Page 50 of Valentine Nook
She’s trying to pull her smile in, her mouth rolling in on one side.
“Well,” she begins, and I’m all ears. “I have my first cooking lesson with Pierre, but this morning, I realized I’d never been to your . . . um”—she’s waving her hand around—“placebefore. Except when Clemmie drove.” Her smile breaks out again. “I guess I hadn’t been paying attention to how far it is or how dangerous the road is. You know there’s no sidewalk, right? On the plus side,thisroad is quieter.”
I cross my arms over my chest and tilt my head. “It should be. This is the drive. It’s private.”
She peers left, then right. “This is thedriveway? It’s got to be two miles long.”
“Something like that.” I chuckle. “Didn’t you go through a set of gates?”
She nods. “Yeah, but I thought they were just gates, like the arch in the village.”
“Nope. They’re entrance gates.” Which should have been shut, but I don’t tell her that because I don’t want to discourage her from coming again.
“Okay, then. Well, I should ask what you’re doing all this way up here without a car. And maybe I need to add ‘get a car’ to my list.”
“I came to fetch my horse. He’s late for an appointment. But it seems he’s being distracted.”
Truthfully, I can’t blame him. Holiday would make anyone lose track of time, and right now, he’s back to being by her side like he’s hoping she’ll protect him.
“What’s the appointment?”
“The farrier. He needs fitting for some new shoes.”
Turning to Thunder, she lets out a loud gasp, her eyes wide. “You’re going shoe shopping? Oh, Thunder, what a fun morning for you. What are you going to pick?”
I move to stand alongside them, though I’m thwarted by my horse. He’s decided he’s the only one to get Holiday’s attention today and blocks me from getting near the fence.
“He’s going to have a very attractive steel horseshoe-shaped pair.”
“Steel. Hmm. Well, I’m sure you’ll pull them off nicely.”
I know he doesn’t understand her or have any clue what shoe shopping is. But something about the way she’s combing her fingers through his forelock has him standing statue still, his head bent so she can reach between his ears.
I’m not convinced he hasn’t fallen asleep.
“You seem to know a lot about how to manage a horse, Hollywood.”
She peers around his huge head. “I can make anything seem believable. I’m an award-winning actress, aren’t I?”
“So everyone keeps telling me.”
This time, she sticks her tongue out, and I decide this is my favorite version of her. The one with her chin jutted in defiance, with fire behind the blond hair and blue eyes, especially when it’s followed with a laugh that finishes in a snort.
“I’ve spent some time around horses. But I had a bad accident once, so now I keep my feet firmly on the ground. I’d also prefer to keep my distance, but Thunder here doesn’t respect personal space.”
“It’s because you fed him donuts. He’s never going to leave you alone now.”
She chuckles and drops a kiss on his nose. I watch the movement—Thunder’s eyes closing as her lips touch him—and have a sudden and alarming desire to know what it feels like.
To be kissed by her. Tokissher.
I realize she’s talking, but my heart is thudding so hard I can barely hear her.
“. . . my bear.”
“Your bear?”
One perfect eyebrow arches at me. “The stuffed bear I won. I believe we shook on it.”
