Page 24 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

Maddy tucked her hands into her pockets. It was a warm day for early March, but still wintry. “Aiden wondered if we could set up project cameras to document the interior progress. Let people watch from their screens, but the laws around it are stricter than we wanted to deal with for the enjoyment factor.”

“Shoot, that would have been neat,” Alex offered before making a noise. “But I get it. Don’t think I’d like to be on camera twenty-four seven at work either.”

“Oh, come on,” Ryan teased. “I hear you love the camera.”

Alex twisted toward him in confusion.

“Especially when you’re flying off the back of a horse…”

Alex swore softly. “I’m going to kill Ashton.”

“It was a great clip,” Ryan insisted. “You need to work on sticking your landing a little better before trying for the Olympics, but the bounce was a great option.”

Maddy exchanged a glance with Yvette. “Know what’s up?”

Her friend tried to hide a smirk. “New horse at Silver Stone. Decided to get a little antsy on Alex.”

“That horse is a real puzzle,” Alex insisted. “Kelli rode her. Dustin rode her. Heck, Sasha rode her, all without any problems. I was headed out to do some chores when Tucker told me to saddle up Shady Dame. No problem, she’s settling in well. Spent an hour on her back then suddenly, boom.”

“You get hurt?” Maddy asked.

“Just my pride.” Alex shook his head. “I was with Ashton at the time. We’d finished fixing one of the shelters, and he was taking pictures when I got back on the horse and immediately came right off again. Only turns out he had his phone set to video and caught the entire thing.”

Ryan made grabby hands. “Let Maddy see.”

“You’re a mean one, Ryan Zhao.” But Alex pulled out his phone and cued up the video. “Fine, witness my attempt at flying, and if you see any reason for why she got mad, let me know. It’s not a trick she can keep doing. I’m an experienced enough rider. I don’t think I set her off accidentally.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Yvette reassured him.

“They won’t keep her around if she’s randomly tossing riders.” Because Maddy knew he was okay, the clip was amusing. Alex went from relaxed to airborne without a single clue it was coming.

“Not a chance. Luke’s exceptionally worried since Kelli rode her the day before.” Alex sighed. “Shady Dame is a sweet-tempered creature otherwise, so I might have to keep riding her until I figure out what’s wrong.”

“As long as you stay safe,” Yvette warned. “And try not to get too bruised up before the wedding.”

Alex caught her fingers up to his lips. “That’s a promise. I’ve waited too long to get that wedding ring on your finger to do anything to muck it up now.”

The beeping of a delivery truck backing up to what would be delivery doors at the hall cut through their conversation. “Work goes on, for us as well,” Ryan offered before nodding at Yvette and Alex. “We’ll catch you two later this week.”

“Dancing at Rough Cut as planned,” Yvette agreed. “See you there.”

They took off in different directions.

When Ryan would have led her to their truck, Maddy caught him by the hand and tugged him toward the bar instead. Time for part two of her plan. “We need to stop at Rough Cut for a minute.”

He frowned but joined her, pressing a hand to her back then stepping in time at her side. “Delivery to unload I don’t know about?”

“I forgot there were a couple things I wanted to do, and we both have time right now. If that’s okay?”

“No problem,” Ryan offered happily. “I don’t mind watching you work. It’s my day off, you know.”

She planned to take full advantage of that fact.

He unlocked the door, stepping to the right to enter the security system codes. That gave Maddy enough time to pull two remotes from her pocket and quickly hit On for the next part of her plan.

By the time Ryan turned back to join her, soft yellow light glowed from inside the main bar and the low beat of music drifted on the air.

“What’s that?” he asked.