“That’s fantastic. What are you going to do next weekend when you have to go to your parents’ for dinner?”

“I don’t need to leave until the very end so I’ll go out there in the morning like usual. Believe it or not, Kelly is coming out to close up for me that day.”

“Kelly? Vaughan’s Kelly?”

“The same. I was talking to her over lunch yesterday and she volunteered to take over for me. It’s pretty easy. Everything is marked. I think she might want to snag some of the pieces for her store or for herself.” Which was so flattering.

“So you and Kelly are friends?”

“Why do you sound so surprised? You’re the one who gave her my number to start with.”

He nodded. “I did, yep. I knew she was going to talk to you about business stuff and you mentioned it briefly about a jewelry thing with her maybe? I didn’t know it had progressed past that.”

“She’s one of those people I clicked with immediately. A whole lot of you lately. And you’re all connected in some way, which is even weirder. Like I need another gorgeous blonde girlfriend. I told her it was super inconvenient that she’s so pretty but I liked her anyway. The business thing is that she and her partner are carrying my pieces in both their stores. They’re trying out accessories.”

“Congratulations. Good for you. And for them because your jewelry is amazing. I’ve been in her Portland store. The partner is a designer, right?”

“Right. They have a house brand that’s all her stuff. But they sell other labels, too. A lot of local people, which is pretty cool. It’s great exposure for me and the money is nothing to sneeze at.” And it was progress she could see.

Loopy and Violet had their own little rhythm. They’d run along with the horses—out of trampling distance of course—and then pause to sniff things whenever the spirit led them. When they lagged behind too much, Violet nudged the dog with her nose and they trotted to catch up.

“They’re like your own camp followers.”

“The only groupies I’ve had in some time.”

“Ha!” Well that was just fine and dandy with Tuesday. Natalie and Mary seemed pretty well adjusted and patient with all the groupie stuff. Neither of them liked it one bit, but Natalie said she felt sometimes like oh well, it comes with the territory. But Tuesday had to wonder how she’d react if two women just up and asked Ezra to fuck them both right in front of her like what had happened to Natalie over the holidays.

Tuesday leaned toward the idea that she’d probably punch someone. Natalie was dignified and shit. Tuesday was nowhere near that dignified. She had a sneaking suspicion she’d have made it worse by punching someone.

A howl sounded in the distance, breaking her away from visions of punching rude people.

Peaches skittered sideways and snorted, clearly distressed and it hit her that she was pretty little on the back of a giant animal and she had to get this under control or it could be bad.

“Ezra,” she called out, trying to stay calm.

He reined in and turned his horse in a neat set of very quick movements. Loopy’s sweet demeanor changed, her lips drawing back as she bared her teeth in a snarl, which only seemed to make Peaches more nervous.

“Tighten her up just a little. Knees close against her but don’t squeeze. Let her know you’re there and you’re going to guide her where she needs to be to keep safe.”

Tuesday really had no idea how she’d execute his very sound advice so she just went all in and hoped for the best.

* * *

EZRA WATCHED AS A visibly anxious Tuesday obeyed him to the letter. She spoke soothingly but firmly to Peaches, who reacted, calming. Thankfully, Tuesday was a natural with horses—not everyone was.

Randy shifted to be even closer to Peaches to protect her, as well. Ezra stroked a palm down his neck.

“Good girl. Watch.” He gave the order to Loopy, who stood between them and the direction the coyote’s howl came from. She’d rip a coyote to shreds if she could, but if it was bigger than her, or got her by surprise, she could be the one ripped to shreds. He wanted all the creatures under his protection safely away.

He turned his attention back to Tuesday, who waited, speaking quietly to Peaches. “You did a good job.”

She laughed but he heard the tension in the sound.

“Not really anything to do with me. Your super killer guard dog and those step-by-step instructions you gave me worked. Peaches is also a really smart horse.”

He liked the way she continued to reassure Peaches with touches and praise. Not too much, but enough to relax them both. And he really liked that even when she was clearly scared she handled herself well and did what she needed to. How people reacted in a bind said a lot about who they were.

“I’m sorry to cut this short, but if there are coyotes out here it’ll just keep spooking the horses. Loopy is a great dog and very well trained but I don’t want her running off thinking to protect us. Violet has no defenses at all on her own.”

“Of course. We’ve been out for an hour and a half anyway.”

On the way back, he kept even with her, gaze peeled on their surroundings. He’d need to deal with this situation but he wanted to get her safely to his place and the horses inside before he did.

“Why is your horse named Randy? Because it seems to me you have a giant tawny stallion you name him Lucifer or something like that.”

“He’s a badass. He doesn’t need some showy name like Sin Eater or Lucifer. He’s so hard-core because his name is Randy and he does not even care what you think.”