“Okay.” He sat up and hugged her. “When are they coming home? Blake said he’d take me fishing at the river.”
“They should be home tomorrow night. About Blake, does it bother you that Blake and I are getting close?”
“He’s your boyfriend.”
She hadn’t thought of it in those terms. Every day, they’d find as many moments as they could to be alone on the busy ranch. Blake was great at kissing her senseless. Boyfriend? Yeah, he was her boyfriend.
“We like being together. He’s very nice to me.”
“He watches you.”
“He does?”
“All the time. When you aren’t looking, he stares at you. He told me that he likes you a lot. He said he wouldn’t take you away from me and that it would always be the three of us.”
“He said that to you.” News to her. Such a thoughtful thing to do, reassuring Justin he’d always have a place with them. It made her heart ache even more to see him. If she hadn’t loved him before, she loved him just for that.
“He wanted to be sure I knew that I’m the most important person to you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. Blake knew her so well. Justin was her child even if he was her brother. That Blake got her, understood her, made all the difference. When that man got home, she’d make sure he understood how important he was to her.
“You are and will always be the most important person to me, buddy. I love you. Let’s go see Honey?”
“I promised Grandma Dee I’d pick the green beans and tomatoes in the garden.”
She ran her hand over his hair and kissed his forehead. “I’ll go down and check on Boots. We’ll see Honey after you do your chores. Maybe one of the grooms will saddle a horse for us. We’ll go for a short ride in the south pasture.”
“Awesome!” Justin scrambled off the bed. He headed for the door but rushed back and hugged her. She held him tight.
Now, she needed Blake to come home so they could clear the air and she could get her hands on him.
Chapter 20
The horses in the stables kicked at the ground and at their gates, huffing and making strange, distressed whinnies. Gillian ran inside the huge doors. She stood for a second, letting her eyes adjust to the darker interior. One horse’s upset agitated the other horses. She swept her gaze along the aisle and all the horses poking their heads over the gates. Ken stood in Boots’s stall door, a rope in one hand and a whip in the other. The rope was looped around Boots’s neck. Every time Ken pulled, the rope tightened. He tried to pull Boots out of the stall, but only succeeded in choking the immobile horse. Frustrated, he struck Boots on the shoulder with the whip. Boots tried to rear up and use his hooves to strike Ken. He pulled tighter on the rope around Boots’s neck and kept him down on the ground. Boots’s eyes went wide and wild as he struggled to back away.
Ken held the whip high to strike Boots again. “Stop!” Gillian ran between Ken and Boots. The stick whip caught her on the shoulder and sliced her skin. Blood ran down her arm, but she ignored the piercing sting. Adrenaline masked the pain. Her focus sharpened on Ken’s surprised and irritated face.
He grabbed her forearm and tried to pull her out of the way. “Are you crazy? This horse could kill you. You can’t get in front of him like that when he’s trying to rear.”
“Let him go.” She stood her ground between him and Boots. She grabbed his hand and tried to pry his fingers from the rope, but he kept his grip tight. She gave up the futile attempt to free Boots and stepped closer to Ken, getting right in his face, despite being several inches shorter than him. Size never stopped her when it came to her father, and it wouldn’t stop her with an arrogant asshole animal abuser.
“Boots is my responsibility. He doesn’t like anyone handling him but me. Back off.”
“No. This horse comes from champion stock. He used to race well before he was dumped in a pasture to rot. He’s healthy now. You’ve got him working well on a lead. It’s time he got back to racing. I’m putting a rider on him today. I’ll work him back to the track.”
“No, you won’t. Boots is mine. He won’t do anything for you, especially if you hit him into submission. Can you really be this stupid? Boots was abused. Do you really think hurting him more will make him cooperate? Idiot.”
Darkness filled his eyes. They settled on her, but she didn’t back down.
“It’s not your call. I’m the trainer. He’s a racehorse, and it’s time he earned his keep. Back off, woman. You don’t know anything about training and racing horses.”