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Dahlia fastened her helmet, then grabbed onto the saddle, and Nash took her leg and boosted her up. He resized the stirrups to fit her and explained, “You see that horn on the saddle there?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, picking up the reins.
“He’s going to buck. Expect it. When he does, you grab that horn on the saddle. Keep those reins tight and lean back to keep your balance. You gotta show him you’re the boss and you mean business. All right?”
“I don’t like this,” her mother said firmly.
“Hush, Marg, she’s fine,” her husband snapped.
Behind Nash, his mother said, “Nash would never let your daughter get hurt. All you gotta do is trust him.”
Nash’s chest warmed and lightened at that. His mother had yet to say anything about what had happened with Clint this morning, or about Megan being pregnant. But the softness in her voice told him how happy she was, regardless of the fact that today hadn’t gone well.
Fuck, he didn’t want to even think about how wrong today had gone.
Staying on task, Nash focused on Dahlia, watching the determination rising in her expression. She wanted to overcome this. He wanted to help her. “Got it?” he asked.
She nodded. “Got it.”
He stepped back. “Off you go in a trot, then.”
Nash followed her, staying close in case she couldn’t handle a horse like this, though something told him she could. Not surprisingly, the horse stopped in the corner and began backing up. “Give him a little kick.”
Dahlia clicked her tongue and kicked his sides. He bucked. She did exactly as Nash instructed, holding on tight and leaning back.
“That’s right,” he called. “Kick again.” Sure, he could move forward and get that stubborn horse moving out, but they needed to do this together or nothing would change.
The horse bucked again.
“Get mad,” Nash said firmly. “He’s being rude. Don’t stand for that.”
Nash saw the tightness rise in her cute face, and she kicked hard. “Go on,” she yelled.
The horse trotted forward.
Nash smiled. “Atta girl,” he called.
A quick look over his shoulder, and he discovered her parents smiling and his mom giving him a big thumbs-up. Nash waited in the ring for a few minutes longer while she trotted then cantered and finally slowed into a walk, giving the horse a big hug around his neck.
“I did it,” Dahlia said to Nash, stopping in front of him.
“You did good.” Nash smiled, patting the horse’s sweaty neck. “Keep at that and you two will be fine.” Seeing she was good and had gotten past the biggest hurdle, he moved to her parents at the fence. “The reason she fell is because she wasn’t expecting the behavior. Now she expects his attitude and knows how to deal with it.”
The father rubbed his chin. “You don’t think we need to sell the horse, then?”
“Nah.” Nash shook his head, resting an arm on the wooden fence. “He’s good and trained, just stubborn. Keep up with this for a week, and I bet his bad behavior will go away.”
“Thank you for this,” her father said, offering his hand. “Really, Nash. We owe you.”
“You owe me nothing,” Nash said, returning the handshake. “You’ve got a brave girl there.”
Dahlia’s mom smiled. “Yes, we do.”
Her parents entered the ring through the gate and went to their daughter, who had dismounted and was hugging her horse’s neck.
“You’re good at this,” Ma said gently, bringing Nash’s attention to her. “Perhaps that new purpose you’ve been looking for is right here.”
Nash arched an eyebrow. “New purpose?” Damn, now he was pretending he didn’t know what she was talking about. Maybe he needed sleep. Or a beer. Christ, maybe both.
