“Addison Jolene!”

Holy crap. Addie dropped her pencil and looked up from her sketch of the flowers she picked earlier that day.

Rick never hollered. Even when she’d dropped cake on the rug in his office. She’d known the rug had to have been an expensive one. A lot of the things around his—no, their—house were, but he never yelled. Not even when she cursed or broke a plate in the kitchen. Glass shards had gone everywhere, but he’d only closed his eyes and taken a deep breath. Then he’d picked her straight up and carried her out of the room so she wouldn’t get glass in her bare feet.

What had she done? She jumped from her desk chair and hurried. Leigh waited at the end of the hallway with him, but she was smiling. Then she winked. It was nice, but Leigh was always kind. Addie couldn’t give it much thought, because Rick looked so serious.

Rick crossed his arms over his chest in what she’d come to call his “boss-man” pose. “I have a problem.”

She looked to Leigh for a hint, but she wasn’t budging. They were in on whatever this was together. Damn it. I mean, darn it. She was really trying not to curse, at least out loud, but still struggled sometimes. “What’s wrong?”

Rick answered. “Follow me.” He turned and led them through the maze of rooms until they went out through the big mudroom. He opened the door and held it open. When they were all outside, he took Leigh’s hand in his and walked across the backyard. “Addie, I have a problem.”

“What is it?” She couldn’t figure out what was going on. She didn’t think she was in trouble, but she just didn’t know.

“See, I bought a horse farm, and I don’t know the first thing about animals.” He continued leading them across the property. They headed toward the closest barn, but a flash of something gray caught her eye in the opposite direction. She turned her head to see the front of Trent’s truck coming onto the driveway. As it carefully turned off the main road and around the gate, a horse trailer came into view. “Seems like a pretty silly idea, to have a horse farm with no horses.”

Her heart stopped. Torn between bright hope and fear that she wasn’t wrong in her guess, she couldn’t breathe.

“Come on. You’re falling behind. We’ve got work to do.”

She picked up the pace, practically running to keep up with his long strides. She looked up, hoping to find a hint, but he had his face locked up tight. Damn—darn it. He’s still in boss-man mode. “What’s going on?” She looked to Leigh for an answer, but she had some sort of weird face going on. Was she trying to hide a smile? Maybe she was just holding in a sneeze.

She tried to pay attention to Rick and keep up with his long legs, but got caught by the movement of Trent’s truck. It was halfway up the drive. The trailer behind it was really big, but that didn’t mean anything. He was a horse guy and always wore barn clothes and boots. He was probably just stopping by to talk to Rick.

“I think it’s time we expanded your list of chores. You’re doing a good job so far, but it’s not enough.” He stopped at the corral and turned. He leaned back against the rail and crossed his arms over his chest.

She heard the rumble of the truck as it neared. It pulled to a stop behind them but she didn’t dare look. Doors opened and when they closed, she felt the loud thump in her chest.

“What chores do you want me to do?” She didn’t mind. When she’d lived by herself, she did pretty much everything. She and Leigh worked on a lot of things together and it was kind of nice. She could do outside stuff too.

She refused to turn and look when she heard more opening sounds behind her.

Trent’s opening the trailer. I’m not looking. I’m not looking. Nothing but wonderful things had happened since she’d come to stay with Rick and Leigh. Life was almost too perfect. Sometimes, when she woke in the mornings, she didn’t want to open her eyes, afraid that it still might be a dream.

Trent called to her. “Addie, can you open the gate? I seriously doubt Mr. Shiny Shoes knows how. You’ve got your work cut out for you, sweetheart. Definitely, braver than me.” She held her breath and moved to do as Trent asked. Her hands shook, but she got the latch on the second try and swung the gate open.

Unable to bear the suspense any longer, she turned. Trent was leading a dark chocolate mare down the trailer’s ramp. She tried but couldn’t hardly draw air into her lungs.

Kate came to her rescue. Addie hadn’t even realized she was there until Kate pulled her into a gentle side hug. Then she bent down and whispered into Addie’s ear. “Breathe, sweetheart. Take a big breath and let it out. It’s going to be okay. Trust me?” She squeezed her hand.

Addie couldn’t find her words, but managed a small nod. Kate smiled. “I remember when my dad brought our first two horses home. Jack and Ms. Priss really weren’t anything special, just a couple of old horses. When he led them out of that rickety old trailer it was love at first sight.”

Trent murmured something to the horse before releasing it into the paddock. Then he returned to the back of the trailer.

Kate pointed to the horse. “That’s Seraphina, or Sera. I helped Rick choose her. You’ll love her; she’s an absolute doll. I thought she’d be a good match for Leigh. Isn’t she a pretty thing?”

It was all she could do to nod.

Trent led a second horse down the ramp. “That big guy is Apollo. I thought he’d make a good match for Rick.”

Still at a loss for words, she nodded.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” Kate patted her on the shoulder and took Apollo’s lead from Trent. She walked him to the paddock. After running a hand down his neck, she removed his lead and returned to Addie’s side.

Leigh came to stand with them. She took Addie’s hand in hers and squeezed as Trent ambled over. “What Kate was too kind to say is that Apollo doesn’t know the meaning of the word run. He’s a big, steady slowpoke that even a chicken like Rick can’t fall off.”

She knew she should laugh at his joke or say something nice, but she still couldn’t make her mouth work. He went back up into the dark trailer again.

A minute later he brought a third horse out. It was a pretty reddish brown color, much like Apollo, but smaller in size like Sera. Kate made another introduction. “That’s one of Apollo’s girls, Gypsy. She’s three years old. Trent says she’s the only one good enough for you to ride. He’s always picky, but when he’s selecting a horse for family, he’s even more so. She’s steady, and listens well, but she’s fun, too. I think you’ll like riding her. I’ll be right back, okay?”

She might have nodded again, but then again, maybe not. She watched Trent remove Gypsy’s lead before coming to lean against the inside of the rail. Quietly he asked, “You doing okay, kid?” His pretty storm gray eyes were soft in concern.

Somehow she found a word, a single word. At least it was the right one. “Yeah.”

“Good to hear it.” He pointed behind her and nodded like he wanted her to look at something.

She turned and froze. Kate was walking down the ramp with Dream, or Bonnie. Kate led her straight to Addie and handed her the lead. “I’m returning her to you.”

Lost, overwhelmed with emotion, she looked around floundering until she found Rick. He stood, arms crossed over his chest, watching her closely. “Pretty silly to have a horse farm without horses, huh? What do you think of your new chores?”

Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.

Kate patted Bonnie’s neck. “I thought, if it’s okay with you, that I could come by in the mornings and help. I can show you how we’ve been feeding them and help you get a routine started, if you want? Trent went through the barn with Rick and made sure everything was ready. Of course, Leigh has experience with horses, too, but if you need anything at all I can be here in less than fifteen minutes. Trent or I will be more than happy to take your phone calls or come out to help. Even if we aren’t available and something comes up, Trent always has stable hands on standby. And there’s Harlan, too. He taught Trent everything he knows. Is that okay?”

Finally, finally, her mouth worked. “Yes. Please. Oh. Please.” It wasn’t much more than a whisper, but she was happy to know that she hadn’t lost the ability to speak. She turned to Rick. “You bought them? They’re really yours? They’re staying here?”

He genuinely looked perplexed. “What would I do with horses?”

Trent rolled his eyes and pointed to Rick. “See? He’s clueless. What did I tell you? You’ve got your work cut out for you, honey. What kind of fool spends a fortune on a place like this when he doesn’t know one end of a horse from the other?”

A sudden image of Rick staring at a horse’s behind and scratching his head popped into her mind. Laughing, she looked back to Bonnie and Kate.

Oh, no. “I can’t take your horse! You took care of her and love her and…she’s yours.”

Kate met her gaze dead on, and Addie thought there might have been a hint of dampness there. “Nope. I loved her, still love her, but she’s always been your baby. I’m finding out the hard way that I can’t keep all the rescues. I have to send them on to their forever homes. I’m just a pit-stop.”

Trent came over to pull her into his side, where he spoke gruffly to the top of her head. “You’re not a pit-stop.”

“I don’t know what to say.” For a brief moment, she tried to stop the tears from falling. Then she gave up and let them fall.

Who the hell cares? These are my people, and they love me.