Page 43 of My Small Town Silver Fox Billionaire

She heads off to bed, and for a little bit, I ponder if I can come with her to the sanctuary one day. I know that it’s a personal dream for her, but on hearing this, it inspires me to dosomething. I want to help her because her radiant beauty and sweetness have me completely mesmerized, and I just want to do what’s right for her.

The next morning, a knock at the front door wakes me. I walk over, opening the door to see two workers from the vet clinic on the island.

“You called about a bird last night?” one of them says. He has on a pair of coveralls and bite-proof gloves.

Footsteps echo behind me as Sara walks out. She’s wearing a pair of simple cotton shorts and a T-shirt. Her hair’s a mess of unbrushed bedhead, but she’s smiling.

“Yes, over here.”

She walks out onto the back porch, and the two rescue members follow. I trail behind them as they head to where the bird is. It sits in the cage, and she gestures to it.

“Here he is. I tried to bandage the wing as best as I could.”

The guy with the gloves opens the door and secures the bird in his hands. It doesn’t fight or bite him, much to my surprise.

“Thank you. We’ll nurse him back to health.”

The other member looks at the bird’s wing, studying it.

“This is a well-done brace. You’ve dressed these before.”

“Sure have,” she exclaims. “I actually work at an animal sanctuary back home.”

“Impressive. Thanks.”

The two workers secure the bird in a carrier and walk through the house. As they drive off down the road back to the island, I stare out, happy that at least the bird’s in good care.

“Looks like they’ll take it from here.”

“Yeah, they will.”

I turn, looking at Sara once more. I want to ask her what I thought about last night after she went to bed.

“Something on your mind? We can go get breakfast and then see your family. Or whatever it is you want to do out here.”

“Yeah, we can. Listen, first there’s something I want to ask you, Sara.”

“Sure, what is it?”

I hesitate, hoping that it doesn’t sound desperate or weird.

“You mentioned taking care of horses and riding them. Do you ride at the sanctuary?”

“I do. Why?” she asks.

“I wanted to see if you’d like to go ride horses together. I have one named Orchid, and I haven’t gone for a good ride in a bit.”

Orchid’s my competition horse. She wins me money on horse betting, but more than that, she’s a companion I’ve had ever since the mess with Maria. Even though Maria took away my trust for so long, she did inspire me to have my own animal, which helped with the grief.

“Oh, sure! I never thought about your liking to ride horses.”

“It’s a hobby,” I reply casually. “We can talk about that when we get back, however. I think for now our best bet is to enjoy the rest of our time here in Bermuda.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

As we prepare to go to breakfast, my mom and dad call to say that Aunt Cassie and Great Uncle Willie are conveniently busy. Good! They probably didn’t want to be insulted with the truth again.

We head out, and the whole time I think about this. I do want to see Sara happy. Being able to give her this opportunity and chance warms my heart and brings me a feeling of relief, or maybe it’s joy.

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