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My eyes follow Jack, as she proudly stows her coffee maker into her bag. I continue to follow her as she stands in front of Jasper, and a nervous look crosses her face.
I finish packing up the remainder of our things into my bag and then walk over to her. “You ready to ride solo?”
Jack scrapes her lip between her teeth. “I mean, I think I’m ready, but I’m nervous too,” she admits.
I hold the saddle steady, and guide Jack’s leg into the stirrup. “Remember what I told you, and everything will be fine. You’ve got this. Jasper is more scared of you than you’ll ever be of him. Get him to trust you. Be his friend.”
“You make it sound so easy,” she says.
Jack presses down on the stirrup and swings her other leg over the saddle, easier this time. When Jasper turns his head, Jack affectionally strokes his neck. I go back to Lucy, but my eyes never leave her.
“See, it’s that easy,” I say.
Someone coughs behind me, and I peer over my shoulder to see Emma. She smiles at me, loops her arm in mine, and lowers her voice to a point where I almost can’t hear her clearly. “Jack really seems to be getting the hang of this.”
“Yeah, well, she should.” I infuse as much feigned sarcasm as possible into my words. “I spent all morning giving her instructions.” I throw in an eye roll for good measure.
Emma laughs and punches me lightly on the shoulder. “Ah, yes. It definitely seems like youhatedthat, Luca. You know . . . my favorite romance novels have this pattern thingy where there’s only one horse.” Both her eyebrows shoot up toward her hairline.
“Hey, I’m just being a team player.” I press my palm toward her in a stop-right-there gesture to stop her train of thought on the spot. “This is business, and I’m only helping one of our clients.”
Emma pats my horse, and as she walks away, she turns and gives methe look. Yes, the one that seems far too motherly. “Be careful, Luca. We don’t want to get too attached to these retreat goers. Remember what happened with that summer hand we had. What was his name?”
“Elliot?” A look of remembrance spreads across my face. That entire situation was a disaster.
Emma snaps and points at me. “Yup. He was worthless at driving the herd once he became infatuated with that girl on the youth retreat.”
I suspect Emma knew his name all along and just made me come up with it to emphasize her point. But she’s right. “True,” I say, musing. “And I had to pull him out of that girl Sophie’s tent more than once.” I get up on my horse, meaning to follow Jack so I can supervise. “I get the message, Emma. Loud and clear.”
Emma rubs her nose, still eyeing me suspiciously. “That was a youth retreat, though . . . You’re a big boy, Luca. I won’t be pulling you out of anyone’s tent.”
“I can guarantee you won’t be,” I say with finality.
She’s right, I need to focus more on the group and less on Jack. As hard as that will be.
Jack
Luca ignores me entirely forthe remainder of the day, and I’m confused. Again. He’s so hot and cold. He was helpful earlier, and I was getting a little nervous flutter in my stomach every time our hands brushed on the reins while he rode Jasper behind me. But his coaching had done the trick, and everything I learned as a kiddo in horse camp miraculously came flooding back.
Through the afternoon, riding comes more naturally, and I’m in love with Jasper by the time Wyatt directs everyone to a roundup the herd for the day. I only watched before, but I join in this time, and my heart races as I urge Jasper into a canter. He also follows the patterns of the other horses and riders, and it’s easy to steer him with just a little pressure on one knee or the other.
When the cows have come to a stop, Wyatt waves all the LivFit employees over to one side. Emma and Luca remain on the far side of the herd with the cattle dog Frankie. Our team, still on horseback, gathers into a huddle near a small copse of trees. The herd is some distance away, nearing a pen made from logs—the kind I remember from the old westerns my dad made me watch when I was a kid. This experience definitely has aRawhidefeel, and despite myself and my corporate, city-girl attitude, I’m growing quite nostalgic.
Wyatt puts his little fingers in the corners of his mouth and whistles. I wince and shove my palm against my ear that faces his direction as the sound pierces my senses. When the long shrill is done, the two border collies Butch and Cassidy dart out of the cluster of trees and circle around the cows, moving them into a tighter group. It’s fascinating to watch two riders and three dogs work as a team to move the cattle toward the pen.
“Ya’ll wait here while we corral them for the night.” Wyatt leaves the group to join the others working the herd. Emma and Luca dig their heels into the sides of their steeds and lash their haunches with the length of their reins. Suddenly, I forget about Wyatt, Emma, and the dogs and become enthralled with Luca’s form as he leans into the mare.
A hand with a red and white bandana enters my peripheral vision, and I feel another horse brush against my leg.
“Here. You might want to wipe up that stream of drool,” says Eddie. “You look like you just fell off the turnip truck.”
“I am not drooling over that neanderthal,” I say, but betraying my words, my hand lifts idly to make sure of the fact.
Eddie laughs. “There’s nothing wrong with admiring thatfinespecimen of a man.”
I don’t like the hungry look on Eddie’s face or the way he drawlsfine. I school my expression, though, and continue observing the herding activities. Wyatt drops one log of the pen while Luca, Emma, Butch, Cassidy, and Frankie drive the cows inside.
“Girl,” Eddie interrupts my intense study of the scene, “you can wipe the jealousy off your face. Luca’s been sizing you up too.”
