Who was I?
And would he be proud of who he was once he figured that out?
They headed down a straight road that led to the barn. There were no workers around that Sawyer could see, and the lowing of cattle that came on the grass-scented breeze was oddly soothing to his system. He sucked in a deep breath, feeling the muscles in his shoulders relax.
Bella came over to Sawyer and held up her hands. He picked her up and she settled against his shoulder, one tiny hand planted on the back of his neck. Lizzie came running up, too, but Olivia swept her up into her arms and made an exaggerated surprised face.
“What happened there?” Olivia asked Lizzie. “Did I get you?”
Lizzie laughed, and Sawyer couldn’t help but smile. He’d known these toddlers for all of two days that he could remember, but he was already attached. Sawyer led the way over to the corral.
The largest of the two horses ambled over toward them, pushing his nose into Sawyer’s chest, snuffling against his pocket.
“I didn’t think to bring a treat,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at Olivia.
“All we have in the bag is Cheerios and cheese cubes,” Olivia said with a low laugh.
“Horsey...” Bella breathed, and then she put a hand on the horse’s long nose.
The horse pulled back, shaking his head, and moved over toward Olivia. She took a step back.
“Sorry, buddy,” she said.
The horse ambled off again, and Sawyer felt all of his own tension seeping away. Bella clearly loved horses, but it looked like he did, too. There was something about those rippling muscles, the shining coats, the smell of dust and sweat and the tang of manure...
“Num-nums,” Lizzie said, patting Olivia’s shoulder. “Num-nums.”
“I think she wants her snack.”
Sawyer passed her the diaper bag, and she squatted down, put Lizzie on the ground and opened the bag. Lizzie looked into the depth and pulled out a plastic container of cheese cubes. Olivia opened it for her and she reached in and came out with a single cube between two chubby fingers.
“Mmm. That looks good,” Olivia murmured.
“Num-nums!” Bella said, launching herself downward.
“Whoa!” Her motion caught Sawyer by surprise, and he almost dropped the girl before he was able to get a grip on her wriggling body. He managed to deposit her on the ground right side up. Bella headed straight for the cheese cubes. Such trust—the kid hadn’t even paused to appreciate that she hadn’t landed on her head.
Olivia held the container out toward Bella. Sawyer was glad that Olivia was here to think of things like snacks. Maybe he needed more help around here than he thought.
“Lizzie?” Olivia stood up, and Sawyer looked around, scanning for the girl. She was gone...and both of their gazes swung toward the corral.
Somehow, the toddler slipped away in those few heartbeats when her sister had the attention, and little Lizzie with her ruffled curls and little pink running shoes stood in the center of the corral, her face tipped upward in rapture as she stared up at the massive stallion.
Sawyer’s heart thudded to a stop.
Chapter Three
Olivia shot out a hand out, grabbing Bella by the arm before she could follow her sister. How had Olivia done that—completely missed Lizzie disappearing? Tears of panic rose in her eyes.
Lizzie stood next to the irritable stallion, and it was like time slowed to a crawl and Olivia could see every single, painstaking detail as the toddler reached her hand out toward the stallion’s leg. He lifted his hoof and brought it down in a sharp stamp, dust billowing up from the ground around his hoof.
Olivia pulled Bella up into her arms and had taken a step toward the corral when Sawyer’s iron grip caught her by the shoulder.
“No,” he snapped. “Stay here.”
His tone was so authoritative that she stopped in her tracks, watching as he ducked down under a rail, easing his body through. Sawyer straightened to his full height and walked slowly toward his daughter.
The stallion snorted and pawed the ground, eyeing Sawyer with an irritable glint in his eye. Lizzie reached out and touched the stallion’s knee, and in response, the big animal reared up, hooves pawing the air.
Sawyer dashed in, caught Lizzie up in one arm, and put a protective hand up as the stallion came back down again.
“Whoa...” Sawyer intoned. “Whoa now... Hey...”
The stallion made another couple of little jumps with his front hooves, but didn’t rear again. Sawyer stayed facing the horse and backed slowly toward the fence again. When he got there, he handed Lizzie over the rails into Olivia’s arms, then ducked down and eased himself through.
Olivia held both girls tightly, her heart hammering in her chest.
“That was close—” she breathed.
“Yeah—a little too close,” Sawyer said, glancing over his shoulder toward the stallion once more. “That horse is in a mood. I doubt he’s even ridable.”
He sounded like himself again—knowledgeable, confident.
“I wouldn’t know,” she said. “But you did. Sawyer, you knew what to do!”
Sawyer’s gaze flipped toward her, and he smiled weakly. “I did. You’re right. I knew what to do. I knew the signs. I know what an angry horse looks like...”
“Do you remember anything else?” she asked hopefully.
Sawyer licked his lips, glanced back toward the corral. Then he sighed and took Lizzie from her arms.
“Nah. I’m trying. I don’t know why I knew what to do, I just—”
“You reacted,” she said.
“I guess.” He started toward the road, and Olivia grabbed the diaper bag and caught up to him. He was a tall man, and she almost had to jog to keep up.
“Sawyer, slow down,” she said with a low laugh.
“Sorry.” He cast her a rueful smile.
“Horsey!” Lizzie said, leaning her entire body toward the corral.
“Yeah, that’s enough of that,” Sawyer said.
They walked together in silence for a few paces, and Olivia eyed Sawyer.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was the one who had Lizzie, and I got distracted for a minute there—”
“It’s okay.” Sawyer glanced down at her,
