Page 43 of Three Rules I'd Never Break

“I owe you, Mario.”

This outgoing Eli was the one who chatted with friends and tossed bean bags with Haley and Zach. With me, he was no longer the stoic, silent Eli. Now he was the slightly less quiet, cheerful Eli. And I liked this guy.

“I’ll remember that.” Mario whistled as he walked away.

Eli squeezed my hand. “Wait here a sec. I forgot something in the truck.”

I slipped my phone out of my pocket and snapped a photo. Tessa had to see this place. Or maybe she already had. I’d definitely be asking her about it later.

A door opened in the back of the barn, and I crossed my arms, feeling like I didn’t belong and wondering who I was about to meet.

“Well, hello there.” A man with salt and pepper hair—more salt than pepper—sauntered toward me.

It wasn’t hard to tell he was related to Eli and Zach. This had to be the Gallagher granddad. Vivid green eyes sparkled, and that smile had more wrinkles around it, but it looked very much like Eli’s grin.

“When Mario said he was saddling two horses, I wandered down to check on a few things. Really I just wanted to see what Eli was up to.” He walked to a stall and stroked the nose of a dark brown horse.

“Are you going to ride with us?”

He shook his head. “But it’s a good day for a ride. Not too hot yet. Did he say which horse they saddled for you?”

“Sugar.”

“Sweet.” He grinned and raised an eyebrow, almost as if he was waiting for me to laugh.

It was easy to laugh. I liked this guy. “I hope she is. I’ve never ridden before.”

“She’ll be good to you. I’m guessing Eli will be riding Cream.”

“He didn’t say.” I pointed to the horse vying for his attention. “What’s his name?”

“Coffee.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth because guffawing wasn’t exactly attractive.

“I hope you aren’t telling stories about me. It’s too soon for that.” Eli pressed a hand to the small of my back. “Delaney, this is my granddad, Matthew Gallagher. Granddad, this is Delaney.”

“Very pleased to meet you.” He tipped his hat. “Y’all have a nice time.” He rubbed the horse once more before walking out the door.

“Your granddad is so sweet.” I turned to face Eli.

He patted the bag hanging off his shoulder. “I brought food along in case we get hungry. And a blanket.”

Who knew that Eli was such a romantic?

“You packed us a picnic?”

He nodded and laced his fingers with mine. “I picked up sandwiches for us to eat after we finished up on the car, but when I realized the rebuilding wasn’t happening today, I scrambled to come up with something else to do. I hope this is okay.”

Grinning, I bumped his shoulder. “It’s kind of perfect.”

“Let’s ride.” He led me through the side door of the barn out to where two horses were tied to a wooden fence.

“Let me guess. The white one is Sugar.”

“Bingo. That one is Cream because Sugar likes to follow him around.”

“Makes perfect sense.” I patted Sugar on the nose. “Hello.”

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