Page 121 of Saddles

Makes my chest warm watching them.

“I think—” I grab a small tin of grain and hand it to April. “—that we should go to town and find you a saddle of your own so you can ride your horse any time you want.”

I love seeing the look of confusion slowly morph to wide-eyed wonder.

“Seriously? No. She’s yours!” April’s grin is so wide I bet her cheeks hurt.

“She’s pretty decent ninety-nine percent of the time. Except when I yell real loud she spooks. I bet she won’t do that for you. Besides, it’s clear she likes you a helluva lot better than she likes me.” Of that I have no doubt.

“But what about you? Don’t you need her more than me?” April’s fingers splay through the thick ruff under Pepper’s jaw.

Yep. I made the right choice.

“I got half a dozen to choose from. Char tuned up a bunch of the geldings this fall. You should ask her about watching you ride. She’s the best damn horse trainer in this half of Montana.” I’ve seen the miracles that lady can work.

Tears spill down April’s cheeks. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve always wanted one of my own, but thought it was just a silly little girl’s dream.” She rushes up to me, flinging her arms around my neck to pepper my mouth and chin with rapid kisses.

Laughingly, I frame her face and plant a firm peck on her mouth. “You won’t be thanking me when you’re riding fence lines with me and your butt is numb from sitting all day long.”

Her bottom lip rolls between her teeth. “I will hazard a guess that you can figure out how to get some feeling back in it.” She winks, then turns back to her new best friend.

I may have lost her to a temperamental mare.

Worth it for that smile.

“Let’s go get that saddle before I’m tempted to give that ass more feeling than you’re expecting.” I grin as I pat her hip.

She begrudgingly slides her fingers into mine to leave the barn.

“Sawyer, how’d it go out there?” I ask as we walk past him unloading his sled.

“It fucking sucked,” he grumbles. “Generator stopped working about the third day. Thought we were gonna strangle each other over card games after that.” He tucks his hands into the small of his back and leans into them in an arching stretch. “Sometimes I swear I hate this ranch. Ever thought about quitting, Ford?”

I catch April’s face turn up to watch me.

“There’s been days. But not today.” I squeeze her palm, then tug her with me.

I feel bad for the kid. Sometimes this life isn’t for everyone.

He’ll have to figure out his own path eventually.

“I kinda thought him and Scott were a, um…” Her words drift into the wind.

“They’ve been best friends most of their life. Mason was buddies with his dad before he passed a few years ago. Hell, ten years I think. It was shortly after Carolyn died.” My jaw clenches as the fast stab of pain.

Too many people die too early.

“Val was a bit older, so took over the bar. Scotty needed someone to spend time with since their mom was such a wreck. They’ve been pretty much attached at the hip since.” Like me and Mason.

“Well, maybe a girlfriend would have made his time in the cabin more bearable,” April giggles.

That makes me chuckle. “You’d have to hogtie him I bet at that point. He likes video games and fast food. He may very well end up working in town before much longer.” I’d hate to see him leave. I’ve watched that kid grow since he was just a twinkle in Mason’s eye.

April shrugs. “I liked it. Being stuck out there with you had its perks.” A mischievous glint shines in her eyes.

“Yes it did.” I pull her close as we walk down the snowy driveway to the truck.

I can’t stop watching her tongue lapping slowly up her ice cream cone we got at Frozen Bones on the way out of town.

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