She finally released a smile. “I would love for y’all to come see me tomorrow.”
“Great. We’ll plan to come after lunch and stay until his afternoon soccer game, if that’s okay.”
“Sounds good, but I’ll be at my place instead of the clinic. You can bring him there. I’d planned to bring Buddy home with me this weekend, anyway, since he’ll be the only animal here. It’ll be easier for me to care for him that way and save me from making a bunch of trips back and forth.”
“Honey and Sugar won’t be here?”
“Their owners picked them up this morning.”
“Okay, then, we’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, turning off the ignition and climbing out with Bagel in his arms. “Hey, I didn’t even think about taking Bagel and the bunnies to your farm before we came back here for my car. Do you want me to take them out there now?”
“I had planned on letting them stay at the clinic until I leave, but if you don’t mind, that’d be great. I can keep Buddy, since I still need to get his liquid supplements ready for the weekend, but Bagel likes being at home better than at the clinic. You could just drive my truck, so you don’t have to move the animals, and then bring it back here when you’re done. You sure you don’t mind?”
“No, I don’t mind, and this is my current work assignment, assisting you with the Adopt-an-Animal program. So no problem at all.”
“Okay, then. That would be great.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?” he asked, giving her his best don’t-worry-I’ve-got-this grin.
She gave him a full-blown smile and Gavin was happy to have made it happen, especially following her frustrations a few moments ago. “Yes, that’s what friends are for. But I really hadn’t planned on sharing that much with you earlier. You caught me with my guard down, thanks to my mom’s missed call and weird text.”
“But that’s also what friends are for, being there when you need someone and listening when you need to vent.”
“You do realize the danger of that, though, don’t you?” she asked, carrying Buddy toward the door to the clinic.
Actually he did, but he said, anyway, “No. Care to enlighten me?”
As if she knew what he was thinking, she gave him a sassy grin, “You might decide you can’t live without me.” Then she laughed and Gavin laughed, too, not willing to let on that, while she was obviously joking, she’d also tapped in on the truth.
Chapter Ten
“What am I doing?” Haley shut the door and leaned against it. Had she honestly sabotaged her own friendship rules in the span of about thirty minutes?
“I’m guessing that question wasn’t directed to me?” Aaliyah peered over the lobby counter.
“I might as well have asked him to marry me,” Haley said, the words escaping like a long groan.
Aaliyah dropped the notebook in her hand, her mouth falling open and her eyes nearly as wide as her mouth. “Okay. I’m all ears. What did you do?”
“I told him,” Haley said, struggling to recall her exact words, “that getting closer to me was dangerous, because...” She almost couldn’t say it.
“Because...?”
“Because he might decide he can’t live without me.” Haley dropped her head back against the door. It thudded against the hard wood. And hurt a little.
Thinking that was something she deserved, she did it again. And again. Maybe it would knock some sense into her.
While Aaliyah gaped and Buddy barked.
“Wh-what did he say?” Aaliyah asked, clearly enjoying Haley’s discomfort way too much for her employment status.
“He didn’t say anything. He laughed, because I laughed. You know, trying to make light of it. But—” she felt sick “—I’m not so sure I was joking. And I think he knew it. I was more, like, hoping.” She shook her head. “I so don’t want to go there again. And this should be easy, because I know he doesn’t want anything beyond friendship. That should keep my thoughts in order, right?”
“Just an observation,” Aaliyah said, “but have you looked at him? That alone would make it tough for any girl to keep her thoughts in order. And have you seen the way he is around you? Sure, he may say he doesn’t want anything beyond friendship, but he likes you, Haley. I mean, like, really likes you.”
“Aaliyah, he lost a wife and a baby, only two years ago. He wants no part of a relationship again. I told him I feel the same way, so if I can stick to that, we’ll both be better off.” Her head dropped against the door again. “So why did I say that?”
“Maybe because your heart was talking instead of your brain?” Aaliyah quipped. “But that’s just a guess.”
“A good guess,” Haley mumbled. “I’ve got a chance at a good thing here, a friend that happens to be a guy.”
“A very good-looking guy,” Aaliyah added.
“Trust me, I don’t need to be reminded.”
“And a nice guy, too. Look at his job, working with those kids the way he does. And you should see him at church, always taking notes and speaking up with good points during the Bible class. I know I always listen when he speaks,” she said. “Then again, I’m pretty sure every female within earshot does.” She laughed.
Haley didn’t. “Not funny.”
“Listen, you’ve made no secret of the fact that you wanted a husband and babies by the time you were thirty. Then you turned thirty and it hadn’t happened.”
“If you’re trying to make me feel better here, you’re doing a pitiful job.”
Aaliyah smirked. “Everyone has this ideal plan for their future. Did I plan on getting pregnant at eighteen and being a single mom to a four-year-old at twenty-two? No. But that’s my life and I can’t imagine it any differently. I love my little girl, and I know that everything will work out for me with a relationship with a guy who will love her, too, in God’s time.”
Haley knew Aaliyah’s story, of course, but she sometimes envied her peace with it. Her assistant trusted in God, not necessarily to give her everything she wanted right now, but to give her what she needed. Haley, on the other hand, hadn’t had the faith to continue trusting in Him when she’d had the rug pulled out from under her again and again, with every guy she’d ever cared about, including her own father.
She’d prayed harder than she’d ever prayed in her life when her mother had called her wailing into the phone, saying her heart was shattered, her dreams for the rest of her life up in smoke.
Because he’d lost his head over a girl who was old enough to be Haley’s sister.
And he’d done it all after Haley had put her roots down here, thinking that her parents were fine and would be fine together. For many years. They were only in their early sixties. In fact, her mother wasn’t even sixty yet. Wouldn’t be for another six months.
Haley was certain her mom’s dream for when she turned sixty had been somewhat similar to her own dream for when she turned thirty.
To be with the man of her dreams and live happily ever after.
Why hadn’t God kept them from getting hurt?
Where had He been when she’d prayed for Him to show her dad what a mistake he was making? Because her mother wanted him back. For some crazy, bizarre reason, she was still head over heels for the man who first won her heart.
Haley closed her eyes. Remembered how much all of that hurt. Remembered why she never wanted to give her heart that completely to any man. She wouldn’t let herself be duped like her mom had been.
Not now, not ever.
“But even though your original dream isn’t what happened, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have something better in store. Maybe it’s with Gavin,” Aaliyah continued.
Haley reminded herself of exactly why “just friends” was perfect. “It’s not. It can’t be. That’s the exact opposite of what he wants and of what I want,” she said. “That dream is gone. I�
�m content with what I have here and I don’t need anything else. We’re just friends.”
“You sure about that?” Aaliyah asked as the door opened behind Haley and whacked her in the head.
The puppy in her arms yelped when she squeezed him. “Sorry, Buddy,” she said, and pivoted to see who had hit her.
Gavin’s face was mere inches from hers, so close that she inhaled the outdoorsy scent that reminded her how very masculine he was.
Her breath caught in her throat.
“Hey,” he said, “I brought your truck back. Animals are all back at the barn, safe and sound. Well, except Bagel. I put him in the house, which you should lock, by the way. And I gave Sterling another treat. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to get in his good graces.”
She swallowed. Wished he wasn’t being so incredibly kind. “Thanks,” she managed to say.
“Hey, you’re okay, right? Because if you need to talk...”
She shouldn’t have said as much as she already had, and she sure didn’t need to talk any more. Not today. Probably not ever. But given she’d be spending a lot more time with him in the foreseeable future, that was a futile expectation. “I’m good.”
He looked skeptical but accepted the lie. “Okay, then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He looked at her assistant, happily drinking in every word of their conversation. “Good night, Aaliyah.”
“Good night, Mr. Thomason,” she said. After the door closed, she amended, “Gavin.” Then she giggled, pointed a finger at Haley and announced, “You are so not good.”
* * *
Gavin didn’t know who was more eager to arrive at the Cutter farm, the kids bouncing in their seats on the bus...or him. This time, though he knew seeing the mare and her baby would undoubtedly remind him of his past, he didn’t plan to retreat from the beauty of it. Yes, it underscored what he’d lost. But that foal was also an incredible creation of God and he wanted to appreciate the wonder of it.
“Look at that baby horse!” Eli yelled as the barn came into view. “And there’s Miss Haley!”
Gavin looked ahead to see the new filly, much less wobbly legged as she neared her mother, the white stripe, or blaze, as Haley had said, down the filly’s face shining bright in the morning sun. An incredible image.
But then he spotted the other object of Eli’s exclamation. And his breath caught in his throat.
Haley stood near the mare, her white-blond ponytail also shining in the morning sunlight and her face tilted toward the horse’s neck as she held her palm toward the mare’s mouth. He felt certain she’d probably brought some of her homemade molasses treats for the new mom and, from the look of things, the horse was grateful. Grateful enough to allow Haley to stand right there, beside her and her new foal.
The vision before him of Haley, the mare and the filly, standing in the morning light, took his breath away.
A click sounded from beside him and Mark lowered his phone. “I got that for you,” he said. “Sending it to you now.”
“Got what?” Gavin asked, his phone buzzing with an incoming message.
“That.” He pointed to the photo of Haley, the mare and the filly. “Figured the way you were gawking, you might like a pic. And that way you’ll have something to remind you of that pretty vet you’re spending so much time with.”
“We’re working on the program together. And we’re friends.”
Mark smirked, knowing better than to argue. “Anyway, I sent you the pic, in case you want it.”
Gavin didn’t have time to respond before the bus pulled to a stop and the kids started climbing from their seats. “Okay, guys. Let’s stay in our groups and follow instructions from Miss Haley,” he directed.
“Yes, sir!” they all yelled, still jockeying for their places in line, all eager to see the horses and spend time at the farm.
Mark led them off the bus and Gavin waited to follow. He hadn’t necessarily wanted Mark to take that photo, but he found himself checking his phone to make sure it was still there.
It was. And it was incredible. The beauty of the horses, and the intriguing lady who cared about them, clearly shining through, as though God Himself were drawing attention to the perfection of His creation.
“You coming, Mr. Gavin?” Ben asked, squinting behind his glasses as he started off the bus.
Gavin knew Ben hadn’t waited behind because he wasn’t eager to see the animals, but more because he wanted to be with Gavin when he did. Ben needed a little more assurance than the other kids. And Gavin knew his story; he’d come from a family with an abusive father. So the fact that he trusted Gavin meant the world to him. “I sure am, Ben,” he said gently. “Let’s go see that new baby horse.”
“Okay.” He took Gavin’s hand. “And, Mr. Gavin, um, will we ride a horse today?”
“I think that’s what Miss Haley is planning. They have that round pen over there where she and I can lead y’all on the horses.”
He chewed his lower lip. “But they are nice horses, right? And you’ll be there to help me?”
The fear in the child was palpable. “I won’t leave your side, son,” Gavin promised.
Ben nodded and released Gavin’s hand when he got to the bus steps. “Hey, Miss Haley,” he said as he descended. “Mr. Gavin is going to help me when I ride the horse.”
“That’s great, Ben.” She took his hand and guided him down the last step. “I’m sure you’re going to do an amazing job.”
Ben continued chewing his lip, but nodded and stepped past Haley. “I’m going to go see the baby first,” he told Gavin.
“Good deal. I’m right behind you,” he said, looking to the woman who had apparently been waiting on him to exit.
“Hey.” She smiled and he was drawn to the fact that she was even prettier when she smiled.
Quite a feat.
“Hey,” he said. “The kids are really excited about this morning.”
“That’s awesome, but I just wanted to check first—how about you? Are you okay? Because I know how seeing Brownie and her baby affected you last time, and if you’d rather not be a part of the farm visits, I’m sure Landon and Georgiana would lend a hand with the kids here. I should’ve thought of that last night, but it didn’t hit me until I got here this morning and saw the horses.”
“I appreciate that, but I’m good now. Really. I saw them on the drive in and I only felt...well, awe. It was just beautiful.” He looked at her. Her green eyes glistened with excitement for what the day held, blond wisps from her ponytail framed her face and her genuine smile added even more radiance to the incredibly unique woman in front of him.
The mare and baby weren’t the only part of that vision that had been beautiful.
“Okay, then let’s get started. By the way, they named the filly Blaze.”
“Because of her markings?”
“You remembered,” she said with a grin. “Yes, because of her markings.”
“Great name.”
“I know, right?”
He walked beside her to join the kids, all hanging over the fence to view the mare and filly, now with her head tucked under her mother’s belly to nurse, which sparked a host of questions Haley answered skillfully. And lovingly.
She really was in her element here.
Next they moved to the round pen, where each child took a turn being led on one of the horses by an adult. Eli requested Haley to lead him and Ben requested Gavin.
“Mr. Gavin, what if I fall off?” Ben asked, his voice wobbling as he neared Bucky, the smallest horse. He was obviously fighting to be brave, even though he was most certainly scared.
“I’m right beside you,” Gavin assured him, “and I promise I won’t let that happen.” He stopped by the horse and squatted to eye level with the petrified boy. “Listen, if you’d rather just watch this time and maybe ride on the next visit, that’s totally fine. I’l
l stay with you.”
Ben gazed up at Bucky and then back at Gavin. “I really want to ride today.”
“Okay—” Gavin squeezed his shoulder “—then that’s what we’ll do. You ready?”
Ben’s eyes widened as he took another look at the horse, but he jerked his head in a single nod.
Gavin gently lifted him, guided his small foot into the stirrup and then helped him get the other foot in place. “Hold on to that saddle horn right there, okay? And I’ll walk you around nice and easy.”
Ben gripped the horn as though his life depended on it.
Gavin began walking Bucky, the horse as docile as a puppy, as though he knew how scared his cargo was. And maybe he did.
Halfway around, Gavin heard an amazing sound.
Ben.
Giggling.
“This—is awesome, Mr. Gavin!” he exclaimed.
Gavin’s heart thumped hard in his chest. “Yes, it is,” he said, but he wasn’t talking merely about the horse. He was talking about the sensation of seeing this precious little boy...happy.
He looked up and saw Haley across the round pen, her eyes fixated on the two of them, and blinking as a tear rolled down her right cheek. Good job, she mouthed.
And Gavin agreed. But this was more than good. It was extraordinary. “Thank you.”
She smiled and he wondered if she realized that he wasn’t thanking her for the compliment. He was thanking her for this opportunity, because her Adopt-an-Animal program was going to do wonderful things for these kids. It already was. And Gavin was extremely grateful to be part of it.
And to be part of it...with her.
Chapter Eleven
In the short time Gavin had known the seven-year-old sitting in his passenger seat, he had accurately determined that Eli had only two volumes: loud and louder.
Case in point, they’d barely started down the driveway to Haley’s house when he started yelling, “Miss Haley! Miss Haley! Miss Haley!” loud enough for Haley and all of her barn’s occupants to hear.
Sterling ran to the fence, probably because he thought someone was about to invade the place.
Finally a Bride Page 11
