Page 1 of Sara’s Dom (The Doms of Madison County)

Chapter One

Grant pulled up in front of the stables. He was there to see a mare he wanted to buy. From the pictures he was sent, she was a beauty and perfectly proportioned.

After he got out of his truck, he stretched with his arms over his head. He and his ranch hands had finished tagging calves earlier, and he was sore as hell. He seemed to feel it more every year. It sucked getting old.

He walked around and looked at the cleanliness and organization of the stables, impressed. He’d heard good things about the people that ran the business and wanted to meet them.

He blinked a few times when he strolled into the stable. The light was dim, and it seemed like millions of dust particles were floating in the air. When he heard the unmistakable noise of someone cleaning the stalls, he knew why.

He petted the nose of one of the horses that stuck its head over the stall door, curious to meet him. Farther down, he saw a dog lying on the floor with his ears up as he listened to the woman cleaning the stall, singing. He stood back, listened, and then nodded. She was pretty good, and he could have listened to her for hours.

He walked to stand in the doorway and grinned. The woman’s back was to him, and she was wiggling her hips as she sang and scooped up horse droppings and threw them into a wheelbarrow.

“Can I help you?” a voice said behind him. He turned to see a young woman.

“Yes, I’m Grant Crawford. I’m meeting the ranch manager about a horse.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman in the stall, tense and stare at him.

“That would be me.” The younger woman came forward with her hand out. “I’m Tiffany Nichols.”

They shook hands.

“So, you want to buy Dream Catcher?” Tiffany asked.

“Yes.”

“She’s down a way. If you follow me, I’ll show you.”

Grant took one more look at the woman in the stall, grinned when she ignored them, and efficiently kept cleaning, and if he wasn’t mistaken, he saw a deep blush cover the side of her face.

He wished he had the time to meet her.

Several stalls down, Tiffany was opening the door, slid a halter on the horse, and led her out. His first look at the horse took him by surprise. He knew the mare was pretty, but up close, she was beautiful. He was excited to breed her because he knew the foals would be attractive and sell well, making him a lot of money.

“How much are you asking for her?” Grant asked.

“Five thousand, seven hundred,” Tiffany said.

The mare lifted her head and whinnied. Grant looked down the aisle to see the woman push the barrel out of the stall she’d been cleaning.

He turned back to Tiffany when he heard her snort.“What?”

Tiffany grinned. “That’s Sara. Every animal that meets her falls in love. The dog with her is mine, but he ignores me when she’s here.”

Grant grinned and grabbed onto the halter when the horse tried to follow her.

“The damn barn cat hates everyone, but when he met her, he purred and let her pet him. I wish she could work here full time.”

“She’s just part-time?”

“No. She’s a volunteer. She tries to come in a few days a week. She says the ranch is her happy place, and I’m glad we’re here for her. She’s pretty special.”

The woman put the horse back in the stall and closed the door.

“Happy place?” he asked.

“Yeah, she’s a widow, and after her husband died, she came out to the ranch and asked to spend time here and help.”

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