“Yes!”
“I started working on this with him yesterday. It’s called leg up. Romeo will be your best friend if Georgie learns this one. He’s our farrier.”
“Farrier?”
“The one who tortures the horses with shoes. I’m only kidding. The shoes are nailed into a part of the hoof that doesn’t cause them pain. Anyway, if they learn leg up, his job is easier. Let me show you.” He stands beside Georgie. “You need to be close enough that your shoulder touches the horse’s shoulder, or his hindquarters, if you are picking up the back legs. Place the hand closest to the horse on him, like this, and run your other hand down his leg until you reach his fetlock or ankle. If he hasn’t started to pick his foot up by the time you get to the fetlock, squeeze the back of his leg gently, and he will lift his hoof.” Georgie lifts his foot. “Now you try.”
I give the horse a pat. “Let’s do this, Georgie.” I run through all the steps in my head and then begin.
“Use your left hand,” he says. I switch. “That’s correct. Now run the other hand down his leg.” Georgie lifts his leg before I have to squeeze his ankle. “Would you look at that? Devyn, you’ve found your calling.”
I hear applause and turn to see Aaron clapping from the other side of the fence. “Did you see that?” I ask excitedly.
“You’re a natural!”
I hand Mickey the rope. “Thanks. That was fun.”
“Come back anytime.”
Aaron and I walk to his truck. “He likes you.”
“Which one, the man or the horse?”
“Both, I presume. Mickey is great—a patient and persistent teacher.”
“Seems that way.”
He holds up his phone. “The call I got was about a pick-up at Home Depot. Want to keep me company?”
“Into Fort Worth? No.”
“Come on. We’ll listen to country music. See who can find the most depressing song on the radio.”
“I prefer to hang around here.”
“Stay in the truck if you like. There and back. I promise it will be painless.” He offers up his charming grin. How can I say no?
“All right.”
He tucks his phone away and opens the passenger door for me. “You can pick the first station.”
After a few minutes of listening to depressing country songs, I turn off the radio. “I wanted to be a teacher once.”
“Really?” Aaron takes his eyes off the road and glances at me in surprise. “Tell me more.”
I shrug. “Not much to tell. It was a dream I had when I was little.”
“There’s a great community college half an hour from the ranch. You could take classes.”
“I can’t be a teacher.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t.”
“I bet you’d be great at it. Look what you did with Georgie.” He stops at a light. “Hey, you like horses now, right?”
“I love them.”
“So teach them. You don’t need a degree or anything. Mickey would love to have you as an apprentice. You can do it on your days off.”
“Tempting, but you get it’s not the same, right?” Still, I think about it.
“What would you have taught?”
“Math. High school algebra. Maybe even calculus.”
“I knew you were a brainiac. Don’t ask me to solve any math problems. That’s what calculators are for.”
“What did you want to be when you were a kid?”
“The truth? I thought about going into teaching, too. Then I got sent down here for a summer and fell in love with the ranch.”
“You, a teacher?” I consider that. He’s lean, rugged, and sexy. “The girls would have clawed each other’s eyes out to be in your class.”
“You think I’m hot, huh?”
I swat his thigh and he captures my hand and holds it. I move as close to him as my seatbelt will allow. “I’d have taken your class. But why teaching if your dad was a photographer and your mom’s in the restaurant business?”
“Because of my guardian angel.”
“Your what?”
“I know it’s crazy, but I really do have one. Erin was supposed to be my adoptive mom. She couldn’t have kids of her own so her and my dad, who was her husband at the time, hired my mom, Skylar, to have a baby for them. But then Erin got cancer and knew she was going to die, so she made my parents fall in love with each other. It’s kind of a crazy story. Anyway, she wrote all these letters before she died, for my parents and for me. I get them from time to time, like when I graduated high school and stuff. Oh, and I’m named after her.”
“That’s an amazing story.”
“I know. My aunt, Maddox’s mom, even made it into a book.”
“I think I know what I’ll be reading next.”
“Don’t buy it,” he says. “Andie has all of Aunt Baylor’s books lying around. She’ll be happy to let you borrow it.”
“Great. I’ll pick it up on Sunday.”
“Right. You’re going swimming. Do you think you two are becoming friends?”
“Hard to say. I don’t make friends easily these days.” We’re stopped at another light when I see something out the window. “What I wouldn’t give for a Chick-fil-A sandwich.”
Aaron steps on the gas, pulls in front of another car, gets honked at, and turns into the drive-thru line.
“Are you crazy?”
“My girl wants a chicken sandwich.”
His girl. I have a hard time containing my grin. That is until I remember I don’t have any money. “I… didn’t bring my purse.”
He gets out his wallet. “I think I can swing it. See, this is what boyfriends do for their girlfriends. Buy them lunch and stuff.”
A welcome warmness flows through me. “Is that so?”
We order, get our food, and park. He shuts off the engine, then hands me my sandwich with a wonky grin. “This is sort of like our first date. Sorry it wasn’t a steakhouse or something fancy.”
“I don’t need fancy.”
“You don’t, do you?”
I’m salivating before I even take a bite. I haven’t had one of these in years. “Oh, god,” I say when I rip into the first piece.
Aaron gives me a look.
“Yours not any good?” I ask, inching away. “Because I’m not giving up mine.”
“I’m sure it is, but watching you eat is giving me a fucking woody, Dev.”
My cheeks flame. “It’s been a while since I had one of these. It’s so good.” I pop a waffle fry into my mouth. “How come you call me Dev sometimes?”
“I don’t know. I guess it just slips out. Is it a problem?”
I shake my head. “I kind of like it. Too bad you don’t have a name that can be shortened. What’s your middle name?”
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
I look away.
“Fine, you don’t have to answer,” he says. “But hey, I found out one thing about you today. Your dream job was to be a math teacher.”