He winked. “It’s a sacrifice I’d be willing to make. We can always have frozen pizza.”
I laughed and shook my head as I used the tongs to put salad on each of our plates.
I took one bite of the lasagna and let out a long, soft moan. Tanner grinned. “I take it you like it?”
“Like it? Tanner, this is amazing!”
“It’s the homemade ragu. It’s a recipe my mother got from her friend Tina. She’s Italian and makes some of the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
“I love authentic Italian food, and I can honestly say I haven’t had a sauce this good ever before!” I replied before I shoved another forkful in my mouth.
“Word of warning, don’t ever tell Tina you’re eating jar from a sauce. She’ll drag you into the kitchen to cook up a pot of ragu on the spot, then send you home hours later with jars of it. Each time she converts a jar sauce lover to fresh ragu, she says she’s doing the Lord’s work.”
I closed my eyes and moaned again as I let each spice from the homemade ragu settle in my mouth.
Tanner and I spent the rest of our meal in a comfortable silence. I knew he was leaving me to my thoughts about my father. A part of me knew that what Tanner said made sense. Maybe all those years of distance was my father’s own mechanism for keeping himself from being hurt again. It still didn’t make it right. I would never be able to get back all the moments I wished my father had been there for me.
I must have sighed, because Tanner reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “Let’s leave the dishes for now, and before you call your father, let me take you to the barn. I have that surprise for you.”
“The barn?” I asked, instantly perking up. I knew Tanner had set up a stall for his horse Trigger and one for Rosie. He knew I had taken a liking to her. But I also knew they were both turned out in the smaller pasture that was set off to the side from the lake. Tanner and Ty had fenced it in after Tanner bought the lake house and two-hundred acres from his folks.
I had gone over it in my mind a thousand times. I could buy that land from the Peterson’s and that would put my own investment in, but I knew deep within in my heart that I would have a long future with Tanner. I couldn’t explain how I knew it or why it felt so different, but I knew this relationship with Tanner was it. He was my future. Yet, I still wanted to have something that was mine. As much as I loved Tanner, I didn’t need him to rush in on a white horse to save me. Tanner himself told me that he’d always wanted the lake house—and Kaylee and Lincoln had talked to Ty and Brock and confirmed it. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to jump on board with his plan. Maybe someday, when we were engaged, it would feel different. Right now, it simply felt like Tanner was handing me my dream. I loved him for that, but I needed to work it out for myself.
After we wrapped ourselves up in jackets, gloves, and hats, we made our way to the barn. A light snow was falling, dusting the ground just enough to take my breath away once more. Something about a fresh snowfall on the rolling hills and mountainsides made me feel so at peace.
When we walked into the barn, I stopped at the sight of a horse in a stall. He was a chestnut thoroughbred and he looked very malnourished. “What happened?” I asked as I rushed over to him.
“Someone my mother knows from the Hamilton SPCA called her yesterday and said they had a rescue horse they needed to find a permanent home for,” Tanner said with a nonchalant shrug. “The owner had been given the horse in hopes of training him to race. He hit some hard times and thought maybe he could hold onto the horse, but realized he needed to give him up. They asked if she was interested in taking him on. She told them she knew of someone who would be starting a new training business, but who was also interested in rescue horses.”
I placed my hand out for the beautiful chestnut to smell before I gently rubbed down the side of his face. He let out a sad nicker. I softly rubbed his neck. He looked like he had been left to starve, and that broke my heart.
“I know you’re not ready to start training yet or take on rescues, but my mother thought it would be good for both of you to help each other out,” Tanner said.
With a smile, I unlatched the stall door and slipped inside. The gelding looked down at me, and when his eyes met mine, I felt the instant connection. “Hey there, beautiful. You’re safe now. We’re going to take care of you.”
Tanner watched as I cooed to the horse. “I was thinking this spring we could make a corral off the side of the barn to do some rope work with him. I don’t think he’s trained at all.”
I nodded and ran my hand over his back. “I’d like to talk to your mom about what she thinks is the best approach feed-wise.”
“She’d love that,” Tanner said as he joined me in the stall. “He seems to like you. He’s a sweet boy, and didn’t give Chance any issues when he picked him up from the Hamilton SPCA. As a matter of fact, Chance said the horse almost knew he was there to take him out
