Page 9 of Stables Spurs Suits
“You thinking of getting up on Loki?”
“Not yet, but that one there looks pretty sure-footed. What’s his name, then?” he asks, gesturing to the large black beauty under a nearby tree.
“Lucifer,” I reply, and he frowns.
“Okay, maybe not one that’s named after the devil. How about Gordon? Is he good for riding?”
“That donkey will kick you off and stomp on you in a second. Lucy is actually pretty sweet. He was named that because of the small, horn-shaped white patches on his head.”
Gordon’s the ranch donkey that thinks it’s a dairy cow and refuses to leave the herd when they’re being milked. Gramps created a harness for him to wear, so he can keep them company and pretend he’s actually being milked along with them.
“Oh, right. Okay. So why aren’t we taking horses?” he asks again, and I sigh.
“We don’t know what condition the ground is going to be in, or what path we’ll be taking through the trees, if we can get through at all in some sections. The grass is long, making it easy for snakes to hide in, and the last thing I want is to be calling the vet to rush over with antivenom, or worse, with something to put them down.”
“Oh, right. I didn’t think of that.”
“Wasn’t in your books, then?” I ask.
“Nope. So where do we start?” Wow, this guy just keeps on.
“Where else, but at the beginning. Once it’s completed, we’ll saddle the horses back at the stables, and then we’d have to bring the guests up the drive and along the front of the property, so we need to decide first, do we want the trail to start on the right or the left?”
“Well, probably best to start on the horse paddock side, right?”
“Why’s that?”
“Because guest parking is on the other side, so there are cars and possibly people not riding coming in or out of the ranch. It would be safer, wouldn’t it? Less likely to spook them too.”
I pause, taking in his reply. I half expected him not to have a reason. Okay, I wholly expected him not to have one. But he actually thought about the horses.
“Yeah, that’s true. Okay, so, we’ll start on this side. Let’s go.”
There is a pathway that runs all around Beaker Brothers Ranch, used for checking the outer fences, but it has gates sectioning off portions all the way around, and it isn’t great forlarger groups. We start right between it and the fence for the Royals’ property next door. They don’t have as much land as the Beakers, and are pretty much surrounded by it on two sides, but the border line moves at an angle, meaning we’ve got plenty of room for our horse trail. We step into the thick grass, and I’m grateful I’m wearing my tall boots and jeans. While clothing is usually the last thing I want against my skin, having some protection from the brush and possible snakes we’ll encounter is, in this case, a good thing.
“The maps show the land rises up a little on this side, which could be good to do at the start while the horses have more energy,” Matthew says from behind me.
“I’m more worried about how many trees we’d need to clear to make the path. Let’s focus on looking for the most open pathway through that’s at least twelve to sixteen feet across.”
“Connor has already told me to spare no expense with this trail, so he won’t mind paying to clear whatever we need to.”
I turn and look at him deadpan.
“These trees are more a part of this land than you or even me, so if we can avoid cutting down something that’s been here for generations, that’s something money can’t buy, don’t you think?”
“I was just saying—“
“I know what you were saying, but having the means to do something doesn’t mean you should be doing it, does it?”
“You’re right.”
“What was that?” I ask, cupping one ear and leaning toward him. A smile creeps onto his lips.
“I said you’re right.”
“I just had to be sure I wasn’t hearing things,” I chuckle.
“Okay, okay. Can we move on now?”
