Page 35 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

“Come on, Raven,” she said, trying to remember the exact wording he’d used. “Get us back to the barn.”

The horse stayed stubbornly still.

“Let’s go, Raven,” Cayden called. “I’ve got candy at the barn.”

The horse immediately started moving, catching up to Honey and Cayden before matching her pace to theirs.

After they’d returned to the stable, as Ginny brushed Raven’s beautiful blue-black coat, she giggled and dared to run one hand down her neck. “You like him as much as I do, don’t you?”

The horse didn’t answer, but Ginny knew what she would’ve said.

* * *

“There’s a cheese ball here,”Blaine said when Cayden and Ginny arrived in the kitchen at the homestead.

“Someone knows exactly how to sweeten me up,” she said, smiling at Cayden’s brother.

Blaine grinned back at her, a slightly lighter version of his brother. He was softer too, in ways Ginny couldn’t adequately articulate. He didn’t seem to hold everything so tight, his cards pressed against his chest in pure terror.

“Cayden told me you like the green onion cheese ball with those chicken-flavored crackers.” He turned back to the stove, picked up a wooden spoon, and kept stirring.

“That I do,” Ginny said, glancing up at Cayden. “You remembered that? I told you that back in the fall.”

He just looked at her, his mask almost in place but not quite. She squeezed his hand to let him know they didn’t need to wear masks in his own home, and he seemed to relax a little bit.

“Where’s Tam?” he asked as he led her closer to the counter and the crackers.

She released his hand as she picked up a paper plate for her crackers and dip.

“She’s out front,” Blaine said. “A customer called, and she’s in her truck talking to him.”

Ginny understood that; she’d had hundreds of conversations in her car too, the other person’s voice coming over the speakers so she could drive and do business hands-free and literally all the time. She piled crackers on her plate and then took a good-sized chunk of the cheese ball before retreating to the table.

She’d been in this house before, and she only saw people eat at the table for big meals. Otherwise, they sat at the bar. Cayden came with her, but he didn’t get any crackers.

“How was the ride?” Blaine asked.

“Great,” Cayden said. “I wish it could be April in Kentucky all year long.”

“It’s been great weather,” Blaine agreed. “But April all year long? That’s insane.”

“That’s because you’re swamped.” Cayden looked at her, and when she raised her eyebrows, clearly asking him why Blaine was swamped when he wasn’t, Cayden said, “The foals are all born in the spring. Then he moves right into covering, and that takes months too.”

“The reproductive cycle of a horse ranch,” Blaine joked as the back door opened.

Tam’s voice came down the hall, and when she entered the kitchen, she said, “I really have to go. I’ll call you later,” with a disgruntled look on her face. She hung up and moved over to Blaine first. He leaned down to listen to whatever she said, and then he kissed her quickly.

She turned to Cayden and Ginny, a completely new light in her eyes. “Heya, Ginny.”

“Good evening, Tam.” Ginny didn’t mean to sound so formal; it was simply how she was, but she glanced at Cayden to see if she’d come off as pretentious. It wasn’t the first time she’d met Tamara Lennox, as Ginny had stayed at the homestead twice now. “Who were you talking to just now?”

“Oh, this guy.” Tam sighed as she sat down at the table too. “I want some of those crackers.”

Ginny pushed her plate toward Tam, a clear indication they could share. Tam reached for a cracker and sliced off a healthy chunk of cheese with the edge of it. “Blaine and I are doing a redesign and build of my front porch, and he’s the construction manager.”

“I need a construction manager,” Ginny said, several lightbulbs going off inside her head. “You sounded frustrated with him, though. I need someone good.”

“What for?” Cayden asked. “We know lots of people in construction.”

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