Page 24 of Stables Spurs Suits
“That’s them,” I reply, and we all wait with bated breath as the dots move slowly away from the north-west border. With the internal fences down, the cattle can pretty much go whereverthey want, and while they have a strong survival instinct, relying on those is not smart business.
There’s a huge group headed west, then, like they’ve hit a wall, the dots bunch together on that side then start to move south.
“It’s working,” I say, and the tightness in my chest eases just a little.
The sound of a rumbling truck breaks through the silence. It has to be the trailer with the new horses.
“Here, you take this,” I say, passing my phone over to Connor. “The horses will be here in a minute.”
“Back to work, boys,” Atlas says, and then his attention shifts to the drive and the large horse truck kicking up dirt as it stops at the top of the driveway.
Atlas throws the ropes over the fence by the milking barn and jogs up the drive to direct the horse rig down as far as it can go, and then they shut off the engine and the driver heads into the house with Dean and Nial while Atlas climbs up onto the side.
“Welcome home,” he tells the horses as he moves along, checking through the windows on each of them.
“Are they okay?” I ask.
“Look to be. Probably ready to be out running on grass, I think,” he replies, jumping down. “Should we show them to their new home?”
My stomach swirls under his gaze.
“Sure. Where do you want me?”
“Grab the lead ropes. We’ll take them over a couple at a time.”
“I can help too,” Skye says, holding up a large bunch of green-stemmed carrots. “I bet they’re hungry after the drive.”
“Good thinking,” Atlas says, and Skye’s face lights up at the compliment.
I grab the leads as Atlas unlatches the doors along the side of the trailer. A few of the horses neigh and stomp at the sound.
“Easy, loves, you have nothing to fear from me,” Atlas tells the horses, and hearing him speak to them with that husky tone makes my heart race in all the right ways.
I pass him the first lead rope, and as Skye feeds the nearest mare a carrot, Atlas hooks onto the bridle. The horse stirs for a moment but calms almost instantly under Atlas’s touch.
“Easy, girl, you’re home.”
He opens the stall gate. I quickly step aside, breathing in a lungful of his delicious scent as he passes with the mare. Its ears twitch at the sounds of the ranch. The noises are foreign to it now, but it won’t take long for these horses to recognize safety in the sounds.
“Grab a lead and a horse and follow me,” he says, and I pick one and hang the rest over the empty stall door.
“Do I just… hook it?” I ask, as I glance back out at Atlas leading the horse in a circle outside the trailer.
“Pretty much. No need to be afraid, these horses are used to being handled.”
I reach a hand slowly toward the nose of the large black stallion nearest me. His nostrils flare, and then he nudges my hand with his nose, and I give him a pat.
“You’re a real beauty, aren’t you?” I say as I latch the bright pink lead rope I grabbed and open the stall door.
He trots out without any prompting, and I follow along beside him.
I lean in to whisper, “You could at least make it look like I’m the one leading you.”
Chapter eleven
ATLAS
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK
