on her plate. “A friend came with him too.”
Hannah lifted her gaze to meet Penny’s but she didn’t say anything.
“I don’t think he’ll be around long, but he seemed nice enough.” Penny glanced down at her plate.
“Do you think Mr. Bolton’s cousin will stay long?” Hannah took a sip of her drink.
Penny shrugged. “Hard to say. He didn’t seem to want to be there. It looked like his friend brought him to Bolton Farms without telling him he was doing so.”
Hannah chuckled. “Well, we best not let any of this information slip to Ms. Greenhurst. She’d be thrilled to have any amount of gossip surrounding the Boltons. It’s the least we could do to keep this quiet after everything the Boltons have done for us.”
Penny nodded. “I agree. If Chad wants to make this information public, it should be up to him.”
Her mother winked at her. “But if you find out any more information, you be sure to let me know. We could speculate together.”
They shared smiles. “Of course, Mother.”
They ate in silence for a few moments before Hannah put her fork down. “You have to tell me, Penny. Was that blush for Mr. Bolton’s cousin, or his friend?”
Penny’s mouth dropped open. “Mother!”
“I know it’s for one of them. So, are you going to tell me, or will I have to go over there myself and figure it out on my own?”
“Absolutely not. That would be mortifying.” The corners of Penny’s mouth quirked up. “I can tell you won’t drop it… I will not be falling for any Boltons or anyone related to them, so bury that hope now before it blossoms.”
Hannah’s smile remained fixed. “Well, what do we know about this friend?”
“Mom!” Penny laughed. “I told you, it doesn’t matter. He won’t be sticking around. From what I could gather, he isn’t terribly close to Chad’s cousin and he was just dropping him off.”
“If that smile was any indication, I think you had rather hoped you’d see him again.”
Penny shook her head. “You wouldn’t like him anyway, Mom.”
“And why’s that?”
Penny placed her chin in her palm. Because he was rough around the edges, that’s why. And though her mother never said it, Penny had suspicions that Hannah wanted her daughter to marry a rancher. Ty didn’t look like he knew the difference between a rake and a hoe. She glanced at her mother and shrugged. “No reason. Maybe it’s because he’s so different than Chad.”
Hannah reached out and placed her hand on top of Penny’s. “Sweetie, if you find someone you love, who loves you back, I’ll be happy.”
She smiled at her mother and placed her other hand on top of her mother’s. “Good to know. However, I don’t think Ty is going to be that person.”
“Ty,” Hannah tried out the name and shrugged. “You’re probably right. Only the best for my Penny.”
Penny rolled her eyes. She got to her feet and cleared her place. “I’m going to do some training exercises with Cocoa. There’s a dressage event coming up and I’d like to enter.”
Hannah nodded. “That’s a lovely idea. While you’re out there, will you put a few of the horses in the south grazing pasture? It’s getting late and your brother forgot to do it before he went to town.”
The pasture that bordered the Bolton property. “Of course, Mother.” Penny headed up to her room and pulled out one of her riding outfits. The white blouse and cream breeches she always paired with the black hunt coat brought back memories of her first competition. Flutters still filled her chest before every event. As her fingertips trailed along the fabric, she smiled. Who needed ball gowns and frilly dresses when they could wear something as special as this?
After Penny had donned the riding outfit, she hurried out to their only stable. Their money came mostly from growing feed for animals on the surrounding ranches, but they did have a good amount of horses they used for various events and Penny was a star at training them.
Noses popped out of the stalls as she passed on her way to Cocoa’s window. The chocolate bay was her favorite by far. Penny rubbed the small white star on Cocoa’s nose. “How’s my girl this morning? You ready for some practice?”
Cocoa whinnied and bobbed her head.
“I thought so. But first I have to take a few of these guys to eat. I’ll be right back.” Penny busied herself with getting ropes around a half dozen horses and leading each one out to