Seventeen-year-old Chloe Matthews is done with guys, done with her ex, and done with the cowboys of the Grand Teton Mountains. She refuses to get hurt again.
All that matters now are the horses. Every horse Chloe helps is another piece of herself pu...
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Penny made the trailer ride all the way back to Gabi's without a hitch. The sheriff didn't know yet, but he would when he got home in the next hour or so. Gabi and I prayed that he'd be impressed with how far she'd come.
"Okay, Penny." I ran my hand down her back inside the trailer. I was inside the trailer with Penny. It wasn't lost on me how different this trailer ride was from the last. "This is the biggest moment of your life," I said. "I'm glad you don't understand because you need to be on your best behavior."
Jack would love to have seen this, Penny going home. He'd been such a huge part of her healing. No matter how many times I'd told him to stay away.
"You're thinking about him again," Gabi said as she slid into the trailer beside us.
"Am not."
"Are, too." She tilted her head. "Your lost little face gives you away."
"So you agree with Cash?" I widened my eyes. "I should've stopped Jack from going after his dreams, just so he could stay here with a girl who flinches every time he touches her? That would've been selfish."
She sighed. "Jack knows you need time." She backed Penny out of the trailer. "Just like Penny did."
"Yeah, but how long is a guy supposed to wait?"
"Girl," Gabi said as she walked Penny into the pasture. "When that boy comes home, you should take a giant leap of faith right into his arms and see what happens."
If only it could be that easy. And if only I knew when he'd be home. It'd already been two weeks without so much as a word from him. Not that I was surprised after the way I'd sent him off.
With Gabi and Penny inside the pasture, I closed the gate behind them and glanced toward the house. "How long until your dad gets here?"
"About a half hour."
"Good. That'll give us some time to get her settled in."
Gabi unhooked the lead rope and let Penny explore. She trotted around and sniffed the air. I prayed she'd forgotten how afraid she was the last time she was there.
"She's home." Gabi's voice was hushed as she leaned against the inside of the fence. "My dad has to be cool with this. I'll die if I lose her now, after all this."
"He just wanted you to have a safe horse. Now you do."
"Oh, but that man can hold a grudge. For the principle of the thing."
"Then start praying now."
Penny trotted over to us and I reached into my pocket, but Gabi already had a couple of Twizzlers in her hand. A bittersweet sadness rolled over me. It was time for me to back away, to allow Penny and Gabi to bond together. This was about them, not me. It was what I'd worked for, hoped for, all these weeks. But I felt like I was losing a friend.
