Читать книгу The Christmas Cowboy - Judy Christenberry - Страница 8

Andrea came down to the kitchen early the next morning. She hadn’t been able to sleep much in anticipation of her first riding lesson with Hank. She’d found Jessica already preparing breakfast, and lent a hand as they chatted.

They were laughing about some of the antics of previous guests when Hank entered the room and went directly to the coffeepot.

“You’d better eat a big breakfast or you’ll be starving by lunch!” he snapped.

Andrea had thought they’d prepared too much food, but she must’ve been inspired by the early hour, for she cleaned her plate. Hank did the same.

When Hank got up from the table, Andrea jumped up, too. She wasn’t going to be accused of dawdling.

Hank stared at her. “You ready?”

“Yes,” she said, putting on her new ski jacket and hat, and working on her gloves as she followed Hank.

As they walked to the horse barn, Andrea felt anticipation grow. Along with fear. She hoped she managed to do what her teacher asked without showing she was scared.

“Okay, first you need to know the equipment you’ll be using.” Hank began pointing out the parts that they used to saddle a horse. After he made her repeat the names of the parts, he introduced her to the horse she was going to ride. “This is Moonbeam.”

“Nice name.”

“She came with it. Dan Peters named her.”

Andrea stroked the horse several times under Hank’s supervision.

Then he brought out an apple and cut it in half. “Here, hold this flat in your hand and feed it to her.”

Andrea did as he said, refusing to ask if the horse would bite her. When the horse gently took the apple half and crunched it, Andrea stood amazed. Then she fed the mare the other half. When the animal nuzzled Andrea for more, Andrea looked at Hank. “Do you have more?”

“No. That’s enough. We don’t want to spoil her.”

Andrea stroked Moonbeam’s neck. But she watched Hank to see what came next.

“Now pick up the bridle. I’ll tell you how to put it on the horse.”

She did as she was told, her stomach fluttering. It took several tries to work the bit into the horse’s mouth, but she finally learned to trust Moonbeam. They moved on to the remaining equipment, and in no time she had Moonbeam saddled.

She felt so proud when Moonbeam stood before her, ready to ride.

“Now unsaddle her.”

She turned to Hank. “But…”

He gave her a steely stare.

“I thought I’d get to ride her, since she’s all saddled.”

“You’re not ready yet.”

She stared him down, but in the end she followed his instructions. He was, after all, the expert. She unsaddled the horse, and when she finished, she looked at Hank, a challenge in her eyes.

“Good,” he replied, without any expression. Then he said, “Now saddle her again.”

She waited for him to say what to put on the horse.

“Without my help,” he said.

She prayed she could remember the order of what she’d done only a few minutes before, and was pleased with herself when she got it right.

Hank offered no words of praise. Nor did he tell her to unsaddle Moonbeam again, as she’d expected.

“Now mount up.”

Feeling a rush of adrenaline, she stepped up to the side of Moonbeam, wondering how she was supposed to climb onto such a tall animal.

Hank’s sharp words stopped her.

“You’re on the wrong side of the horse. You need to be on her left side. That’s the way most horses are trained.”

“Oh, sorry, Moonbeam.” She started to walk behind her to the other side.

“Don’t go around the back of the horse. Go around the front so she can see you. Some horses kick when you go behind them.”

Nervous now, Andrea walked around the front of the mare and moved to the left stirrup. She paused, trying to figure out which foot went in first.

“Your left!” Hank barked.

She glared at him. Did he have to yell? And why didn’t he just explain all these rules before?

She put her left foot in the stirrup and using all her strength, swung her other leg over the horse. Much to her surprise, her body settled into the saddle as if it belonged there.

“Good job. Now dismount.”

She considered taking the right side to dismount, but Hank told her, “Left side!”

She slid off the horse on the left side. She figured he would tell her to mount up again and she wasn’t disappointed. She swung up into the saddle once more, a bit more smoothly this time, and hoped he’d let her stay there and begin teaching her to ride. But alas, no. He ordered her to dismount, then turned on his heel to leave.

“Unsaddle her and then you can amuse yourself till lunch.” With that he simply walked out of the barn.

Andrea rested her head against Moonbeam’s long neck and stifled a scream.

“HONESTLY, JESSICA, all I did was saddle and unsaddle Moonbeam. I thought he’d let me ride a little bit, at least. I was so frustrated!”

“I guess you were, but you have to know how to take care of your horse. You did say you wanted to learn to ride like a cowboy, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but I didn’t think Hank would be so…formal!”

The man himself stepped into the kitchen. “If you don’t like my teaching techniques, Miss Jacobs, we’ll be glad to refund you your money, except for the cost of the food and lodging we’ve provided so far, and you can go elsewhere.”

The kitchen was painfully silent for several moments.

Then Andrea spoke. “I didn’t mean to be so harsh, Mr. Ledbetter. I just thought I might be allowed to ride a little bit.”

“If you can manage to saddle your horse properly after lunch, you’ll be allowed to ride this afternoon.”

“Really? Why didn’t you tell me that this morning?”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to inform my students of every step when I’m teaching them.”

Jessica stepped between them. “But you could change your rules slightly, Hank. That wouldn’t be so hard, would it?”

“Fine! When’s lunch going to be ready?”

“I’m just getting ready to serve it. I’ll put it on the table if you’ll both be seated.”

“You can have Jim’s seat by Jess,” Hank said to Andrea. “He won’t be here.” After saying that, Hank sat down on his side of the table.

With a shrug, Andrea sat down beside Jessica.

Jessica put another casserole on the table with a salad and some baked beans.

Andrea now understood the remark Hank had made to her at The Prime Rib about eating everything in front of her. She was starving.

When Jessica uncovered the dish, Andrea drew a deep breath. Then she looked up straight into Hank’s eyes, noting the laughter there. At least he wasn’t frowning. “Yes, you were right,” she said with a chuckle.

“Good,” Jessica said. “It’s chicken pot pie. Be sure to fill your plate. And we have dessert, too.”

“Oh, my, I don’t know if I can eat that much.”

“You can,” Hank said.

She glared at him, but it was a wasted effort. He was already digging into his lunch. Which reminded her she was wasting time.

THE AFTERNOON LESSON went much better. After she successfully saddled Moonbeam, Hank told her to lead the mare out into the corral. She eagerly did so, waiting for the chance to ride for the first time ever. Hank didn’t bring out a horse for himself, and that surprised her. He was going to let her ride alone?

He sauntered out into the corral and climbed onto the split-rail fence. “Now, lead her around for a while.”

She thought about complaining, but she remembered what Jessica had told her about this morning’s lesson. She’d better hold back. Maybe he really was trying to teach her to ride the cowboy way.

After half an hour, he drawled, “Okay, bring her over here and mount up. Remember, left side, left foot. When you step up into the saddle, swing your right foot over and into the right stirrup.” While he was saying that, he got down from the fence and grabbed the horse’s reins.

Oddly, there was something different about mounting the horse in the wide-open space of the corral, instead of in the barn. She felt anxious. “She won’t run away, will she?”

“I’ll hold her. Don’t worry.”

She gave him a tight smile. “I won’t.”

She put her left foot in the stirrup and tried to swing up, but she got caught, unable to pull her body up into the saddle. Suddenly she felt Hank’s hands on her behind pushing her up. She gasped and nearly lost her grip on the horn. Her skin burned where he touched her. Somehow she found herself in the saddle.

“Sometimes dudes get caught in the middle.”

Andrea felt her cheeks heat, not because he called her a “dude”—which, as an inexperienced rider, she supposed she was—but because she couldn’t look him in the eye after he’d had his hands on her rear end.

True to form, though, he irritated her with his next words.

“Okay, ride her around the corral for a while. Remember, she’ll do what you tell her with the reins. Pull gently left or right, and when you need to stop, pull back gently on both reins.”

“You want me to ride in circles like a child?” she demanded.

“Yeah,” Hank responded.

“But what about riding somewhere?”

Hank sighed and shook his head. “Just do what I say. You’ll get there before you know it.”

“Today?”

“Nope. But maybe tomorrow. It depends.”

“On what?”

“On how quickly you recover.”

She gave him a glare and started riding around the circle with her teeth gritted and in total silence. She wanted to prove that she could wait him out. After a few minutes, he shouted for her to stop. She pulled back on both reins. The horse was wonderfully responsive.

“Good. Now do a figure eight.”

She rode the horse in a figure eight, enjoying that more than riding in a circle. Then he told her to reverse the figure eight.

He kept her going for a couple of hours, alternating the routine. When he finally brought her to a stop, he studied her. “How are you feeling?”

She was hurting a little, but she thought she could still ride. “I’m perfectly fine.”

“No problems at all?”

After debating her answer, she finally said, “I’m a little sore.”

“Okay, get down.”

She tried to get down the way she’d gotten up, but her legs seemed to crumple under her. Before she knew it, Hank was holding her.

“Easy, Andrea. Give yourself a chance to get your legs back under you.”

“What happened? I—I can hardly stand.”

“Take it slow. You’ll get the feeling back in a minute.”

She didn’t like his arms around her, his chest near her face, but she was afraid she’d fall to the ground if he let her go. She felt suddenly parched and her skin tingled.

Then he said, “You get a break because I’m going to unsaddle Moonbeam for you while you go up to the house. If you want a snack or something to make you feel better, just tell Jess.”

“Okay, but how do I walk out of here?” She still couldn’t trust her legs.

He led her to the gate, his arm still around her and holding her against the long, lean length of him. In spite of his going very slowly, she almost felt like asking him to carry her, but she wouldn’t give in to that urge.

When he got her out of the corral, he asked, “Can you make it from here?”

She wanted to say yes, but her legs were still wobbly. “I—I think I can make it.”

He shook his head and scooped her off her feet. “Never mind. I’ll take you into the kitchen.”

She didn’t say anything. She was afraid he’d put her down.

When he got to the kitchen, he lowered her onto a chair.

Andrea could barely get words past her dry throat, but she pulled herself together enough to say, “Thank you, Hank.”

“No problem.” But he continued to lean over her, his face entirely too close.

She noticed for the first time how great he smelled. The outdoors, the crispness of the weather, the scent of leather. All infused her senses.

Hank looked her right in the eye and she could’ve sworn she saw a hint of a smile on his mouth.

But he pulled back quickly and made for the door. “Tell Jess not to count on me for dinner.” He threw the words over his shoulder. “I’m going into town.”

Andrea was surprised by how disappointed she felt.

AMAZING. HER MUSCLES felt so much looser after she’d soaked in the Epsom-salts bath. She didn’t want to get out of the tub, but hunger pains drove her. She stood and reached for a fluffy towel. Sighing, she ran the towel over her body. She was tempted to crawl into bed, but she needed that steak Jessica was making.

Besides, if she didn’t show for dinner, Hank might hear about it and think he’d managed to win the contest.

She pulled up short. Contest? Why did she seem to want to best him all the time, as if she needed to prove herself? She had every right to be the student, to be sore, to be a “dude.” There was no harm in that. After all, she was out here to learn.

But there was something about Hank…

Somehow she felt she always needed to be on guard around him, to put up a strong facade—or else he’d see the weak, vulnerable woman underneath.

The woman who kept a secret.

The woman who could fall for him.

She stopped herself right there. That line of thinking could do no good, so she quickly dressed and went downstairs, limping only slightly.

She found Jessica already putting dinner on the table.

“I’m not late, am I?” she asked with a hesitant smile.

Jessica turned around. “I was just about to see how you were doing. I’m glad you made it down.”

“Those special bath salts you gave me are miraculous. Thanks. I thought I’d never walk again when I first got off Moonbeam.”

Jessica laughed. “Well, I think you did very well.”

“Can I help with anything?”

“No, this is easy. Wait until you see the kitchen function when we have a full house.”

“I’m sure it’s a lot of work, but I bet it’s fun, too.”

“Actually, it has been fun—ever since Jim got here.”

“I guess so, since you married him,” Andrea said with a laugh.

“Oh, yes, that made it fun, but more importantly, he took care of my problems with my brothers. After our parents died and I got the idea of opening a dude ranch, Hank and Pete thought they could overrule me. Anything I wanted to do, they said no. It was a mess!”

“That must’ve been difficult.”

“Aw, she’s just teasing. They wanted to do everything she said,” a deep voice said behind the two women.

Jim smiled at them when they faced him. “Well, maybe there was a little friction,” he said as his wife stepped into his ready arms.

Jim stole a quick kiss and as Andrea watched the two of them, so obviously in love, she felt lonesome for the first time in her life.

When Jim let go of his wife, he said to Andrea, “Glad to see you’re still able to walk.”

“Yes, thanks to the Epsom salts.”

“Hank worked you hard, I guess.” He looked around the kitchen. “Where is he, anyway?”

“Hank said he was going into town,” Andrea explained, remembering that moment with him earlier in the kitchen.

Jim frowned. “I wanted to talk to him.”

Andrea knew what he meant. Once again she felt a rush of disappointment.