Chapter One
Riley O’Hare stepped out onto the porch of the two-story ranch house of Last Chance Ranch and halted, the screen door still in her hand. “Well, shit.”
Letting the door slam behind her, she jogged down the three steps to the hard-packed Arizona dirt and ran for the south corral. Cyclone, their resident Clydesdale, and technically Dr. Jenna’s horse, ran circles around the enclosure.
Looking over her shoulder, she scanned the area in front of the house. Only her pick-up truck sat there of the more than four that usually graced the yard. In her peripheral vision, she noticed dust on the dirt road to the ranch, but didn’t have time to focus.
It better be Cole. He was supposed to take Cyclone to the abandoned copper mine to pull out some fallen timbers. She’d flatly refused to go anywhere near the decrepit mine, so he’d agreed to do it. It was the perfect chore for Cyclone. If the big horse wasn’t given work to do at least every third day, he started breaking things. And she was the one who had to fix them.
Jumping onto the lower rail of the fencing, she waved her arm. “Cyclone! Come here, boy!” She just needed to break up his windup. From what she’d learned, he’d been well-named. The running in circles behavior was the precursor to major damage.
She tried again. “Cyclone!” Putting two fingers to her mouth, she let out a shrill whistle.
The Clydesdale slowed, bouncing his head once and looking at her.
“Come here, boy. I’ve got work for you.”
As if he knew she lied, he started to pick up the pace.
“Well, crap.” Jumping off the rail, she made a beeline for the barn. There had to be something in there for Cyclone to pull. Rounding the corner of the open barn doors, she grinned. “Perfect.” Jumping onto the four-wheeler, she turned the key they always left in it and drove out of the barn and straight for the corral.
A truck with a horse trailer pulled to a stop in front of the house. Hoping Manuel could handle the new horse and whatever its issues were until she could get Cyclone settled, she stopped the ATV and jumped off.
Unfortunately, Cyclone had stopped, too.
“No, Cyclone!” She brought her fingers to her lips once again, but she was too late. The big horse’s back legs lifted and he smashed the top rail of the corral. Wood flew everywhere, and she ducked. Then before the horse could gear-up for another kick, she climbed up on the fence post closest to him and jumped.
Grasping his mane, she cooed as he walked sideways. “Come on boy, I’ve got some work for—”
A strong arm grabbed her around the waist from behind and pulled her off to the side.
Not expecting that, she lost her grip on Cyclone and her full weight fell onto the person beneath her. They both went toppling to the ground inside the enclosure.
She rolled out of his grasp and jumped to her feet, more worried about the horse than the stranger lying on the ground inside the corral. Spotting Cyclone starting his circle run again, she brushed off her jeans before glaring at the cowboy now rising to his feet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Striding past him, she climbed over the corral fence and hopped back on the four-wheeler.
“What am I doing? I’m saving your neck.”
She barely spared him a glance as he picked up his cowboy hat and ran for the fence himself as Cyclone headed directly for him.
“If you want to help go get the collar harness hanging on the hook inside the barn while I keep him from jumping the fence.”
Not caring if the dark-haired stranger bothered to listen to her or not, she turned the machine on and drove it parallel to the broken fence to fill the gap. The last thing she needed was a runaway Cyclone.
Not sure what the horse would do next, she jumped off and watched as he approached. He trotted by as if the four-wheeler was another part of the corral.
Figuring she had about thirty seconds before Cyclone came around again, she turned her attention to the cowboy who approached, harness in hand. She pointed to the horse trailer. “Is the horse in there okay for a few more minutes?”
At his nod, she waved toward the ATV. “Good. Do you think you can hook that up to the ATV?”
His brow furrowed. “I just saw you drive it. Why would you need to tow it?”
Cyclone was coming around again. Either she needed to get back on his back or let him out. Otherwise, there’d be two fence rails to repair. “Just tell me, can you do it?” Irritation colored her tone, but she didn’t have time for pleasantries. Where the hell was Manny anyway?
The cowboy threw her a scowl before moving to the ATV.
She climbed on the fence. Maybe if she could interrupt the big horse’s stride, it might take him a bit to build up steam again. Jumping to the ground, she ran out in front of him, waving her arms. “Whoa, Cyclone!”
