Page 28 of Just One Look

She bobbed her head. She supposed that made sense, but if her sister or cousin bought a Ferrari, she would most definitely not forget. “They’re nice cars.”

“As long as my car has wheels, I’m happy.”

That tugged the first smile out of her since she’d driven up. That sounded like the man she’d become so fond of that she couldn’t get him out of her mind. He was right. So what if one car cost more than a dozen others. It was only money.

“And here we are.” He waved her into the barn.

The darn thing was almost as big as the house. That uneasy feeling of being totally out of her element began to slither up her spine again. “I don’t know that this is a good idea.”

“Don’t worry. Molly is as sweet as can be. She’s so docile we let skittish kids ride her.”

Shaking her head ever so slowly, she hadn’t meant horseback riding, she’d meant to say everything. All of it. The ride, the dinner, them.

“Here you go.” Devlin stopped at a stall with a beautiful cognac colored horse inside.

“Molly is almost ready, I was just about to put her saddle on.” A man Devlin introduced as Mack the foreman, walked the horse out of the stall, stopping right in front of them.

“If you give her this, she’ll love you forever.” Devlin pulled his hand out of his pocket and dropped a small apple into her hand.

Devlin was right. The horse not only gently nibbled off her hand, when she was done, she nudged Liz with her head and then wiggled her lips as if she were saying thank you.

“Aren’t you sweet?” She ran her hand along the horse’s jaw. “Do you like going for rides?”

The horse bobbed her head, surprising Liz.

“Oh, my.” She chuckled. “Do you think she understood?”

“I don’t think,” Devlin smiled. “I know.”

Why did that man’s smile always make her weak in the knees? She’d heard that expression in movies and read it in books for most of her life, but not till she’d met Devlin Baron did she understand what it meant.

Mack had the other horse saddled and ready to go in just a few minutes and Liz found herself on a horse following Devlin out of the barn and down the hillside.

Wealthy estate or not, the Baron land was gorgeous. The further they went, the more relaxed she felt. This was no different than the dude ranch back in the day. She could definitely do this. On the other side of a nearby fence, the green grass was dotted with black spots. She’d forgotten the Baron ranch was a cattle ranch. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen cattle in the distance, but without a freeway and speeding cars, it felt so serene and soothing. She was loving the ride way more than she’d expected.

“How’s this look?” Devlin glanced in her direction.

“For what?”

“To stop and have a snack.”

She was pretty hungry. She’d been too excited with the invitation to eat a real lunch before coming over. “Looks great.”

Another few minutes and the horses were nibbling on the green grass under the tree and a small feast was spread out on a large blanket.

“How’d you get all this food into that small basket?”

“Hazel is not only an amazing cook, she’s a miracle worker too. As a kid I’d have sworn Mary Poppins had nothing on Hazel.”

Liz chuckled, visions of Hazel pulling lamps out of a carpet bag went a long way to helping her enjoy the day. She reached for a grape before spreading some cheese on a cracker. “Oh, this is good.”

“It’s port wine cheese. One of the specialty items Paige has added to the winery.”

That’s right, the Barons also owned a winery as well as hotels and cattle and who knew what else.

“Feeling better?” His hand landed on her free one.

Her gaze dropped to his hand on hers. She loved the heat that ran up her arm and warmed her heart. “I think so.”

---