Katie smiled and walked over to the horse. “Hey, girl. I haven’t seen you in such a long time Sugar Puff.” She stroked the horse’s nose and neck and was rewarded with the bobbing of the horse’s head. “I sure did miss you. Did you miss me?”
Just as she was about to leave Sugar Puff, and head down to the tack room, Trip, the owner of the Lone Creek Ranch, poked his head out of the tack room.
“Well, if it isn’t Katie Dobbs.” He laughed one of those joyful laughs that Katie remembered from when she was a kid.
“It’s good to see you, Trip.” She rushed over to him and slipped into his outstretched arms. Trip had the reputation of being everyone’s favorite uncle. He wasn’t as old as her parents were. He’d done well for himself on the rodeo circuit early on and was able to purchase the Lone Creek Ranch from his family. The ranch was his life and everyone knew it.
Trip had never married and never had children. But the kids who came for riding lessons were like his adopted children. Tabby had been like that after her parents died. Tabby’s father and Trip had known each other from the rodeo circuit and when Tabby’s parents passed away, Trip had taken Tabby under his wing and made the Lone Creek Ranch her home.
“I was so glad Tabby said you were coming by for dinner. It gives us some time to catch up.”
Trip let her go and she took a step back to look at him. “How are you doing? I’m sorry I haven’t been out to see you since your accident.”
“I’ll have none of that. You’re here now and it’s always good when I get to see one of my riding students. You’re a little earlier than I expected. Did you come here to ride?”
She shook her head. “Actually, I was hoping to catch Tabby and Kas. Are they around here somewhere?”
“It was such a good day that they ended up taking Mad Dog and Crusader out for a ride. Tenterhook won’t be doing any riding for a while until that leg heals properly. Most of the horses have been stuck inside all winter. Since the shooting over Christmas, I haven’t been strong enough to do my normal work. And without Tabby or Levon here, well, things have fallen by the wayside a little.”
“I heard about the shooting. I’m so glad you weren’t hurt worse. I…I heard about Levon, too. I’m really sorry.”
The pain on Trip’s face echoed what Tabby had told her. Levon, a ranch hand that had worked at the Lone Creek Ranch for years, had been killed over the winter.
“Levon was good man. He’s missed around here. But he’d be the first one to say that life goes on. Hey, there’s one person you might recognize.”
Katie frowned. “Who’s that?”
“Hunter. You remember he used to come out to the ranch a lot to shoe the horses. He’s out here today.”
Katie smiled. “I remember Hunter,” she said.
Trip laughed. “Both you and Julie had eyes for him way back when.”
Panicked, Katie weaved her hands at trip to shush him. “Keep your voice down.” She laughed anyway. Then she shrugged. “That was a long time ago.”
“Not so long. Go say hello. He’s right down the aisle shoeing Tenterhook.”
“I haven’t seen him in ages. Since…” She thought back to when she was a teenager. When had she stopped coming to the ranch to ride? That’s right. Right after she’d met Bruce. “Is Hal still working here?”
“Sure. So good to see you remembered all of us.”
“Of course.”
“But you missed Hal. He’s out scouting horses. He’s been investing in some rodeo stock here and there with his earnings.”
“Really?”
Trip nodded. “I might get into the business myself. Maybe do some rodeo training.”
“You always did miss it.”
Trip shrugged. “If you want to go for a ride, let me know. I’ll help you saddle up one of the horses. You might find Tabby and Kas on the trail.”
“Thanks. If you need help making dinner, just let me know. I love to cook.”
He laughed hard and loud and it echoed off the floor and through the barn. “You and Tabby won’t go hungry. Kas on the other hand might.”
Katie laughed as she made her way down the aisle.
She found Hunter putting away his tools when she reached the tack room.
“Hi, Hunter,” she said.
He turned around and she gasped when she saw his black eye.
“Oh, my. Did you get kicked by one of the horses?”
It took a moment, but Hunter recognized her. “Hi, Katie. No, this one was…deserved.”
“Deserved? Did someone do that to you? On purpose?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s good to see you.”
Katie remembered Hunter being larger than life when she was a teenager. He was still as handsome as ever, even with the black eye. But something had changed and she couldn’t put a finger on it.
She wondered about what Caleb had told her about Julie being pregnant. And then it dawned on her about how Caleb had behaved in the church the day he’d all but accused her of holding back information about Julie. Had Hunter known Julie was pregnant? It wasn’t her place to ask.
“It’s good to see you too, Hunter.”
She walked over to him and gave him a warm hug. When she pulled back, he hesitated, and then asked, “Do you hear from Julie at all?”
Her heart nearly broke looking into his sad eyes. “Not for a long time.”
“Oh. I thought since you both left town around the same time that maybe you’d gone together.”
She shook her head. “I wish I knew where she was. It would
