Chapter 3

He was waiting for me when I arrived at the stables.

3:00 PM exactly. Caspian stood near Tempest's stall, but he wasn't trying to get close to the horse. Smart. He was just watching, learning.

"Punctual again," I said, rolling up beside him.

"My grandmother's second rule. The first was about being late."

I liked that he mentioned her easily. No shame about his background or his circumstances.

"Ready for your first real lesson?"

"As ready as someone can be for something they've never done."

I moved closer to Tempest's stall. The stallion stepped forward immediately, lowering his head for me to touch.

"First thing you need to understand - horses read energy. They know if you're scared, angry, or lying before you do."

Caspian nodded. "What's he reading from me right now?"

"Nervous but curious. Respectful." I stroked Tempest's neck. "He likes that combination."

"Good to know I'm passing the test."

"Oh, this isn't the test. This is." I opened the stall door. "Come in. Slowly."

Caspian stepped inside, and I watched Tempest's reaction. Ears forward. Calm breathing. No tension in his shoulders.

Interesting.

"Now what?"

"Let him smell you. Horses learn through their noses first."

Caspian extended his hand palm-up. Tempest investigated thoroughly, then did something that made my breath catch.

He rested his forehead against Caspian's chest.

Trust. Already.

"That's... not normal, is it?" Caspian's voice was soft, amazed.

"No. It's not." I backed my wheelchair out of the stall. "Time to saddle up."

The next hour flew by faster than I'd expected. Caspian listened to everything I said, asked the right questions, and never tried to rush ahead of where he was ready to be.

When Tempest got skittish during mounting, Caspian somehow knew to speak quietly and keep his movements small.

"I helped my neighbor with his draft horses when I was twelve," he explained when I asked. "Never rode them, but I learned how to calm them down when they spooked."

Everything about him fit exactly what I needed. What I hadn't even known I was looking for.

The basic training went better than most first lessons I'd supervised. Walk, halt, turn. Caspian had natural balance and didn't fight Tempest's rhythm.

"You're a natural," I called out as he completed a circle at walking pace.

"Doesn't feel natural. Feels like I'm about to fall off any second."

"That's normal. The fear keeps you focused."

When we finished the riding portion, both Caspian and Tempest looked pleased with themselves. I led them back to the barn area where a bench waited near the tack room.

"Rest for a minute," I said. "Tell me about this grandmother who taught you so many rules."

Caspian sat heavily, clearly feeling muscles he'd forgotten he had. "Nana. She raised me after my parents died in a car accident. I was eight."

"I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago. Nana did her best with what we had." His face softened. "She taught me everything important. How to work hard, how to treat people with respect, how to find beauty in small things."

"And now she's sick."

"Yeah." His jaw tightened. "Lung cancer. Stage four. The doctors say..."

He didn't finish. Didn't need to.

This is why he needs the money. Why he's here.

But watching him with Tempest, seeing how naturally he'd taken to the training, I found I didn't care about his motivation anymore.

"Wait here," I said. "I have something for you."

I rolled to the tack room and returned with a garment bag. "Open it."

Caspian unzipped the bag and went very still.

Inside was a complete riding outfit. Deep navy jacket with silver buttons. Tan breeches. Custom boots. Everything fitted to the measurements Jasper had quietly obtained.

"Miss Beaumont..." His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Cordelia," I corrected. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together. Might as well use first names."

He pulled the jacket out of the bag, running his fingers over the fabric. "This is too much. I can't accept..."

"You can and you will. A proper riding partner needs proper equipment."

And I want to see you in it.

The thought surprised me with its intensity.

"I've never owned anything this nice," he said quietly.

Something in his voice made my chest tight. "Well, now you do."

He looked up at me, and for a moment neither of us spoke. Then he smiled, and it was like watching the sun come out.

"Thank you, Cordelia."

My name sounds different when he says it.

"Come on," I said, needing to move before I said something inappropriate. "I want to show you the greenhouse."

The ride to the greenhouse took us past the rose garden and the reflecting pool. Caspian walked beside my wheelchair, the garment bag slung over his shoulder.

"This place is incredible," he said. "How long has your family lived here?"

"Five generations. My great-great-grandfather built the main house in 1823."

"And you've never wanted to leave?"

The question caught me off guard. "Leave? Why would I leave?"

"I don't know. See other places. Experience something different."

I'd never really thought about different. Magnolia Manor was home. It was safety. It was all I'd ever known.

"This is where I belong," I said finally.

We'd reached the greenhouse. I unlocked the door and led him inside.

The space was my sanctuary. Rows of exotic plants, most of them rare specimens I'd been collecting for years. Orchids, tropical flowers, some medicinal herbs.

Caspian stopped just inside the door, looking around with obvious appreciation.

"My God, Cordelia. This is beautiful."

He moved toward a display of orchids, and something in the way he approached them made me pay attention.

"You know plants?"

"A little." He paused in front of a particularly stunning purple bloom. "This is Cattleya orchid, isn't it?"

He knows orchids.

"Labiata, specifically. How did you..."

"My grandmother used to grow them. Nothing this fancy, but she had a little greenhouse attached to our cabin." He touched the petals gently, the same way I'd seen him touch Tempest. "She said they were temperamental but worth the effort."

I rolled closer, watching his face. "What else did she grow?"

"Medicinal herbs mostly. She was the closest thing our area had to a doctor for a while." His smile was sad now. "Ironically, all that knowledge about healing, and she can't heal herself."

And there it is. The pain he carries.

"Show me," I said impulsively.

"Show you what?"

"What she taught you. I have some herbs over here that might interest you."

For the next hour, we moved through the greenhouse together. Caspian knew more about plants than most people with degrees in botany. He could identify medicinal properties, growing conditions, even hybrid varieties.

When he carefully repotted a struggling jasmine plant without being asked, I realized something that should have worried me.

This isn't about training anymore.

The afternoon sun was getting lower, casting long shadows through the greenhouse glass. Caspian glanced at his watch.

"I should probably head back to campus. I have a shift at the library tonight."

Of course he does. Another job to help pay for his grandmother's care.

We walked back toward the main driveway where his beat-up truck was parked. The garment bag was still slung over his shoulder.

"Same time tomorrow?" I asked.

"If you want me back."

I want you back every day.

The thought hit me so suddenly and completely that I almost said it out loud.

"Tomorrow it is."

He climbed into his truck and rolled down the window. "Thank you, Cordelia. For all of this. I know I don't deserve..."

"Stop." I rolled closer to his window. "You deserve more than you know."

He looked at me for a long moment, something shifting in those green eyes.

Then he was driving away, leaving me alone in the driveway with the strangest feeling that something important had just begun.