Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
The color drains from Harrison’s face and I don’t know what’s more of a shock to him: thinking about having a kid or having a kid with magic. I’m already worried that I’ll be disappointed if my children don’t have magic. I’ll love them the same either way, I know, but I hope to carry on the Lancaster family legacy.
And magic is cool as fuck.
“You don’t have to worry about it anytime soon,” I add, regretting saying anything. “And if you come visit me again, there’s a good chance she’ll see something that lets the cat out of the bag on its own.”
“We’ll do Thanksgiving and Christmas in New York this year.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Like that’ll make much of a difference.”
“True.”
“But anyway, I didn’t mean to make it about me. I really like her, and I think she would like to come back sometime during the day so we can ride.”
He smiles again. “She would like that.”
“Get her a pair of riding boots if she doesn’t have any,” I suggest. “I don’t think anything I have will fit her. She’s smaller than me.”
“I can do that. I’m glad you approve,” he says with a wink. “It’ll make telling Mom and Dad that much easier.”
I laugh. “Good luck with that. You know Mom is going to start planning your wedding as soon as you say the word girlfriend.” I roll my eyes.
“She’s still bugging you about living with Ethan?”
“Yep. She loves to drop subtle hints.” I shake my head. My parents don’t disapprove of me living with my boyfriend, but our mom seems to think I’ll give her grandkids nine months after I say I do. I would say yes in a heartbeat if Ethan proposed today, but I’m also not in a rush. What we have is real and I don’t need a legal piece of paper defining just what we mean to each other.
And as for having kids…I don’t know if I’ll ever feel adult enough to be responsible for a living-breathing human being.
“Maybe next weekend you guys can meet us in the city for dinner?” Harrison suggests.
“Yeah. I’d like that. What about one of those dinner cruises along Lake Michigan? It’s been too cold for me to want to be along the shore, but it’s warming up.”
“My company just ran an ad campaign for one of the cruises. I can probably hook us up.”
My smile broadens. “It’s a double-date then.”
“You are the laziest thoroughbred I’ve ever met,” I tell Sundance, reaching down to pet his neck. “All-day turnout has mellowed you out. Leslie—” Emotion hits me like a punch to the gut and I cut off, feeling the sting of tears threatening to fall. “She would be happy to know you’re happy.” I loosen the reins and pat his neck. “Though she might get on me a bit for letting you skip so many training days.” I swallow the lump forming in my throat and take my feet out of the stirrups, guiding Sundance to the arena gate.
I lean over to unlatch it when something spooks Mystery, Ross, and Rachel in the pasture. Sundance reacts and I catch my balance right before I tumble off.
“Easy, big guy,” I tell him, sitting deep in the saddle. He sidesteps and bumps into the gate, scaring himself even more. Working to calm him down, I look out at the others to see if they’re just being typically spooky today or if something more sinister is lurking in the woods surrounding the pasture.
The woods surrounding the property are pretty overgrown. Clearing it out is going to be our summer project. If we’re ambitious enough, we’ll make some trails through the trees to take the horses on. If anything was lumbering through the woods now, I’d hear it.
Sundance holds his head up, nostrils flaring, and I hear something moving through the underbrush.
“Seriously?” I ask, shaking my head when I see a rabbit come out of the tree line. “I mean, let’s all run and panic before the killer bunny morphs into a demon. Shit. That could actually happen.” I pat Sundance’s neck, reassuring him that he’s fine. He watches the rabbit move across the yard and decides it’s not a threat. I get the gate open, and he lazily walks toward the barn.
I take my time brushing him, trying to decide if it’s worth it to give him a bath when the pasture is a sloppy mess. He’ll just go out and roll in the mud as soon as he’s turned out.
“As long as you don’t lose a shoe again, I don’t care how muddy you get,” I tell him, reaching into my pocket to pull out a peppermint. Sundance noses me, eagerly taking the treat. I turn him out and go up to the house, finding Nik in the front yard working on salvaging the flowers I planted too soon…despite his warning.