Ames said, and Hunter nodded.
“You’ve got it Uncle Ames.” They laughed together, and even Molly smiled.
“What about you, Molly? What would you say?” Ames asked.
Molly’s mind blanked. “Oh, I don’t know. Nothing much.”
“Not true,” Hunter said. “Molly’s amazing in the kitchen. She’s a good cook and an amazing baker.”
“I am a good cook and an amazing baker,” she said, playing their game. It sure did feel good to say that out loud, and she realized the wisdom in Hunter’s therapist. Normally, she’d just say something like, “Nah, I’m not that good,” or “There are so many people who are good cooks.”
Pride filled her at her own talents and strengths, and she didn’t recognize them nearly as often as she should. She wanted to change that, and she determined to have a self-recognition minute every single day to remind herself of what she was good at.
Molly sat at a computer in the front office of Hunter’s uncle’s house, clicking her way around a website that boasted a ton of riding classes for kids, therapy sessions, and pictures of people and horses.
She’d contained her search to equine therapy centers in the Denver area, and there were already four surrounding the city. That didn’t mean there wasn’t a need for another one, but Molly wanted theirs—hers? Hunter’s?—to be a little bit different.
Molly leaned closer to the computer screen and noted that all the people riding during therapy were adults. She clicked on the tab for more information about their therapy sessions, and sure enough, this center only offered counseling and riding services for those over the age of eighteen.
She checked the next center, then the next, and finally the last.
She pulled the pad of paper toward her and wrote a single word on it.
“Mols,” Hunter said, and she spun around in the swivel chair. “Dinner’s ready, and everyone’s here.”
“Coming.” She got up and crossed the office toward him. He waited for her, easily sliding his hand along her waist to the small of her back. She fit so naturally in his arms, and the air around them sparked with a healthy charge.
“Thank you for coming here with me,” he said. “I know my family is big and loud, and I promise we’re not going to spend every day with all of them.”
“Yes, you are,” one of his uncles said as he walked by. “All of us. All the time.”
Hunter chuckled as his uncle went by, calling, “My kids are coming. Prepare yourself, Hunt. I’ve been telling them you’re here all day.”
“You need to prepare yourself for his kids?”
“That’s Uncle Cy, and yes, his kids are crazy.” He leaned closer on the last word, whispering it into her hair. Molly closed her eyes and slid her hands along the collar of his shirt. She’d just touched the skin on his neck when a little girl shrieked and a very solid body slammed into Hunter, causing Molly to stumble too.
Hunter only laughed as he released her and swung the little girl up and into his arms. She had a shock of nearly white-blonde hair, and she said, “Hunty, I bringed you an apple pie.”
“You did?” he asked, smiling up at her for all he was worth. Molly loved watching him interact with little children, and though these were his cousins, Molly suspected he was brilliant with all kids, and the note she’d scratched out to herself held even more meaning now.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” someone yelled from the direction of the kitchen, and Hunter turned that way with his cousin.
Molly turned back and retraced her steps to the desk, where she tore off the top piece of paper from the pad there. She looked at the few notes she’d written, her eyes landing on the last one.
KIDS, she’d written in all capital letters. A tingle rang down her spine, and Molly felt the hand of the Lord gently guiding her to exactly where she needed to go.
Hunter needed to specialize in and open an equine therapy center that only served children.
Chapter 13
Matthew Whettstein sat and listened to the entire proposal Molly Benson had put together. She had every T crossed and every I dotted, and she was an excellent presenter. When she finished, she closed the blue binder she’d gone through, and placed her hands on it.
“What do you think?”
Matt looked up at her, not quite sure what to say. “What do I think?” He shook his head, in a complete state of awe. “I think that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard.”
“You