“Are you sure?” he asked, frowning.
“You need to start bonding with her more. So taking her on a stroll and then grooming her will be the easiest way to start.” I plucked the two-way radio off my belt. “HH to Tommy. Over.”
It took a couple of moments, but then a breathless, eager voice answered, “Tommy here. Over.”
“If you’re not in the middle of anything, I have a job for you. We’re at the agility course. Over.”
“Yeah, I’ll be right there! Over.”
I slotted the radio back to my belt and got a few peppermints out of my pocket. I handed them to Carter. “There. The key to her heart.”
He chuckled. “Thank you.” Then he grinned a bit. “This Tommy sounds young and eager.”
I made a face. “There might be a bit of hero worship going on. Just don’t… don’t draw any attention to it. We try to be kind around here.”
He nodded, the smile falling off his face. “Of course. That’s a good policy to have.”
I gave Ramona scratches while she picked some grass from underneath the fence line, and within a few minutes, we heard an ATV. Tommy was wearing his cowboy hat and he looked excited as he parked next to the barn.
He jogged over. “Okay, what do you need, Boss?” The title was said cheekily. I wasn’t any more his boss than anyone else. If someone was, it would be Wyanne, really.
“Well I decided Carter here needs to start bonding with Ramona. So if you could oversee them going on a stroll in whatever paddock is free, and then come with them back here and teach him how to groom her, I’d appreciate it a lot.”
Tommy nodded and beamed at Carter. “I can do that. Sorry, I’m Tommy, I do the shit jobs.”
I snorted, handed the lead rope to Tommy instead of Carter. “Tell Tommy when you’re comfortable leading her. Not a second before that, okay?”
Then I bowed out and went to get the next horse. I was going to ride today, because the gelding was at that point in his training, and I kind of enjoyed the idea. I did the literal groundwork a lot more than I rode, so this was going to be a fun treat for sure.
As I walked away, I heard Tommy explain the whole “shit jobs” thing to Carter. His low chuckle carried after me, and I didn’t like how it made me feel. Nothing like butterflies, because I still wasn’t sure if I liked the man, but my stomach clenched anyway.
Chapter 8
Carter
The kid definitely had a case of hero worship. And probably a crush. That much was easy to see. After Tommy had rambled about what he did on the ranch—and it was literally shit jobs as part of his tasks was shoveling manure—he started talking about how great Hawk was. To the point that I wondered if part of Tommy’s job was to be Hawk’s hype-man.
“You’re so lucky to have this beautiful girl trained by Hawk,” Tommy was gushing now. “Really. She’ll be one of the best trained horses out there. All of Hawk’s horses are. He understands horses like no one I’ve ever met.”
He had to be no more than sixteen or seventeen, so that wasn’t saying much. How many people could he have met in his short life? I almost said it out loud but bit my tongue at the last minute. I didn’t want to be rude.
“Have you worked here long?” I asked in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation in another direction. I already knew Hawk Harrington was the best at what he did.
“Since my birthday, when the Harrington’s could hire me. So like, nine months?” He squinted one eye like he was thinking then shook his head. “But I practically grew up here. My dad used to bring me to work with him all the time.”
“Oh, your dad works here too?”
Tommy stumbled a step which made Ramona jerk her head. Tommy patted her neck as he kept walking. “He did. He, uh, died a couple of years ago. Accident.”
I really stuck my foot in it, but really, how was I supposed to know? I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Tommy. My condolences.”
“Thanks,” he said quickly, as though he was ready to move on. He rubbed the back of his neck, and then held up the lead rope. “You ready to try?”
I eyed it warily for a moment then looked at my docile horse with her big brown eyes. Yeah, we could give this a go. I stepped closer, rubbed her neck, and then took the rope.
“So I…what? Just walk her like a dog?” I made my eyes wide, hoping the kid would understand I was joking.
Tommy barked out a laugh. “Kinda! You want to give her enough slack so she can move but not so much she thinks she’s in control instead of you. Yeah, that’s good. Click your tongue to get her moving.”
