Page 53 of Falling for Her

“What?” I ask, shocked. “But you live in the South.”

He shrugs as Wyatt and Harmony walk ahead of us. A man comes out of the barn, and Wyatt runs over to him. “Uncle Charlie, I brought Asa.”

“Did you?” He looks over at us. “Welcome to Mustang Creek Ranch. How are you, Asa?”

“Okay.” I can hear the uncertainty in Asa’s voice.

“It’s okay, buddy.” I put my hand over his shoulder. “Hi, I’m Finley.” I shake Charlie’s hand, then look to the side where the horses are being let out. “You’ve got some beauties.”

He smirks. “You ride?”

“Oh yeah. Twenty something years of equestrian competitions under my belt,” I reply, and Asa gasps.

“You don’t say? Come this way.” Charlie motions with his head to me.

“I’ll watch Asa,” Harmony offers.

I follow Charlie to the back, where a man is sitting on a desk, a clipboard in one hand and a coffee in the other. “Is Rocky saddled?” Charlie asks him.

The man looks from him to me. “He’s pissed.”

“Good. I have someone who I think will tame him.”

“Wait, what?” I say.

“We think he just hates male riders. The only other girl we have is Emmett’s wife, Lilah, and she’s pregnant, so she can’t ride him.”

“So you want me to get on a pissed-off horse?”

Charlie smirks and folds his arms.

The other man leaves, returning with an almost all-black horse with a white blaze to its muzzle.

“He looks like he’s still pissed,” I say as the horse’s tail goes back and forth and his ears go back.

“He is,” the guy confirms. “I’m Emmett, by the way. I run the ranch. I’m Lucy’s dad.” I remember Lucy from when Asa was playing soccer with his friends.

“It’s so nice to meet you. Lucy is an amazing child. I’m Finley,” I introduce myself. “Umm, I don’t know if I’m the right person to help with this guy. I haven’t ridden in over a year.”

“With twenty years of competition experience, you’ll be fine. Let’s go,” Charlie urges.

I follow him out to the fenced area. Asa stands on one of the rails with Wyatt and a girl next to him.

“An audience,” I mutter, shaking my head. “Here we go.”

“Here you go,” Charlie corrects, holding the reins in his hand.

I approach Rocky slowly. “Hey, handsome.” I rub his neck, and he shies away from my touch, stepping sideways. “Yeah, I get it.” I take a step toward him and rub him again. “They’ve been trying to tame you, haven’t they?” He doesn’t move this time. “I’m going to ride you, is that okay?” I keep my eyes on Rocky as I mumble to Charlie, “If I get hurt, my boss is going to kill me. And I’m going to blame you.”

I put my foot in the stirrup and mount him. I grab onto the horn as he moves side to side. “If you buck me off, I’m going to be pissed,” I snap at Rocky, who stops moving. “Now, let’s see what you’re like.” Charlie releases the reins, and I nudge Rocky’s side with my foot. The horse grunts. “Yeah.” He walks forward slowly, and Charlie moves out of the way. “That’s a boy,” I praise. We walk around the fenced arena twice. He shies away from the kids when we get to that part of the fence. “No one is going to hurt you,” I assure him. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“You want to open him up?” Charlie says to me. I try to hide my smile. “Go for it.”

“Okay, handsome,” I encourage, “let’s show them what you can do.” I nudge his side a little harder, and he takes off in a trot. When I nudge him again, he canters. I hear the kids cheering as he goes right and left, back and forth. I lose track of everything when I’m on him.

Finally, he stops next to the barn. I grin at Charlie. “Is that what you wanted?”

“Oh yeah,” he says. I look over to where the kids were. When I see they’re not there anymore, I start to panic.