“Not entirely.” He shifted his weight on his boots and readjusted her heavy saddle to support the bulk of it on his hip. “Who were you planning to ride today?”
“Alpine.” She spoke the horse’s name confidently like he hadn’t been the one to bruise and break her earlier that year.
“Has he even been ridden since your fall?” Spencer prodded. “Exercised?”
“It was a freak thing.” Her arms, now free of the saddle, folded defiantly over her chest. “He knows better than to do that again.”
“Would you be open to a suggestion?”
“I’m opening to hearing it, not guaranteeing I’ll take it, though.”
“How about I ride Alpine, and you take Bluebell?”
Nana Jo gave him a stern look. “You’re more comfortable having me ride a new horse than one that’s been with me for over seventeen years?”
“Yes, I am. I’ve been able to put a few more rides on her in the last week, and she’s as close to bombproof as possible. Plus, she’s had a rider on her back more recently than Alpine has,” he reasoned. “If you can honestly tell me you’d feel safer riding a horse that’s been out of work for as long as Alpine, over a well-trained, recently ridden one, then I’ll back off. But I need you to be honest with me.”
Nana Jo’s stance relaxed, and then her hands flew into the air. “Fine, fine. I’ll ride the new gal. But only because I’m curious to see if she really is as well-trained as you say.”
“Oh, she is, and then some.”
“But you better not give Alpine a hard time.”
Spencer scoffed. “You’re worried aboutmegiving that gelding a hard time? He’s the one that spooked, did a three-sixty, and dumped you off his back.”
“You’re making it sound like he did it on purpose.” It was as if Spencer was badmouthing one of her beloved grandchildren, the way Nana Jo defended the animal.
“I don’t mean to imply that he did. I know that horse has taken care of you well over the years. But something’s made him spookier lately, and I don’t think you should risk it. Let me ride him and see if I can figure out what’s going on,” he suggested. “Plus, if he dumps me off, I’ve got a lot more padding than you do. I’ll just bounce.”
“Someday you won’t,” she pointed out. “Someday you’ll wake up and realize the bones in the body you used to put all your faith in are fully capable of betraying you.”
He paused and gave his grandmother a long, thoughtful look. “Is that how you feel?”
“Spence, I look in the mirror most days and don’t even recognize the woman staring back. When did I get soold?”
He’d never thought of her that way. Sure, maybe she was starting to show some signs of aging on the outside, but her tenacity, her spirit, and her fire were still alive and well. She was so much more than her wrinkles, more than gray hair.
“I know I shouldn’t complain,” she said. “Growing old beats the alternative. But sometimes, that alternative doesn’t look so bad when it means I get to be with my beloved Harris again.”
It had been so long since Nana Jo had lost her husband, so long since their family lost its patriarch. Spencer wished for justone more moment with his grandfather. He’d ask him about the summers he used to spend as a teen in Wyoming. He’d learn the trails he used to take and the mountains he used to cover, if only to be able to live out his legacy and carry on with the grand adventure.
When Spencer moved away to try his hand at cattle ranching, he gave up that closeness he’d once shared with Grandpa Harris. They’d call (Grandpa never really got the hang of texting), but hearing his voice through the phone wasn’t the same as sitting across from him sharing a cup of coffee and a story about the good old days. There were times when Spencer wished he would have known life would lead him back to Snowdrift. Maybe he never should have left in the first place. But then again, the only reason he was able to come back and save the place was because he’d done well in ranching. Life had a way of working itself out.
“Well,” he said to his nana. “I understand the longing to be with Grandpa again. But I, for one, am glad you’re still here, with us. Not ready to give you up just yet, Nana.”
“I fear you’ll have a hard time getting rid of me. Doctor says I’m healthy as a horse.”
“Really?” That’s not exactly what he’d heard from Clara. “That so?”
“More or less.” She shrugged. “Even though this ticker’s still ticking,”—she hooked a thumb to her chest—“we shouldn’t dawdle. Not too much time before sundown and I’d like to eat dinner with my houseguests tonight. They’re a fun bunch, this group.”
With that, they tacked up their horses, mounted them, and set out on the trail.
Alpine was ornery, no way around it. Maybe it was the unfamiliar rider on his back that brought out his temper, but Spencer didn’t like it. He tugged on the reins to bring Alpine’s nose around to his boot each time the horse got jiggy or tooamped up. He’d stop and make the gelding do a circle when he would crow hop. Spencer was not going to put up with that nonsense today, no sir.
Thankfully, Bluebell was acting every bit the lady with Nana Jo on her back. He knew his grandmother wouldn’t admit it right off the bat, but an hour into their ride, she finally acknowledged the horse’s good behavior.
“She’s a gem,” she said when they came to the highest point on their acreage and took a break. “Not a mean bone in her body.”
