Accidental Knight: A Marriage Mistake Romance(18)

“Oh, Gramps, you have thought of everything,” I whisper. Opening the package, I pull out a candy cane and peel the clear cellophane away. Then I tuck it in my shirt pocket and go back to the closet for a pair of brown cowboy boots. They still fit snug and feel so good my heart swells.

Swapping plaid for the black corduroy shirt and some pants at the last second, I head for the door, truly ready for Edison now.

He’s in the corral beside the barn, his big brown eyes watching me as I run down the porch steps. He nickers as I round my Jeep.

“Coming, bud. Hold your horses,” I tell him, smiling at my stupid pun.

This is how it should be. Old friends. Bad jokes. Fresh spring air.

His head sticks over the top rail, and he snorts, as if saying, “Hurry up.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise. But you already know what I’ve got, don’t you?”

He snorts softly as I reach the corral.

“Okay, okay. Fine.” I kiss the front of his head and then pull out the candy cane.

He tosses his head then lunges forward, biting the hook off the cane.

I scratch him behind the ears as he chews. “You’re lucky you’ve still got your teeth with all the candy canes I fed you years ago.”

He curls his lips back, as if to show me he still has perfect choppers.

“Never change,” I whisper, shaking my head, holding the candy out so he can take another bite.

As he chews, I glance over my shoulder at the sound of a distant motor.

There’s an ATV coming across the west field. I recognize Grump-alicious’ big frame as the driver, and scold myself for not remembering his name.

What was it again? I close my eyes, trying to think back to the conversations with Gramps. Instead, I recall when he’d stepped out of the bathroom and told me to stop screaming.

Blake?

No. Drake.

Drake Larkin.

Edison nudges my shoulder. I give him the final piece of candy cane and quietly ask him, “So what do you think of Mr. Larkin? Strange guy, isn’t he?”

Edison snorts and stomps a foot. He also nudges me again.

“Really?” I laugh. “That much?”

He tosses his head once.

I pat his nose. “All right then. If you approve, then I’m glad he’s here. Something tells me we’ll need all the help we can get.” The ATV is almost to the barn, so I lean closer to Edison as I whisper, “You know, I’m glad he’s not as old as I’d imagined. It’d be pretty weird with a guy older than Dad hanging around.”

He sniffs my palm.

“You’ve hit your quota, boy. No more today,” I tell him.

The vehicle jerks to a stop next to me. I see it’s a big one, what they call a side by side. It could easily accommodate two or three people.

“You gave that horse a candy cane?” Drake asks.

“Sure did.” I hook an arm under Edison’s neck, scratching as I pose. “Didn’t Gramps ever tell you? This is the best horse on earth. The one all other—”

“All other horses aspire to be,” Drake finishes the line for me. “Got it.”

I laugh. That was Gramps’ trademark description for Edison.

Maybe it’s because I now remember his name, I start noticing other things about Drake.

He’s dressed this time, for one, and I’m not bawling my eyes out.

So the tattoos and mountains of muscle aren’t the only thing I see.

He’d been dressed in the kitchen, of course, but my mind was still a jumbled mess.

Now, it’s more relaxed.

I see how blue his eyes are. Bright sky-blue, surrounded by a rim of dark lashes. His dark blond hair is short but long enough to be combed back on one side, and a strangely entrancing five-o’clock shadow covers his wide jaw.

If a North Dakota cowboy stepped out of a time warp and took a detour to the nearest tattoo shop before showing up here, I think he’d be a dead ringer for Drake Larkin.

Pulling my eyes off him, I nod, leaning my head against Edison. “That’s our Edison. One of a kind. I’m glad Gramps shared the catchphrase.”

“Yeah, well, he’s something to aspire to, all right, if other horses are obsessed with jailbreaks.”

His dry humor makes me laugh. “He’s still mastering latches, huh?”

“Shit, yeah. I didn’t catch up with him till the lake, and I think he only stopped then because he was trying to figure out if he should swim across it or build himself a goddamn bridge.”

I giggle, but then hold onto the main point. He’d said something like it once back in the house.

What was Edison doing rushing off to the lake?

“What were you doing over there, bud?” I ask Edison.

The horse snorts.

“Weird. He’s always cracked locks but never runs too far,” I say aloud while stroking Edison’s long face. “Hopefully he’s not going senile, losing his way when he’s out.”

Edison shifts restlessly under my fingers. Senile? Please.

“I think he was heading to town,” Drake says, sweeping his hand through his hair. “He misses his owner.”

The ache in my heart that I know won’t go away for some time, if ever, returns. “He knows Gramps isn’t here.”

“Damn right,” Drake answers.