Free Echoes From The Past (Women of Character) by Grace Brannigan Page A

of his better
mares, a sleek gray whose foals were just beginning to prove themselves on the
track.
    "Hello, girl." Her
little black foal approached him in his usual friendly manner. "Hello
Speedball. Don’t want to forget you." Garrett rubbed under the foal’s
chin.
    Facing Bridie’s hindquarters,
Garrett ran his hand down the inside of her hind leg. She offered to lift her
leg, but he patted her and stepped back.
    "Looks good. Go ahead and
eat, Bridie." Garrett and Sue exited the stall. Garrett pulled the sliding
door closed, pushed the latch home and pulled it down to lock in place.
"How did it go today?"
    "Fine. I gave Christie the
general run down on what we do at the farm. She’s a good worker."
    "Good. Maybe it’ll be easier
to stay caught up now. Have you seen my daughter?"
    Sue looked past him and pointed
toward the open doorway. "I saw Hannah a few minutes ago right outside
with Christie and Buddy."
    "Okay, thanks." Garrett
moved from the cool barn interior out to the sun-baked holding and paddock
area, batting the dust off his jeans as he walked.
    "Hi, Daddy!" he heard
Hannah yell.
    Garrett veered to the left and
spotted his daughter straddling the wooden paddock fence behind Christie and
one of his new hires, Buddy Thatcher.
    Christie leaned against the wooden
rail as she held carrots out to the grazing mares.
    Garrett approached them. Christie
and Buddy were talking about the horses. He noticed that Hannah ignored
Christie when she turned to talk to her, but as soon as Christie looked away,
Hannah watched her again.
    Garrett lifted a hand and wiped
the dust from his face and mouth. All afternoon the hot, almost sultry wind had
blown dirt and grit in his face. He sorely needed a shower, but he figured it
could wait a few more minutes. He walked up to his daughter. "Hannah,
sweetheart, how did your day go? Do anything interesting?" Because she
straddled the top fence rail, Hannah looked down at him.
    "Me and Ruth went into town
with Sam. He drove us. We got big red tomatoes and corn. I already had some of
the corn. It was so sweet."
    "I hope you saved me some
corn for dinner."
    Hannah smiled at him. "Of
course, silly."
    Christie darted him a glance, and
something there made him pause. She turned back to the fence, intent on the
horse she was feeding. She put her foot on the bottom rail and hoisted herself
higher. Garrett stared at the slender, fine-boned ankles showing above her
ragged sneakers. He frowned and jerked his gaze upward. Those exposed ankles
made her seem vulnerable, probably because she was all slim arms and legs
anyway. Garrett wondered about her life before she’d landed here. Had it been
anything like Judith’s early life? Any information she’d imparted was sketchy
at best.
    Buddy nodded his head at Garrett.
"Hey Boss. I rode the southern pasture today. Everything checked out just
fine and I gave Sam the report."
    "Thanks Buddy."
    Out of the corner of his eye he
saw Christie lean too far out and begin to lose her balance. Garrett quickly
stepped forward and grabbed her securely on either side of her hips. He
steadied her. "Watch yourself."
    Unexpectedly, she leaned against
him, and then hopped down from the rail. Garrett stepped back quickly.
    "Garrett." Her voice was
cool.
    "How did your first day
go?" he asked, resting his hands on his hips.
    "Fine." She shaded her
eyes and looked away from him.
    "Any problems I should know
about?"
    "No. Sue showed me the ropes.
I spent most of the day in the barn, cleaning tack, raking the aisles and
mucking the stalls. After work Buddy introduced himself. We got talking and
then he showed me where I could feed the horses." She threw his ranch hand
a friendly smile. Garrett envied their easy camaraderie.
    "I love watching the foals
play," she said. "That’s the day’s highlight."
    Seeing the genuine delight and
caring in her face caused an inexplicable twisting in his gut. Garrett reminded
himself this was all new to her. She was used to New York and