“See? What did I tell you?”
“Glad I took a chance on her.” Nana Jo leaned forward to pat the blue roan on her neck. She combed her fingers through the mare’s dark mane. “She was worth it. A real sweetheart.”
“Alpine, on the other hand.” It was still a battle of wills between Spencer and Alpine. The gelding tried to tug free from his reins to reach down and grab a bite from a nearby bush. Spencer tightened his grip on the leather and pulled the horse’s head back up. “Have you been letting him get away with all of this?” Spencer did another full circle, forcing the horse to pay attention to his cues.
“He’s being exceptionally ill-mannered with you today.”
“I don’t like it.” Spencer had little patience for horses whose antics put their riders in danger.
“I can see why you came off of him.”
Spencer considered himself a skilled rider with a sticky seat in the saddle, but even he felt himself lift when Alpine would test him with a crow hop every now and again.
“Have you had someone come out to the ranch to look at him?” he asked. “I’ve never seen him this unhappy to be put to work.”
“I haven’t, but I probably should. I agree, it’s not like him to be so fussy.”
“Makes me think there might be an underlying issue. He’s almost acting like he’s in pain.”
Yes, horses were sometimes naughty just for the sake of being stubborn, but this was more than that. Alpine clearly wanted to avoid being ridden at all costs.
And Spencer had the good sense not to test a horse that might be acting out due to pain.
He swung his leg back over the gelding and dismounted.
“You’re walking him?” Nana Jo asked, stunned.
“I’m certainly not going to ride him.”
“Let me, then.” She was about to get down from Bluebell. “I can handle him.”
“I assure you, it’s not that I can’t handle him. But I’m not about to ride a horse that’s this uncomfortable. I know Alpine. He’s a good boy. But this? This isn’t him. He’s clearly not wanting to be ridden for some other reason. I’d rather not find out by being dumped to the ground.”
“You’re going to teach him that if he acts up enough, he gets his way.” Nana Jo was looking down at her grandson, and for a moment Spencer couldn’t help but feel likehewas the one being disciplined.
“I’m unwilling to put myself in danger—or put you and Bluebell in harm’s way—if it is actually pain causing this sort of response from him. I know you’re of the mindset that if you get bucked off, you get back in the saddle. And most of the time I would agree with you. But I’d rathernotget bucked off to begin with, and my gut is telling me this horse isn’t just being a pill to be a pill. There’s more going on than we can see. I’m not getting back on him today. You good with that?””
At the end of the day, Alpine was his grandmother’s horse, so Spencer figured she had final say. He almost didn’t want to give her the option to disagree.
She thought on it for a moment, then something softened in her gaze when she looked at her old horse.
“I’m good with that.” She nodded. “I agree, he’s not acting like himself. And you’re a lot of weight to carry around if he really is in pain.”
“Hey,” Spencer said, chuckling. “I resent that.”
“I think you mean yourepresentthat.”
“I’m not that big of a guy.”
Bluebell was starting to nod off, her long face dipping closer to the ground with every head bob. Alpine was trying the same, slowly lowering his head to grab another bit of grass, but Spencer wouldn’t allow it. Theonlyreward the horse would receive was a riderless walk back. No treats, no snacks.
“You’ve turned into quite the strapping young man, Spencer. All the young ladies say so.”
His chin tugged back. “Who is saying this?”
“For starters, the bachelorettes back at the ranch house. One of them even asked if you had a girlfriend. They’re a cute bunch.”
He couldn’t explain why this information made something sink inside him. Was he really expecting to hear his grandmother say Trinity’s name? No, of course not. But there had been a small portion of himself that had hoped to hear it, he supposed. Because hearing that the women at the house thought he was handsome did nothing to him. Didn’t faze him one bit. He wasn’t interested.
