Page 122 of Downpour

“I can help with that.”

She snorted. Or was that the horse? Actually, it was both. I hated that my girls were ganging up on me.

Brooke took hold of the reins. “A little longer, then I’ll be done.”

“Or you could be done now, and we’d have plenty of time for that extra-long shower.”

She smiled. “You’re not my boss anymore. I’ll be done when I’m done.”

Brooke looked radiant as she rode away. Indy broke into a quick gallop that made my heart skip a beat.

What if Brooke fell? What if Indy got spooked and bucked? What if they got too confident on the sand and took a tumble on a turn? Brooke could break a bone. She could get a concussion. Or worse, she could?—

“Ready?”

I blinked. Brooke was on her feet, walking alongside Indy and leading her out of the area.

“What?”

“You looked like you drifted off on my second lap.” She laughed. “Was I that boring?”

I swallowed my pride and shook my head. “No, you just startled me. That’s all.”

Her expression softened. “How about I get Indy untacked and meet you at the house for that shower?”

But instead of going our separate ways, I followed her to the barn in the golf cart. I didn’t think she’d want to walk back to my house after being out in the sun for most of the afternoon.

Brooke was calm and focused as she went through the motions of removing Indy’s tack. She didn’t miss a beat in getting my horse comfortable before brushing her down and examining her.

Once everything was finished, Brooke sank into the golf cart seat beside me.

“I’m going to need a pre-dinner dinner,” she said, resting her head on my shoulder.

“Go take your shower, and I’ll make you a snack.”

She beamed. “My hero.”

“So, um...I spoke to Marty today,” I confessed when I felt like we were far enough away from the barns and warehouses that no one could overhear us.

Brooke looked up at me. “Really? About what?”

“Sorting through some of the requests that Cass has been fielding. He said he’d negotiate the deals if I wanted to jump on them.”

“That’s great!”

I shrugged. “It might not be steady work, but it’ll be a few things here and there.”

She snickered. “Not all of us can be millionaires, I suppose.”

I parked in front of the house and kissed her temple. “Come on.”

While Brooke rinsed off and changed her clothes for dinner, I sat at the kitchen table and scrolled through a few of the emails Marty and Cass had shoved into my inbox.

If I was being honest, I didn’t have a single desire to rehash my accident in some memoir that would end up on Dollar Store shelves in five years. I didn’t want to go on some speaking tour. That sounded miserable. I didn’t want to be “inspiration porn” for bored corporate types looking to motivate their teams.

A few minutes later, we were back in the golf cart, heading to Momma’s house.

Driving with my hands instead of my feet was a learning curve, but it wasn’t too bad. I liked being able to get around and see what everyone was up to—especially since Brooke had become something of a permanent fixture in everyone’s lives.

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