The stern look on her face instantly melted away. Making her way into the stall, she kissed me tenderly before giving Peppermint attention.
“She is a beautiful girl, isn’t she?” Ari said with a wide grin.
Peppermint bobbed her head, causing all of us to laugh.
“Smart too,” Ellie said.
“If y’all want to help round up the horses, I won’t say no to the help. We’re two people down today.”
“I’d love to help,” Ellie answered as she walked over to Kris.
Ari quickly gave Peppermint a kiss on the nose, turned and said, “Count us in too.”
We’d been out on the trail for over an hour, and I was pretty sure each of us was in heaven. There was nothing like being on the back of horse and seeing some beautiful Texas country. I could ride all damn day and look at this country side.
Kris rode up front with Ari and Peppermint, while Tripp, the other guide, brought up the rear. He and Gunner instantly hit it off. Tripp had grown up on a cattle ranch in Leakey, Texas. He was helping out the owners of the stables for a few weekends until their son recovered from a bull riding accident.
“You say you have a ranch in Mason?” Tripp asked.
Gunner smiled. “Yes, sir. Been in my family since my great-great-granddaddy.”
Tripp nodded. “My family’s been raising Longhorns in Leakey since 1884. My dad got eighty thousand for a cow at auction last year.”
“Holy shit,” Gunner and I both said at once.
Laughing, Tripp took off his hat and wiped his brow before placing it back on. ?
??Elite genetics, gentleman. My great-great-granddad knew what he was doing. We’ve got some Black Angus and Herefords as well. But mostly Longhorns.”
Ellie let out a very loud groan before turning back to Gunner. “I know you could talk cattle all day, Gunner, but can we leave the shop talk out please. I just want to enjoy what’s around us.”
Gunner gave my sister a wide smile. “No more shop talk.” He rode his horse alongside Ellie and they moved slightly away from the rest of us.
“Y’all are a great group of people. Been friends for a while?” Tripp asked.
I glanced around at everyone. Ari and Kris were lost in a conversation as were Josh and Heather.
“I’ve known Gunner and Josh since college. The girls have known each other longer.”
“Wow, and you all ended up together as couples? That’s pretty cool.”
Focusing back on Tripp, I grinned. The kid couldn’t have been but eighteen years old. “It is cool. For a while, it didn’t look like we would all end up together like we did, but in the end … love won.”
Tripp’s mouth rose into a wide smile. “I think that’s pretty damn cool. It’s also great to see y’all out here, enjoying some time together.”
I nodded as I looked out over my friends again.
“Yeah. It is pretty damn cool.”
Ellie, Heather, and I all walked down to the river after we had gotten back from the trail ride. The guys were packing up the last of things while we decided to go for one more peek at the water. Ellie was abnormally quiet and Heather was the one chatting it up as we walked up and found a spot to sit.
I laid out the blanket and kicked my shoes off.
Ellie and Heather followed my lead.
“How are y’all feeling?” Ellie asked as she sank down onto the blanket.
“I’m actually feeling pretty darn good. This weekend was exactly what I needed. Thank you, Ellie, for pushing us into it.”