Page 22 of Ropers Can’t Tie Knots (Kissing Ridge Cowboys #3)
fourteen
Hunter
M ack will definitely be fine.
After several hours, she’s already perkier and far more comfortable. She’s passed a normal stool, and it’s only then that I decide we can rest and put Mack in her stall to monitor.
Me, though? I’m not fine.
Hearing Gabe’s panic over the phone with Mack did me in.
I broke the speed limit to get here because, while I was concerned for Mack, I wanted to protect Gabe from the worst if it happened.
Without being there to see Mack myself, I didn’t know how bad she was.
If she died with him…I don’t think he’d recover for a very long time, and he didn’t need that on his plate.
Seeing him in the stall with my horse, her head lying on his lap while he didn’t care about his clothes and only had eyes for Mack…it took all my willpower to keep it together. He stole my heart at that moment, and I didn’t want it back.
I was already walking a tight line with falling for him. Tonight, I wanted to step forward and genuinely try not to just be here for a charade of a marriage and casual sex. I wanted to make this work and show Gabe he could trust me.
For a guy who spent his whole life pushing people away because whenever I loved someone, they left, Gabe makes me want to be better. I want to break this stupid pattern of mine. He makes me want to hold on tight and take a risk.
After walking Mack and holding Gabe’s hand the entire time, I was determined not to let this night be a total loss.
“Do you mind if I make us some sandwiches and bring them out? It’s nothing fancy, but neither of us has eaten, and I think you want to be close to watch Mack.”
That’s it. He’s perfect. If I still wanted to fight this connection with Gabe, the option to push him away just fled like a racehorse with no jockey.
“I’d love that, actually. Could you bring something warm to drink, too? I have some blankets and lawn chairs in the tack room. I’ll get those set up while you’re gone.”
“Of course. Give me a few and I’ll see what I can come up with.”
Gabe disappears, and I hang over the edge of Mack’s stall once I’ve led her back to the barn. She’s drunk some water from her trough, and her tail swishes as she stands and blinks at me.
“I can’t decide if your timing is impeccable or shit right now, Mack.” Reaching out, she steps forward, and I pet her nose. “You like him, too, don’t deny it. I saw you with your head in his lap.” Mack snorts, and I laugh. “I’m keeping an eye on you, missy. Just let me get a chair.”
In the tack room, I grab two folding lawn chairs and an old, dusty blanket.
It’s days like today that I’m grateful for upgrading the horse barn all those years ago.
No more muddy floors and space heaters. Setting up the chairs on the cement pad across from the horse stalls, I shake out the blanket and place it next to me before taking a seat and watching Mack .
I have a camera system I could use and watch while inside, but I never liked that.
I prefer to be out here and listen to every snort and snuffle.
To be steps away in case a sick animal needs me.
Something else my grandfather always hated.
Animals were just that to him. A purpose and not a living, breathing thing with a heart that you loved.
They lived and died, and life went on, even when his best quarter horse broke her leg. The vet put her down while he walked away, and never once looked back.
Gabe would, though. I could see it in his gaze as he petted Mack’s head.
If Mack didn’t make it, Gabe would come unravelled.
We’re not just spending our date tonight in the barn for my peace of mind, but his.
He’s lost family he loves, and while that doesn’t include four-legged family for him, I know he’d carry that same grief for these horses.
Ever since that day on the porch in the rain, I’ve known Gabe has a tenderness to him I don’t want to keep bruising. I want to nurture him, even if it means working through my own fears.
Margie said it's emotional maturity or some shit. I’m not a fan, but I can’t deny how much I want Gabe to stay.
The barn door opens with a squeak, and Gabe appears in a quilted flannel jacket he must have found in the hall closet. He has a thermos, and two cups balanced on a cutting board over a giant mixing bowl.
I stand to help. “Oh, thank you. I made you that lemon tea you like. You’re almost out, by the way.” He sets the covered bowl down near the chairs. “I hope you don’t mind me wearing this. I found it in the closet. It’s freezing out here, and I wasn’t sure what you had for blankets. ”
“No, not at all.” My brain is still stuck on him, noticing I like lemon tea. “What were you able to find for us to eat?”
“Well, prepare to be dazzled,” Gabe says as he laughs and lifts the cutting board off the bowl. Inside, he has several small plastic containers of meats, cheese, and pickles. He has a box of crackers, a single apple, and the remainder of a loaf of bread.
“Is this charcuterie by Gabe?” I laugh as I place the items on the cutting board that Gabe balances over the arms of the chairs.
“Uh, it’s neither of us has done groceries, and the fridge was kind of bare.”
“That works. I’ve been meaning to go, but I keep forgetting.”
“I hear you. Life takes over and things get forgotten.” He pops a pickle in his mouth and glances at Mack’s stall. “Is she still okay?”
“Yeah, no worse, and that’s a good thing. She’s tired, though.”
Gabe smiles as he chews and gazes at Mack’s stall. “You can still go over and visit with her,” I add when Gabe doesn’t immediately sit.
“She wouldn’t mind?” Gabe is already walking over before I reply.
“No. She’d probably like it.”
I can’t make out what Gabe murmurs to Mack, but I hear the happy nickers from the horse. I’ve eaten most of the pickles by the time Gabe returns, but after he sits, he surprises me by asking about horses in depth.
How much does a horse’s feed cost? How often do they get vet visits? Is it hard to train a horse? And my personal favourite, have I ever brought a horse into the house?
It passes the time, and we chat effortlessly, each of us taking turns to check on Mack. Just before Jonah returns at midnight, we both take Mack for a walk in the yard. Since the clouds have moved in and it’s far too dark to walk in the pasture.
Gabe gets his flashlight out without me asking, and when I notice Mack’s droppings are mostly normal, the remaining tension in my shoulders bleeds out. Jonah pulls in just after that and confirms.
“You two have had a long night already.” He listens to Mack’s heart, lungs, and gut and nods with a smile. “Lots of good noises in there, and she’s already perked up.” He reaches up to pat Mack’s head. “Monitor her water and gradual feed. You know the routine, Hunter. Call me if anything changes.”
Jonah hops in his truck, and we take Mack back to her stall. I measure her water and give her a small amount of hay.
“So…what do we do now?” Gabe asks.
“We clean up here and go to bed. You must have work tomorrow?”
“Yeah, but nothing caffeine can’t fix. If you need company, I’m here.” He offers that like it’s second nature, and maybe it is for Gabe, but for me, it’s more than that.
“I wouldn’t mind some company.” Gabe gathers our mugs and dishes while I return the chairs and blankets, and when I turn to find him waiting with everything in his arms while wearing that overstuffed farm work coat because he’s cold, I’m overcome with an emotion so thick I almost can’t speak.
Gabe doesn’t seem to notice, thankfully, and I open the door for him as we walk across the yard. Just before we reach the porch, Gabe stops.
“Is it snowing? ”
We both peer up at the giant yard light and, sure enough, a few flakes float across the light beam.
“Seems like we have an early winter coming.”
Once inside, Gabe dumps the bowl of dishes on the counter and hangs the jacket up in the closet. It’s a shame I didn’t have him on my arm tonight, dancing, but somehow, having him involved with my life on the ranch is infinitely better.
“I’m going to shower and get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning?” Gabe asks, and I shake my head no. No more keeping him out.
“Stay with me tonight? Please?” I ask softly and step closer. “I couldn’t control what happened earlier, but I can still end the night how I want if you’ll let me.”
Gabe’s lips part as his hand comes to my chest. “How do you want it to end?”
Drawing Gabe’s body next to mine, I bring my lips to his. “With you naked in my arms. I don’t want to go to bed alone anymore.”
Gabe’s body heat sears through my clothes as he kisses me. His movements are slow, and his lips are always so sensual. Having them on me is possibly the best thing I’ve ever felt.
“I told you I’d keep you company, and I think that sounds like a great way to end the night.”
How can a single man move me to a lust that burns so hot one moment and then make me ache to hold him in my arms and wake up with him the next?
Gabe and I kiss in the hallway, both of us moving to undress the other without the urgency of the last time, and it hits me like the ground when I’m bucked off a horse—I’m falling in love with this man.
That should make me break out in hives, but I pull him closer instead.
“It’s warmer upstairs,” I murmur against his neck. “Warmer still in the shower with me, counsellor.”
“I like the sound of that,” Gabe purrs.
Talking Gabe by the hand, I lead him up the stairs to the bathroom, and there’s something about this moment as I close the bathroom door behind us that feels like it was a long time coming.
Maybe not for Gabe, but definitely for me.
Now isn’t the time to analyze all my previous one-nighters and pushing people away, but I can’t help but wonder if Gabe entered my life when I needed him most.