She gave the horse a kiss to cover. “We need you to fight through the winter blues, Copper. We need sleigh rides. Without you, we can’t make December and if we don’t make December…” She pressed her lips to his ear. “You’ll be boarded somewhere, and no one will be happy.”
He took one step.
“There you go, there,” she said encouragingly. “Let’s try it again.”
She tugged his bridle and stepped forward slowly. One step. Another. Copper watched her, his massive hooves unmoving.
“C’mon,” she coaxed. “Weight on your downhill foot.”
Jack laughed again. “At least you were listening yesterday.”
“Not as well as he is,” she crooned to Copper. “Now do better than I did, big boy. Another step. And another.”
He did, making the bells jingle softly, but he ignored it, clearly mesmerized by Nicole’s voice.
Copper licked his lips. Nicole placed the peppermint on her palm and held it out again. “What else do you say on that mountain, Dad?”
“Trust your body,” he answered. “It knows what to do. Pick a line and follow. Eyes ahead, not at your feet. Focus, focus.”
She raised a hand to thank him, repeating all the words to her horse. Slow, soft, with the same loving tone her father had used with her on the slopes. For a few beats, Copper stayed very still, then a single hoof shifted.
Nicole exhaled. “That’s it. Good boy. Trust yourself, baby. Just…” She threw a look at Dad.
“Trust your body,” he said. “Trust the snow. Trust the skis.”
She laughed softly. “Trust the sleigh,” she said instead. “Go with the rhythm. Follow, follow, here you go…”
She stepped forward, keeping an even pace with the horse’s shoulder. The harness creaked as Copper slowly leaned into it.
“You want this,” she murmured, remembering back years to her own training. Before she deeply feared snow and skis and being buried alive. “Youknowyou want this, Copper. Steady…steady…”
Copper’s hooves crunched forward in the snow, dragging the sleigh with a soft groan of iron runners.
“We’re moving!” Dad said in a loud whisper, as if any actual noise could bring it all to a stop.
Nicole smiled wide, warmth flooding her chest. “That’s my boy. You’re doing it.”
Copper let out a soft nicker, his tail swishing. One slow step turned into two. Then three. Nicole kept alongside him, whispering praise, offering the occasional peppermint reward.
They reached the curve of the drive just as Red appeared, stomping through the snow like a mountain king.
He stopped short, his bushy brows shooting up as he rubbed his bald head. “Well, I’ll be. Is that Copper pulling that sleigh?”
Jack waved a gloved hand. “Sure is. Nic got him going.”
Red clapped his hands together. “Hot diggity dog, Nicky. Nice work. Mind if I hop on?”
Nicole stepped back, still grinning. “Be my guest. I’ve got to get back to work anyway. Think you can do this without me?”
Jack tilted his head. “Not as well, but we’ll try.” He added that Jack Kessler smile that she knew so well. The one that used to greet her at the bottom of every hill, the one that oozed pride and support and love. She loved that smile.
“Well done, young lady,” he said with a wink.
She nodded, her throat thick with how much she loved and missed her father, and how supportive he’d been her whole life. Had he been disappointed that she’d quit skiing? Yes, but he never stopped being an amazing father.
“Have fun,” she said, her voice taut. “And be careful!”
“We got this, girlie,” Red assured her as he climbed aboard with a grunt and a creak.
