Hayes’ eyes flared as he headed towards us. “I’ll be damned.”
“What a gorgeous dog,” Everly said. “Is he a husky?”
“He’s half wolf,” I explained.
Her jaw went slack. “Well, he’s clearly a love.”
Ramsey glanced at me. “Shiloh brings that out in him, apparently.”
Heat hit my cheeks, and I looked away.
Birdie charged up the steps, and her eyes narrowed on Ramsey. “You whisper to horses?”
His lips twitched. “I do.”
“Ones that are wild?”
“Sometimes, they’re wild. Other times, they’ve been in bad situations and need someone to help them heal.”
She looked harder at Ramsey as if trying to see beneath the surface to whatever was below. “And you’re helping Aunt Shy heal, too.”
My heart gave a painful squeeze as Ramsey glanced in my direction. “He is,” I said softly. I’d been given so many gifts since I found this place. It was an embarrassment of riches, really. But this healing with Ramsey…it was the greatest.
“I want to meet this famous Kai,” my mom said as she headed up to the front porch.
Holt took the pie from her hands. “Don’t want you to lose precious cargo if that beast jumps on you.”
Mom laughed. “Always thinking with your stomach.”
“Isn’t that what we should all be doing?”
Mom shook her head and gave me a quick hug. Kai looked up at her, tongue lolling out of his mouth. She bent to give him a scratch. “You’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.”
“He knows it, too,” I said with a laugh.
She straightened and looked at the man next to me. “Thank you for having us, Ramsey. I’m Julia.”
Ramsey held out a hand to shake hers. “It’s nice to meet you.”
My father stepped up behind my mom, squeezing her shoulders. “Good to see you, Ramsey.”
“You, too, Gabe. How’s Shadow treating you?”
“One of the best-trained horses I’ve ever had in my barn. In fact, I might be in the market for another horse or two.”
“After we eat, I can introduce you to a few more who are ready for homes.”
My dad nodded with a smile. “That would be great.”
Holt looked down at the plate in his hands. “But we get pie first, right?”
I leanedback in the Adirondack chair on the back porch, taking a long drink of my lemonade. The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting the back lawn in a golden glow.
“He’s good with them,” Hadley said as she took a sip of her beer.
I watched as Sage let out a squeal of laughter as she ducked around Ramsey. They were playing some form of tag that I didn’t completely understand. “It’s that same gift he has with horses. That empathy.”
“I can see it with those two boys.”