“I didn’t know you worked out here, Uncle Jem,” Joey said.
“A couple times a week,” Jem said. “I’ve been helping a lot since Codi’s been pregnant, and now that they have the baby.”
Joey looked over her shoulder toward the house. “I still haven’t held that baby.”
“They just got home yesterday,” Jem said. “From what Iunderstand, Tex and Abby brought a bunch of food over, and they just kept to themselves.”
“Probably the best with a newborn,” Adam said.
“Right.” Jem led them through saddling the horses, and Adam knew about four steps in that he would never be able to do this by himself, not even in an emergency. Maybe if he came to do it every single day, but that was what it would take for him to remember what all the pieces were and where they went. Thankfully, Jem got both horses saddled quickly, and he brought out a stool.
“All right, Roo,” he said. “Up you go.”
She stepped up onto the stool and then put her foot in the stirrup and swung her leg over, landing easily in the saddle, everything she did so fluid and graceful and easy. Adam weighed twice as much as her and suddenly felt like the biggest oaf on the planet.
“You want the stool?” Jem asked, looking at him.
“I mean….” A slip of embarrassment pulled through him as he looked over to Joey, who looked so regal sitting in the saddle. She’d worn a deep purple coat that day with her trademark splashy scarf and hat. His ears tingled with the cold, and he said, “Yeah, you better let me use the stool,” in a quick clip of a bark.
Jem grinned at him. “There’s no shame in using the stool, brother. Put your hand here.” He indicated the saddle horn. “You step up here, left foot in the stirrup, right leg over, and you’re in.”
Adam still had not found time to work out, but he hadfilled his house with things that required him to unbox, put together, move around, and he’d counted that as his exercise.
Please, dear God, he thought as he stepped up onto the stool.Don’t let me make a fool of myself in front of Joey.
He put his left foot in the stirrup as instructed, and pushed with his leg and pulled with his hands, and the next thing he knew, he sat in the saddle. He grunted, and Jem chuckled.
“Nice job, cowboy,” he said. He moved the stool out of the way and then walked in front of the horses to collect their reins. “You guys come on over here with me, and once we’re all saddled and ready, the horses will just all stick together.”
“Okay,” Adam said dubiously, but as the magnificent creature beneath him walked along with Jem, he looked over to Joey, a new glow starting inside him. “I’m riding a horse,” he said.
She grinned at him. “You’re riding a horse, cowboy.”
“You need a cowgirl hat,” he said.
“I used to have one when I was growing up.” She looked forward again, thoughtfully studying the horizon. “I’m not really an outdoor person. I like stargazing and watching the sunrise and sunset, but otherwise, give me a good book and a heated blanket and a bean bag and I won’t bother you for days.” She laughed, and Adam simply enjoyed the sound of it.
They joined the others who had their horses saddled already, with Boston and Mav waiting atop their horses, andBlaze, Trace, and Luke swinging up. The moment Jem arrived, he handed the reins to Joey and then to Adam. “You don’t really need to do anything. Just kind of hold ‘em loosely.”
“Okay, all right,” Adam said, and he watched as Jem catapulted himself onto his horse.
“We’re just following the trail over to Kassie’s,” he said. “She said she’d feed us breakfast, and Reggie’s got a horse he has to bring back to the ranch, so he’ll ride back with us.”
“Sounds good,” Blaze said. “Lead us out, Trace.”
Trace did so without complaint, and Luke moved his horse up by his brother as well. Adam wanted to fall to the back so that nobody could watch him, but Jem and Blaze refused to go after Mav and Boston, and Jem raised his eyebrows at Adam.
“How do I get it to move?” Adam asked.
“You getherto move,” Jem said, grinning. “By giving her a little nudge with your foot, and tellin’ her, ‘Come on. Let’s go.’”
Adam looked at Joey, and she looked at him, and they somehow had an unspoken pact to do it together. He looked forward, hoping and praying with all he had that he could get this animal to move.
He moved his right foot back, barely feeling the horse’s belly before he pulled his leg forward again, and said, “Come on. Let’s go.” The horse started to move in a slow, plodding way, but Adam had never felt such pride fill his chest.
“What’s her name?” he asked Jem.
“You’re on Cinnamon Toast,” Jem said from behind him. “Joey, you’re on Rainbow Bright.”
