Still, she slipped into bed with a heavy heart and woke up around six. She ate breakfast and changed into some yard clothes, fully intent on spending the morning outside weeding and pruning. Rex arrived just before nine and she spent a few minutes showing him the broken palings and then left him to his own devices. He was a quiet man and barely made eye contact with her.
Around nine-thirty, Marissa was around the side of the house pulling out the remnants of an old vegetable patch when she heard a vehicle pull up to the house. She got to her feet, dropped the gardening gloves and wiped her hands down her jeans before going to investigate.
Grady’s truck and horse trailer was parked in the driveway and he was hanging around the back end of the vehicle. She spotted Rex coming around from the backyard and the two men spoke for a moment before the trailer door was opened and the ramp came down. Less than a minute later Grady was leading a dark-colored horse off the ramp and across her driveway.
She walked toward him and planted her hands on her hips. “What’s this?”
He held out the lead. “For you.”
“What?”
“She needs a home,” he said and looked around at the pasture and stables adjoining the house yard. “And you have room.”
Marissa continued to stare at him. “You’re giving me a horse?” she asked and noticed Rex was by the rear of the truck, watching their exchange with a kind of wary interest.
Grady shrugged. “She’s old, around twenty-six. But she’s in good health and will do for a riding horse until you are confident in the saddle.”
Marissa stroked the mare’s cheek. “Where did she come from?”
“I picked her up from the sale yards a few years ago. The girls learned how to handle a horse with this old mare. She was too big for them as a riding pony, but she’ll be okay for you.”
The mare rubbed her face affectionately against Marissa’s arm. “She’s just lovely. But I’ll pay you for her.”
“No need,” he said and began to walk the horse toward the neighboring paddock. “She’s more than earned her semiretirement.”
Marissa followed and waited by the fence while he turned the old mare out into the pasture. He did everything with such a natural ease she couldn’t help but admire him. The mare whinnied when she was released and trotted around for a few minutes, tail and head extended.
“She’s just beautiful. Thank you...it’s very generous of you.”
Grady rested his elbows on the fence and turned his head toward her. “I thought you’d like the company.”
“I do,” she said and smiled. “But won’t the girls miss her?”
“They have their own ponies. Old Ebony hasn’t been getting a lot of attention of late.”
“I’ll see that she does,” Marissa said. “I’ll need to get some gear—like a saddle and bridle.”
“No need,” Grady replied. “Rex is unloading some gear into the stables for you.”
“Thank you,” she said and managed a small smile. “But I really... I have to...”
“It’s a gift, Marissa,” he said and straightened. “But if that’s too hard for you to accept, consider it an exchange for your kindness toward my daughters.”
“I don’t need payment to love the girls, Grady. Really, what kind of person do you take me for?”
He made an exasperated sound and she felt his rising anger. Unease snaked down her spine. But this wasn’t Simon. She had nothing to fear from Grady. She knew that. It was herself she feared. And the feelings running riot throughout her body.
“Can I ever get anything right with you? I wasn’t criticizing. I wasn’t inferring anything. Maybe I just wanted to give you a horse because you said you wanted to learn to ride. Maybe I just wanted to do something nice for you, Marissa.”
“Why?”
Grady’s expression suddenly looked like thunder and she winced. “Who the hell knows!”
Then he took off back to his truck and reversed out of the driveway as if he had the devil on his tail.
“You got somethin’ on your mind you want to talk about?”
Grady hauled another hay bale from the truck and twisted around. Rex Travers was standing behind him, arms crossed, his weathered face wrinkled in a scowl. He liked Rex—the other man was a good foreman and had become an important part of the running of the ranch. Grady also considered him a friend. The girls adored him and he was genuinely kind and patient with them. But he wasn’t about to get drawn into a conversation about his bad mood.
“Not a thing,” Grady replied and tossed the bale onto the stack in the feed shed.
“You took off from Miss Violet’s place in a real hurry this morning.”
I took off from Marissa...
Grady grabbed another bale. “And?”
“And you yelled at Miss Ellis.”
Miss Violet. Miss Ellis. When it came to women, Rex was a stickler for formality. He still referred to Grady’s mom as Mrs. Parker even though she’d been insisting the other man call her Colleen for many years.
“I didn’t yell,” Grady shot back, irritated.
Rex’s thick brows came up. “Yeah, you did. She didn’t like it.”
Grady stopped what he was doing and straightened. “She said that?”
Rex shrugged. “She didn’t say anything. I just got a look at her face, that’s all. I don’t think she likes yelling.”
“I didn’t yell,” Grady said again and wiped his hands down his jeans. “Can we get back to work now? I want you to take Pete and head down to Flat Rock this afternoon. There’s a length of fence that needs repairing down by the riverbed, where we butt the McCord place.”
“Sure,” Rex said. “Anything else?”
“Stop dishing out advice.”
Rex’s craggy face creased in a wide smile. “Can’t promise anything.”
“Try harder,” Grady said and grabbed another hay bale.
The older man chuckled as he walked off, and when he was out of sight Grady stopped what he was doing, straightened and rolled his shoulders. Damn...he hated it when Rex was right. It felt as bad as being told off by his mother. And he really hated that, thinking it made him feel about fifteen years old.
He finished stacking the hay and headed back to the house. His mother was in the kitchen making lunch for Tina. Since his housekeeper had left, his mom had been helping out with the girls. Once he’d washed up in the mudroom, he headed for the kitchen.
“Thanks for coming over today,” he said, swiping a slice of cheese off the