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Chapter Sixteen
Jasper
“I’mnotsosureabout this,” Edie said.
“Betty here will make it nice and easy for you,” I reassured her.The horse was fourteen hands of sweet-natured laziness, which made her perfect for a beginner.“She’s about the calmest lady you’ll ever meet.”
Betty nuzzled her light brown nose into my head, seeming to appreciate the compliment.She swung her muzzle around to Edie, who stumbled back.“It’s just that she’s so…big.”
“Horses usually are, honey,” I said patiently.“Come get acquainted while I go grab Midnight.”
Over her protests, I handed her the reins.When I came back out with Midnight, she had a white-knuckled grip on the reins and was staring at Betty like she might bolt at any moment.
“Your horse is even bigger,” she said, panic in her voice.
“Yup.This is Midnight, he’s an old geezer.”Midnight chuffed as I slapped his rump affectionately.“We got him when I was a teenager.”
“Is he too old to be carrying a person?”
“Are you worriedforhim, orabouthim?”
“Both,” she said, eyeing him.Then she squealed when Betty chomped at her hair.
“I’ll go grab you a helmet.”
“A helmet?”she asked, one protective hand going up to her curls.
“It’s required.Besides, it’s got a brim that’ll protect your face.The sun is meaner at this altitude.”Just to see what she’d do, I handed her Midnight’s reins as well.
“Jasper, wait!”
“Be right back.”I jogged inside to grab one of the guest helmets then jogged back out to pop it on her head.“See?Perfect.”
“It’s crushing my hair.”
“Would you rather have crushed hair or a head injury?”
Her lips plumped into an adorable pout.“Maybe we should just walk.”
“Nah.You’ll love it, I promise.Betty will do all the work.You probably won’t even need to hold on.”
“Oh, I’m holding on,” Edie said, her eyes wide.
“Just relax,” I said.“People have literally been doing this for thousands of years.I will teach you.I’ll take care of you.”
Without quite realizing it, I’d started stroking her arm.She peered up at me through her glasses, her trepidation obvious.Slow it down, Moreau.The plan was to get her to fall in love with Twisted Pines first.These fading summer days were the perfect time to show it off.Meanwhile, we could get to know each other and I could ease her into the idea of being my fated mate.
Having a plan wasn’t the same as managing her, I told myself.I had set a goal and determined the best way to go about it, that was all.I could be straight with her about wanting to spend time with her.Pretending that no one else could take the lesson had been a knee-jerk attempt to play it cool.I’d honed a certain distance in my past relationships because I’d known they weren’t my mate.But Edie was my mate.Distance was the opposite of what I wanted.
“Alright,” I said, turning the arm-stroke into a check of her outfit.“Let’s button this up,” I said, closing her jacket.“No loose clothing, you don’t want anything to catch.These boots are more fashion than function, but they’ll do.”Quickly, I ran her through the parts of Betty’s saddle rig while Midnight looked on.Then I had her walk Betty so she’d get used to leading the horse.When she started murmuring to Betty and stroking her soft head, I knew she was ready.“Let’s get you up.”
“Up?”Edie’s hands froze on Betty’s neck.“I feel like this is going pretty well.We could just stick with this today.”
“Come on,” I said, setting up the mounting block in the center of the ring.“You can do this.”
“Yes, but do I want to?”she said, chewing on her lip as she led Betty over.
I glanced around.There was no one in earshot.“Last night, when I was a wolf, you weren’t afraid of me at all.”
