I put my hand over my mouth.
"You think you could work with him again?" Ellis asked. "I know it's a lot to ask, being out in the middle of?—"
"It's not a lot to ask," I said. My voice came out remarkably steady. "I'm actually—I'm in the area right now. Visiting family."
"Perfect timing."
"It really is," I said.
Sawyer was shaking with silent laughter beside me. I shoved his shoulder. He caught my hand and held it.
"Read the script," Ellis said. "I'm sending it now. Don't let your agent talk you into anything before you read it yourself."
“Got it,” I said. I paused, not sure how to feel or react or…well, anything. “Thanks, Ellis. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“No problem,” she said. “Talk soon.”
Then she just hung up.
I looked at Sawyer.
“Guess I’m gonna be putting you through your paces this winter, huh?” he asked.
My eyes flitted down to his waist, then back to his face.
“Guess you are,” I said.
NINE
Sawyer
"Easy…yep, you've got it. That's right."
Bishop moved at a steady lope around the paddock, Daniela balanced and loose in the saddle in a way that would have been unimaginable six weeks ago. She'd been stubborn about it at first—too much in her head, too much performance—but somewhere around the second week of January she'd stopped thinking and started feeling and after that she'd come on fast.
Faster than anyone I'd trained who hadn't grown up on horseback.
I wasn't going to tell her that yet. She'd get smug about it.
"Okay," I called out. "Bring him down to a trot."
She shifted her weight, subtle, and Bishop responded. Good. She was learning to speak his language instead of forcing the conversation.
She came around the near side of the paddock and pulled up at the fence, cheeks pink from the January cold, hair in a braid down her back.
"Well?" she said.
"Not bad."
Her eyes narrowed. "Not bad?"
"For January."
"I am significantly better than not bad."
"You're better than you were."
"That's not—" She pointed at me. "You're doing the thing where you won't give me a compliment because you think it'll make me sloppy."
