Michelle jumped back into the house, emerging seconds later with a brand-new Stetson perched on her head. She tugged the brim down in the front, then the back, smirking at him from the shade it cast over her face. “Finally stopped and bought a hat.”
“Did you pocket any corn while you were there?” He referred to her proclivity to deep dive her arms into buckets of corn.
Her laugh rolled out. “I managed to stop myself. Mainly because I have my own barrel here.”
“Yeah, I caught you digging into it this morning.” He’d stood back and watched, enraptured by the joy on her face over such a simple thing.
She clambered down the steps and took the reins from him, swinging into the saddle like she’d been born in it.
He supposed she had, in a way. She’d just needed to remember, but she’d always had an instinctual presence with the horses. Even when she didn’t remember how to ride, she balanced there like it was second nature. “Where to?”
“It’s a surprise.” He winked and bounced into his gelding’s saddle.
“Let’s see how long it takes me to figure out where you’re going.” She made a kissing noise while turning the mare’s head. “Pretty sure I know every spot on this ranch.”
“Oh, you definitely know this one.” They’d spent hours there throughout the years. He’d not been back since the day she left. It held no joy without her by his side. Today he’d take back that little slice of heaven.
Her eyes narrowed, focused solely on him as she rode alongside. “You’re planning something.”
“Yep.” No sense denying it.
That same delighted laugh winked into existence. “I like this version of you. Calm, serious Chase has been taken over by unpredictable, chaotic Chase.”
They walked their horses down the narrow path that passed the barn and rounded the pond. The trees waved overhead, their limbs loose and easy in the summer breeze.
Cows circled in the next pasture as they prepared to bed down for the night.
He counted them automatically, tallying them up against the ledger in his office and grinning at Michelle. “Not all unpredictable.”
“Maybe not.” She reined her mare closer when the trail closed in tighter. Their boots tapped together, then their knees.
In any other situation, he’d demand they ride single file. Riding this close posed risks if one of their horses spooked and their stirrups tangled. He accepted that the risk was worth the reward of riding beside her.
The path widened, and they pulled far enough apart to let him breathe easier. He couldn’t help that part of him that always assessed risk and reward. It came with running the ranch.
Michelle stood in her stirrups. “Wait. Are we going to the edge of the property?”
“You figured that out quick.” His gelding dropped his head to smell the ground, and Chase relaxed his grip on the reins to give him more head room.
Bella inched to the edge of the trail and tried to snatch a mouthful of grass. Michelle corrected her with light pressure from her leg. “The only time you ever took this trail was when we stopped there. It’s like your holy grail.”
That was one way of putting it. “Some of my favorite memories are there.”
“Mine too.” A winsome smile dimpled her cheek. “Remember the time we tried to drive your truck there?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “That was the night I said, ‘I love you’ for the first time.”
He’d agonized over that memory for years after she left, wondering if it had all been make believe.
They reached the end of the trail, and the pasture opened up before them. A long stretch of flat landscape that ended with a ramshackle wooden fence. They grew hay here in the summer and left it barren in the winter. The tall grass waved in welcome, and both horses pranced forward. “Race you to the fence.” He leaned over his horse’s neck.
Michelle matched his position, the anticipation of a good run thrumming between them. “On three.”
He counted them down, almost too fast but too anxious to be slower. “One. Two. Three.”
They launched on three, their horses straining forward in leaping bounds. Michelle’s mare edged ahead first, her neck stretched, and ears pinned.
Michelle let out a whooping laugh that roared through him and spurred him into a low crouch.
Wind tore through his hair, almost ripping his hat from his head. He didn’t bother trying to keep it in place but tucked his chin and rode along with his horse’s thundering stride. Every hoofbeat jolted through him but nothing affected him as much as the joy in Michelle’s face and stance.
