Page 27 of Back in the Saddle

‘I said time’s up,’ he repeated calmly.

Cody pouted but tugged on the reins, approaching the exit to the paddock.

Hunter walked up to him, taking the reins from his small hands and helping him get down. As his boots hit the ground, a low cloud of dust raised from the dry sand. Looking up at the cloudless sky, Hunter winced. It hadn’t rained in over a week.

‘Mom always spoils my fun,’ Cody whined, stalking beside Hunter and the mare towards the barn.

‘She doesn’t want you to get heatstroke. It’s really hot today.’

Cody huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. ‘It’s summer. Of course it’s hot.’

Hunter bit back a smile. Cody’s personality had started changing from ‘sweet child’ to ‘young teen with an attitude’. Cody and his younger sister, Morgan, had been spending a lot of time over summer at the ranch. By extension, Cody had been trailing after Hunter, day in, day out. Buck kept saying he didn’t know where he got ‘that cheek’. Hunter conveniently stayed quiet whenever the topic was brought up.

‘Well, you can take it up with your mom if you want.’

‘Can you not talk to her, Uncle Hunter?’

Hunter laughed and shook his head. ‘No chance. You’re on your own with that.’

They entered the barn and Ray, one of the younger ranch hands, jogged up to them. ‘Hi, boss.’

Hunter passed him the reins. ‘Ray, can you take Twinkle to her stall? She’ll need a good hose down too; it’s scorching out there.’

‘Sure thing, boss.’ Ray nodded and led Twinkle away.

Hunter turned to Cody. ‘I agree with your mom. You need to rest up, the worst of the sun is about to hit.’

Cody’s lip quivered and he looked at Hunter pleadingly. ‘But we’re going back home tomorrow. Please, Uncle Hunter.’

Hunter’s shoulders slumped in defeat. He sighed. ‘All right. If you go up to the house for some rest now, I’ll come get you later on when it cools down. You can have another half an hour on Twinkle.’

Cody’s brown eyes shone with excitement. ‘An hour.’

Hunter put his hands on his hips, summoning the steeliest air he could. ‘Forty-five minutes.’

Cody didn’t blink. ‘An hour. Please,’ he added, his voice softening.

Hunter chuckled. He was starting to understand what Buck meant by ‘that cheek’.

Only now he remembered his phone had vibrated earlier that morning, when he was busy. He fished it out, blinking at the notification.

1 new message from an Unknown number.

‘Fine. An hour. Now, off you go. I’m sure Grandma has some food and iced tea waiting for you,’ he said, eyes flicking up just in time to register his nephew’s smug expression.

The boy didn’t need to be told twice. He rushed off, disappearing from Hunter’s view up the path to the main house.

Sometimes, a stray thought of whether he’d ever want to have children popped into his head. He adored Cody and Morgan, but the only way he could picture himself was as a fun uncle, never a father. The older he got, the more at peace he was with that way of things. Happy, even. He supposed it was something he should keep in mind to bring up, nowthat he decided he was open to a possibility of a relationship again. Because there was no point in stoking romance if two people wanted fundamentally different things in life.

Hunter briefly wondered whether Caroline wanted kids.You’re getting ahead of yourself. Again.

Hunter looked around the barn. Ray must’ve taken Twinkle out the back as there was no sign of him inside. The only sound came from the horses in their respective stalls.

Sitting down on a three-legged stool pushed against the beam, he opened the message.

Hi, Hunter. You wanted my number? Well, here it is.

He grinned, re-reading the message like he wanted to memorise it. He swallowed through a miniature butterfly of joy hoping to escape from his gut.