Page 14 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
“Dad says most people want to show off that they c’n buy a house there.”
Jeremy said it solemnly, so Miles stifled his smile.“Your dad’s a really smart guy.”
“I know,” Jeremy said simply.Then he shifted his gaze to Riley.“C’n we see yours?”
Miles’s first thought was how much different that might have sounded if he’d said it.But he trusted this woman to see the child’s earnestness and knew when she smiled sweetly at him that she had.
“I think we can arrange that, Jeremy.”The sweet smile suddenly turned to a grin.“That is, if you can keep up with me getting back to the house.”
Jeremy frowned.“That’s not fair.We have a car.”
“I have King,” she said.“And,” she added, the grin widening, “I don’t need a road.”
She took off at a run for the horse that was ground-tied at the bottom of the slope.For a moment Miles just stared at her, at the agile way she dodged boulders and never missed a step.
“C’mon, Uncle Miles,” Jeremy yelped.“She’s gonna beat us!”
He wasn’t quite sure when or how this had become a race, but apparently it had.The boy had scrambled into the SUV and had the door shut before Miles even had his open.
“Belt up,” he said when he got into the driver’s seat.“This could get bumpy.”
Jeremy was grinning now as he watched the woman run.And then she reached the horse, who seemed to have realized something was up.He’d lifted his head and was watching, even shifted slightly so he was sideways to her approach, which puzzled Miles…until he saw her take what looked like the proverbial flying leap and land neatly in the saddle.He thought he saw one hand take the saddle horn, but she’d never even touched the stirrups.She leaned down and grabbed the reins—two separate, split reins, not the loop kind—pulling them up with care not to pull on his mouth, Miles noticed.
And then, before he even had the engine started—maybe because he’d been too busy watching her—and the SUV turned around, she was heading full tilt down the hill toward the ranch house they’d stopped at.
He’d heard the old phrase “born to the saddle” a few times.Being a bit of a word purist, he’d thought it must be different than just experienced, competent, or even expert.
He’d been right.Because even as good as Nic was, she’d never made it look like this.Never made it look as if horse and rider were one being, with no visible commands needed because they were so melded, mind and body.With Nic there was no doubt who was in charge, who was giving the orders.With Riley Garrett, it seemed like no orders were needed.
She beat them by a good minute.By the time they pulled to a halt, she had already dismounted and was walking the horse toward them.Jeremy scrambled out of the car again and ran over to them.And immediately began patting the horse’s nose.
“Wow, he’s fast!”
“He is,” she agreed, smiling proudly now.
Jeremy’s head tilted in that way Miles knew meant he was trying to figure something out.“You said he was retired.That’s what my dad says about my grandpa and grandma.But doesn’t that mean you’re old?”
“Barrel racing is pretty hard on a horse.I retired him at five, after we broke fourteen seconds on a run.I retired from the circuit then, too.Figured we’d never top that.”
“I remember, in that video Nic showed me,” the boy said, a touch of awe in his voice.“She said that was a record.”
“It was.Still is, in a lot of places.So now he’s ten.That’s a bit old for a barrel racer, but not that bad for a horse.And as you saw, he can still turn it on.”Riley looked for all the world as if she were enjoying this greatly.“I told you his official name,” she began.
“An’ that you just call him King,” Jeremy said with a nod.
“Yes.But do you know what the people on the circuit, the ones we competed against, used to call him?”
“What?”
“King Kong.”
Miles guessed the reference was a bit lost on the soon-to-be eight-year-old, but it wasn’t lost on him, and he let out a full-on laugh.She gave him a sideways glance, as if the joke had been intended for him anyway.
“It’s an old movie about a giant ape on a destroying rampage,” he explained to Jeremy.“A film some people feel compelled to remake every few decades,” he added, rather dryly.
“Oh.”Jeremy shrugged and went back to petting the horse’s nose.
“You don’t sound happy about that,” Riley said.
