“First bit of information,” Cash said as Tracy pulled her notepad and pen out of her jeans pocket. “You’ve got barbecue sauce on your lip.”
“Oh no.” Tracy didn’t have a tissue. Not only that, she realized she’d left her lipstick and cinnamon mints in her purse. So, no lipstick and maybe barbecue breath for the rest of the afternoon. Swell. To rid herself of the barbecue sauce, she slowly ran her tongue around her upper and lower lips. Then she puckered them for Cash to see. “How’s that?”
“Hot.”
“What?”
With a grin tugging on one side of his mouth, Cash replied, “Let’s saddle you up.” Like his wranglers were doing, he began showing her how it was done. “This is a trail saddle and weighs about twenty-five pounds.” He swung it onto the pad resting on the horse’s back and secured it in place. Pulling the reins to the horses over their heads, he handed Tracy the reins to the filly she hadn’t planned to ride. Holding on to Captain’s reins, Cash swung his hand toward the oversized door to the stables leading outside. “After you.” When Tracy stood unmoving, he said, “You realize you missed a good amount of the tutorials.”
“I know. I apologize for being so rude.”
“You have to stay focused around here to remain safe,” Cash said seriously. Tracy knew it was an opening for her to confide in him. It was the second time he’d offered, the first being when he asked her if everything was okay and if he could help. “Think you can do that?”
“Yes, sir.” That came out more flippantly than she’d intended. With a smile, she saluted. That only seemed to make things worse as Cash grimaced. To move past the awkwardness she asked, “Shall I get on the horse now?”
“We don’tsaddle upinside the stables. Should the horsebuck or bolt, it’s safer to mount out in the open. Tug on the reins and the horse will follow you.”
“Oh.”
Tracy couldn’t remember having made such a horrible first impression anywhere as she had on Triple C Ranch-East. Hoping not to do anything else stupid, wrong, or rude, she took a step and tugged on the reins. The beautiful horse followed her just like Cash said she would. They walked their horses out of the stables. Tracy listened intently to Jeff and Sam who took turns demonstrating and explaining how to mount the horses. Wranglers stood by, offering hands-on help as needed. When the ladies began saddling up, Tracy took a deep breath, hoping she would saddle up correctly.
“Okay, Spitfire,” Tracy said and glanced at Cash. “Let’s do this.”
“Talk to me as you mount,” Cash suggested.
“Hold both reins in my left hand just above the withers,” she repeated what Sam had said and touched the highest part of the filly’s back, at the base of her neck. “Along with the reins, grab a handful of mane. This prevents excess pressure on Spitfire’s mouth and saddle.”
“Good,” Cash said, standing a few feet from her.
“Turn the stirrup iron toward me and slide my left foot in?”
“Correct.”
Tracy grabbed the filly’s mane and recalling what Jeff had said, she recited, “Point my left foot down, so as not to kick her in the side and give myself a bounce on my right foot. Stand up in the left stirrup and swing my right leg over her—what was it?”
“Croup. The croup is the highest point of a horse’s hindquarters,” Cash reminded her. “Do that and you’ll be in the saddle.”
“Let’s hope.” Tracy nodded. She slid her foot into the stirrup, hopped, and swung her right leg as told. With a grin, she was sitting on top of the horse. “Woo hoo!”
“Right foot in the stirrup?”
“Oh right.” She looked down her right side and found the stirrup. “Now it is.”
“Yeehaw,” Cash said and mounted Captain.
“Yeehaw!” Tracy hoped she sounded confident.
She was scared but determined to improve her image in Cash’s eyes. Not just for her sake, but for that of the magazine. She glanced at Jacob who was smiling as he trotted up to her on the gelding called Chief. She noticed Donna, staring at Cash. Tracy’s gaze also drifted back to Cash. His vibrant blue eyes met hers and when winked at her, Tracy’s heart skipped a beat. Sam offered to let anyone who wanted to practice, by riding around in the corral, the opportunity to do so. Otherwise, they were headed down a back road of the ranch. Everyone voted to head onto the back road, rather than be cooped up in the corral. Jeff took the lead and the horses began to move. At this point, Tracy and Cash were in the rear of the group of guests and wranglers.
“You do well on this ride and I’ll help you feed the chickens,” Cash said. “What do you think, spitfire?”
“Spitfire thinks you’ve got yourself a deal.”
Cash gave Tracy a cocky, sideways grin. “Does she?”
“Yes, she does,” Tracy said, carefully leaning forward to pat the horse’s mane.
As Captain walked forward, Tracy’s horse followed him on her own. Tracy recalled Cash saying Captain liked Spitfire’s spirit. Obviously, Spitfire liked Captain’s spirit too.
