Special K tells me this as we meet up outside the stables in the early afternoon sunshine.We’ve just saddled and mounted our horses, ready to head to the east foothills to check on the steers.
“What do you mean I shouldn’t ride?”
“You’re distracted,” Joe offers.
I can’t decide who I should chew out first, but since it’s been only a few hours since I laid into Special K, I decide to address my right-hand dude, Joe Valencia.He’s the first person I met when I came to Sweetbriar.He told Jamie I had a way with horses and advised him to hire me on the spot.And we’ve worked side by side ever since.He’s a dear friend.
“Imma have to kick your ass,” I tell him.
Joe smiles and shrugs.“Kevin’s right.We’ve both noticed that you seem a little off your game lately.We’re just looking out for you.”
“You’re both nuts.I can ride distracted.I can ride backwards.I can ride with no hands.I can ride saddled or bareback or deaf or blind or hungover or—”
“We get it,” Special K says.“You’ve been on a horse a few times.It’s just not wise for you to be onthishorse at this particularmoment.”
It’s colder than a witch’s tit today, and our breath hangs in the air as we argue.Declan texted me an hour ago saying he’s on his way back from San Diego.I can’t wait until I sit in front of the fire with him, snug in my little cabin.
Our little cabin.
What I’m hearing is that Joe and Special K are worried about the four-year-old stallion I’ve saddled up for work.He’s definitely a handful, which may be why Finn named him BeelzeBob.But I’ve been riding bad-mannered horses since I was four years old, and I’m not scared of temperamental Bob here, even if he’s been giving me a hard time for a while now.
He’s a stallion who’s too strong—and strong-willed—for his own good.And since we returned from Las Vegas, Bob’s become a complete butthead.He now thinks that because I weigh so much less than Special K or Finn or Joe, he doesn’t have to take me seriously.
He’s wrong about that, of course, and I don’t mind showing him just how much he’s misjudged me.
They’re both staring at me.
“I’m going with you two.Do you know why?”
K sighs.He knows what’s coming.
“BecauseI’mthe one who decides if I’m too distracted to work, not you two bozos,” I tell them.
CHAPTER 38
Summer
“I’m asking you to reconsider,” K says.“Joe and I can handle this.It’s cold.Head home and wait for Declan, and then you can do whatever it is you do up there.”He raises a hand, gloved palm out.“No details.I like being ignorant.”
“You’re ignorant, all right.”I sit up straighter in the saddle, and the stallion bucks a little.I settle him down quickly enough.All it takes is a subtle change of posture and one low, soft word of reassurance.
“But you need to drop it, K.You stick to your Navy SEAL shit, and I’ll stick to horse shit.”
Joe laughs.“More like horse shit sticks to you, Summer!”
I kick the stallion into a canter and take off past the stables.Sometimes the only way to put an end to the mansplaining is to keep moving.It works this time, for sure.They follow me without saying another word.
The cold spurs the stallion on.He’s testing me constantly, but I’m in control.I laugh out loud with the fun of it.I won’t argue that I’m distracted, because going from virgin to vixen takes a lot out of a girl.But I’ll argue for as long as necessary if a man claims I can’t handle a difficult horse.
We crest the ridge and look down.It’s just as we expected.We’re ten head short, and we know why before we even investigate.
They’re in the trees.They were seeking shelter, found it, and then couldn’t get out of it.
I love cows, but boy are they ever dumb.
“This won’t take all of us,” Special K says.“You go back and warm up.”
“Warm up?”I ask.“Since when have I become so delicate?”
