Читать книгу Hide The Child - Janice Johnson Kay - Страница 13

Chapter Four

Gabe glanced over his shoulder as he scratched the blood bay gelding’s poll. “This is Mack.”

Nickering, the horse had trotted over to the paddock fence the minute he saw people approaching. Gabe was hit by a pang of guilt at the thought that the gelding was lonely. Of course he was; horses are herd animals. “Not long until you’re back with your buddies,” he murmured in one flickering ear.

Carrying Chloe, Trina joined him at the fence. “As in Mack truck?”

He smiled a little. “Yeah. For a quarter horse, he’s a giant.”

Her sidelong, appraising glance was enough to stir his body in ways that could be embarrassing.

“Kind of fits you,” she murmured.

He pulled a cube of sugar from his pocket and held it out. Mack inhaled it, his soft lips barely brushing Gabe’s hand. “Put me up on some of the horses here on the ranch, my boots would be dragging on the ground.”

Trina’s laugh lit her face. Held on her hip, the kid jumped when Mack whiffled.

“Would you like to pet him?” Gabe asked. “Mack likes everyone.”

He wasn’t sure the horse had ever met a child, but he trusted the good-natured animal not to bite.

The little girl looked doubtful but finally, tentatively, held out a tiny hand. Mack blew on it, making her giggle, then bobbed his head.

Gabe showed her how to offer a sugar cube, wrapping her hand in his so she wasn’t in any danger of having a finger mistaken for a treat to be demolished by big yellow teeth. Another giggle, this one delighted, caused a strange sensation somewhere under his breastbone. It wasn’t only Trina who awakened unfamiliar feelings. He excused himself on the grounds that he was a natural protector. The little girl’s obvious vulnerability—and her surprising strength—spoke to him.