Chapter Twelve
Summer
Life at Springhill Ranch quickly began to take on an easy feel, like slipping on a broken-in pair of boots. Rue was letting me cook breakfast more often and the boys were smart enough not to complain.
One morning, as I was filling the sink with soapy water after breakfast, Tom and Brady stood up from the table and Tom brought a stack of plates over to the sink, giving me a broad smile. I’d made eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy and it hadn’t come out too bad. Well, according to my cooking skills anyway. The eggs had been a bit dry and the sausage was charred on one side but the gravy had been remarkably okay.
“Thanks.” My hands were already covered in suds, so I pointed with my elbow to the counter. “Just set them there.”
“Do you want to come out at lunch and work Jenny with me?” he asked. “I noticed you haven’t had lots of riding time lately.”
“I doubt I’ll have time,” I answered, trying to force myself not to notice his beautiful eyes.
“You will,” Rue said, while bringing over more of the dirty dishes. “Brady and I have to run into town right after lunch, so that will actually work out perfectly. We don’t have a lot left to do for today.”
I glanced over my shoulder as I slipped a pile of dishes beneath the water. “Okay then.”
Tom tipped his hat and disappeared with a smile. Rue didn’t say anything, thank God, but I could feel her curiosity about Tom and me all the same. I’d noticed the way she watched us during meal times and she’d joked with me more than once about how handsome Tom was and, also, how available. Of course, I never went for the bait but I was fairly sure that Rue knew enough to know that I couldn’t get Tom off my mind.
The day seemed to fly by as we were knee-deep in chores and before I knew it, it was lunchtime.
“Why don’t you take something out to Tom?” Rue asked with a knowing smile. “Brady and I will grab a bite in town.”
I shifted uneasily as she handed me a stack of towels and I put them away. Bringing Tom lunch suddenly seemed so intimate, even though I cooked for him all the time now. But I’d never made a meal just for him alone. “What should I take him?”
She shrugged and tucked the laundry basket beneath her arm as we walked back down the hallway to the kitchen. “Make a couple of sandwiches maybe? Or take him that rosemary chicken from last night. It’s his favorite,” she continued. “He must ask me to make it every week.”
“Sounds good,” I answered.
After she left, I grabbed the leftover chicken and mashed potatoes from the night before, and set them in a plastic bag along with a fork, napkin, and a jug of iced tea. Then I headed for the barn. Tom was down by Aria’s stall, and at first, I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, then it hit me as soon as I saw him toss a bright green, compact flake into her feeder.
“What in the hell?” I stomped my foot as I yelled at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Tom turned toward me and smiled. “Hey, Posh. Just feeding your horse. Ready to ride?”
“What? No! You can’t feed her alfalfa! You know that! Why do you think I went to all that trouble to get her hay? I can’t believe you!” I was so mad I could barely spit all the words out and my thoughts were a giant jumble. I couldn’t believe he’d gone behind my back and done this on purpose.
“Why not?” He tossed a flake to Breezy. “This keeps you from having to feed her so much of that expensive stuff. I fed a few of the other horses also.” He shrugged. “No big deal to do it for her too.”
“It’s not good for her and you should have checked with me before you started feeding her… that!” I finished as I looked at the bag in his hands with disgust.
“Who told you it wasn’t good for her?” he demanded, frowning at me.
I jammed my fists into my hips. “This isn’t my first horse, you know? Just because I didn’t grow up on a ranch doesn’t mean I haven’t been around horses my entire life. I know how to take care of Aria. I know what’s best for her.” I poked him in the chest. “Not you.”
“Yeah, well I’ve got news for you, honey, I’ve been feeding her since the day she got here. Maybe next time you could just say thanks.”
He pointed at the bag still dangling from my hand. “Did you bring that for me?”
I glared at him but didn’t answer. He strode up to me and raised his brows as if to repeat the question. I just nodded and thrust the bag at him. He took it, shrugged and, with a sigh, walked away.
“You’re impossible to please,” he called over his shoulder.
Tears stung my eyes and I wanted to scream, but then something started to dawn on me. If he’d been feeding Aria alfalfa since we’d arrived, I hadn’t noticed a single change in her behavior. And that had to mean that he was right—there wasn’t anything about it that was bad for her. But, damn it all, I didn’t want him to be right! Not after he’d been so brazen to feed my horse without ever first asking me! Regardless, I was more than sure he hadn’t meant any harm and he probably thought he was doing me a favor. I stood there until my blood pressure mellowed out and then I set off to find him.
I had no idea where he went, so I strolled to the end of the alleyway of the barn and then found him sitting on a hay bale in the corner of the barn, chowing down on the leftovers I’d brought. He didn’t look up as I walked over.
“Are we going to ride, or not?” I demanded, thrusting my hands on my hips.
He snorted and took another bite of chicken, then talked around it. “I don’t know, are we?”
I glared at him as a spike of pain shot down my jaw until I unclenched my teeth.
“You said we were.”
“Guess we are then.” He finished off the chicken and mashed potatoes without another word or glance in my direction. Obviously, he was pissed off. But I’d be damned if I was going to apologize for yelling at him. He was the one who needed to apologize for feeding my horse alfalfa without ever asking me if it was okay.
He stood up and brushed past me. “Jenny is pretty solid. She’s not quite ready to be a guest horse, but she’s a good listener and tough to spook. She’d be good for you to ride if you ever have to come out with us.”
“Why would I need to ride Jenny? I have Aria.”
He laughed but frowned at the same time. “There’s always something happening on the ranch that requires extra hands. And I don’t know Aria’s temperament but I can tell you that our horses are bred to stay level-headed all the time, no matter what comes their way.”
Whatever. I just wanted to get this over with and go stew in private. We could stand here all day and debate whose horse was better suited to their tasks but I had other things I still needed to do.
He pulled Breezy out of the stall and pointed toward Jenny. “Grab her and we’ll figure out which saddle fits you best.”
I did as he told me without comment and quickly brushed Jenny’s coat. She was so short and petite that I was done quickly. He waited for me in the tack room and handed me a simple leather strap with a ring snaffle. I held it up. “That’s it?”
“Figured you’d rather be two-handed.” He grabbed a simple shank snaffle. “Or you can do this one, but you’d have to ride her one-handed so I can train her for guests.”
I took the ring snaffle and hooked it over my shoulder, then scanned the wall full of clunky western saddles. “Which one?”
He leaned over like he was checking out my butt. “You’re what, a fifteen and a half?”
I frowned and crossed my hands over my chest. “Fifteen.”
He pulled one down off the top rack. “Try this one. I think you’ll like it.”
It weighed a thousand pounds but I didn’t complain. Meanwhile, he grabbed a massively thick pad and tossed it on Jenny’s back.
“That’s it? One pad?”
“She’s fine. Put the saddle on.”
I frowned and tried to throw the saddle up and on Jenny but it was seriously a million times heavier than my English saddle. Tom arched a brow at me at the same time that he grabbed the saddle and put it on Jenny like it didn’t weigh a damn thing.
I sighed and shook my head as I watched him get Jenny ready for me. “Now what?” I demanded.
“Get them bridled and climb on!” he said as he did exactly that.
I hesitated. “Right here? You’re getting on right here? Don’t you need to warm them up?” I strapped my helmet on, still frustrated that he wasn’t willing to wear one.
“They’re fine.”
I swallowed, not entirely sure I was ready, but he was turning Breezy and heading out of the alley, not seeming to care if I was behind him or not. I petted Jenny’s neck and talked softly to her. “Please don’t buck me off.”
Her ears flickered back and forth, and I took a deep breath as I swung up into the saddle. It felt so strange, especially when I shoved my boots into the clunky massive stirrups. I eased Jenny forward, delighted at her responsiveness. She jogged out of the barn and we caught up with Tom.
He reached over and stroked Jenny’s forelock. “I want to take you around the property instead of hanging in the arena so you can get a feel for how she works.”
“Fine.” I still wasn’t happy with him, but I didn’t want Jenny picking up on my anger, so I tried to let it go. I reached down and stroked her neck. “She seems nice.”
“She is.” He lifted his arm and pointed past the arena. “Let’s head out that way and we’ll work in the front pasture, ride the fence, check the irrigation ditch and then come back.”
I eased my fingers up on the reins, but he shook his head. “Just contact. I want her to neck rein.”
We rode this way for the next hour, me doing things like I ordinarily would have on Aria and him telling me I was doing it all wrong. It got really old really fast, but I understood that she was a different horse and this was a very different type of riding. So, for now, I was playing the part of the student. Of course, he didn’t have to be such a jerk about it.
Bob bounded along with us but Jenny didn’t seem to mind or care that the dog was weaving around her legs or cutting her off. I could definitely see where that sort of chilled attitude would be important out here. And Aria didn’t have it, that was for sure.
We made a giant looping circle back to the barn and then Tom left me to go work on other things with Breezy while I unsaddled Jenny and then turned to getting dinner started. He never apologized for feeding Aria behind my back, but as I headed back to the house, I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that the alfalfa hadn’t had any sort of effect on her at all. Meanwhile, I was shelling out good money for something that—dare I think it—maybe she didn’t need?