“I guess we can give it a shot. Tonight, let’s just work on getting comfortable around a horse again, okay?” He cocked his head, studying me like he was trying to figure me out. Good luck with that. I’d been trying to dig into my inner psyche all my life and still had no idea about some of the things that made me tick.
“Thank you.” I reached out and grabbed hold of his arm, excited he’d agreed. Even through the long sleeve shirt he had on, I could feel the muscles in his forearm flex. This man was the real deal. He’d probably spent his entire life around horses. If he couldn’t help me, then I’d have to consider myself a lost cause.
“Don’t thank me yet.” The edges of his lips tipped up in a smile as he backed toward the horse trailer. “I brought Trixie with me tonight. She’s as gentle as they come. I’ll get her out of the trailer so the two of you can meet.”
My pulse jumped like a jackrabbit zigzagging across an open field as I followed him to the trailer. He swung the door open, and the hinges creaked. Jake disappeared inside and slowly backed the big horse out until she had all four feet on the ground.
I froze. It had been fifteen years since I’d been this close to a horse. She was huge, much bigger up close than I remembered. Trixie blew out a breath and even from half a dozen feet away, I could feel it. Part of me wanted to reach out and skim my fingers over her soft nose. When I was younger, there had been nothing like snuggling into the neck of my favorite horse and breathing in her sweet scent.
“You okay so far?” Jake asked. He held the lead loosely in one hand and ran his palm over Trixie’s neck with the other.
“So far, so good.” Melting down in front of a stranger wasn’t an option. I tried to break up the huge ball of anxiety gathering momentum in my gut. Trixie shifted her weight from one leg to the other and swished her tail.
“Do you want to touch her?” Jake eyed me with apprehension. I didn’t blame him. He had no idea what he was getting himself in for when he agreed to work with me.
I nodded, even though warning bells blared in my head. The best way to get past an obstacle was to blow right by it. Wasn’t that what my dad had always taught me? My brothers sure didn’t seem to have any trouble with that. I’d always been more cautious, though. More sensitive, my dad used to say. In his eyes, that made me weak. He’d never said as much, but I could tell by the way he treated me. When I couldn’t bring myself to get back up on a horse after my accident, he was the one who’d suggested sending me away.
Dredging up the past wouldn’t do me any good right now. Not with a huge horse staring at me and a cowboy wondering what the hell was wrong with me.
I forced my foot forward a step. Then another. When I was about two feet away from the gorgeous mare, I reached up to touch her cheek.
“There you go.” Jake moved closer and took hold of the halter. “She likes it when you scratch right between her ears.” He lifted a hand to demonstrate. Trixie lowered her head to give him better access.
“How long have you had her?” I asked, summoning enough courage to flatten my palm and run it down Trixie’s neck.
“She belongs to Tassy Calhoun and has been on the ranch for the past ten years. Rescued her from a horse auction right before she was about to be put down.”
“Oh no.” My heart ached for the beautiful mare. My dad had talked about those auctions in the past. I’d never understood how someone could give up on an animal and sell them off, knowing what kind of end waited for them. Not all of them ended up being put down, but enough of them did that it made me want to do something about it.
I almost snort-laughed. That would be something… a woman who could barely stand to touch a horse trying to rescue a bunch of them.
“You’re a good girl, aren’t you?” Clearly Jake was talking to the horse, but the gruff edge in his voice made me wonder how it would feel for him to say those same words to me. He wasn’t like the men I typically dated. The term “salt of the earth” came to mind. Jake was a real cowboy—I could tell by the way he handled himself and the way he handled the horse.
Trixie swung her head toward me and I stepped to the side, bumping right into Jake’s chest. He gripped my arm to steady me.
“You okay?”
“Yes. Sorry about that. She surprised me, that’s all.” I could have moved, but being around Jake had a calming effect. This close, I could see the whiskers that made up his five o’clock shadow. Could catch the faint scent of soap that drifted off his skin. Could feel the hardness of his chest pressing against my back.
He stepped away first. “I don’t want to push you outside your comfort zone, Roxy. This is probably enough for tonight.”
A wave of disappointment washed over me, but I nodded. “Okay.”
I’d had enough of Trixie for one night, but was starting to think I might never get quite enough of Jake.
3
JAKE
With the holiday parade coming up in just a few weeks, Roxy wanted to set up a few times to get together over the next couple of days. I’d been upfront with her when we met and told her I worked from dawn to dusk six days a week at the ranch. That woman was nothing if she wasn’t persistent. Before I loaded Trixie back up in the trailer, I’d somehow agreed to meet up with her over lunch this afternoon and again Thursday night after I wrapped up my workday.
I’d been riding the fence line this morning, checking for damages that might need repairs. Usually, I’d ride my regular mount, but today I’d brought Trixie. My goal was to get Roxy up in the saddle today, even if she only lasted a couple of minutes. I still felt entirely unqualified to help her get past her fear, but she didn’t seem to be the type of woman who wanted to take advice from a stranger on that front.
For the time being, I was more than happy to take her money. Knowing I’d have that rocking chair for Mama Mae for Christmas was worth the few hours of my time I’d spend getting Roxy Swisher re-acclimated to riding. I’d told her to meet me off the dirt road near the western edge of the property today. Her fancy four-door sedan was parked right where I’d expected. She leaned against the hood, her blonde hair stirring in the light breeze.
“I was starting to think you might be ghosting me.” She pushed off the car and walked toward me.
“No chance of that.” I swung down from the saddle and shifted the reins to lead Trixie closer. “I thought we could try getting you up in the saddle today.”
