Shortly after that first ride, Nick had started taking riding lessons in Pleasant Hill from Walt Elliott. Walt had worked in Hollywood as a stunt rider before retiring to his ranch in Maryland. Nick had quickly become addicted to riding and caring for horses, and when he was seven, Walt began training him to stunt ride. At eight, Nick was competing—and winning—and at ten, he was helping at the ranch before and after school. By the time Nick was a teenager, if he wasn’t at school or helping his family, he was at Walt’s ranch. Walt had groomed him to become the sought-after stunt rider and showman he was, though Nick had never wanted the Hollywood lifestyle Walt had loved. Walt had downsized and subdivided his property about seven years ago, keeping a small plot of land and his house and barn. He’d sold the remaining acreage, one barn, and what had been the original farmhouse to Nick. The house and barn had been in sorry shape. But Nick had rallied his family to help renovate. His father was an engineer, and Graham had been studying to become one at the time. They’d convinced Beau to come home long enough to help get the job done, and later, they’d built the second, smaller barn and outbuildings.
Nick was living the life he’d always wanted. He had nine horses, had rescued a small herd of pygmy goats, and had added a flock of chickens to his family.
He made two quick clicking sounds, and Snickers fell into step beside him, heading for the barn entrance. It’d been hot and humid lately, so he’d kept the horses in the barn, but now that the sun was coming down and the temperature was dropping, he’d let them out to pasture for the night.
“Nick! Wait up!”
He turned and saw Trixie running toward him, her dark hair flying over her shoulders, her gorgeous breasts bouncing temptingly, but her killer smile was doing far more damage than all the rest. Where the hell was the whiskey when he needed it?
“Hey, Trix,” he said as she caught up and went to pet Snickers. “You all settled in?”
“Good enough for now. I wanted to help turn out the horses and check on Chewy, Cluck, and everyone else.” Chewy was one of his goats, and Cluck was a big old chicken that followed her around like she was the Pied Piper. “Like this old girl. Hi, Snicky.” She put her arms around the horse’s neck and rested her cheek on her mane. “I’ve missed you.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Has Daddy been good to you? What was that? He spoils you rotten?” She pulled a carrot out of her back pocket and fed it to Snickers, giving Nick a victorious look. “But not as much as I do, right?”
Nick laughed under his breath and headed into the barn, trying to ignore the tug in his chest at the love she showed his animals.
Trixie and Snickers followed him in, and all the horses started bobbing their heads and nickering. Nick wondered if that low, throaty greeting was meant for him or Trixie. He swore his animals missed her as much as he did.
As he put Snickers in her stall, Trixie greeted the other horses, chatting them up as if they were old friends and promising them each something special. “Midnight, we’re going to ride down to your favorite spot by the creek and have a picnic, and, Lady, you and I are going to hit the trails. I’m going to ride you a lot while I’m here…”
How about giving me the same offer? And just like that, he felt like a dick again. He gritted his teeth, opening another horse’s stall as Trixie escorted Lady out of the barn.
Nick had a strong bond with all of his horses, but Lady, a gorgeous black Friesian, was a special girl. He’d first met her as a yearling when he’d halter trained her for her owner, Carol Lancaster. He’d saddle trained her a year later, and less than eight months after that, Carol had been diagnosed with cancer. Carol’s health had rapidly declined, and during that time Nick would visit to take care of Lady and ride her so Carol could watch her in action. When Carol passed away, her husband had offered Lady to Nick. Nick began trick training her, and she’d taken to it as if she were born to be his mount. That was five years ago, and she was still his best partner.
Goldie and Rowdy tagged along as they put out the rest of the horses, which took a while because Nick was as bad as Trixie when it came to giving them extra attention. He refilled the dogs’ food and water dishes, and when he came out of the barn, Trixie was standing at the fence petting Romeo, a six-year-old brown Morgan.
Trixie headed for Nick and said, “Okay, big guy. I’m ready to go see Chewy and the gang.”
Romeo whinnied, and Trixie stopped walking, grinning from ear to ear. “Sorry, Nick. Just give me one more minute. I promise to be quick.” She went back to the fence and climbed up, bringing her eye to eye with Romeo. She showered him with attention and promises to spend more time with him over the next few weeks. “Go have fun and play with your friends.”
She sauntered over to Nick, leaving poor Romeo staring longingly after her. Get in line, buddy. Nick had been watching guys vie for Trixie’s attention for so many years, he knew all about the trail of wanting looks she left in her wake.
He arched a brow. “And you think I spoil them?”
“Shut up. He misses me. You want to muck the stalls before we do the rest?”
“I’ll take care of them after dinner.” They headed down to the goat pen. “How’d your brothers take the news of you coming out here?” He’d worried about them giving her crap.
“Like I expected them to. They gave me a hard time at first, wondering why I was coming here to get started. But they apologized the next day. My dad was okay with it, though.”
“Yeah, I know about your old man. I called him after I got your message saying you were coming out.”
“You called my father?” Her brows slanted in anger. “Why would you do that?”
“Out of respect for him. To let him know I’d make sure you were taken care of.”
“I can’t believe you did that,” she said angrily. “You’re as bad as my brothers.”
“Yeah, I had a feeling you’d be pissed.”
“And you still did it?”
“Damn right.”
She swatted his arm.
He laughed. “Sorry, darlin’. I know you can take care of yourself, and your father does, too, but no matter how old you get, you’ll always be his little girl. I don’t know much about being a parent, but if Lady went off without me for a month, I’d damn sure want to know she was taken care of.”
“That’s kind of sweet and kind of awful. I’m not a horse.”
He stole a glance at her, all pissed off and stomping across the grass in her cowgirl boots, sexy as hell. “No, you sure aren’t.”
“I think I need to start surrounding myself with men who aren’t cowboys, because y’all drive me nuts.”
I could say the same about you. “I’m pretty sure it comes with the genes, so unless you start batting for the other team, you’re in for a lifetime of it.” The last thing he wanted to think about was Trixie and some other guy, so he changed the subject. “Travis is making time for us tomorrow afternoon. Does that work for you?”
“Absolutely. I’m excited to get started.”
She looped her arm into his, leaning against his side as they walked down the hill, reminding him of that night in Colorado. His mind took a dark turn, thinking about how much he’d like to get started with her. And man, there he went, being a dick again. He clenched his jaw, pushing those thoughts away.