by Barbara Gee
In the tack area, she gave Vince his first lesson on saddles and bridles. It was a little maddening to see how easy it was for him to swing the heavy saddles up onto the horses’ high backs, but she certainly enjoyed watching the ripple of muscle beneath his snug black shirt.
When the horses were ready, they led them into the riding ring. No one else was around, and Callie could tell Vince was glad about that. He wasn’t a man used to being a novice. It was bad enough she would be witness to his first attempts at mounting a horse, let alone two seasoned ranch hands.
“The first thing, obviously, is mounting,” she said. “Do you want me to get a step for you for the first time, or do you just want to go for it?”
“I’ll go for it,” he said, as she’d known he would. He walked over and hung his hat on the rail around the ring. “Too distracting,” he muttered. “I don’t want to worry about it falling off.”
He returned to his horse and stood at Edison’s head, trying not to look nervous. Callie took Leo off to the side and looped his reins loosely around a pole, then went over and put a hand on Vince’s arm, moving him to the left side of the horse.
“I’m going to show you the basics, to make sure you know what to do and what not to do. I promise, this will all come naturally to you soon enough.” She reached up and took hold of both reins with her left hand. “First you want to take the reins in your left hand. You’ll basically hold them with your thumb. Keep them a little bit snug so the horse doesn’t have too much leeway if he tries to step forward, but not so tight it’ll signal him to back up. Don’t drop them, because that’s how you control the horse if he does move. Then just kind of grab onto him here with that hand, right about where his mane ends. If the horse moves, you just let go of him and pull back on the reins.” She demonstrated, smiling at his look of intense concentration. “Don’t worry, Edison isn’t going to move an inch. That’s the main reason I’m putting you on him for your first time.”
“Good to know,” he said tensely.
“Now, you want to twist the stirrup a little to the side, so you don’t have to stand at the back of the horse, in case he decides to kick. Again, Eddie’s not going to do that, but you might as well learn the right way, so you won’t be caught off guard in the future.”
Callie twisted the stirrup until the opening was facing her, then lifted her foot and slid her boot into it. She gave him a teasing smile. “Obviously this is a little tougher with a tall horse like this, but with you being a lithe and limber athlete, you should be able to get your foot up this high.”
He winced. “Oh, I’m flexible enough, but I’m afraid these jeans weren’t exactly made for high kicks.”
Callie giggled. “You need to ditch the city-boy designer jeans and get some good old Wranglers. There’s a store in town called Lucky’s, and they have every size known to man. Even tall guys like you can find a good fit.”
“I’ll check it out,” Vince promised, tugging at the snug legs of his own jeans. “I think I can manage for today, though.”
“Okay, so once your foot is in the stirrup, you want to grab onto the saddle horn with your right hand. Don’t make the mistake of grabbing the back of the saddle, because then your hand will be in the way when you swing your other leg over. That’s all kinds of awkward.”
“Got it.”
“Then you give a little jump, and make sure your left knee kinda goes up against the horse, because that’ll hold your foot out and keep you from kicking him. Makes it less likely he’ll take a step as you’re swinging up.”
“What keeps me from shooting off the other side?”
Callie couldn’t stop another giggle. “You don’t lunge up and over, you just basically stand up in the stirrup. Keep your body upright, don’t lean over the horse. When your stirrup leg is straight, just swing the other leg over, find the stirrup on that side, and you’re good.”
Callie planted her left foot in the stirrup, gave a little bounce, lifted up, and swung her right leg over. “See? I never lost control of the reins, and could easily pull back on them if I needed to settle the horse.”
“You make it look easy.”
“Pretty soon it will be for you, too.” She slid off and held out the reins. “Ready to try?”
He nodded. “It’s either that or wimp out, and that’s not gonna happen.”
“I’ll hang onto Eddie, if that makes you feel any safer.”
He nodded. “Maybe just this once.”
She grinned and put her hand through the bridle strap at the side of the horse’s face. “Okay, now slack up the reins a bit and cup your hand over his withers there.” She nodded approval when he did so. “Now stand out a little to the side and twist the stirrup to face you.” He complied. “Lift your foot into the stirrup.” He did so, his jeans thankfully having enough stretch to allow the move. “Okay, grab onto the saddle horn with your right hand. Get a good grip on it. Now bounce up, straighten your leg, and swing the right leg over.”
Vince did exactly as she said. “Keep your body straight, don’t lean over,” she said as he went up, grinning proudly when he found himself seated. “Find the right-side stirrup,” she prompted, circling the horse to make sure he did so.
“That’s it!” she said triumphantly. “That wasn’t so bad, huh?”
His even white teeth flashed in a huge smile. “Not bad at all. Want me to practice a few more times?”
Three more mounts later, he felt he had it down. Callie mounted her own horse and they circled the ring at a slow walk. She showed Vince how to use the reins to direct the horse where he wanted him to go, and as she’d expected, he caught on quickly. After a few laps around the indoor ring, they went to the large corral outside. After almost an hour of instruction, Vince was sitting easily in the saddle and competently directing the horse at a fast walk, impatient to go a lot faster.
“Not today,” Callie said, pulling Leo to a halt. “We have to get these guys groomed, then I need to go check on Grandpa and get breakfast ready. Next time we’ll speed things up a little.”
Vince dismounted without protest and walked Edison back to his stall. Callie showed him how to groom the horse, making sure to point out the various patterns of hair growth on the different parts of the horse, so that Vince moved the brush in the right direction.
As they were finishing up, Quinn came in, surprised to see Callie had company. She told him about Vince’s lesson, and the young man offered to help with the teaching any time he was needed.
The three of them chatted for a bit, then Callie waved at Quinn and excused herself. Vince followed quickly, asking her if it was okay to come at the same time tomorrow.
“I usually don’t ride until later in the day on Sundays. Grandpa hasn’t felt like going to church in a couple months now, so I just sleep as long as I can before he wakes up, then spend the morning with him.”
“You haven’t gone to church since he started feeling poorly?”
“A few times. It’s not so much that he can’t stay here by himself, it’s just that I feel bad leaving him alone while I go. He always enjoyed church so much, and it seems selfish for me to go when he can’t.”
“I’m surprised he doesn’t insist you go.”
“Oh, he does.” Callie smiled. “I just don’t usually listen.”
“Okay, well let me know when it works to do this again.”
Callie thought about putting him off until Monday morning, but found she didn’t want to. Before she could think better of it, she asked him if tomorrow after supper would work for him. She couldn’t help but notice how his eyes lit up, and it was all she could do not to shake her head in disbelief. Was he really that anxious to see her again?
“That should work great. Boone has me scheduled at the rink all afternoon to get ready for the retreat starting the next day, but he said I’m free from dinner-time on.”
“Good. Come at seven.” Callie stopped beside his car. “You did well, Vince. I hope you feel encouraged.”
“It was great, but my legs feel a little wobbly.” He put a hand on the top of his car and stretched one long leg out to the side, then bent it up behind, grabbing his ankle to stretch his quad. “I’ve heard horseback riding makes you sore, but I figured I’d be fine because I work out hard all the time. Apparently riding a horse uses muscles that aren’t worked in the gym or on the ice.”
Callie laughed. “I took it easy on you, too. If we do some trotting and galloping tomorrow, Monday morning isn’t going to be a real comfortable time for you.”
“I’ll fight through it,” he assured her with a smile. “Thanks, Callie. I really appreciate this.”
His smile made her heart skip and she looked down to hide her reaction, scooting her toe back and forth across the gravel. She had another impulsive idea and once again acted before she could talk herself out of it.
“Umm, so I know Grandpa would like to see you. If you don’t have to get back right away, you can join us for breakfast.”
He was silent for a beat. “Are you sure? I mean, I’d love that, but I don’t want you to get tired of me.”
“I’m sure.” She glanced up at him, the intensity of his gaze making her feel warm inside. “You’re not too awful to be around, and it would be a nice surprise for Grandpa.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “You don’t have to twist my arm. I’ll give you a ride to the house.”
“No need, the Gator’s parked at the end of the barn. I’ll take that and meet you there.”
CHAPTER 11
Vince drove to the house feeling like he’d won the lottery. The absolute last thing he’d expected was for Callie to invite him for breakfast. He sternly reminded himself to be casual and friendly, but no more than that. She was still a little jumpy around him, and he didn’t want to scare her off. Especially now that they were making progress.
He got out of the borrowed retreat center car and waited for her by the kitchen steps. She parked the Gator out by the garage, then walked around to join him, motioning him inside.
“Doesn’t look like he’s up yet,” she said, turning on the light. “He’ll wake up when he smells the food. I doubt he’ll have much of an appetite, but we always had big breakfasts on Saturdays, and I’ve kept up the tradition. Even if he can’t do it justice.”
“Traditions are good,” Vince said. “I’m sure he appreciates it even if he can’t eat much.”
She crossed the room to the sink and washed her hands. Vince followed and did the same, accepting the towel she handed him to dry.
“Believe it or not, I’m pretty good in the kitchen,” he said. “I’d be glad to help.”
Her soft smile made his heart do weird things. “Okay then, I’ll let you choose which item you want to make,” she said. “Eggs, bacon, or pancakes.”
“How about I take care of the bacon while you mix up the pancake batter? Then I’ll fry them. Unless you use the kind of mix where you only have to add water, ’cause I can do that too,” he said with a wry grin.
Callie laughed. “I’ve been known to use that on occasion, but since I have an extra mouth to feed, I’ll splurge and use my great-grandmother’s secret recipe, passed down through the generations.”
“You have a secret family pancake recipe?”
She opened the refrigerator and took out eggs, butter and milk. “I do, although I suspect it’s not that unique. There’s not a lot you can do with plain pancakes, you know? But from what I hear, Great-Granny liked to think all her recipes were top secret. I have a whole notebook full of them, including a hand-written note inside the front cover warning whoever inherits the book to keep it strictly confidential.”
“Or what?” Vince asked with a chuckle. “A whole generation of bad luck will descend?”
“She doesn’t spell out that part.” Callie handed him a package of bacon and pointed to a cupboard. “Frying pan is in there. There’s a long fork in this drawer somewhere.” She pulled it open. “Along with a zillion other utensils. You might have to hunt for it.”
She left him to it and measured coffee into the coffee-maker sitting in the corner of the counter. With that started, she took a large bowl from another cupboard. While she measured, mixed and whipped, he fried thick strips of bacon and laid them on a nest of paper towels to drain. By the time he had it finished, the pancake batter was ready. She wiped out the big skillet he’d just used and found a spatula.
“Do you have something for the pan so they don’t stick?” he asked.
She gave him an approving look. “So you have made pancakes before.”
“Often. I love pancakes.”
She handed him a bottle of oil. “Go for it. I’m going to make sure Grandpa is awake and tell him breakfast will be ready in a bit. Then I’ll get on the eggs.”
She went out and Vince poured four matching circles of batter into the skillet, turning the heat down a little so they wouldn’t cook too fast.
“He’ll be right out,” Callie announced when she returned a few minutes later. “I told him you’re here, and his face lit up like a kid at Christmas.” She studied Vince, her eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure why he’s so taken with you, but it makes him happy to have you around. Thank you for being willing to spend time with him.”
Her approval felt good. “It’s my pleasure, Callie. Really. He’s a fascinating man.”
She smiled as she wiped down the counter. “I’ve always thought so. I’ve lived with him for twenty-one years, and I feel like I’ve only absorbed a small fraction of the knowledge he holds in his head. When he’s gone, I’m going to regret not learning more.”
“I bet you’ve absorbed more than you think. You’ll probably ask yourself ‘what would Jeremiah do’ a dozen times a day at first, but you’ll figure it out.” Vince flipped the pancakes and looked up to see her watching him.
“You’re a surprisingly positive person,” she told him. “I figured you’d be more jaded, considering the competitive life you live. Dog eat dog and all that.”
He stacked the golden pancakes on a plate and poured out four more. “I love what I do, but you’re right, it’s all too easy to be jaded and paranoid. It took me way too long to realize it’s a choice, and that I’m a lot happier when I choose to be positive. That’s what I strive for now.”
She nodded approvingly. “That sounds healthy. I can’t imagine the pressure you must feel, though. It never really lets up, does it? There’s always someone vying for your spot.”
“Always. You never know who’s going to go on a hot streak and challenge you for minutes.” Vince rested the spatula on the edge of the pan and watched the bubbles form in the pancakes, debating whether to tell her more. He decided to go ahead and put it out there.
“Last summer was my low point—back when I was rehabbing from my hand injury. It was a rough time, but I’m actually glad it happened now. It took going through that for me to get to a healthier place. Both body and mind.”
“Was that when you came to the Full Heart?” she wondered.
“Yeah. Boone suggested I come out here and let Jolene and Izzy work with me, on both my hand and my conditioning. What he didn’t know was that the physical part was the least of my worries. It was being off the ice for so long that was the problem. It was really messing with my head, and I honestly thought there was a good chance I wouldn’t play hockey again. Not at a high level, anyway.”
She looked appalled. “Seriously, Vince? But you’re the best player on the team!”
He smiled. “Glad you think so. But remember when I broke my leg? Before I got traded to the Wild? It was a routine injury and I healed up fine, ahead of schedule even. I was raring to go, couldn’t wait to get back to playing. Then I did get back, and everything fell apart. My game was gone. My skating, my timing—everything was off and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it back. It got to the point where I was scared to go out on the ice because I knew I was just gonna screw up. And then I was traded, three hours before the trade deadline. There’d been rumors
that whole week, but nothing materialized, and with only hours left I thought I was safe. Then the call came and I was on the next plane to Minnesota.”
He stopped talking to flip the pancakes, and she came to stand beside him, putting a tentative hand on his back and rubbing it back and forth. He felt the warmth of her touch, and her innate desire to ease the pain of those memories.
“They were crazy to trade you,” she said softly. “Everyone else knew one rough patch wasn’t reason to give up on you. Believe me, I was thrilled when I heard the Wild picked you up.”
Vince had the sudden thought that if Callie had been in his life at that time—if he’d had her to come home to after a rough game—everything would have been different. She was the kind of girl who made even the toughest times bearable.
He wanted to hug her, but instead he continued his story.
“The trade ended up being the best thing for me. I needed a new start, and playing with guys like Boone and Jax was a huge plus. They believed in me, and so did the coach, which was big for my confidence. It’s like a switch was flipped, and I played well for the Wild right out of the gate.”
“I remember,” Callie said. “You helped them get into the play-offs, and Wild fans have loved you ever since.”
He chuckled. “It was a good run, even though we were taken out in the second round. After our season ended, Boone took me under his wing and we worked out together through the summer. I went into the fall feeling stronger than ever, and my season got off to a good start. Everything was golden and I thought the bad times were behind me.”
“Then your hand got cut,” Callie said softly.
“Mm hmm. I handled the first recuperation pretty well. Eight weeks was a long time to be off, but I was determined not to let it beat me. It helped that I was still able to skate and work out and my conditioning didn’t suffer. But when my hand had healed enough for me to start working with a stick again, I knew right away something was wrong. We gave it a couple weeks, and when it didn’t improve, the doctor told me I’d need corrective surgery and would be out for the season. That’s when my fears got the best of me, and by the time I got to the Full Heart I was a basket case. I’d been off the ice even longer than with my leg, and I had a whole off-season staring me in the face. It would be months before I’d have a chance to play an NHL game again, and I was terrified I’d be right back where I was before I got traded.”
