Page 9 of Soldier’s Christmas Crush (Trinity Falls: Home for Christmas #4)

JENSEN

J ensen’s boots crunched in the snowy grass as he made his way up the hill to his cousin’s barn early the next morning.

Josh had opened a horse rehab place over the last year. One of his regular guys had to call out today, so Jensen had offered to help out. He was honestly happy for the distraction.

Henry was already supposed to spend the day with grandparents anyway because Jensen had a corporate training scheduled. But it had been canceled. Again. So it ended up being a perfect day to do some farm work.

Deep breaths of the frosty air helped him feel centered. Missing out on one gig wasn’t a big deal. He had savings, so he and Henry would be fine. And he would have payment coming in soon for that other job he had done this month.

He cringed mentally when he thought back to the silly nature of the voice work he’d picked up, but it wasn’t like anyone who knew him would ever hear it or realize it was him even if they did.

The sun was just coming up, painting the snow on the fields a rosy pink that made him think of Willow Wright’s blushing cheeks.

Do not think about that girl. She’s definitely not thinking about you.

“You okay?” Josh asked.

“Yeah,” Jensen said. “Sorry, just a little distracted.”

“Horses are good medicine,” Josh said with a grin.

“I thought we were supposed to be the ones helping them,” Jensen teased.

“Oh, we are,” Josh told him. “These two just need a quick groom and a nice swim.”

Jensen waited while Josh opened up the barn and then they stepped inside together.

There was nothing like the warmth, the sweet scent of hay, and the gentle huffing and stomping of the big beasts.

Jensen had grown up around the farm, so horses were nothing new to him, but he’d never taken one for a swim before.

“These boys are mostly here for rest,” Josh explained as he opened up the first stall door. “This guy is Archer, and he’s got some ligament inflammation. Easy, buddy, we’re okay. ”

He led a big bay out of the stall. Maybe Archer had inflamed ligaments, but he was beautiful, and his body language told Jensen he craved movement.

“Racehorse?” Jensen guessed.

“Yep,” Josh said. “They both are. Do you want to take him out while I get the other? ”

“Sure,” Jensen said, approaching the big stallion as calmly and slowly as he could.

Horses liked calm and confidence. They had to know what to expect. The big animals could be dangerous if you were scared or loud. He took the harness and stroked the big boy.

“Grab a lead from over there, if you want,” Josh told him.

Jensen grabbed one from the hooks on the wall and led the big horse outside.

Archer huffed in a big breath of the cold morning air, letting it out again in frosty clouds around his muzzle.

“Feels good out here, doesn’t it?” Jensen asked him.

Josh followed a moment later, a big gray mare on his lead and a bucket of supplies in his other hand.

They got to work cleaning out hooves and brushing the big animals down. Jensen could tell Archer was enjoying his grooming, so he took a little extra time along his withers, smiling when he saw the beast’s furry back ripple with pleasure.

“We’re mainly just using the groom as an excuse to check on them,” Josh said, handing Jensen the mare’s lead so he could take over with Archer.

Jensen noticed he was paying special attention to the backs of the big animal’s rear legs.

“You want me to get their stalls cleaned out while you hold them?” he asked Josh when he was finished.

“Nah,” Josh said. “One of the boys will be along for that while they’re swimming.”

They walked together toward the big prefab metal building at the top of the hill. This was the showpiece of Josh’s business, and Jensen had been wanting to see it for a while.

“Have you seen Ransom?” Josh asked unexpectedly, as they headed for the doors.

“Not yet,” Jensen told him, shaking his head. “But I want to.”

Josh nodded.

The cousins were close, and Jensen figured Josh knew what a big deal it was that his best friend wasn’t talking to him.

“I’m trying to figure out how to approach him,” he added. “It’s not easy.”

“He was always so protective of Willow,” Josh said as he pressed a button and the doors swung slowly open. “I figured it was because he saw himself as the man of the house and all that.”

“It’s understandable,” Jensen admitted. “I was an idiot not to realize he’d be upset that I encouraged her to join up.”

They stepped into the dim space with the horses.

It was massive, even bigger than it looked from the outside.

The ceiling was exposed and lined with skylights that were partly covered by snow.

What light there was reflected in the dark water of the big, heated pool, dancing in the steam clinging to its surface.

“Ransom signed up himself, soon as he could,” Josh said, his voice echoing slightly in the big space. “So did you.”

“It’s different with Willow, I guess,” Jensen said.

“She had such an obvious crush on you,” Josh said with a smile, shaking his head. “He was probably afraid she would just blindly do whatever you said.”

“She was just trying things out on me,” Jensen said, shaking his head as well. “Since I was her brother’s friend, it was safe to bat her eyelashes at me, that’s all. It wasn’t a serious crush.”

“I don’t know about that,” Josh said.

Archer tugged at the lead, clearly eager for his swim, and the two men focused on swapping out leads for poles.

“Don’t let him dance around too much, if you can help it,” Josh said, nodding to Archer.

Jensen nodded, and stroked the horse’s back in long, slow sweeps, moving closer to discourage the animal from trying to prance too much. It worked, more or less.

Archer was a beautiful creature, all sleek muscle and absolutely quivering with unspent energy. It was hard to imagine a racehorse having to keep still for too long.

“He’ll work that off in the pool,” Josh said, as if he had read Jensen’s mind. “Wait until I get to the other side, and then bring him in.”

“Hang on, buddy,” Jensen told Archer as they watched Josh lead the mare down the ramp into the water.

Once she was in, Josh held out the pole that was attached to the mare’s harness and walked around the perimeter of the pool as the mare began to swim.

Archer seemed to know right away when it was his turn. He moved down the ramp, ears pricked up, posture playful as he stepped into the water .

A moment later, they were walking together. Jensen matched Josh’s pace, and there was something almost hypnotic about the sound of the horses’ rhythmic breathing echoing off the walls and ceiling, and the lapping and splashing of the water against the sides of the pool.

He found his mind returning to the conversation from earlier.

She had such an obvious crush on you…

Had he been the only one who hadn’t seen it? Even Ransom had made him promise. Would he have done that if it had really been nothing?

Jensen could still picture the way the light filtered through the trees in the backyard that afternoon as he and Ransom sat among the roots of the old sugar maple. Though Willow normally tagged along with them, Ransom had chased her off that day.

As they sat under the tree, he gazed at Jensen with a sudden intensity.

Let’s make a pact.

They were young teens, and they hadn’t made pacts since they were little boys. But Ransom’s eyes were flashing with a ferocity that had Jensen automatically nodding instead of asking questions.

My little sister is off-limits, Ransom had said.

And Jensen had gone along with it without asking a single question.

Willow had been blushing at him and making some innocent attempts at flirting.

But he obviously wasn’t going to take advantage of that.

Ransom was protective of his little sister, but Jensen was protective of her too.

It was good that she was testing out her charms on someone who would never hurt her .

When Ransom held out his arm, Jensen grasped it without a second thought.

Willow is off-limits, he repeated.

Forever, Ransom added, nodding sternly, as he grasped Jensen’s arm.

Jensen had nodded and repeated the word.

After all, he would never think of his best friend’s baby sister that way. She was just a kid.

We all were, he thought to himself.

But did that pact really hold, now that they weren’t kids anymore?

Does it still hold, even when our friendship didn’t?