That answer seemed to please her, which was strange considering she owned a ranch. “Oh, well that’s good.” The clippers buzzed back to life as she turned back to Buster. “I better finish this up for Mrs. Murden. You two have fun.”
That was… odd. Peyton wouldn’t meet my eyes while she walked past, snagging my hand as she did. I followed her out the room, down the hall, and past a curious Faith who waved at us with her pointer finger, right through the door and onto the front porch. The moment the screen door closed behind us, she let go of my hand and leaned against the wall.
Her breath was labored, her eyes shut tight, and she looked so vulnerable it took everything in me not to tug her to my chest and wrap her in my arms. Peyton was confident and shy, open yet confusing, and so far out of my league it wasn’t even funny. But hell if I was going anywhere just yet.
“So where’s this badass horse I was promised I’d meet?”
Slowly, her eyelids opened and her eyes found mine. I wouldn’t push her to talk if she wasn’t ready. Hell, if she were ready, I wouldn’t know what to say anyway. Touchy-feely crap wasn’t my forte. Distraction, however, was another story.
I glanced around the wide horseless porch and gave a bored sigh. “Well, Sunshine? I ain’t getting any younger here.”
Clamping her lips together, she stifled what appeared to be a grin before lowering her gaze to the floor. She inhaled deeply and let it out. When she raised her head again, her smile was almost blinding. “Well, come on, then.”
The barn, as it turned out, was pretty much what you’d expect. Light gray wood, bales of hay, and tools. Four horses stood in their stalls, watching me quietly as I walked by until we came to a stop in front of number five.
“This is Oakley,” Peyton said, her voice soft and sort of reverent. The horse was a warm chestnut color, all but for a long white stripe down her nose. She gently ran her hand along the slope.
“She’s a sorrel quarter horse,” she continued, and I nodded as though I had a clue what that meant. Pressing her face against the horse, she breathed in and wrapped her arms around Oakley’s neck. Then she turned her head and gave me a small smile. “You should see her cut on a turn. She’s amazing.”
“When do I get to see you ride?” I asked, my voice low. It felt like if I spoke too loud, too quick, it would ruin… something. The moment. The look in her eyes.
But then a voice broke in, ruining everything anyway.
“Hopefully within the next year.” A dude stepped out of the shadows, running his hand along Oakley’s nose right behind Peyton. Practically caging her in with his body. “CC’s amazing out there.”
He smiled down at her and my eyes narrowed. I knew this game. Hell, I wrote the damn playbook. What I didn’t know was who this guy was or why he was playing it with me. “CC?”
“Just a silly nickname,” Peyton mumbled. She ducked out from under the guy’s hold and leaned against a beam near the stall. The guy turned to me, dropping his smile.
“Can chaser,” he explained. “It means she’s a barrel racer.” He took in my unlaced tennis shoes, a far cry from his roughed up cowboy boots, and his eyebrows lifted behind his wire-rimmed frames. “Are you here for lessons?”
With the way he kept glancing back at Peyton and the dust covering his clothes, I guessed this to be Cade. “Nah, Sunshine’s just showing me around,” I replied with a smile, showing I had my own nickname for CC.
Like I’d said, I knew this game.
But then something he’d said before finally registered and I dropped the smirk. “Wait, why hopefully within the year?” I turned my gaze to Peyton. “Why not now?”
“Because it’s too soon,” Cade cut in, answering for her again. Seriously, this guy needed to back the hell off. He stared at me as if I’d suggested she take a flying leap off the town water tower. “She needs to stick with the program.”
The program. Something about the way he said it struck me as odd. Just like that weird moment inside with her mom.
“What am I missing here?” I asked, keeping my focus on Peyton, wanting her to answer. She nibbled some more on her bottom lip and shifted her gaze between the two of us. Cade, the little shit, stayed silent for once, but his hands did find her shoulders, rubbing them gently like in comfort. My back teeth clicked. “Why can’t you get up there now and show me a thing or two?”
Peyton’s shoulders drew in slightly, and she looked so deflated, so fragile, that I felt like the biggest ass for even asking… which made no sense. Wasn’t this her thing? Wasn’t that why she brought me here?
When she opened her eyes again, the emotions swirling inside nearly crushed me.
“I guess you’d find out eventually,” she said, stepping away again from Cade’s side. He frowned, and despite my confusion, I fought a surge of satisfaction. She sucked in her lips, then released them. “I had GBS.”