Never Enough Cowboy by Jennie Marts

Author:Jennie Marts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2022-05-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

“What are you doing here?” Jillian whispered, her heart racing, as Ethan let himself into the stall and dropped his stuff next to her.

“Same as Applejack. I didn’t want to be alone.” He offered her a crooked grin. “I mean, I didn’t want the horse to be alone.” He bent down to stroke Applejack’s neck, and the horse nuzzled into his hand.

Milo smiled sleepily up at him. “Hey, Ethan.”

“Hey, kid. How’s Applejack holdin’ up?”

“He’s sad. But I think it’s going to help him to have all of us here so he’s not by himself tonight. Mom said she’s going to talk to Bryn tomorrow about him sleeping in the house.”

He shot a quick glance at Jillian, who shook her head no. “Well, thanks for taking such good care of him. And of Shadow.”

“I love them both already.” He snuggled deeper into his pillow and closed his eyes. “Thanks for coming. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too, buddy.” He gave Shadow a chin scratch, and the cat let out a contented purr.

Jillian knew the feeling. She wanted to purr as well, as Ethan rolled out one of the sleeping bags and put his pillow next to hers. He hung his hat from the latch of the stall, then sat down next to her to pull off his boots. Frankie wriggled into a spot by their feet and rested her chin on Jillian’s leg. “It seems everyone’s glad you’re here,” she said.

He stretched out next to her, then turned on his side to face her. “Everyone?” he asked, with what sounded like a hopeful tone in his voice.

His hand was next to her hip, and she picked it up and laced her fingers with his. “Yeah. Everyone.”

He smiled, but she still caught the sadness in it.

“You okay?” she asked softly.

He let out a breath as he slowly nodded. “I will be. I know Miss Miriam lived a good life and she’s at peace now. And I can imagine she had a heck of a reunion with her husband in Heaven, but I’m still gonna miss her. I’ve known her since I was a kid. She was kind of like a second grandma to me.”

She scooted a little closer and bent her head toward his, keeping her voice low so as not to wake Milo. “She seemed so spunky and was always laughing or trying to get you to laugh at something with her. I only met her a couple of times when I delivered some books out to her. But both times, I stayed to visit for a bit, and I really liked her.”

“Everybody did. She was a real spitfire.” He nudged her arm. “Kinda like you.”

She smiled at the comparison.

“I am worried about Applejack though,” he said, his tone switching to a more somber one. “That little horse really loved her, and she doted on him. I’m not sure I’ll be able to find anyone else who will treat him as well.”

She squeezed his hand again. “Don’t worry about that. We’ll keep Applejack for now.

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