Page 96 of Outlaw

They started in that direction, but I didn’t follow. He hadn’t mentioned it, and I didn’t want to intrude on a bonding moment they might have.

Just before I went back to admiring Jack and Diane, Linc glanced back over his shoulder at me. “You coming?”

Oh. He wanted me to go too.

“I wasn’t sure if this was a, um…bonding kinda thing.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly. “It is, but she has two parents.”

Seven words couldn’t have held more security in them if they tried. She did have two parents, but I often feared that he wished she hadn’t.

I licked my lips. “Okay.”

They continued to the wide double doors, and Linc pulled one open. Stevie let go of his hand and darted inside. He held it for me, and every hair on my body came alive as I passed by him. His eyes following me didn’t help.

The inside momentarily distracted me. The ceilings weren’t vaulted with extravagant fixtures. Instead, they were masstimber beams that had a rustic feel I loved. The ground was paved with black brick, and the far wall had been built from stacked stone. On the left were six stalls. On the right was an open door that I could see held the tack. A barrel had been built into the wall, made with the same stacked stone as the wall down at the end. On the other side were two more doors, but both were closed.

There were no connecting buildings or flat screens hanging on the walls. It was simply a functional, well-kept stable. Stevie ran ahead, peering into each stall, and then peeked out the far-right exit that led into the fenced-in fields, where Jack and Diane were currently.

“What do you think?” Linc asked, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“I think it is perfect. I love it,” I finished and turned to him.

The pleased glint in his eyes continued to add to my confusion about his sudden change in personalities. At least where I was concerned. He’d always been this way with Stevie. But me? Not even in the same ballpark.

He nodded his head toward the tack room. “Come check out your saddle, Stevie,” he called out, keeping his eyes on me.

Stevie’s little legs ran back toward us. “I got a saddle? To wide a hawse?” she asked, wide-eyed.

Linc turned his attention to her. “You’re a cowgirl, aren’t you? And you’ve got your own horse.”

She frowned. “I don’t have a hawse.”

He rubbed his bearded chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I could have sworn that Jack’s registration papers said that he belonged to a Stevie Hester.”

Her mouth opened wide, but this time, I wasn’t surprised. I’d assumed he had chosen to give her one of the horses. His elaborate gifts were getting to be the norm.

“It does?” she asked in awe.

He nodded and adjusted his hat on his head. “Sure does. Now,let’s go see if we can find a saddle in this tack room that will fit you just right.”

Stevie rushed past us and into the open door. Her eyes scanned all the items until she found a tan child-sized barrel racing saddle with a turquoise padded seat, matching crystals on the trim, and other splashes of bling that were worthy of a show saddle rather than an everyday one.

“I like this one!” she called out, going directly to it. Her eyes swung back to me, and she grinned. “See it, Mommy?”

I nodded. It was fit for a princess. I didn’t want to dampen the moment, but one day soon, we were going to need to discuss that if he continued with the gifts, she was going to turn into a spoiled diva. Mix that with her teen years, and whew. Neither of us wanted that. He just didn’t know it yet.

“It’s beautiful,” I replied.

She pointed at her chest. “It’s mine.” Then, she reached to pick it up. “I want to wide now.”

Linc chuckled. “Looks like it is time for the first lesson.”

I stood back and watched as he squatted down and began to talk to her about the saddle and what every part on it was for. I couldn’t remember my dad ever giving me that lesson. Sometimes, it felt as if I had been born riding.

Dad would have loved this. He’d have wanted his granddaughter to ride horses. For them to be a part of her. Something else that Linc could give her that I couldn’t.

Forty-Three

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