by Liz Isaacson
“Jimmer,” Finn said, pleasantly surprised.
“Finn,” the man said. “I heard you have a colt that’s ready to run.”
“Do I?” Finn asked, not sure who Jimmer had been talking to.
“Always Boss,” he said. “The dam was Trophy Bound.”
Finn loved it when clients came to him, as hunting down a buyer for a horse was one of the hardest and least-liked part of what he did. “That’s right,” Finn said. “Sire was All Or Nothing.”
“I want him,” Jimmer said.
“You haven’t even seen him,” Finn argued. “I’ve got jockey camp tomorrow. I’ll be back midweek. Come out to the farm—”
“I’m in town,” Jimmer said. “I can be there by this evening.”
Surprise lifted Finn’s eyebrows. “You want to see him run tonight?”
“Is he ready?”
“He has great game,” Finn said. “Good for me as groom.”
“I want to see him tonight,” Jimmer said. “I’ll be there around six.”
Finn agreed, because he didn’t see a way around it. Jimmer VanGuard was one of the biggest names in horseracing, and if Finn could sell Almost Boss that night? He’d do it.
He sent a quick text to Amanda, knowing she’d be disappointed. Heck, he was disappointed. But he pulled his boots on and headed out to the farm, because there was work to do, and sometimes he didn’t get everything in his life that he wanted.
That evening, Jimmer showed up promptly at six. Finn had only gotten one text from Amanda, and it said, Dang. We’ll go when you get back, and he’d taken it to mean she wasn’t too terribly upset.
He’d set aside a couple of things that day that his temporary help could finish up tomorrow in order to be ready to show Jimmer the horse. He rattled off facts about the dam and sire as he led the potential buyer out to the corral.
Only Almost Boss stood there, and he was tall and dark and beautiful. Jimmer’s face didn’t so much as twitch. Finn detailed the training the horse had, and how much he still had to complete. “But you’ve got Jute, and he’ll be great with Almost Boss,” he said.
“I want you,” Jimmer said, his eyes staying on the horse.
Finn squinted at him. “Me? What?”
Jimmer finally swung his gaze to Finn. “I want you to be the horse’s trainer.”
“I can’t do that,” Finn said immediately, shaking his head. “I don’t travel the circuit, and I have five other horses here to work with. My farm.” He definitely would not be leaving all of that. “What happened to Jute?”
Jimmer’s face darkened, and Finn knew he wasn’t used to getting told no. “He found a better offer,” he said roughly.
“I can get you some names,” he said.
“I don’t need names.” Jimmer sighed and knocked on the top of the fence. “Let’s see ‘im run.”
Finn didn’t like the way this man demanded everything from him, but he could potentially make a lot of money tonight. So he jumped the fence and approached the colt. “Hey, boy,” he said, putting his hand right on the animal’s nose. “Let’s show him what you’ve got, okay? Ready to run for me?”
He led the horse toward the gate, relieved and satisfied when he plodded along, his head bobbing right beside Finn’s shoulder the way he’d been trained.
They went over to the practice track Finn had carefully measured, leveled, and maintained for exactly such a purpose. He trained horses to blind start, come out of gates, take off with a bell, all of it. He trained them to ride high on corners or stick close to the railing. He loved everything about horseracing, except actually attending any of the events. He’d wanted to be a trainer since childhood but working for his father had spoiled that.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he saddled Almost Boss with the jockey saddle as if he were really going to race. He didn’t put blinders on, as the horse hadn’t really raced against another yet, and he hadn’t truly developed his racing personality.
“All right,” he told the horse. “He might buy you if you show him what you’ve got. Give him your best game, all right?” Of course the horse didn’t know what Finn was telling him, but he understood the steps Finn had gone through. He was in racing mode, and Finn stepped out of the racetrack and over to the bell switch.
“Ready?” he asked Jimmer, who nodded. He flipped the switch and watched with pride as Almost Boss ran.
He went once around the track and started a second lap. Before he’d reached the curve, Jimmer said, “I’ll take ‘im.”
“You don’t even know how much he is.”
“I’ll take ‘im,” Jimmer repeated, glaring at Finn as he turned. “I’ll be back up here in a couple of months. Do you think you can start working with him with a jockey?”
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“I’ll send up Kent,” he said, walking away and leaving Finn to take care of Almost Boss. He did, excitement building in him as he brushed down the horse and returned him to the stable.
“He bought you,” he said, stroking the colt’s mane. “And he’s sending Kent, who’s a great rider. I just know you’re going to win everything someday.” He loved his horses, and he wanted to celebrate that he’d found Almost Boss a good home, even if Jimmer was a bit prickly.
Kent wasn’t, and if they could find the right trainer for Almost Boss, the horse’s potential was unlimited.
He returned to the house, needing to call Amanda and tell her his good news. It was strange and wonderful that he wanted to share his life with her and only her, but he did.
So he made the call, his voice animated and loud when he said, “Guess what? I sold Almost Boss tonight,” instead of hello.
Chapter Fifteen
Amanda missed Finn while he was out of town. She somehow felt his presence leave the state, and she couldn’t help pining for him until he came back.
He texted her often from his jockey camp in California, where he did training and education at the racetrack in Santa Ana.
Amanda had been to California a few times over the years to visit Eli and Meg, who lived in a tiny cottage near the beach. She loved the ocean, but not as much as the mountains, and Wyoming always drew her home again.
Finn returned after his training days in California, and he somehow looked tanner than she remembered. His voice was deeper. His smile brighter. She felt like running to him as she approached the house and he stood from where he’d been sitting in a chair on the porch.
She giggled as she threw her arms around him. “You’re back.” She tipped up on her toes, glad his strong hands held onto her waist and steadied her as she met his lips with hers.
“Mm,” he said, molding his mouth to her and kissing her.
The wind whispered around them, and the scent of roses hung heavily in the air. Amanda enjoyed the muskier notes from Finn’s skin, and the mint and chocolate taste of his mouth. She pulled away, a grin permanently on her face now that he was home. “Did you have ice cream for breakfast?”
“Guilty,” he said, chuckling. “Hey, I’ve got to enjoy it while it’s warm.”
“It’s hot,” she said.
“You won’t be complaining about that in about a month,” he said, touching his lips to the corner of her eye, then her earlobe. She leaned into his touch, fire racing through her whole body.
“Do you want to come to church with me this week?” she whispered.
Finn stilled, and Amanda’s tension increased too. “Church? With you in Coral Canyon?”
“That’s right.” She stayed right in his arms but pulled back to look up at him. “I could come with you the week after that.”
Finn looked thoughtful, and she suspected she knew what he was thinking about. She couldn’t quite give a voice to it yet, but she’d been thinking about merging their lives together. She’d never had to think like this with the other men she’d dated. They lived in the same town, and none of them had minded switching to her church, sitting beside her on the bench.
But Dog Valley
was much too far away for Finn to drive every day. And he couldn’t give up his farm.
“I think….” she started, unsure how to finish. “I think if we’re going to keep seeing each other—and I want to do that—we should be thinking a little bit down the road,” she said, the words coming to her the moment she said them.
“What are you thinking about that road?” he asked, falling back a step and taking her hand in his. “Let’s go inside while we talk. You’ve got to try this ice cream.”
She smiled to herself as she followed him, and she let him start to scoop up some bright green ice cream with chocolate chunks in it. “I’m thinking that if we get married, we’ll need a plan for things.”
“What kind of things?” he asked, and Amanda was grateful he hadn’t freaked out about the word marriage.
She was surprised she’d brought it up, actually. She usually waited a lot longer than this to broach the subject, and she and Finn had only been dating for a few months. Of course, she’d only dated a couple of men longer than him, and she and Jason had talked about marriage for two years before she’d finally broken up with him.
A sense of missing she didn’t understand pulled through her. Why Jason was still in her heart, she didn’t know. She knew they weren’t meant to be together. And the kind, hardworking, handsome cowboy in front of her felt good, and right, and wonderful.
“Where we’ll live, for one,” she said. “And that influences everything else.” She watched him, seeing the stutter in his movement as he reached for the silverware drawer. He got out a spoon and put it in the treat before bringing it to her.
“It’s pistachio mint chocolate chip.”
“Thank you.” She smiled up at him and patted the couch cushion next to her. “What do you think? Have you thought very far down the road?”
“Of course I have, Amanda,” he said quietly, studying the floor and hanging his hands between his knees.
“And?” she pressed.
“And I feel like you’d have to give up everything you’ve had for forty-five years to be my wife.” He looked at her openly then, his eyes showing his vulnerability. “And I’m not ready to ask you to do that.”
His words punched the air out of her lungs. She hadn’t thought of it in such harsh terms. Give up everything she’d had for forty-five years.
When he put it like that….
She nodded, her throat closing in on itself. She put a bite of ice cream in her mouth anyway, the chill of it shocking her again. “Mm,” she said as the sweetness took over. “This is fantastic.”
“I’d want to keep my farm,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’m not ready to retire, and this is my living. Which means you’d have to move here. Give up your church, your friends, your house….”
“I understand,” she said, just to get him to stop talking. She smiled at him, but it wobbled on her face. “At least we’re both thinking about it.”
And she wouldn’t have to give up her family. It was just a longer drive to the lodge from Dog Valley than it was from her house in town. She ate the rest of her ice cream in silence, and while she and Finn hadn’t needed to fill every moment with conversation, this quietness gnawed at her nerves.
“Are we at an impasse?” he asked from beside her.
She looked at him, trying to figure out the threads of feelings running through her. “I don’t think so. I sure like you, and I want you to come to church with me this Sunday.” She could think that far ahead, and she hadn’t seen anything about Finn that required them to break up.
Finn smiled, the gesture so gentle and strong at the same time. “I can do that.”
“Starts at ten.”
“I’ll see if I can pull myself out of bed that early.”
Amanda giggled, got up, and said, “Take me out to the barn and show me something I don’t know about.”
Finn took her bowl into the kitchen. “Really?”
“Really.” She clasped her hand in his, thinking that if she was even going to consider living on this farm, she better get to know it a little better than she currently did.
Amanda put the last cinnamon stick in the slow cooker, the final touch on the hot apple cider she and Finn would enjoy after church. She had the potatoes peeled and soaking in water already, and she’d made a raspberry gelatin dessert that morning already as well. She’d put the short ribs in the pressure cooker after church, and they’d eat like kings—and drink hot apple cider as the weather seemed cooler already today.
“All righty, Beansy,” she said to her dog. “You stay right there and take a nap. I’ll be home in a little bit.” The little pup looked at her like Amanda was abandoning her in her most dire need, but Amanda just laughed as she walked out.
She’d sobered by the time she pulled into the church parking lot. Finn waited for her on the bench outside the little building with the tall steeple, and she pulled in a breath at his presence. Yes, she had a serious crush on this man, and she felt herself falling all the way in love with him.
“Hey, there,” she said as she approached.
He looked up from his phone, a smile blooming on that strong mouth. He kissed her as a way to say hello, and she linked her arm through his and took him toward the doors. She had been coming to this church for a very long time, and she knew almost all of the members who came as well.
She’d had several pastors over the years, but she’d always liked what they had to say. Perhaps she’d like the pastor in Dog Valley just as well. Finn didn’t talk about the lessons much, but he went to church every week, so she knew his faith was strong and his commitment what Jason’s could never be.
That had been enough for her. Until now, when she was thinking past the next date, or even the next month.
She wanted him at the Fall Festival with her. She wanted to see what he’d do for Halloween. She wanted him across the table from her at Thanksgiving, and she wanted to cuddle into him as the tree got lit at the lodge.
She was definitely thinking long-term with Finn, and that fact struck a bit of fear inside her heart even as she entered the most peaceful place she knew.
Beau had not left enough room for her and Finn on the end of the bench, and she detoured toward Andrew, who sat a few rows closer to the front on the side. “Is this okay?” she asked Finn, who looked a little bit like she’d just asked him to eat an entire rattlesnake.
“Fine,” he said.
“Mom.” Andrew stood up, his eyes flickering from her to Finn. “Sitting with us today?”
“Gramma,” Chrissy said, wiggling in her mother’s arms.
Amanda smiled at the girl and took her from Becca. “Can we?”
“Of course.” Becca looked at Finn and stood up. “I’m Becca Whittaker. I haven’t met you yet.”
“Oh,” Amanda said, glancing between them. “Andrew’s wife. This is my boyfriend, Finn.”
“You weren’t at the Cupcake Wars?” he asked.
Becca smiled. “I wasn’t feeling well.” She slid down the bench, Andrew following her. “Andrew competed with Bree.”
Amanda followed them onto the bench, settling Chrissy in her lap before Finn sat down beside her. Inside her purse, her phone started buzzing, but she ignored it as Chrissy held up two fingers.
“I two,” she said to Finn, who chuckled.
“Yes, you are,” Amanda said. “Now the preacher is getting up, so you have to be quiet.”
“Sh.” Chrissy put her chubby finger against her lips, the shushing louder than her normal voice.
Amanda giggled silently, looking at Finn to see a light in his eyes too. All at once, she realized he didn’t have grandchildren yet. Incorporating her into his life would be a massive change, and she wondered if that was contributing to his unwillingness to ask her to give up her life here.
But her family wasn’t included in what she’d have to give up.
Sitting in church with them will be, she thought, letting her granddaughter distract her from the pastor’s message tha
t day. Her mind had plenty to occupy it, and it just went around and around and around….
Chapter Sixteen
Finn accepted the mug of hot apple cider Amanda gave him, the feeling in her house peaceful and beautiful. “Thank you,” he said.
“So,” she said, kicking off her heels and heading for the couch. “What did you think of church?”
“I liked it,” he said. “Your pastor is…livelier than mine.” She wouldn’t like coming to church in Dog Valley, Finn knew that already. Still, he felt like he should ask her to come with him. So he did.
“Sure,” she said. “Next week?”
“Whenever,” he said, thinking about the chores he had to do that afternoon. He enjoyed spending time with Amanda, and she’d said they weren’t at an impasse. Said she liked him, and he liked her a whole lot too.
He liked watching her with her grandchildren, and for the first time in his life, he wanted some of his own. He liked holding her hand, and he liked it when she said, “You’re coming to the Fall Festival with me, right?”
“Right,” he said.
“Have you been before?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I got off the farm sometimes.” He threw her a smile so she’d know he was teasing her.
She smiled, her light brown eyes practically glowing from within. When she looked at him like that, Finn thought everything between them would work out. He’d been hoping and praying for such a thing, as well as a good time to tell her more about his financial situation.
With a lull in the conversation, he felt like that time had arrived. “I have something to tell you,” he said, clearing his throat and then taking a long sip of the cider. The liquid was way too hot for that, and he burned his tongue and the back of his mouth, all the way down his throat. He coughed, the pain making his eyes water.
“You can’t slurp it,” she said, leaning forward, concern in her eyes now.
Finn waved off her offer of ice water and set his cider down before he spilled it everywhere. “I’m okay,” he said, but his throat still hurt. He met Amanda’s eye and swallowed again.