Read Online Reclaimed by Jennifer Rodewald - Free Book Online Page A

light of his approval. It would have been faster, easier, if he’d simply saddled her father’s mare for her, and they’d set off. But he seemed to understand her desire to learn, to be able to manage on her own. He seemed to commend it.
    Pulling the leather strap through the ring, Suzanna smiled. Paul should have been the last person to seek her as a friend. She’d been at her worst with him. Presumptuous, stubborn, and outright rude. Why had he pursued reconciliation? What was in it for him?
    “Around the D ring.” He guided her hand as she looped the strap against itself. “Right. Now pull it tight.”
    Done. She tugged on the cinch around the animal’s girth. Two fingers slid snuggly between leather and hide, just as Paul instructed.
    “Is it set?” she asked.
    “Looks good.” He squeezed her shoulder as if congratulations were in order. “Are you set?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    She slipped her dusty boot into the stirrup Paul had shortened for her and tugged herself upward. Settling in the saddle felt strange. It rode different than the English gear, but it wasn’t the equipment that spiraled discomfort through her gut.
    Visions of her mother trotting in a manicured arena took her back ten years. Always the quintessence of perfection, Katrina Wilton graced her riding suit with enviable beauty.
    A single scene, forever etched in Suzanna’s memory, played. Mother cantered exquisitely, circling the course once and then entering the jump pattern. She performed with excellence and finished the exercise with a wide grin. Her eyes gleamed with something more than pride, and her stare settled on Mr. Pembroke. Their gazes held, too long for comfort, too intense for a married woman and her single trainer, too intimate for her teenage daughter to witness.
    Something was not right. Suzanna should have known her world would crumble in the near future, but it didn’t matter much. What was a seventeen-year-old supposed to do with that, anyway?
    Paul relieved her of the memory, pulling his mount to a stop short of the gate. “South or west, Suz?”
    She scanned the landscape, forcing resentment into a dark corner of her soul. Maybe she could let go of the hurt if the anger stayed chained and out of the way.
    Yellows and oranges called an invitation. Suzanna loved trees, especially in the fall. “Can we go by the creek?”
    “You bet.” Paul dismounted and made for the gate.
    Leaning into the cedar post with his shoulder, he pulled the loop over the corner post, and the barbed wire went slack. So, that’s how that was done. Suzanna had buzzed around her property on the four-wheeler Daddy had kept in the barn, but she hadn’t been able to open the gate so she could explore the pastures.
    Paul pulled the gate back and handed Suzanna the mare’s reins. She led his horse into the pasture and dismounted as well.
    “Can I have a go?”
    He had the post set in the ground loop but stepped back to let her take over. She leaned just as he had, but the loop fell short. She reset her boots and tried again. Still, a no-go. Her third effort proved successful, though it cost her a little sweat.
    “Attagirl.” He patted her helmet.
    Suzanna breathed out a chuckle, and they both remounted.
    “They make a cheater for the fence, if you want one.” Paul nudged his horse, and they set in motion. “There’s no shame in it. Several ranchers use them, especially with the gates they open often. I’ll go with you to the feed store on Sunday after church, if you want. They usually have them in stock.”
    Church. Nothing magical happened last week. Of course, she and Paul weren’t on friendly terms then, either. Not that he could make or break a worship service. But maybe she could give it another try. Her dad would want her to.
    Paul stayed quiet as they descended a gentle slope. The trees met the terrain at the leveling point, and the creek gurgled quietly under a kaleidoscope of fall hues. They followed a game trail cut parallel to the