Page 55 of There I Find Hope

Chapter 23

“You want to buy that orphan foal? Why? She’s not worth anything.” Matt looked at Noah like he was crazy.

He could hardly admit to the man that he was in love with his sister and wanted to buy the horse so that he could give it to her.

“Sunday said that she thought there was some draft in the mother and perhaps a little bit of a fancy breed.”

“Sunday was horse crazy when she was a kid. She probably knows every breed known to man and could give us an in-depth rundown on each of them.” Matt rolled his eyes and leaned on the pitchfork he held in his hand.

Noah had come to talk to Matt, but when he’d seen he was working, he’d grabbed a pitchfork and given him a hand.

Now that they had hay in every stall, he also leaned on his and faced Matt. He didn’t think Matt was going to tell him no, but he was afraid he was going to try to pry a reason out of him, and he didn’t want that.

He didn’t need Sunday’s brother knowing that he had a crush on his sister. Especially since he wasn’t sure how Sunday felt about him.

Was it terrible that he still wanted to do something nice for her?

This wasn’t exactly something a friend did for another friend, but maybe friends who helped deliver a foal together were a little different than friends who hadn’t. He never had a friend like that, so he wouldn’t know.

“I don’t even know where to begin to think about what to charge for her. I suppose if I tried to give her to you, you’d argue with me.” Matt’s callused hand gripped the top of his pitchfork while he looked at Noah.

“I think I should pay for her. You got some fees in her, notably the milk replacer, which I understand isn’t cheap, along with the pellets. Plus, those middle-of-the-night feedings aren’t easy.”

“What are you going to do with her?”

That was the question he hadn’t wanted to answer. But he held Matt’s eyes as he answered, “I’m going to give her to your sister.”

“Sunday?” Matt asked, surprised, then calculation entering his eyes. “I always suspected in school that you had a huge crush on her.”

“I did.”

There was no point denying it. As much as he might want to. It was the truth. They were friends, and he liked her as a friend, but he always wanted to be more. There wasn’t anything wrong with having a romantic relationship with someone whom he was friends with. As long as it didn’t end badly. That could mess up a great relationship.

He assumed that if he and Sunday got together, they’d make sure things worked out. He wasn’t the kind of person to go into a relationship and not put everything he had into making it work.

He wouldn’t be attracted to Sunday if he thought she was that kind of person either.

“Now you’re back, and you still have a crush on her.”

He stared at Matt. Was it a crush? A crush made it sound like he was still in high school and had an infatuation with the pretty girl. Sunday was a lot more to him than just a pretty girl.

“I wouldn’t call it a crush.”

“What would you term it?” Matt asked, like he had the right to or something.

Noah almost told him to shove it, but Sunday was his sister, and she didn’t have a dad. He did appreciate her brother protecting her, if that’s what this was.

“I guess I have serious intentions toward her, if she’ll have me. I haven’t figured out whether she will or not, and she hasn’t said. But I know she loves the horse, I know she’s been a help to her since she lost her son. She’s really attached to her, and I wanted to make sure that she doesn’t have to worry about you selling her, not that I thought you would. But if she gets her, there might be a way she can keep her up in the stable next to her mom’s house where she’s been staying.”

“I thought she was gonna try to move back to her apartment.”

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