When a Cowboy Loves a Woman (Creedence Horse Rescue #2) - Jennie Marts Page 0,13

her again. He’d had the idea of checking on her today but was glad his daughter had been the one to bring it up.

“Hey, I almost forgot, how was the birthday party yesterday? Did you have fun?” The idea of spending even one hour with a bunch of ten-year-olds was enough to make him cringe, and he wondered if his daughter had felt the same way. She hadn’t seemed very excited about the party for Jasmine Riley, one of the girls in her class, even though it was being held at the Bounce House Trampoline Park, a place she normally loved. He’d all but had to convince her to go.

Her smile fell. She gave a slight shrug as she turned to stare out the window. “It was fine.”

“Fine?” Hmm. “I thought you loved jumping on those trampolines. We had so much fun that time we went.”

“I do love jumping on them. With you.”

His brow furrowed at her quiet response. “But not with your friends?”

She shrugged and mumbled something that sounded like “What friends?” But he didn’t quite catch what she’d said.

“I think it would be fun to eat pizza and get to play around with a bunch of kids.”

“That’s because nobody cares that you smell like a horse.”

Brody jerked his head back as anguish tore through him. His fingers gripped the steering wheel as anguish quickly changed to anger. He wanted to pummel whatever stupid kid said something mean to his precious girl. Slowly exhaling, he fought to control his reaction, somehow knowing he needed to tread carefully with his next choice of words. He was sure that offhand comment wasn’t as casual as his daughter made it sound. “Did someone say you smell like a horse?”

Her gaze stayed trained at a spot on the truck seat where she picked at a loose seam. “Some girls do.”

Damn. Much harder to think about pummeling ten-year-old girls. Calling them names probably wouldn’t help either. Another stab of grief pierced through him as he missed Mary. She would know how to handle this, what to say. He tried to imagine how she would deal with it, what kind of mature, thoughtful response Mary would have. “Maybe they’re just jealous. Being around horses doesn’t seem like a bad thing. Doesn’t every little girl wish she had a pony?”

“Not really. At least not anymore. Now they all just want iPhones and boyfriends.”

Oh.

Wait, boyfriends? She was only ten.

“And it’s not like I even have a pony,” she complained. “Not one of my own anyway.”

“Mandy, we board four horses on our property. It’s practically the same thing. You can see them and ride them whenever you want.”

“I know. But it’s not the same as having my own horse.”

How did this conversation go from mean girls to him buying his daughter a pony? He was so in over his head. “If you ask me, those girls sound awful. I’d rather have horses than an iPhone any day. And who wants a boyfriend? Talk about someone that smells.” He gave her shoulder a playful nudge.

“Da-add.” Her expression didn’t change to her normal smile at his jokes and teasing. Her mouth stayed set in a tight line.

Oh-kay. This was really upsetting her. “Do you want me to talk to their moms?”

“NO! No way. That will only make things worse. I can handle this myself. It’s not that big a deal.”

It seemed to him like a fairly big deal. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have brought it up. Mandy was pretty even-keeled and didn’t let much get her down. He wanted to say more, but they were pulling into Bryn’s driveway, and Mandy was already leaning forward in her seat, her lips pulling into a grin as she caught sight of Shamus, the miniature horse that trotted toward the fence to greet them. He was another of Bryn’s rescues, and the transformation in the little horse over the last month had been remarkable. He’d come in with a lackluster coat, hooves long and curling from neglect, and an overall sad demeanor. But after a few weeks in Bryn’s and Zane’s care, he was a different horse, his coat shiny and his foot pain gone as he pranced along the fence.

At least he was still behind the fence and not standing in the middle of the driveway like the night before. The sneaky, little escape artist.

Brody’s shoulders dropped as he noticed Bryn’s car was gone. He may have gotten himself worked up for nothing. Elle might not even be here. Bryn could have already