Free Cowboy All Night (Thunder Mountain Brotherhood, Book 5) by Vicki Lewis Thompson Page A

cream-colored mane.
    To Aria’s delight, Linus edged up close to his mom as if he wanted to find out what was going on. “Lucy, sweetheart, is it okay if I make friends with your baby boy?”
    “Nice technique,” Brant murmured.
    “Hope so. I’m making it up as I go along.”
    “Following your instincts is always a good idea.”
    She smiled. “Guess so.” She gave Lucy another piece of carrot and spoke softly while gradually transferring her attention to the foal. Crouching down, she held out her hand with her fingers curled under. The colt nuzzled the back of her hand, which tickled. She swallowed her laughter so she wouldn’t startle him.
    Moving slowly and talking to both mare and foal, she eased her hand around until she could scratch Linus’s neck. He gazed at her with his baby blues and she fell even more in love than she had the night before. “His coat is like mink.”
    “I know. It won’t be like that forever.”
    “But it is, now, and I’m so lucky to be here on his first day of life. I’ve never experienced that before.”
    “It’s special.”
    “I can see why you love your job.” She glanced over at Brant and noticed his wide smile as he kept the video running. “You look pretty happy right now.”
    “I am. This is a great beginning. Linus seems to like people. He shows every indication of being an easy colt to train.”
    “That would be fabulous.” She turned back to Linus. “You’re going to be awesome, aren’t you? I love your white blaze. So handsome.”
    “See if he’ll let you rub his face.” Brant kept filming. “He let me do it earlier this morning.”
    “I’ll bet you’ll let me, won’t you, Linus? That’s a good boy. What pretty blue eyes you have.” She stroked up the length of his blaze and back down. “Doesn’t that feel nice? Now I’ll massage your cheeks, and now scratch your forehead. What a beautiful colt you are.”
    Lucy bumped her on the shoulder in an obvious bid for more carrots and almost knocked her over. “Easy, Luce. Easy does it.” Aria gave Linus one last gentle scratch. “Your mom wants more treats, kid.”
    She stood and looped an arm over the mare’s neck. “She probably deserves it after producing such a fine son.” Hauling out another piece of carrot, she held it on her open palm so Lucy could curl her lips around it.
    “Perfect ending to the segment. Turning off the video.”
    “Thanks. Whether Josh is interested or not, my folks will love having a copy.”
    “I’m sure they will. It went really well.”
    “Didn’t it? Not that I was the reason. You hung around with him before I got here. You laid the groundwork.”
    “And you could have obliterated that groundwork.”
    “So why did you let me go right in?”
    He smiled. “Following my instincts.”
    “Oh.” Pleasure warmed her cheeks. “Thank you.” After giving Lucy one more pat she stepped toward him and held out her hand for the phone. “I’ll send this to my folks right now. They bought Lucy for me and they’ll love seeing the three of us together.” They’d love seeing Josh as part of the happy group, too, and they would, eventually. Typing quickly, she sent off the video.
    “I just realized something. You’re the only client I’ve had who’s a first-timer with the birth process.”
    She smiled at him. “Do I get an award for that?”
    “Yeah.” His chuckle was low and extremely sexy. “I’ll have one waiting for you at the cabin.”
    Before she could respond, Herb, Rosie, Cade and Lexi walked into the barn. “Can’t wait,” she said under her breath.
    “You and me both.” And he left the stall to greet his family.
    Moments later Aria had the honor of leading Lucy out of the barn. “I wish this horse had a rearview mirror,” she said to the group walking ahead of her.
    “Linus is following right along,” Brant said as he monitored the colt from behind. “Head up, ears forward. It’s like he knows something good is coming.”
    Aria wondered if