He fastened the horse’s lead to a post beside a metal tub. As the horse started to drink some water, Ryder noticed me standing there, and his face lit up in a radiant smile.
He said something to the horse before jogging over to me. “Hi there, baby,” he called. “You look like a Disney princess with all those animals around you.”
Ryder took off his cowboy hat and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “I just got done putting Barbie through his paces,” he said, when he reached me. “He won’t let me ride him,but he has a lot of energy to burn, so I make sure he gets a good workout every day.”
I couldn’t begin to imagine how a horse worked out. Also, I had to ask, “Is that giant horse really named Barbie?”
“His previous owner called him Barbarian. Horses learn and respond to their names, so I didn’t want to completely change it. But I also didn’t want him to be stuck with a name that has a negative connotation.”
“Do you think you’ll ever be able to ride him?”
“For sure. He’s only been with me for three weeks, and he’s already learning to trust me.”
I put down the chihuahua and gestured at the chickens and goat. Cujo wasn’t growling anymore, but he was still showing me his teeth. “I’m not sure if you had some kind of prison break, but these guys started following me when I came outside.”
“Some of my animals get to roam free during the day—the ones that know not to wander off and put themselves in danger. Goatie Hawn, Hen Stefani, and Hennifer Lopez never go far. Most of the time, they hang out on the front porch.”
“Excellent names.”
“Thank you.”
“Why didn’t Jeff get a punny name?”
“His previous owner named him. I got to name the ladies, because all of them were born here on the ranch.”
“At the risk of sounding like a hopeless city slicker, I’d never seen a chicken, goat, or donkey in person before today.”
He asked, “What about horses?”
“I saw a police horse once, from a distance. The time I saw a horse up close is kind of a pathetic story.”
“Tell me.”
“When I was in the fourth grade, this weird guy named Mr. Harold brought a sad little Shetland pony to my school. This was supposed to be ‘educational’ somehow.” I made air quotes withmy fingers. “Some parents forked over five bucks, and their kids got to put on a red cowboy hat, sit on the horse, and get their picture taken. I didn’t get to do that, because my parents were way too cheap to shell out five bucks for a photo. Also, I ended up getting called ‘Mr. Harold’ for like, the next three years, because one of my classmates remembered that was my full name.”
“I look forward to introducing you to my horses, so you can have some new stories.”
“Are there any small horses? Maybe Sally-sized?” The greyhound wagged her tail when I reached over and patted her neck.
“No, but all of them are smaller than Barbie. Speaking of the big guy, I need to get him cleaned up. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll come find you.”
“I’ll be in the kitchen. I haven’t had any coffee yet.”
“I’m flattered that you prioritized me over caffeine. Sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up, by the way. I have my hands full, because my ranch hand had a family event in Tulsa this weekend. But he’ll be back on Monday, and he agreed to work some extra hours during the week, so I’ll have more time with you.”
“It’s totally fine. I know you have a lot to do around here.” I grinned and added, “Besides, Frank took your spot in bed this morning, so I didn’t even know you were gone at first.”
Ryder chuckled at that. “Sorry he got up there. I moved the little staircase that the shorter dogs use to get up on the bed, but one of them must have pushed it back in place.”
“That’s awfully smart.”
“It was probably Deogee’s doing. He’s usually the brains of any covert operation.” I glanced at the brown mutt, who was currently licking himself, and found that hard to believe.
I told Ryder I’d see him soon and began to make my way back to the house. Pretty soon, two extremely fluffy white chickensand a second small goat joined the parade. Cujo was right under foot again and possibly trying to trip me, but this time he dodged my hand when I tried to pick him up.
Since the chihuahua was such a distraction, I didn’t see the icky snake slithering across the ground until I was almost right on top of it. I let loose with a scream worthy of a murder victim in a horror movie and leapt back, which caused the animals to scatter in a flurry of fur and feathers—all except the goats. I blurted, “Oh, no,” when both of them keeled over with their little legs sticking straight out.
Ryder heard my scream and came running as he shouted, “What’s wrong?”
