Page 21 of Catch Me, Cowboy
“I… uh…” Paul started to shake his head as if the thought of a woman behind the wheel was too much for him.
“Let her do it,” Blake said to Paul with a come-on-now smile. “It’s her gate.”
Paul struggled with his manhood, then said, “The keys are in it.”
Shelby got into the truck and put it in gear, pulling it around and then backing smoothly so the trailer was about four feet directly in front of the corral gate. She got out of the truck and walked to the trailer, nodding at Ty. He opened the gate until it met the back of the trailer on the driver’s side and then Shelby opened the trailer door, forming a perfect alley to the pen. The coal black horse approached the edge of the trailer, snorting loudly before he launched himself out of the trailer and raced wildly into the pen.
“His name is Evarado.” Blake said without taking her eyes off the horse, who was indeed a magnificent animal.
“Unusual,” Shelby murmured as she swung the gate closed.
Ty handled the door to the trailer.
“It’s Spanish for brave.” Blake rested a hand on the rail, watching as the horse paced the fence, tossing his head and looking for a way out. He gave a shrill whiny, which several horses answered. He’d have every equine on the place stirred up in short order.
Blake sighed. “Isn’t he a beauty?”
“Just lovely,” Ty said dryly as the horse snorted and stamped again.
“You said you’d have him for thirty days,” Paul said to Shelby.
“I’ll evaluate him for a few days and let you know.”
“I don’t want him back until he’s tame, but I don’t want you padding the days, either.” He spoke seriously, and honestly didn’t seem to realize he was being insulting. “If it takes less time than we contract for, we can prorate the bill, right?”
Shelby opened her mouth and Ty hoped she’d tell this guy to get a fucking clue, but instead she said, “There’s a possibility that it might take longer than thirty days, and it won’t be because I’m padding the days.”
“How much riding experience do you have?” Ty asked Blake.
Shelby shot him a sharp look, but he ignored it.
“I’ve been riding since I was twelve.”
“Horses like… Evarado, here?” If Shelby had laser eyes, he would have been dead by now, but he wanted to know how “tame” this horse had to be.
In other words, what kind of miracle did these people expect and was Shelby seriously going to tackle this.
“He’s been spoiled and allowed to become headstrong. He just needs to learn who is boss,” Paul said, slipping an arm around Blake’s shoulders.
So Paul understood the deal with the horse, but he didn’t seem to understand that rehabilitating the horse wasn’t like fixing a malfunctioning vehicle. He couldn’t just replace a chip and drive away safely.
“Why don’t we step into the house and take a look at the contract,” Shelby said smoothly.
Ty let out a breath and then leaned his forearms on the fence rails as Shelby guided the couple to the house. The horse snorted at him and started pawing the dirt.
He didn’t like this, but there wasn’t a hell of a lot he could do about it. He had faith in Shelby’s abilities, but he’d dealt with enough rank horses to know that this one could be trouble. Not because he was mean, but because he was spoiled and he was insecure. Fear was a mighty motivating factor for horses and when horses got scared, they acted on pure instinct.
Kind of like some people he knew.
Ten minutes later, Shelby, Paul, and Blake came back out of the house and walked toward Paul’s shiny new truck. Blake went to the fence, said goodbye to the black gelding, and urged him to be a good boy for Shelby. The horse snorted and Ty felt like doing the same.
“I’ll be in touch,” Paul said before guiding Blake to the truck and opening the door for her. She climbed inside and arranged herself in the middle seat next to where Paul would sit.
“I’ll let you know what I think in a few days,” Shelby replied as he got into his truck.
Blake waved and Paul started the engine.
“Do you get a lot of clients like that?” Ty asked as the blue truck and trailer rolled down the driveway. Because he’d much rather deal with a rank horse than a privileged yet clueless client. Shelby now had both.
