Page 21 of Take a Chance (Blue Creek Ranch #1)

“Yeah, there was a shelter over there and it was fenced in. We need to build a new fence just in case, then… the wobbly bridge here?” He gestured to one end of the space. “If we place it this way, there’ll be plenty of room if a horse needs to jump off it.”

“Sounds good. And the rest can go—” A loud, familiar neigh that turned into nickering was followed with the thundering of hooves.

Hawk looked over to the paddock and laughed. “Someone spotted her human.”

I sighed, trying to look exasperated, but nobody believed that. I walked over to the wooden fence and climbed up a rung, then waited until Jaina got there, letting us hear just how happy she was.

“I know, girl.” I patted her neck and let out an “oomph” when she swung her head over the fence to get more cuddles.

“Wy says you have a special connection,” Hawk stated, coming to the fence. He climbed two rungs, since he was shorter, then loved on Jaina when she moved to him for pets.

“We worked hard. She was this miserable, gangly two-year-old and just needed someone willing to connect with her.”

“Don’t downplay it. It’s rare to see a horse who is this into their person. I’m glad you got her back.” He gave her a couple of more pats, then pushed her back my way.

“Yeah.” I stroked her ears and she let out a long, happy exhale.

“Crew wants to see people happy,” Hawk murmured thoughtfully. “If he sees someone has a hole in their heart and there’s something he can do to help, he’ll try. He might strongarm them a little to get his way, but he only ever means well.”

I snorted. Yeah, that sounded about right. “I’m still not used to everyone… caring so much.”

Hawk looked at me, something older than our years—I was a year older at twenty-five—in his gaze.

“When it comes to the family, yeah, we’re a force of nature.

We want everyone happy and settled. My brother, on the other hand…

.” He shrugged and smiled at Jaina who was trying to steal my ball cap.

“He’s… special. He doesn’t connect easily, but when he does, he holds a torch something fierce. ”

I had no idea what Hawk meant and why he’d share that with me, but then his cell rang, and he stepped away to take the call.

Hawk gestured for me to wait for him, but also frowned at his phone, so I figured it would take a while.

Since she was right there, I climbed over the fence and used the height to get onto Jaina. She tossed her head in her excited happy way, then perked her ears to listen to what I was going to ask of her.

I nudged her forward a little, and we trotted along the fence line for a bit. There were more horses scattered closer to the stock barn, so we had a lot of space for ourselves. After a moment, I shifted my weight, and she looped back toward where we’d left Hawk.

Grinning, I straightened my back. “Let’s see if you remember this, still,” I murmured, and gave her the signal for our version of collected canter.

She perked up even more, happy for this little puzzle, and collected herself like a dream.

“That’s it, girl,” I said, smiling from ear to ear.

We came to a stop next to our starting point, and Hawk clapped.

“That was impressive for her build and with no saddle and bridle.”

“Thanks. I wanted to see if she still remembered how to. Didn’t think it would be this easy, but she’s such a good girl.” I slid off her back and gave her a hug and a few pats. “We’ll find something new to do on my days off, I promise.”

“You can use any of my equipment. I have a lot of the balancing and conditioning stuff in the storage attached to the arena.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. She’d love that for sure.”

Hawk handed me a few pieces of carrot from his never-ending supply in his pocket and I gave them to Jaina.

“Okay, go back to your friends.” I patted her neck and she snorted, then started to walk away as if she’d understood exactly what I’d told her.

Hawk seemed delighted. “She’s something special. You’ve done good with her.”

“Thanks.” It meant a lot coming from him. I’d looked into his methods and reputation, and for his age, he was leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else I could find.

“What do you think of a seesaw?” he asked, gesturing back at our task at hand.

“Huh, never thought about that. We could build one on that side.”

And so it went. He started to take notes, and we spent another hour making plans and figuring out what we needed to buy for this project.

“This is going to look like an agility course by the time we’re done,” Hawk said, sounding excited.

I laughed. “I’m good with that.”

He slapped me on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go find lunch before Mom calls me.”

That evening, after Pay went to bed to read before bedtime, I grabbed a pop and went to my tiny porch.

Russ was on his porch, and there was a light on in Crew’s cabin, too.

“Want to join me?” Russ asked me.

“Let me tell Pay.” I peeked back inside. “Pay? I’m going to chat with Russ on his porch, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy!”

I walked across the patch of grass between the cabins and went to sit on the bench next to Russ’s rocking chair.

“Hawk said you’re helping him with things,” he started, gaze firmly on the paddocks in the distance.

“Uh-huh.” I drank a bit of my pop. “It’s taking some brain work, but we’ll get there.”

“He also said that you’re a bit of magic on that horse of yours.”

My cheeks heated. “I don’t know about that.”

Russ hummed, sounding amused. “That boy is an old soul if I ever seen one. He’s often the quiet one in the corner, watchin’ people. He sees things others don’t. He says you’re magic; you better believe it, son.”

I snorted softly. I wasn’t sure if it was for the “son” or the general statement.

“Your daddy did you dirty?” he asked when I said nothing, and I wondered if it had been a question on his mind or if he’d realized I didn’t care for being called “son.”

“You could say that.” I drank a bit more, wishing it was a beer, even though I wasn’t much of a drinker. “He lied about the finances. For a decade, as far as we can tell. Racked up all kinds of debt and then had a heart attack, one of those widow maker ones, in the back pasture one day.”

Russ winced. “That ain’t right.” Sighing, he asked, “And you had no idea?”

I snorted. “No. We thought he was great with money. That’s why we left him in charge. I….” I shook my head.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Russ said after a little bit of silence. “Boys look up at their fathers, even when the fathers aren’t good men. Or worse yet, they seem good, but ain’t.”

Something about his tone suggested he had first hand experience.

“Yeah.”

I downed the rest of my pop and got to my feet.

When I was a couple of steps away from his cabin, Russ piped up again. “For what it’s worth coming from me, the way I see it, your boy couldn’t have a better daddy.”

I didn’t look back, but feeling supremely awkward, I nodded, hoping that he was right.

As I took off my boots and turned to put them by the door, I glanced over at Crew’s cabin. He was standing in his window and lifted a hand.

Feeling a weird fluttery clench in my chest, I did the same, then opened the door and went inside.