“So you agree you’re all mine?”
“I’m definitely all yours,” I whisper against his lips and move into his arms as they drop around my waist.
“I want to take you on our first official date tonight,” Ace replies. “Show you off to the town.”
“I’d love to. Where are we going?”
“To the county fair. Everyone will be there tonight, riding rides, eating cotton candy and corn dogs, and socializing with all the town bigwigs. It’ll be the perfect time for me to show off my girl.”
“I love how that sounds.”
“Good, you’ll be hearing it a lot after the gossips see us together. I plan to give them plenty of fodder to last them a lifetime.” His tone holds an amused warning and an impatient anticipation. “But for now, we still need to get Frankie. Think you can charm him again?”
“I’ll definitely try.”
Frankie has been watching us from several yards away for the last few minutes. He slowly inched up from the river below but stopped short of actually reaching us. He wants to join us, to be accepted and a member of a family, but he’s afraid to trust people again. Ace remains still as I approach Frankie.
“Come here, boy,” I call softly to him. “Come on. It’s okay.”
Frankie lumbers toward me, taking his time and eyeing Ace as he approaches me. It feels easier each time—easier for him to trust me, easier for him to come to me, and easier for him to let me love him. He’s accepting my love and friendship, he’s healing, and he’s beginning to join the land of the living again.
I feel Ace step up behind me before he speaks. “Take hold of his halter under his chin and let’s walk him back up to the round pen.”
Doing as he says, I hold my arm out to keep Frankie in his space but walking with me. When we reach the round pen, Ace quickly walks ahead and opens the gate to allow Frankie and me to walk straight in. After I release him, I scratch behind his ear and tell him what a good boy he’s been for me. He’s relaxed, and it’s a beautiful sight to watch him at ease around others.
“Layne, you know Zoe Sullivan, right?” Justin calls out.
When I turn my head, I see the young cashier standing beside Justin. “Yes, of course. I’ve looked for you a couple of times in the grocery store, but you weren’t there. It’s good to see you again.”
She smiles weakly, and I realize why she’s here. Then it hits me why they needed Frankie in the pen today. It wasn’t just for me to work with him. It was also for him to work with Zoe. Now that I know the type of work Ace and Justin do here, I can’t help but feel a kindred spirit with the other wounded people who come here. Zoe, especially, because something in that girl has stuck with me since the day I met her. A loneliness. A need to belong.
“Hello,” she replies shyly.
“Zoe, why don’t you go on in and join Layne? She can introduce you to Frankie,” Justin suggests.
“Okay,” she mumbles. She’s clearly unconvinced about his request, but she’s at least willing to try. Justin opens the gate for her and she walks straight to me. Her hand-me-down shirt is oversized by a few sizes and hangs low on her legs. Her denim shorts are barely visible from under the hem. When she reaches me, her gaze finally meets mine. “I’m glad you’re here,” she whispers.
“I won’t leave you until you’re ready for me to,” I reply softly. “I have plenty of time, so take your time if you want.”
A small smile escapes and she relaxes slightly. “Thank you, Layne.”
I simply nod in reply. “Zoe, this is Frankie,” I start. “He’s a very special horse, because he happens to like me more than he likes Justin or Ace. My guess is he’ll love you, too.”
When I guide her hand to his neck, her uncertainty is apparent in how rigid her arm is. Once she touches him, she is every bit under his spell as I am every time I’m around him. “Hi, Frankie,” she coos softly. “You’re so beautiful.”
Within seconds, Zoe is lost in the attention Frankie gives her. She doesn’t realize yet that the more she concentrates on taking care of him, she’s helping herself even more. “You’re doing great, Zoe. He already loves you,” I encourage her.
Justin walks up behind us with a horse brush. “Here you are, Zoe. Why don’t you brush him? He loves that.”
“Okay,” she replies with more enthusiasm this time. She speaks to Frankie soothingly with every deliberate stroke of the brush. She makes several loops around his body, brushing out every bit of visible dirt and showering him with every ounce of love she has. The bonding time between the two of them is beautiful to watch. When it’s over, Justin makes arrangements for Zoe to come back another day.
“Layne, can you walk out to my car with me?” Zoe asks.
“Of course.”
Before we reach her car, she turns to me with tears glistening in her eyes. She places the back of her hand against her lips to hold back the sobs. After a couple of seconds of silence to regain her composure, she wipes away the tears that escaped and begins to share with me.