“I was beginning to think that maybe you’d lost interest in horseback riding lessons,” Declan said when Josie showed up at his stable for another lesson.
Several days had gone by at this point and he was fairly certain he had scared her off after he had given in to the extremely strong urge that had come over him that morning by the lake.
Though he hadn’t regretted kissing her, he had felt bad about scaring her off. Although apologies had always been next to impossible for him, he was relieved that he didn’t need to try to find the words.
“Oh no, I didn’t lose interest,” Josie told him as she began to saddle Marigold. “Unfortunately, a lot of things came up in the last few days and I’ve just been too busy to take the time to indulge myself.”
“Indulge yourself?” Declan questioned. “How’s that again?”
Moving quickly, he saddled his stallion in half the time that it took Josie to saddle her mare.
“Well, these riding lessons are just for me,” she explained, tightening the mare’s cinch. “Everything else that takes up my time is either for my brother and his wife, or the twins, or your niece, or someone else. Even working at the animal rescue shelter actually focuses on the animals.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she told him quickly. “I love doing all of those things, but none of them are strictly for myself. There are always other people involved. But when I go for a riding lesson,” she concluded with a smile, “that’s strictly just for me. I see it as an indulgence, which makes it hard for me to justify if there’s something else for me to do.”
Declan led his horse out of the stable as he absorbed this information. Could this woman actually be that selfless? “Oh.”
Josie couldn’t tell by his tone of voice if he had his doubts about what she had just said, or if he was thinking about what had happened between them during her last lesson and felt she was just being coy. There were a lot of ways to interpret the single word he had uttered.
Just when had things gotten to be so complicated? she couldn’t help wondering.
Declan swung into his saddle. “You ready?” he asked, looking down from on top of his stallion.
Gripping the saddle horn, Josie swung up into the saddle. Not as smoothly as Declan had, but she was getting better, she thought happily.
“Ready,” she declared.
“Then let’s go,” he told her just before he applied his heels to the stallion’s flanks.
Less than a second later, he was off.
The last time Declan had taken off like that, he had caught her off guard and she’d wound up trailing behind him.
But not this time, she promised herself. Josie was totally determined to keep pace with the rugged cowboy.
They ended up riding neck and neck like that until they had gone several miles. At that point, Declan raised his hand, signaling that they needed to stop and rest for a few minutes.
“You’re wearing out the horses, not to mention me,” her instructor told her with a hint of a smile.
Bringing his horse to a stop, Declan dismounted, then started to reach for Marigold’s reins. But it was at exactly that moment that a snake slithered in front of Marigold, instantly spooking the mare. Rather than coming to a halt, the mare took off at full gallop.
At first, Declan thought that Josie was just trying to show off. But he quickly realized that the mare had taken off at breakneck speed on her own. If the horse stopped suddenly, Josie was in imminent danger of being thrown and landing on the ground on her back—or worse.
Declan’s instincts took over. Kicking Midnight’s flanks, he urged his stallion to a full gallop. He knew that Midnight was faster than Marigold. Even though the latter had a head start, he knew he could catch the mare.
“Looks like we’ve got a rescue on our hands,” he said to his stallion. Raising his voice, he called out to Josie. “Hang on!”
“I’m trying to,” Josie shouted back over her shoulder, doing her best not to lean one way or the other. She was well aware that the slightest miscalculation on her part could cause her to take a damaging fall.
Her heart was in her throat as Marigold continued to bolt down the trail. Josie had no idea that Declan’s stallion was capable of running as fast as he was.
Midnight was flying, cutting the distance between them. Within moments, horse and rider managed to catch up to Marigold.
Once Midnight was side by side with Josie’s very spooked mare, Declan leaned forward, waiting for his chance. Spurring his stallion on, the breeder was finally able to reach out and catch hold of Josie’s waist.
In what seemed like a very fluid movement, Declan pulled her off her horse and onto his.
Holding on to her tightly, Declan had seated Josie precariously in front of him. That was when he brought Midnight to an eventual halt.
His own heart was pounding. So many things could have gone wrong. “Are you all right?” he asked the woman he was holding against him.
“I’m winded, but yes, I’m fine,” she answered in a short, breathless gasp.
That was all he wanted to hear. “I’m going to set you down and go after Marigold. Don’t go anywhere,” he warned.
Like she could walk, Josie thought as her feet touched the ground.
“I won’t,” she promised, still trying to catch her breath. “Don’t forget to come back.”
Declan just laughed as he took off after the runaway mare.
Her legs were feeling weak after her ordeal. Josie sank down on the ground and looked around.
She had no idea where she was. If for some reason, she needed to walk home from here, she had no doubt that it would be an almost impossible undertaking.
Looking around again, Josie searched for some sort of point of orientation, something that would tell her where she was. But she couldn’t find anything familiar.
How did natives of the area have any sense of where they were? It seemed like an impossible ordeal to her.
Still feeling somewhat shaky, Josie rose to her feet. I can do this, she told herself. I can do this. Besides, she thought, Declan would be back any minute now.
Trying not to worry or dwell on any stories about the sort of misadventures that could easily befall Declan or herself, Josie continued looking around. She was hoping to catch a glimpse of either of the horses.
It felt as if an eternity had gone by, even though she knew that it hadn’t.
Finally, just as she was beginning to think that something had happened and Declan wasn’t coming back, Josie heard the sound of hoofbeats.
She offered up a prayer of thanksgiving even before she could make out either one of the horses—or even if it actually was Declan that she saw riding toward her.
The rider and the horse he was on, not to mention the one he was leading behind him, were approaching her at what seemed like a pretty leisurely pace.
Why? Josie couldn’t help wondering.
The next moment, she was able to make out both horses as well as the rider.
Declan! she thought in relief.
That was when she let out the breath she wasn’t even aware of holding. It sounded incredibly shaky to her ear, as if she couldn’t get enough oxygen in.
“You came back,” she cried happily as she ran up to horse and rider.
“Didn’t you think I would?” Declan asked her in disbelief. “I said I’d be back,” he reminded her.
She didn’t appear to be disoriented, but maybe that overly fast ride had gotten to her more than he had realized, Declan thought.
“I was worried,” she confessed then gestured around the area. “Everything looks the same. How did you know where I was?”
Declan thought she was kidding as he looked at her. “You’re serious,” he realized, dismounting. He looked at her. “That’s like asking me how I breathe. I just do,” he told her. “No thought is really required.”
Josie shrugged. “I’m a city girl,” she reminded her instructor. “Finding my way around in the wilderness doesn’t come naturally to me.”
“Orienting yourself to your surroundings is part of the riding lessons,” he told her, then assured her, “Don’t worry, it’ll all come to you eventually.”
Declan made it sound as if he believed that she was going to live here in Spring Forest permanently. That was when she realized that, despite her talk with Rebekah earlier, she was still vacillating as to whether or not she would remain.
Not wanting to get into that, she just said, “If you say so.” Then, changing the subject, she asked Declan, “Do you know what spooked Marigold like that? She’s usually so calm.”
At the moment, Marigold was standing beside Midnight. The mare looked completely relaxed. It was as if she had imagined the whole wild ride across the meadow.
Except that she knew she hadn’t.
“It could have been any one of a number of things,” he told her. “A rabbit, a gopher, maybe even a snake. I didn’t see what it was myself, but any one of those suddenly popping up in front of her could send Marigold on her way. Midnight doesn’t spook,” Declan said, “but Midnight’s the exception, not the rule.” He looked closely at Josie, concerned. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?” he wanted to know. “Now that I think about it, I did pull you off Marigold pretty roughly.”
“I’m not complaining. I would have been hurt a lot more if you hadn’t pulled me off when you did,” Josie told him.
He liked the fact Josie realized that, and that she wasn’t complaining that he had pulled her off as roughly as he now realized he had. If that had happened to any of the handful of other students he had instructed over the last year, he had no doubt they would have carried on and on about how much it had hurt them.
“You’re a good sport, Josie,” Declan told her, surprising her with the compliment. His next words surprised her even more. “And you’re really learning how to handle yourself on a horse. A lot of other students I’ve worked with would have wound up hitting the ground when Marigold got spooked and took off. You could have even gotten trampled.”
“Guess I was just lucky,” she responded.
“Luck had very little to do with it,” Declan said with conviction. “You’re getting to be a very good rider,” he told her. “And I don’t say that to just anyone,” the man added. “When you get home,” he continued, “I’d suggest that you soak in a hot tub because you’re going to ache like hell tomorrow,” he predicted.
That didn’t make any sense to her. “But I didn’t fall off,” she reminded him. Although, now that she thought about it, her ribs did ache a little because of the way he had grabbed her.
“No, but you bounced around on Marigold like a regular rag doll as she galloped through the field,” Declan pointed out. “That has consequences.”
She nodded. “Hot tub. Soaking. Got it,” Josie recited.
“Do you feel up to riding back?” he asked her, debating telling her that they could wait a while. He didn’t like the idea of causing her more pain.
Josie smiled. “It certainly beats walking,” she answered.
He couldn’t argue with that. “Okay, then let’s go,” he told her.
She went to mount her horse and found that her legs just couldn’t make it up and over. Embarrassed, Josie tried again. And wound up failing again.
At a loss, Josie wasn’t sure what to do when she suddenly felt very strong hands against her posterior, giving her that extra boost, just like the first time she had mounted Marigold.
“Sorry,” Declan apologized, circling around to mount his own horse. He was referring to the fact that he’d had to give her that extra push to get her up on Marigold. He had tried his best to keep the contact from being intimate. “That seemed to be the fastest way to get you up on your horse.”
“I understand and I’m not complaining,” she told him. There was no point to doing that. For one thing, it was after the fact. For another, she had momentarily been willing to go a lot further than that at the lake that time.
“No,” he agreed, nodding his head. “You’re not. That’s why you make such a good student.”
Picking up his reins, Declan looked at her. His voice was almost gentle as he asked her, “Are you ready, or would you feel better if I held on to Marigold’s reins as we go back?”
The question caught her completely off guard. “Isn’t there a saying about getting back on the horse that threw you?” she asked.
Declan’s mouth curved, deeply this time. “There is,” he answered.
“Then I’m back on the horse and I’m ready,” she told him.
Josie threaded Marigold’s reins through her fingers, making sure that the mare didn’t have enough slack to encourage her to take off again. Although, she reasoned, the chances of that happening twice in one day went from incredibly slim to nonexistent.
“Don’t be in a hurry to get back to the stable,” Declan counseled. “Marigold was spooked. If she senses that you’re tense as well, that could make her twice as skittish. Just act as if nothing’s happened. She needs to be calmed, and horses are pretty intuitive. They can easily pick up on whatever you’re going through and act on it.”
Her head hurt and it had nothing to do with the jolt she had received while bouncing around on Marigold’s back. Right now it felt as if all her thoughts were being shuffled.
“That’s an awful lot to remember,” she told Declan. “I’m not sure I can keep it all straight,” Josie confessed.
It amazed him that he had faith in her, but he did. “You’d be surprised,” he promised her. “All this will become second nature to you before you know it.”
“I certainly would be surprised,” she told him.
Declan nodded at the way she was holding the reins. “Don’t hold on to Marigold’s reins so tightly,” he advised. “Loosen your grip.”
“Won’t she take off if I don’t hold on to her reins?” she asked.
“She’s more likely to take off if she feels that there’s too much tension in the reins,” he told her.
“I held on tightly to the reins before,” Josie pointed out.
He knew she was referring to that first day. “Yes, but that was just a regular day and you were both getting used to each other. Don’t make her feel that you’re afraid she might repeat her flight. Relax,” he urged. “It’s going to be all right.”
Josie released the breath she was holding. “If you say so,” she said.
Declan smiled ever so slightly and nodded his head. “I do,” he answered.
They returned to the stable without any further incident.
Dismounting, they led their respective horses back into their stalls.
“I can take care of your horse if you just want to get home,” Declan offered.
“Stop being so nice,” she told her instructor. “You’re going to throw me off.”
He laughed under his breath. “Can’t have that.” He waited until he removed the stallion’s saddle then asked Josie, “So, when do you want to come back for the next lesson?”
“The day after tomorrow?” she asked, prepared to be turned down. Declan had always waited at least four days between sessions, if not longer.
“Sounds good to me,” he told her.
Josie didn’t realize that she was smiling so widely until she caught her reflection in the water that was standing in the bucket in Marigold’s stall. Raising her eyes, she saw that Declan was looking at her. Apparently, they had gotten to another, more comfortable plateau.
She made no effort to stop smiling. If anything, her smile just widened.