Page 82 of The Meeting
She walked over to him and looked at the large animal in the stall in front of her. She had seen horses in parades or at the local fair, but never up close like this, never so close where she could touch one.
He reached toward the horse and gave it two long strokes down its face.
“This is Buttercup. She likes to be pet on the face.”
Kailynn reached out and imitated the way Derek had been stroking her. The black rough hair of the horse wasn’t what she expected. It shifted its stance, bumping her hand and then nuzzling her through the gaps in the bars.
“She likes you.”
“I like her. Is she yours?”
Derek patted Buttercup’s side. “She is. Her owner passed away. We were boarding her and her owner left her to us in her will.”
“Wow! That was generous.”
“It was. I don’t think she had a lot of family, so this was her way of saying thanks, since she knew we would take care of her. Buttercup is a sweet girl. You can ride her tomorrow if you’d like.”
Kailynn put her hands up, but Buttercup nuzzled her again, wanting to be petted more. “I don’t know about that. I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“Chase can ride with you. I’m sure he’d love to show you around our parents’ property. It’s only a thirty-minute ride away.”
The barn door opened again and Chase stepped through.
“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
He stepped over to Kailynn and pressed a kiss to the side of her head before reaching out to stroke Buttercup.
“I’m sorry. It was just getting a bit—”
“Overwhelming? Exhausting? Loud?” Chase supplied and then laughed. “Trust me. You don’t have to explain. I’m sorry I wasn’t with you. Every time I would try to get over to you, I got stopped by someone else.”
“It’s okay.”
“I was just telling Kailynn that maybe you could take her riding tomorrow,” Derek said. “She told me she has never been near a horse.”
“Only if there’s time. Don’t feel obligated,” she said.
Derek laughed. “Chase? Feel obligated? Please.”
Chase socked Derek’s arm. “I’d love to take you out and show you everything.”
“That would be fun.” She smiled up at him.
The barn door opened again.
“Busted,” Derek said.
“What are all of you doing in here? Come enjoy the party!” Jane said.
And with that, they all walked back out to the tents.
21
The morning light peeked in through the curtains, waking Chase out of a deep sleep. Kailynn was curled into his chest, and he was careful to slide out of bed without jostling her too much. She only snuggled back into the bed when he got up.
He didn’t need to look at the clock to know it was around six a.m. Derek would have already been up for an hour working out on the ranch. Chase threw on a pair of jeans over his boxer briefs and yanked on a t-shirt and then sweatshirt.
He slipped out of the room quietly, looking back at his beauty still in bed. The party had gone late into the night, much later than his family was probably used to. Being out in rural Montana, they tended to go to bed early, so they could attend to their farms or animals first thing in the morning. Derek and his workers were likely struggling from the late night.
