they could have something that went beyond friendship.
* * *
The days passed,and Ginger saw plenty of Nate. She had to, because she had to complete a daily check-in with him. She also kept in constant contact with Spencer and Nick, who were helping him learn the ropes, literally. They both said he was agreeable, and a quick study, and very, very good with horses.
Ginger finally went out to the stables on Sunday morning to see for herself. Sure enough, Nate worked with the horses as if he’d been born to do it. Even one of their newer, wilder horses settled right down the moment Nate took the reins from another cowboy. He talked to the equine in a quiet voice, and everything about Nate was a very strong version of quiet.
He put the horse in its stable and turned, catching her standing there, watching him. “Hey,” he said. “What are you doing out here?” He took off his gloves and clapped them together as he came toward her.
“I’ve been getting good reports about you,” she said. “So I came to see for myself.” She smiled at him as he neared. “How are you feeling? Ready to start the riding lessons tomorrow?”
