Page 16 of The Maverick

Bailey nodded quickly, with her arm around Nick’s neck. “I can.” She removed her arm and lowered it. “Let me down, Daddy.”

“What do you say?”

He lifted a brow and pursed his lips.

“Please. I want to meet Jake.”

Nick lowered her to the ground. “There you go.” Then they walked to the gate and exited the arena.

Rachel and Jake followed them to the gate.

The little girl moved in front of Jake. “I’m Bailey.” She pointed to the horse she’d just ridden. “That’s my horse, Buttercup. She’s a palomino. My mother named her.”

Jake looked at the horse. “She’s really pretty.” Then back at Nick. “Can you really teach me how to ride?”

“Well.” Bailey put her hands in her jeans’ front pockets. “I can help while Smitty teaches you. He’s the best teacher in the world. He can teach anyone, even an old person, like our parents. Daddy knows how to ride. Does your mom?”

He turned back to his mother. “Mom, can you ride a horse?”

She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest so she didn’t ruffle his hair. She didn’t want to embarrass him in front of Bailey. “I can. Nick is the one who taught me, and we were about your age. His parents owned a ranch even then.” She looked at Nick. “Do they still have the ranch? Wasn’t it out here somewhere, too, though I don’t remember exactly where.”

“Yeah, they’re up the road a couple of miles. Their property is adjacent to mine. Ray’s ranch is on the other side of Mom and Dad’s place. I think I went overboard on the house, but it’s what Janet wanted. She was dirt-poor but we fell in love almost instantly. We only dated for six months before I asked her to marry me. We were only together for three years before she left and divorced me.”

Rachel took his hand. “I’m so sorry Nick. Truly, I am. You shouldn’t have had to go through that alone. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”

He shook his head and squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. It happened for a reason. I think I know what the reason is, but I need to think on it some more.”

She cocked her head and furrowed her brows for a moment, but then nodded. Pushing him to reveal things wasn’t her place. She’d been gone for so many years. Years they couldn’t get back, but she hoped they could get over. Rachel missed her friend—had missed him since the day she left for college, but she knew what she wanted to do. She’d wanted to be a doctor since she was ten years old and her parents gave her a doctor’s bag for Christmas. She and Nick used to play doctor. He was always the assistant, and she operated on her baby dolls.

Rachel smiled at the memory.

“What are you thinking of Rach?” Nick cocked his head, looking through slightly narrowed eyes.

She laughed. “You’ll think it’s silly.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders...just like the old days. “You can’t say anything that I would think is silly.”

“I was thinking about my first doctor’s bag my parents gave me. You remember we used to operate on my baby dolls.”

Nick chuckled. “I remember, though I haven’t thought of it in a very long time. From that day on, you wanted to be a doctor. And you worked hard for it. Going to school, doing residency, and having a psycho for a boyfriend and then a husband must have taken it out of you.”

Rachel shrugged. “I made it, and I wouldn’t trade any of it because it gave me Jake. He’s everything to me, Nick. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“I understand. I feel the same about Bailey.”

Nothing felt as safe as his arm around her. She felt like nothing could ever harm her as long as he was there. She wrapped an arm around his waist.

Bailey and Jake walked over to her horse.

Nick headed them that way, too. “Come meet Buttercup. She’s a great horse. Well trained and gentle. She’s the perfect horse for Bailey.”

“I’d love to meet her, then if you don’t mind, I think I’d like for Jake and me to get settled in. I want to keep things as normal as possible. He usually gets his video game time before bed. I know it’s not the best time, but it works for us so far.”

“Understood. This won’t take but a few minutes.”

“Buttercup is a mare; that’s a lady horse.” Bailey petted the horse’s neck.

Jake ran his right hand down her mane. “She’s really pretty. Do you think I can ride her?”