“Which one’s yours?” another girl asked.
“None of them are mine,” June answered matter-of-factly. “They belong to Ty and his friends.”
“That's not fair,” Blond Pigtails said, her little chin raised as she looked from June to me. She must have decided I was the villain of the piece, and her eyes flashed fire. I raised my hands in innocence. She turned back to June. “You should have your own horse.”
That sounded like June’s chance to explain she didn’t live in town, that in fact, she had spent less than three weeks on a ranch in her life, and didn’t want a horse. Instead, her mouth curled at the edges and she said, “Maybe I should have my own horse.”
The woman knew how to get me right in the gut.
TWENTY-FIVE
june
I was fairlycertain the afternoon was going well. The girls were interested, Miss Kitty stayed calm, and Ty hadn’t laughed at me once.
I’d been more than a little afraid he might. The last thing I wanted to do was remind him yet again I didn’t have a clue what I was doing on his ranch. After flubbing the parts of a horse almost immediately, I’d started to sweat, but Ty’s reassuring nod had settled me down again. He didn’t crack so much as a smile when my mind blanked out over fetlocks and withers. In fact, he’d looked downright proud.
I moved on to demonstrate proper grooming technique, which I’d learned by bingeing YouTube videos the night before. The girls each took turns brushing Miss Kitty in long, slow strokes, touching her about as often with the brush as with their own little hands. I made sure none of them got too close to Miss Kitty’s back legs in their enthusiasm. The mare didn’t seem likely to do anything more than enjoy the attention they lavished on her, but I kept watch just in case.
Marnie raised her hand as though we were in a classroom. She looked a lot like Marilyn, with thick, dark hair that tumbled over her shoulders. “Is Mr. Ty your husband?”
The question brought out a round of giggles from the rest of the girls. I resisted the urge to turn around to catch Ty’s reaction. Would he scowl, groan, roll his eyes? Look horrified at the very thought? I didn’t want to know.
“Mr. Ty is not my husband.” I put a prim edge to my voice, as though that could stop me from thinking about what having him for a husband would entail. Not the time or the place to get carried away with those thoughts. I wasn’t sure he was even the marrying type. The rest of it, though—he was definitelythattype.
“Does Mr. Ty have a wife?” Marnie asked, scrutinizing him over my shoulder without shame. She didn’t look like she approved of the idea. At only six years old, she couldn’t see much appeal in a big, slightly scruffy, brooding man. At twenty-nine, those qualities did more than a little for me. Add in his persistent care for me, his honesty, and his hard work ethic, and he was just about irresistible.
I can respect a man like that.
“Mr. Ty doesn’t have a wife.” I knew the direction of little kids’ questions well enough to guess where this was headed. Right about now, Ty was probably wishing he’d opted for that cup of tea and purse bourbon.
“You should marry him,” another girl said, nodding until the braided ends of her cornrows bounced.
Marnie gasped. “Then all the horses would be yours!”
So would a grouchy, stubborn man. It didn’t put me off the idea.
I shushed the squealing that followed before Miss Kitty could get agitated. I wasn’t entirely sure Miss Kitty could get agitated anymore, but if she could, the squealing of fifteen little girls would do it.
“That’s probably not the best reason to get married.” I looked over to Crystal, who flashed an apologetic smile.
“Girls, let’s pay attention, please,” Crystal said. “Who hasn’t had a turn brushing the horse?”
I waited a few minutes before risking a glance over my shoulder at Ty. He stared at me from beneath his Stetson, his eyes hard and unreadable. Yep, he definitely looked like he wished back the whole afternoon.
After grooming practice came time for the big show. I put a saddle on Miss Kitty, another task I had mostly learned from YouTube. Ty had helped me figure out all the saddle parts the day before, so I knew I had it secured right. Then I fastened Miss Kitty’s bridle and snapped a lead rope on before taking her out of the barn. Little hands reached out to gently touch the horse’s soft, short hair as I led her into the round pen. The girls fanned out along the pen fence, bumping together as they sought first place in line for their ride.
“The quietest, most respectful girl will get to go first.” The line straightened out, silenced in a flash.
Crystal had brought an adjustable riding helmet for the girls to wear as they each took their turn. She winked as she handed it over. “Let’s hope it isn’t lice season.”
I selected the first girl and helped her into the helmet before boosting her onto the saddle. Ty followed us out to the pen to watch the girls take their rides. I stared at him a moment, our positions reversed from the first day I’d come out here. His heavy gaze shivered through me, all heat and intensity, until I finally had to turn away.
Two passes around the pen per girl seemed about right, even though they would have happily ridden all evening. Miss Kitty didn’t mind either the walking or the stopping to have her rider exchanged. My back strained from boosting up all the little bodies, but it was worth it to see the girls’ happy faces once on top of the old horse.
By the time I’d led the last girl on her walk around the pen, the afternoon sun had just started its descent to the tree line in the distance. The first parents pulled into Ty’s drive to collect their children as I gave the tail-end of my closing speech.
“Congratulations, Daisies. You earned your Horse Fun badge!”
