Page 77 of Time To Learn

“I doubt it, but who knows? I might surprise myself.”

I crack my neck, curious to learn more about this mysterious woman who seems to be so full of contradictions. It’s the same as I told her that night at the pub—the more I learn about her, the more I want to stop time indefinitely and simply learn even more abouther.

I haven’t had those kind of thoughts about a woman for so long, but as soon as it wedges itself into my heart, the more I realise that I likeit.

Fuck.

“Does that happen often?” I ask. “That you surprise yourself, Imean?”

“No.” The answer is swift—and a little disappointing.

“That’s toobad.”

I bend my head as I lean forward in my seat, my focus on the tattoo again.

“I sound dull, don’tI?”

No sooner have the words fallen from her lips than I shake my head, negating her statement.

“You’re definitely not boring.” I glance into her doubtful eyes and wink playfully at her. “But doing something out of the norm makes life a little more interesting. That’s how I feel, at least. And take me, for instance…” I straighten in my seat, my arms to the side. “Who’d have thought I’d leave the big city and move into a flat above some stables?”

Her grin makes my stomach tighten, but I don’t allow her to see my inner turmoil.

“Well, yes, I suppose you’re right,” she concedes and then tilts her head back to stare at the ceiling. “My dad loved surprises.”

The unveiled note of sadness in her voice catches my attention.

“Tell me about him,” I ask softly.

She inhales deeply as she wets herlips.

“He was quiet—very uncharacteristic of Scots, I might add—but there was a bit of a daredevil hidden inside of him, too.”

“I’m intrigued now. Go on, please.”

“He was veryshort, and…”

“Aah, so that’s who you take after,” Igrin.

She doesn’t miss a beat, but only scrunches her nose at me. The twinkle in her gaze tells me that she’s not offended, and I breathe a small sigh of relief.

“And so he became a jockey. He was so passionate about race horses—the whole industry—and when a broken leg stopped him from continuing his career, he got the idea for New Beginnings. He inherited the farm from my grandparents when they died, but didn’t know what to do with it until he took a bad fall at a race and the horse he was riding broke its leg, too. That’s when his idea was born. And that’s how he metMum.”

I grin at her, pleased that she’s finally opening up tome.

“How? Was it a whirlwind romance, then?”

She cracks a smile, her eyes lost in memory.

“Pretty much. She was a client, actually.” She looks back at me when I stop the tattoo needle, enraptured by her story. “She knew he had a reputation—that he had a gift with horses—and she was intrigued by his nick name, The Horse Whisperer.” Laura rolls her eyes, and I smirk as I remember our first real conversation we had not that longago.

“Mum was also touched by the fact that he attempted to show people there is so much more to race horses than their profession. She wanted to adopt one of them, and since she had been around the industry almost as long as my dad, she knew that he was the right person to turnto.”

Her low sigh as she tells the story about her parents makes my heart speed up. I’m enraptured by her voice.

Byher.

“Once they laid their eyes on each other, that was it,” Laura ends on another sigh. “It was love at first sight.”