“I don’t have to be asked twice,” Wolf said, dishing a full plate of food for his wife, before passing the potatoes down the table.
“So,” Sawyer said, “tell us about the progress you guys are making over there at McCloud’s Landing.”
“Oh, it’s been really fun,” Elsie said. “All equine work. So, I’m in heaven.”
“She’s great too,” Hunter said.
She looked at him, surprise on her face. “Well, thank you, Hunter.”
“You didn’t let me finish my sentence. I was saying she’s great...for a mean little weasel.”
“I ought to bite you like a weasel.” She wrinkled her nose and narrowed her brown eyes, and his first thought was that it was awfully cute.
He did not know where that came from.
He shook his head, and turned his focus to filling his plate.
“We’re going to have to get some safety and board certifications to be approved for therapy,” he said. “And Brody hired somebody. Elizabeth Colfax. She’s a STRIDE mentor. I’m not entirely clear on the acronym. But she’s going to oversee the program, and she’s an approved teacher to help us get certified, and then she’ll stay on as a lead.”
“Wow.”
“And Charity is going to pick up some extra work on medical for the horses. We’ve got some places for people to stay. Because the focus is going to be rehabilitation for people who are injured, neurodivergent clients and at risk youth. And sometimes there’re going to be long-term programs in place.”
“And Gus came up with this on his own?” Sawyer asked.
“I don’t really know where Gus got the idea. But you know how he is. You can’t get him to talk. Unless he wants to. And he doesn’t often want to.”
“Yeah,” Sawyer said. “True.”
Hunter trusted Gus with his life. Hell, he couldn’t know for sure, but he suspected that Gus had saved his life on multiple occasions.
But his brother wasn’t like the rest of them. He hadn’t come through their childhood with any kind of sense of humor intact. That was for sure.
Of course, Gus had taken the brunt of it. The absolute worst of their father’s temper, again and again.
A temper that had only gotten worse once their mother had gone.
A temper Hunter knew he bore some responsibility for.
Pain he knew he bore responsibility for.
And when it wasn’t Gus, it was Lachlan. Tag had taken his fair share, and so had Hunter. Brody... For some reason Brody had been the golden boy. The only one that Dad had ever been proud of. And the only one dad hadn’t hit. He’d never laid a hand on Brody in anger once.
And Hunter knew that ate at Brody. In some ways, he imagined it was worse than being like them. Worse than having endured his father’s fists. Because at least they were all in that together.
And they’d survived it anyway.
Though deep down, Hunter felt like maybe he was on the outside too. It was just his brothers didn’t know his whole story.
No one did.
“He just doesn’t seem like the outreach type,” Sawyer said.
“He’s not. But he’s...the protector type.”
“Are you going to get certification, Elsie?” Wolf asked.
“Well,” Elsie said, “in very typical Hunter fashion, this is more information than he’s given me before. So I don’t know.”
“If you want to,” Hunter said.
“Of course I want it.”
He looked at her, and his mouth twitched. And he couldn’t help poking at her a little bit. “You’re really on a journey of self-improvement lately.”
She sputtered on her mashed potatoes.
“Are you?” Violet asked keenly. “What other self-improvements are you doing?”
“I...”
“Elsie is very devoted to learning how to bake,” Hunter said, grinning.
“Really?” Elsie asked.
“That’s what you mentioned the other day. That you wished you could set a table the way that Evelyn and Violet do. Isn’t that what you said?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling sweetly, but the intensity of her grin drew the focus to her teeth. And he had a feeling she was thinking of fighting again.
“Well, you’re in luck,” Evelyn said. “We’re doing the baked goods for Game Day. So there’s going to be quite a lot of work to do.”
“Fantastic,” Elsie said, her grin turning crisp.
“It’s nice to see you so devoted to your personal enrichment,” Hunter said.
“I heard you were wanting to sharpen your castration skills,” she said. “You know,” she added, “when Sawyer and Wolf need extra help come that time.”
“Thank you,” Hunter said. “You know I value improving my neutering skills.”
“I don’t know what’s going on here,” Sawyer said, “but if the end result is me getting extra help come castration time, I am okay with it.”
“If it’s going to end with me getting extra help in the kitchen, I don’t care either. Keep on sniping at each other,” Evelyn said.
It was accepted that he and Elsie had their own language. That they did things their own way. That they were mean to each other. But also often sat next to each other. They were...whatever they were.
But right now they had a secret. And it lent a strange sort of edge to the teasing.
“We’re headed to Vancouver in a few days,” he said.
“Really?” Sawyer said, his mouth turning down into a frown.
“Yeah. We have some horses to look at. I need Elsie’s expertise.”
“Thank you,” Elsie said. “I like to think that I have a fair amount of expertise.”
“She does,” Sawyer said. “She’s brilliant.”
Elsie flustered a little bit under the compliment, and it was such a strange thing that he couldn’t help but notice.
“We’ll go after Game Day.”
“You better,” Sawyer said. “Because I don’t want to miss the chance to destroy your family.”
“Ha! We’ll definitely be doing the destroying,” Hunter said.
“Not likely,” Elsie said. “Just remember. I owe you.”