it would definitely do her daughter good. Sasha hoped it would do the same for her. She had some healing to do. She also had a relationship to mend. So why couldn’t she seem to turn and walk away from the sexy cowboy who was so good with her daughter?
She glanced toward the barn, where Uncle Roger had disappeared.
“I love horses,” Maddie said. “Especially real ones.”
Graham chuckled. “A girl after my own heart. Have you ever ridden a real one, Maddie?”
“No, not yet. But I have a pretend saddle I put over the back of our sofa at home. And I play like I’m riding that.”
Graham glanced at Sasha as if questioning the truth of Maddie’s statement.
So she smiled and nodded. “Maddie would ride that towel-draped leather sofa all day if I’d let her.”
The little girl lived and breathed horses. And, apparently, she admired the men who worked with them. So, if Sasha wasn’t careful, her daughter would pester poor Graham and Uncle Roger to death.
Hoping to defuse what could be an awkward situation, she addressed her daughter. “Mr. Graham has a lot of work to do, honey. And the sooner we let him get back to it, the better.”
“That’s not a problem,” Graham said. “I really don’t mind taking a break. In fact, if Maddie wants, I can take her around the Galloping G and show her what a ‘real cowboy’ does all day, including a broken fence I need to repair.”
“That’s nice of you,” Sasha said, “but it isn’t necessary. We just got here and should probably settle in. Besides, Maddie needs to learn a little patience.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Graham said. “While you two unpack, I’ll go pick up my mess in that south pasture. When I get back, I can give you that tour.” Then he winked at Maddie. “Your mom can come, too.”
Sasha probably ought to tell him no. She had a lot to talk over with Uncle Roger. But she couldn’t very well have that kind of a heart-to-heart until later this evening, after Maddie went to bed.
For the third time since arriving—or maybe it was the thirty-third—she turned her gaze on Graham, who’d grown an inch or two taller and filled out nicely. He wore a gray T-shirt that didn’t mask the muscles in his broad chest. His biceps, which had never been small, now bulged, straining the hem on his short sleeves without any effort on his part.
He still bore the scar on his arm from a riding accident he’d had years ago, a jagged mark left from a barbed-wire fence. But like everything else about him—his hat, his jeans, his smile—he wore the cowboy image well.
She’d always admired Graham and found him attractive in more ways than one. He was—or at least used to be—a straight-up guy. And in spite of the money his family had, there were no pretenses about him, no games. He said what he meant and meant what he said.
Graham was nothing like Gabe, which made him even more appealing now. And that was a good reason for her to steer clear of him. Besides, she was a pregnant single mother. And she’d arrived at the Galloping G with way more baggage than the suitcases she’d brought in the trunk of her car. Certainly way more than a man like Graham would want to deal with. He’d always had a way with the ladies—or at least the girls in high school. So she assumed that he was a free-wheeling bachelor with his pick of willing women.
Yet she found herself nodding in agreement. “Okay, a tour of the ranch sounds fun. While you’re going to get your tools and whatnot, Maddie and I will unpack.”
Graham lobbed her a crooked grin that nearly stole her breath away. But how could that be? She wasn’t a love-struck kid anymore. And she’d experienced far too many of life’s realities to even entertain thoughts of ever having a crush—childhood or otherwise—on anyone.
Yet as he turned to walk away, her heart fluttered and her pulse rate spiked, suggesting he still had the ability to send her sense reeling with a simple smile.
* * *
By the time Graham returned for his tools in the pasture, the sheriff had come back and stood next to a tow truck, pointing out the SUV that had caused all the damage.
The officer left the driver to his work, then approached Graham. “We’ll have that vehicle out of here shortly. The owner has already been informed and has contacted his insurance company.”
Graham nodded. “I’m assuming his son was driving?”
“Yep. But from what I understand, the boy lost his license and will be grounded for the rest of the summer.”
“I can understand that.” Graham could also understand the appeal of an unsupervised teenage party. He’d certainly attended more than his share of those.
But as an adult, he knew the dangers of drinking and driving, no matter what age one was.
After the sheriff left and the tow truck drove out with the SUV, Graham picked up the tools and supplies he’d left in the south pasture and took them to the barn. He hated to leave the repair work on that downed fence unfinished, but he’d do it for Roger. Fortunately, they didn’t have any horses grazing out there now. But they would, once his friend Chase Parker delivered them on Friday.
His friend, huh? If that Robinson-Fortune family connection was true, Graham and Chase would be more than friends. They’d actually be related, since Chase was married to Lucie Fortune Chesterfield.
After putting away the tools and supplies, he went in search of Roger and found him leading Lady Jane from the pasture toward the barn.
“What are you doing?” Graham asked. “I thought you’d be inside, talking to Sasha-Marie and getting to know little Maddie.”
“I was in there. For a while.”
“How’d it go?”
“Okay, I guess. Maddie is a little chatterbox, which might prove helpful in piecing together what’s going on. She mentioned that her daddy moved out of their house and into an apartment near his work.”
“I’m sure that’s true. Sasha told me that she and Gabe are separated.”
Roger merely nodded as he continued toward the barn, the roan mare walking alongside him.
“What are you doing with Lady Jane?” Graham asked as he followed behind.
“That little girl loves horses, and I figure she’d like to ride a real one instead of her mother’s sofa. So I’m going to stable Lady Jane so she’ll be closer to the house.”
“Good idea.” Lady was a gentle mare and would be a good mount for a beginner.
Once they entered the barn, Graham opened the gate of an empty stall. “I assume you and Sasha had a chance to talk.”
“Just enough to break the ice some, but not enough to get back on steady ground again.”
“I got the feeling that she plans to stay for a while,” Graham added.
“Yep.” Roger removed the lead from Lady Jane’s
