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“One week.” He half-expected her to argue with him, tell him that wasn’t good enough.

But once again, she surprised him.

“Sounds fair enough.” Her voice came from directly behind him, causing his heart to jump-start. He tensed and his jaw clenched. “You really shouldn’t sneak up on a guy in my position.”

“Who’s sneaking?” She pointed to a saddle closest to him. “Get that one. Check it like you did the pad, and then put it on your horse. Make sure the pad is equal on both sides, and if it isn’t,don’tdrag it against her hair. You have to lift it or you’ll agitate her skin.” She spun around and headed back toward her horse.

Even after his gruff nature, after his rude words, after his body language practically yelled at her to keep her distance, she didn’t seem scared. Grace Callahan was a force to be reckoned with, and it wasn’t all that difficult to see it.

While she might appear soft and sweet on the outside, she was strong, like a lighthouse in the storm. She didn’t let him ruffle her feathers—something that might serve to be good or bad in the future.

Good or bad for what?

He grabbed the saddle and moved toward his horse.

It wasn’t like he was here for anything besides his court-mandated therapy sessions. He wasn’t going to let this Callahan woman get under his skin. It had taken years to meticulously build the walls he had around him. It would take a lot longer than one day talking about horses to make that fortress crumble.

4

Grace

Grace tightenedher grip on the reins she held to quell their shaking. She’d known this was going to be hard. From the very beginning, her family and even Shane had made statements making her wonder if she was capable of doing this job.

Her whole life, she hadn’t met a person who was so intent on being left alone. It made sense. She couldn’t fault him for his feelings. But there was a small part of her thathadhoped he would have at least been okay with just interacting like acquaintances.

She wasn’t so dumb to assume this was how he treated everyone.

He just didn’t want to behere.

Grace wasn’t proud of it, but when he’d called her a trigger that got under his skin, she nearly walked away right then. The only thing that kept her there was her own stubbornness.

It paid to be a Callahan in this situation.

The cold nipped at her cheeks as they took one of the open trails around the property. She knew she couldn’t ask him intrusive questions. At this point, she wasn’t sure what they would talk about if he wasn’t up for actually making conversation.

Stability.

That’s what Shane had said she was offering. Listen to him, offer stability, and no judgment. Should be easy enough.

“So?” his gruff voice broke through her reverie. “Are you going to get started?”

Grace glanced at him. “We have.”

“No. I mean, are you going to ask your questions and then tell me how I should feel?”

Her brows furrowed. “Is that what you think this is about?”

“What’s it that you call it? Right.Breaking. You break horses. You find a wild horse, an animal that doesn’t want to be tamed, and you put a saddle on it. Then you force that animal to go against every instinct it has ever had. You make it listen to you so you have an obedient little machine that you can ride to your heart’s content. That’s what you’re trying to do out here, aren’t you?”

She could argue with him, tell him every single reason he said was wrong. She could insist that he didn’t know what he was talking about. But she didn’t. That’s not what this was about. He was lashing out like he’d been doing since he’d arrived.

Her heart ached for him—for the person he used to be before he’d walked through his own personal hell and came out on the other side, unwilling to trust anyone. But that was just what was on the surface. This went deeper.

Grace took a deep breath and focused on their surroundings. “You’re not a horse to be broken. You never will be.”

He huffed and she ignored it, praying for guidance in how she could phrase what was in her heart.

“Did you know when a horse is broken, it just means it’s safe to ride?” She glanced at him again. “What you are referring to—the obedient horse—that comes with training. However, we’re not making mindless robots out here either. There’s a relationship between a rider and his horse—a bond. I think you might understand that part of things, even if it is only a little.”