Shadow Mountain

The social room was empty. No sign of Wes nor of Cassie. Caroline felt an instant pang of disappointment. Maybe something had come up and Wes had changed his mind—or he’d forgotten.

No, Cassie wouldn’t let him forget, Caroline decided. Not that willful little girl. Thank heavens she and Danny seemed to have taken to each other—at least for the moment.

As the minutes passed, she was beginning to think he’d completely forgotten their date when she heard Cassie’s high-pitched chatter floating down the hall.

Caroline smiled at Danny. “Here they come.”

The little girl darted into the room ahead of Wes. She was dressed like a movie-star rodeo queen. White fringed pants matched a fringed studded vest and white boots. Her cowboy hat was the same shade of red as her satin shirt.

She grinned from ear to ear as she put one hand on her hip and demanded, “Well, what do you think?”

Danny missed the nature of her question. “I think you’re late.”

“Spoken like a true man,” Wes said, chuckling. “Sorry, I got held up by a telephone call. Anyway, I sent word ahead to the stable. The horses should be saddled up and waiting.”

Cassie danced ahead of them down a worn path under a canopy of ponderosa pine trees. Danny followed at her heels. Wes fell into step beside Caroline and she realized that she was nervous and rather ill at ease.

Maybe she’d given him the wrong idea about her riding ability? After all, a farm horse wasn’t in the same league as a prancing thoroughbred. What if she made a complete fool of herself?

At that moment, she realized how much she wanted to impress this rich, handsome Texan. Why, she didn’t know. In a few days he’d be gone and most likely she’d never see him again. Still, her feminine vanity wanted him to remember her as a capable horseback rider.

When they reached the stable her misgivings were doubled. Wes nodded toward a restless sorrel mare all saddled up and tethered beside two small shaggy ponies, one black and one dark brown. Two middle-aged stable-hands nodded at Wes and then went about their business in the barn.

Cassie immediately ran over to the ponies. “You can ride Blackie,” she informed Danny. “He’s kinda old. I like Cocoa best.”

“They’re both gentle,” Wes quickly assured Caroline. “We bought them from a Texas breeder who specializes in Shetland ponies. They’re a good mount for children. Strong and muscular, but rein-easy.”

Caroline began to relax. The saddles, harnesses and stirrups were proportionate to the size of a small rider. This could be a wonderful chance for her son to experience his first horseback ride.

“I’ll walk along beside Danny,” Wes told her. “We’ll follow the path around to the western end of the lake. You can ride ahead if you’d like and we’ll catch up with you.”

“Why don’t I walk with Danny and you ride?”

“Because I want you to enjoy yourself,” he replied flatly and his tone brooked no argument.

He cupped his hands and helped Cassie up into the saddle. As she took the reins in her little hands, she grinned at Danny. “Race you to the lake.”

“Cassie! We’ll have none of that,” Wes said sharply and quickly helped wide-eyed Danny mount the other pony. “I’ll keep the reins for a while, Danny,” he said reassuringly. “We’ll just go for a nice walk.”

As Caroline led the sorrel mare out of the barn, Wes watched. There was an easy, confident stride in her movement that pleased him. Nothing about her was showy or pretentious. Deftly she arrange the reins in her hands and patted the mare’s neck. As Wes watched her swing easily into the saddle, he smiled to himself.

She hadn’t lied. She settled back in the saddle as if she were born to it.

Maybe they could go for a real ride before he left, he mused. He’d like to take her up one of the rugged trails and show her God’s country from the top of a mountain ridge.

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