Read Online Wild About the Wrangler by Vicki Lewis Thompson - Free Book Online

nose.
    â€œDo you think you’d ever want to ride him?” Georgie’s question caught her by surprise.
    â€œYou’d let me?”
    â€œOf course I would. You could ride Prince and I could ride Storm Cloud.”
    Anastasia smiled. “Did you hear that, Prince? My sis just invited me to go riding with her. That would be a first.”
    â€œI’d love it if you would, but I don’t want to rush things. Let me know when you’re ready.”
    â€œSee what I mean?” She glanced over her shoulder at Georgie. “You’re so careful with me. To most people, you’re this powerhouse with high expectations, but you’ve always treated me as if I might break. Why is that?”
    Georgie’s expression softened. “The easy answer is that I respect your talent, but the real truth is that from the start you liked me. So of course I wanted to take good care of you. I’d never had a sister before. Charmaine resented the hell out of me, but for some strange reason you didn’t.”
    â€œAre you kidding? I thought you were cool beans, riding around on Prince and cracking that whip. I was jealous, but I also wanted to be you.”
    â€œYou still want to learn how to use a whip?”
    â€œOh, God, yes. But I always figured I had to be able to ride first, like Zorro.”
    â€œNot necessarily.”
    â€œStill, it would make a good motivator. Once I’ve conquered the riding thing, we can move on to whip practice.”
    â€œIt’s a deal.” Georgie smiled. “Listen, I’m getting hungry. I’m all for this new direction of yours, but could we skip petting Storm Cloud for now and go cook up some pasta?”
    â€œWe could do that.” Anastasia gave Prince one last pat. “Catch you later, big guy.”
    As they walked back to the house, she sighed. “I’ve missed out on a lot, huh?”
    â€œYou mean because you didn’t want to have anything to do with horses?”
    â€œYeah. This is a horse-oriented town, especially now that the wild horses are so much a part of our growth.”
    â€œYou’ve sold a lot of pictures of the Ghost. That’s not what I call missing out.”
    â€œI’m not talking about economically. I mean being in sync with everyone else around here. The only other person I know who doesn’t like horses is my mother. She should like them because they’re the force behind escalating property values and the flood of tourists who buy my art. But she doesn’t.”
    â€œHer loss.” Georgie walked through the gate she’d left open and continued on up the flagstone walk.
    â€œI’m determined she’ll sell you that house someday.”
    â€œYou know, I think she will. She never liked Bickford. I think she hoped my father would expand his holdings and eventually outgrow the town. That was never going to happen, even if he’d lived.”
    â€œI really loved him.”
    Georgie’s voice grew husky. “Me, too. Still miss him.”
    â€œHe would have liked the idea of Wild Horse Canyon Adventures.”
    â€œI think he would have.” She opened the front door and ushered Anastasia into the cozy home she’d created. “But he’d hate the fact that Vince and I are living together and haven’t seen fit to stand before a preacher yet.”
    Anastasia followed her into the kitchen. “I hope you know the entire town is on pins and needles about the wedding date. Last I heard, somebody had started a pool for guessing the day, maybe even the time.”
    â€œSomebody?” Georgie put a large pan of water on to boil and took a box of pasta out of the cupboard. “Somebody by the name of Travis Langdon?”
    â€œThat would be the one.” Anastasia rummaged in the refrigerator. “I’ll put together the salad.”
    â€œThat would be great.” Georgie chopped veggies and dumped them into a frying pan.