Page 89 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
d to it and hoped that he hadn’t changed his mind in the last two minutes.
He started fiddling with a saddle. “We are.” He lifted the saddle off its post and slung it over a bench. “Come sit on this and see how it feels.”
“Oh, uh, me on a horse doesn’t seem like the safest activity to do first thing in the morning.”
“Just go with it.”
I hesitated. He give me a look that said, “I’m waiting.”
“Ugh. You have to drive me to the hospital when I fall off and break my ass.”
“I’ll break every speed limit on the way,” he deadpanned.
Swinging a leg over the saddle, I sank onto the hard seat. Silas poked around for a minute, and when he determined that it would fit—whatever that meant—I swung off to greet the dog that had just come into the barn.
“What’s your name?” I asked, rubbing behind its ears.
“That’s Dolly. She’s Mom’s dog.”
“Hey, Dolly. Your name fits you perfectly. You are a doll.” She had a face that would melt your heart. Half of it was solid black and the other was a marbled gray, like the rest of her coat. Her dark brown eyes were friendly and complemented her gentle nature.
“Okay, babe. Come on over and meet Lulu.”
Hesitantly, I approached the stall where Silas was standing. Inside was a beautiful red horse with a thin white stripe on her nose. She was, thankfully, much smaller and less intimidating than Courage, who was glaring at me from the next stall over.
“Hi, Lulu.” I touched her cheek like Silas had showed me.
“She’s a sweet old mare,” he said, running a weird circular comb over Lulu’s back. “You’ll like riding her.”
“You should know, Mr. Grant, that I’m not the kind of girl that would get bucked off a horse and get right back on. If she ditches me, my horse-riding days are over. Forever. You hear me, Lulu?”
Silas’s hand froze as he stared at me blankly. Then he bent forward and burst out laughing.
“He thinks I’m kidding?” I asked the horse.
Still laughing, Silas stood and leaned forward to plant a hard and fast kiss on my lips. “Babe, if Lulu bucked you off, which she won’t, but if she did, you’d be so pissed off that the first thing you’d do is tell her to ‘fuck off, bitch’ and then climb right back on just to show her who’s boss. My Lis is not a quitter.”
That praise gave me goose bumps. I blushed and smiled, like I usually did at his compliments, but this time I didn’t try to hide it. And because I didn’t, I got a gift. Silas’s gorgeous smile shined back, his eyes sparkling with tiny stars.
I’d never shy away from him again.
He gave me another quick kiss before handing me the metal ringed comb. “This is a curry comb. Just brush her back and sides so that the hair lays flat.”
“Like this?” I mimicked what I’d seen him do.
“Yep.”
After the combing was done, he showed me how to get Lulu saddled up, narrating his instruction as he demonstrated. The lesson was unnecessary. I promptly forgot everything he’d showed me because I was too nervous about the ride itself to absorb the saddling process. Maybe once I had some hours in the actual saddle, I would care more about putting one on.
I hung with Dolly while Silas got Courage ready to go, and when he pulled his horse out of his own stall, the butterflies in my stomach turned to angry hornets.
“Grab her reins and follow me,” Silas said.
I could do this. I could ride a horse. And if it doesn’t work out? I’d just tell Silas that I was taking Big & Rich’s advice to “save a horse, ride a cowboy.” Since he was the cowboy, I doubted he’d object too strongly.
Silas walked out of the barn first and I followed with Dolly right at my side. Lulu’s nose nudged my arm a couple of times when my steps became too slow for her liking.
“All set?” Silas asked after making some final adjustments to my saddle. I nodded and smiled even though I felt like puking. He positioned me in the right place and helped me get my foot in the stirrup, and then with one fast hoist and spin, I was sitting on top of a horse.
