Read Online Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch by Lynnette Kent - Free Book Online Page A

have a mount
he could depend on.”
    If anything, her
frown deepened. “You’re working as foreman on the New Moon Ranch?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
Nate’s attention had gone to the horses standing quietly inside the corral. “I
like the look of that buckskin, there.”
    But Willa
wouldn’t be diverted. “You worked on the Blue Moon for twenty years, Nate.”
    His dark gaze
swung back to hers. “Yes, ma’am, I did. Then Mr. Mercado, may he rest in peace,
fired me. I’m sure you remember that.” When Willa started to speak, Nate raised
a hand. “Now, I ain’t harboring hard feelings. What’s past is past. I heard
Major Trent, here, needed some help. I was getting tired of listening to myself
think and thought I might as well be doing something useful. So tell me about
the buckskin. How’s he go?”
    Willa blew out a
deep breath. “He’s hot,” she said, exaggerating only a little. “Needs an
experienced rider.”
    “Okay, how ’bout
the black-and-white pinto gelding on the rail? I like the look in his eyes.”
    She did, too.
She’d been thinking about keeping him for herself, since her favorite horse,
Montezuma, was turning twenty-two next year. He couldn’t keep working forever,
and the pinto would make a dependable cow pony.
    But selling
meant one less horse to feed this winter. The price would easily cover the
wages she’d paid out on the weekend. “He might be a good choice,” she conceded,
avoiding Daniel’s blue eyes. “Real smart, easy gaits, no tricks. I like him.”
    Nate nodded. “Let’s
put a saddle on him.”
    She called
Robbie, who brought a saddle and bridle out of the barn. Nate tacked up the
pinto without fuss, then pulled himself easily onto the horse’s back and
proceeded to put him through his paces.
    “He’s good,”
Daniel commented, coming up beside Willa as she propped her arms on the fence.
    “Nate spent
years on the rodeo circuit.” She didn’t look at him, but she could feel his
size, his warmth next to her. “He can ride anything with legs.”
    “I tried to tell
him you wouldn’t want to sell a horse to me.”
    Willa risked a
glance at his face and found that grin waiting for her. She fought the urge to
smile back and won, barely. “As long as you take care of him, I don’t have a
problem selling you the horse.”
    “Nice mover,”
Nate said, pulling up beside her at the fence. He swung his leg over the
saddlehorn and slid to the ground. “Major Trent, have a go.”
    Willa, watching
closely, saw Daniel swallow hard. “Sure,” he said, leaning his cane against the
fence post. “What’s his name?”
    “Calypso,” she
stuttered. “We call him Cal.”
    Inside the
fence, Daniel circled to Cal’s left side and put a hand on the gelding’s neck. “Hey,
there, Calypso. How’s it going?”
    “We’ll take him
out in the middle.” Nate headed the horse away from the fence. “Give you more
room to mount.”
    “Yeah, right.”
The soft comment came from Robbie, who’d joined Willa at the fence. “You might
as well call the ambulance now, Mom. This won’t be pretty.”
    “Hush.” Her urge
to defend Daniel surprised her. “He’s ridden before.”
    “Cal will take
care of him,” Susannah said from Willa’s other side. “He’s a good horse.”
    Toby squeezed in
between Willa and Robbie but didn’t say a word as Daniel took the reins in one
hand and put the other hand on the back of the saddle.
    “We’ve got a
mounting block,” Willa called. “We can bring it out…”
    Daniel gave a
single shake of his head. His knuckles tightened at the rim of the saddle, and
his shoulders lifted on a deep breath. He bent his left knee.
    Toby said, “That’s
not how—”
    Daniel gave an
awkward jump, which somehow landed him on his stomach in the saddle, with both
legs dangling on the horse’s left side. As they watched, he fumbled for the
stirrup with his left foot. Willa caught her breath—Cal wasn’t used to this
kind of mounting technique. Would he