“Okay, that’s a pretty-ass horse,” Vega said.
“Yeah, he’s beautiful,” Evie added. The young horse was clearly smaller than the other horses, but its black-and-white coat would set it apart from the rest of the horses in the stable.
“Will they use him in the rodeo?” Evie asked.
“No. He’s for the guests to ride.”
“I’ll come up with a few thousand bucks and come for a ride,” Vega said.
“We’ll let you take him out on the house—Shit.”
“What?” Evie noticed a moment later that one of the ranch hands was running toward them.
“That is Evie!” the man said.
“Oh shit.” She whipped her head in Jesse’s direction. “Do I know him?”
“Yeah, that’s Chris Alvarez. His sister Kelly was in your class. Just play it cool. Keep it loose on the details.”
Chris closed the distance between them, then hopped the corral fence like it was nothing.
“Evie Buchanan! How are you?”
Evie climbed off the flatbed and stepped into his waiting arms. “Hey, Chris. How are you doing?”
“Good, good. Exciting day. You see that handsome colt?”
“Yeah. It’s—uh. Kinda why we came over. Um—this is my friend Vega.”
Vega offered him a wave and wary smile, but Chris wasn’t having it. He reached out and gave her hand a rough shake.
“Nice to meet you!” He didn’t seem to notice she was wearing scrubs under her coat.
“Same.”
“Evie. God. It’s been forever. What brings you back to town? I have to tell Kelly. She’d love to see you.”
“Oh, I’m not in town for long. I just came to visit for a few days.”
“Well, you should come out with us tonight to Claim Jumpers.”
“Oh, I—”
“She has dinner plans with Miss Leona tonight,” Jesse said, coming to her rescue.
“Oh. Yeah, okay.” Evie watched as Chris took a small pack of gum out of his pocket and popped a stick in his mouth. “Miss Leona pulls rank. You want some gum?” He held out the pack, nodding for Evie to take a piece.
“Um, sure, thanks.” She took piece and tried to match the bright smile on Chris’s face.
“Hey, Alvarez! Little help over here?!” Felix called out.
“I gotta get back, but Jesse has my number. Seriously, we should hang before you leave. Kelly would love to see you. You gotta meet her kids.” Chris didn’t wait for Evie to respond before he hopped over the fence and jogged back around the corral.
“He’s a good guy. Just excitable,” Jesse said. “You handled it just fine.”
“That was a close call. We really should talk about how much longer I’m gonna be ‘hiding,’” Evie said with a sigh. “I can’t keep this up.”
“I think you handled it just fine, but you’re right. I’ll text Nicole and ask her when’s a good time for us to all get on the phone.”