Tacker (Arizona Vengeance 5)

After this lesson, I’m going to help Raul rearrange our storage room to make room for a feed delivery, then I have to tackle the chicken coops to clean them out. Normally, Raul does that, but I’ve sort of been babying him since his illness last week.

I’ve had to be surreptitious doing this, though, so he doesn’t catch on. For example, I can’t just go to him and say, “Raul… I’m going to clean the coops today rather than you because I’m afraid for your health.”

If I did that, he’d be beyond pissed.

So this morning, I’d instead said, “Raul… can you take my ten and eleven AM lessons today? They’re both having issues with saddle positioning. No matter how much I work with them on it, I can’t get it corrected. I know I’m missing something.”

I truly have no clue if he bought the lie, but he told me no problem. I didn’t bother telling him I’d do the coops instead, preferring to just knock it out now and tell him that I felt useless doing nothing later.

At any rate, after the coops, I’m going to shower, change, and then head into Phoenix. Tacker has an afternoon game which I’m going to go to, and then after, we have plans to go out to dinner.

Correction… we’re going out to a fancy dinner.

Tacker told me to dress to the nines, which… I honestly don’t remember the last time I did that.

It’s not easy dating a professional hockey player. Between his travel and my hectic schedule, having nice dates out has been a near impossibility.

Not that I’m complaining.

I’m simply happy to be spending any time with Tacker, a man I have come to care so deeply for that I’m worried my heart has been irrevocably stolen.

“Okay, Emily,” I instruct in a clear voice. “Bring it down to a trot.”

When she complies, I let her do one loop around.

“Over to Raul,” I state, and she perfectly slows the horse to a walk, guiding it to the gate where Raul has moved to meet her.

I walk that way as well, letting him help her dismount. Raul will change up horses before the next lesson to give Starlight a rest.

Emily runs over to me, then throws her arms around my waist. “That was a great lesson. My canter’s getting good, isn’t it?”

“So good,” I praise, giving her a squeeze in return. She beams, which solidifies my hunch that she doesn’t get a lot of emotional support or comfort at home. Her parents seem distinctly uninterested in her.

It makes me appreciate Helen all the more. Even though it wasn’t necessary, Helen came to all my lessons with Raul for probably that entire first year. After we’d developed a close friendship with him, she’d often drop me off for lessons and Raul would give me a lift home. But even after I’d been riding for years, Helen would often come just to watch me.

She’d occasionally join me, but she wasn’t much of a horsewoman. Much the same way I can just tell Tacker will never be much of a horseman.

Sure, he’s gotten comfortable with them to the extent he can maneuver them in and out of stalls, and he’s not intimidated by their size, but he’s never going to feel fully comfortable in the saddle.

I can just tell.

We went on our ride yesterday when he made it out to the ranch after an impromptu team meeting, and while he had a good time—we both did—he’s just not going to love these animals the way I do.

And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. We don’t have to share all the same passions, not as long as we share some. While Tacker doesn’t necessarily love riding, he does love working on this ranch. He loves animals in general. Sometimes, I find him simply playing with and loving on the dogs or goats.

He also loves hard work and making a difference.

He loves helping.

And he loves kids. I’ve seen him interacting with them here, plus the way he is with Billy, and I can just tell, deep down… he’s a giver.

That’s his nature.

Emily gives me one last squeeze, and I have to jolt away from my thoughts of Tacker. I smile ruefully at my lovesickness—Tacker seems to occupy my thoughts quite a bit each and every day.

I’m okay with that, too.

“See you next week,” I tell Emily, watching as she runs out of the arena and jumps into her mom’s car. When they’re halfway down the drive, I turn to see Raul leading Starlight to the barn. “You good switching the horses out?”

He doesn’t even look over his shoulder. Just throws a hand up in acknowledgment. “Got it.”

“Okay… I’m off to clean the coops,” I call as I move out of the paddock. Another thought strikes me about the next lesson coming up, and I pivot to ask him a question.