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

stand still?
    Nate had hold of
the bridle and reins, but Calypso sidled several steps under Daniel’s weight. Willa
didn’t know whether to offer help or simply watch disaster unfold.
    “Mom…” Susannah
gripped her arm. “He’s going to fall.”
    “I told you,”
Robbie said.
    But then
Daniel’s boot slipped into the stirrup. Using the extra support, he
straightened his arms, as in a push-up, over the horse’s back. With Calypso
fidgeting underneath him, he swung his stiff right leg from the hip—up, up and
over the horse’s hindquarters. Finally, he lowered his seat carefully onto the
saddle.
    Willa thought
her knees might collapse in relief. Daniel leaned forward and patted Calypso on
the side of the neck. “Good boy,” he said. “We’re going to get along fine.”
    Nate spent a
minute adjusting the right stirrup to accommodate Daniel’s stiff leg, then
stepped back with his hands on his hips. “Take him for a spin.”
    Daniel grinned. “Not
literally, I hope.” First at a walk, then a jog and a lope, he rode Calypso
around the corral—not always in balance, not completely in control, but Cal’s
good manners made up for what his rider lacked in technique.
    Robbie turned
away from the fence. “It’ll happen,” he predicted. “Hope somebody’s there to
pick up the pieces. Come on, Suze. We gotta finish cleaning the stalls.”
    “I’m coming.” Susannah
started to follow but looked back just as Willa glanced her way. There was no
mistaking the stars in the girl’s eyes. She’d contracted a serious case of hero
worship.
    Terrific, Willa thought. That makes two of
them.
    Daniel
dismounted with more speed and less effort than he’d needed to get on and led
the horse back to Willa without Nate’s help. “I think Cal and I can work
together.” He rubbed the pinto’s nose. “I guess we’ll be buying a horse trailer
sometime this week and we’ll pick up Calypso then, if that works for you.”
    “Sure.” Watching
him walk away with Nate, she thought she saw the toll his ride had taken in the
way he leaned on the cane. How would he manage the daily grind of ranch work,
if a few minutes in the saddle took such effort?
    “He’s really
strong,” Toby said in an awed voice. “Trick riders do stuff like that.”
    “Sometimes.” The
silver truck disappeared toward the main road in a cloud of dust. For the first
time since Daniel arrived, Willa felt like she could breathe easily.
    Toby followed
her toward the barn. “I’ve ridden Cal. I could help him.”
    “Nate works for
Major Trent, Toby. He doesn’t need our help.”
    “But—”
    “You’ve got your
own chores to do here, plus homework. When do you have time to help anybody
else?”
    She reached the
barn door, only to realize that Toby had stopped quite a distance behind her. “Are
you coming?” she asked. “I want to check the fence line in the south pasture. We
can take Patches and Monty out for an afternoon run.”
    He shook his
head. “I have homework.” Turning on his heel, her son stalked in the direction
of the house, leaving Willa with no doubt of what he thought about her reasons
for being a bad neighbor.
    And the
really sad thing, she thought as she saddled her horse, is that he’s absolutely right.
     
    S HORTLY AFTER
SUNRISE on Tuesday,
Daniel had just nailed up a new board to replace one of the broken pieces in
the corral when he heard the sound of hoofbeats coming up the road. He
straightened his back, groaning a little, to see Rob Mercado approach on his
tall black horse, with Calypso jogging close behind.
    “Good morning.”
Daniel lifted a hand in greeting. “You didn’t have to deliver Cal—we would have
come to get him.”
    “My mom told me
to bring him up here.” Rob held out Cal’s lead rope, and Daniel limped over to
take the horse. Looking around, the boy shook his head. “You sure got a lot of
work to do.”
    “That’s right,”
Nate said, coming out of the barn. “And we could use some strong