Accidental Cowgirl

by Maggie McGinnis

  She could hear little clinks and clanks as the horses shifted around, jostling their reins and stirrups. Tom and Maureen were on the other side of the corral with Decker, and when she looked back toward the gate, Cheryl and Theresa sidled through it in full riding gear, leathery and skintight.

  Jess was already cooing to her mount, rubbing the white blaze on his nose. “Kyla, you look a little nervous, honey. Are you okay?” Jess stroked her horse’s nose with one hand and patted her neck with the other.

  “I’m not nervous, Jess.” Kyla shuddered. “I’m completely petrified. You guys do remember I have a history with these beasts, right?” And a more recent history that requires the care of a psychiatrist, but let’s not get into that right now, shall we?

  “Now, now,” Hayley chided. “One little fall shouldn’t sour you forever.”

  “It was hardly just a little fall, Hayley. The stupid horse ran me into the next county. Then bucked me off. I got a concussion, for goodness’ sake. I think it was the first time I realized I was mortal.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You know they can sense fear, right?”

  Hayley nodded, then stage-whispered back, “Then stop acting scared. Kyla, we’re at a professional ranch. These horses are ridden by beginners all the time. What can possibly go wrong?”

  “Are you kidding? Have you ever been thrown? It hurts.” Kyla buckled her helmet. No way was she getting any closer to the horses without head protection.

  “Are you more afraid to get thrown? Or to get embarrassed in front of Decker? What in the world do you think is going to go wrong?”

  “I don’t know! Everything? Like, what if … what if it decides it wants to go left, even though I want to go right? It’s bigger than me. It’s definitely going to win. Or, what if, when I get on, the poor horse realizes how much I weigh, and just sits down with a big oof? How embarrassing would that be?” Kyla winced as she realized her voice sounded way more like a whiny eight-year-old than the Princeton-educated MBA she actually was.

  Hayley swung her leg expertly over her horse’s back, then grabbed the reins. “Kyla, if your horse sits down with a big oof, I will personally pay for a three-day spa package back in Boston and excuse you from all further horse-related activities.”

  Kyla looked at Kismet and put her hands together in prayer. “Oh, please sit down and say oof. I’ll give you extra carrots or sugar cubes or whatever you love best.”

  “Bribing the horses already, Ms. Bennett?”

  Kyla swung around, face immediately hot. Of course, of all people, Decker had heard her. Hayley smiled and turned her horse to follow Jess toward the riding ring, leaving Kyla alone with Decker. As she looked around, she realized she was the only one who had yet to mount her horse.

  “Is everything all right?” Decker asked. “Kismet okay for you?”

  “Oh, sure. Definitely. She’s fine. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  Decker looked at her for a long moment, then reached into his pocket for a carrot. “C’mere. I’ll let you sneak her a treat so you can get on her good side.”

  “Does that mean she has a bad side?” Kyla followed him gingerly around to Kismet’s head.

  “Nah. She’s about as sweet as they come, aren’t you, Kismet?” The horse nickered in response, nodding her head and bumping Decker’s chest. “See? Even she agrees.” Kyla smiled for the first time since she’d entered the corral. Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be completely horrible. Decker looked back at her. “So you rode as a kid?”

  “Just a little. I used to visit my grandparents in Vermont for a couple weeks every summer. They had ponies, so I got to ride them sometimes.”

  “Get thrown?”

  Kyla startled and looked quickly at him, but he was looking at Kismet, patting her neck. “How’d you know?”

  “Just a feeling.”

  Kyla took a deep breath. “Polo pony named Jose Cuervo. Apt name, by the way. I got on, he got ticked and took off like a rocket, and after a long, long, long thirteen seconds, I fell off and conked my head. I never got back on, so I guess I’m ruined forever.”

  Decker chuckled. “Well, you should have gotten back on.”

  “I was a little busy getting stitched up at the hospital.”

  “C’mere.” He motioned her closer to Kismet.

  Kyla sidled toward Kismet’s head, but kept her hands behind her back. Kismet eyed her, then snorted loudly. Kyla jumped backward. “See? I think I bring it out in them.”

  “Or she had a bug on her nose. Give me your hand.” Reluctantly, Kyla held out her hand, and Decker dropped a thick piece of carrot into it. “Now hold it out for her.”

  Kyla stretched out her hand, and as she got close to Kismet’s head, the horse leaned closer and opened her mouth to grab the carrot. At the sight of her teeth, Kyla snatched her hand back. “Good God, Kismet. You’ve got some big teeth, girl.”

  Decker sighed, taking her hand in his. “If you hand it to her like that, she’ll chomp off your fingers even if she doesn’t mean to. Lay your hand out flat, like this. Tuck in your thumb, and put the carrot right on the flat part.” He shaped her fingers as he spoke, and Kyla tried not to think too hard about the warmth and soft roughness of his hand.

  She placed the carrot on her now-flat palm and reached it slowly toward Kismet, who stretched out her neck and delicately nuzzled the carrot into her mouth. Kyla opened one eye and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the carrot gone but all five fingers intact.

  Decker cracked a smile. “See? You’ve still got fingers, she got a treat, and now she’s yours forever. Now, let’s get you up in the saddle so you can catch up with the others.” Kyla followed him around to Kismet’s left side and took a deep breath as she put her foot gingerly in his cupped hands. Oh, this was going to hurt.

  He lifted her onto the horse like she weighed no more than a kitten, then grabbed Kismet’s reins and got her turned around toward the riding ring. Handing Kyla the reins, he slapped Kismet’s behind. “You’re up!”

  Before she had a chance to say thank you, or to wonder how he’d managed to get her up on a beast she’d sworn never to go near again, he’d headed to the other side of the paddock to adjust Maureen’s stirrup. She had no choice but to stay on.

  As Kismet walked sedately toward the circle of horses, Kyla shifted on the saddle, trying to find a comfortable position for her leg. No way was she going to let on to Decker that she was in pain. She was sure he’d dealt with enough women all summer trying to grab his attention. The last thing she was going to do was act like one of them.

  As if she’d conjured the action with her thought, Cheryl suddenly reined in and stopped, making a show of checking her stirrup. Then she simpered, “Decker, would you mind checking this for me? It isn’t feeling right.”

  Decker strode over and pulled on the stirrup, holding Cheryl’s ankle at the same time. Cheryl smiled as she looked down at him, and Kyla’s stomach turned. How did men fall for this crap?

  Worse, why did she care?

  Chapter 6

  “Ow,” Kyla moaned as she stumbled up the three steps to the cabin after dinner.

  “Double ow,” Hayley agreed, limping up the stairs behind her. “How come horseback riding never looks painful on TV?”

  Both of them collapsed into the porch swing as Jess gracefully bounded up the steps and floated into the swinging chair. Hayley scrunched her eyes and growled, “Why don’t you hurt, Miss Perfect?”

  Jess shrugged. “Yoga, I guess.”

  Kyla tried to pull her feet up under her, but her thigh was having none of it. “Please tell me there’s nothing on the schedule tonight. I don’t think I can move.”

  “I think we should go for a nice long walk and stretch our legs.” Jess flipped one leg over her head and pulled her ankle downward.

  Kyla groaned as she watched Jess stretch. Oh, to be able to do that with her own body. “Did you not hear the part about I can’t move? And ow? Good Lord, how do you do that with your body? It’s just wrong.”<
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  “A walk’ll be good for you, sweetie. It’s too gorgeous here to sit in our cabin all evening.”

  “But I like the cabin. It’s adorable. I like my big gooshy bed and the calico quilts and the warm fireplace and the clawfoot—hey! I know what I need to do tonight. Take a nice, long bubble bath.”

  Hayley lumbered out of the swing and started doing runner stretches on the cabin stairs. “She’s probably right, Kyla, though I’d flip a coin for that bathtub right about now.”

  Jess unfolded herself from her chair and stretched her arms over her head, then pointed gently at Kyla. “Well, you’re going to hurt way worse in the morning than you do now if you don’t stretch out that body tonight. We’re walking, darlin’.”

  “You can walk, darlin’. I’m taking a bubble bath.”

  Two hours later, Kyla found herself swatting mosquitoes in the woods. She was pretty convinced she should have opted for the bubble bath after all, especially now that they’d walked an extra mile because Jess had been looking at the map upside down. “Are we there yet?”

  “Almost, sweetie.” Jess rattled the package in her hand. “Have some more M&Ms.”

  Kyla held out her hand, peering ahead of them in the darkening forest. “I think I finally see the ranch. Did you call ahead to have my bath prepared?” She winced as her already-strained muscles objected to clambering over a fallen tree. “And this might be a good time to ask something I’ve been wondering about. Did you two know there’s an actual spa in town? With spa-ish sorts of things? And no horses?”

  “And no mosquitoes, either, I bet.” Hayley slapped her arm. “They probably even offer a package with guided hikes so no one gets lost.”

  “Now, sweeties. We’re not really spa-package gals, anyway. And let’s not exaggerate. We weren’t lost, exactly. Just a little misaligned.”

  “Well, I hope this is our ranch you’ve realigned us to, Miss Let’s-go-for-a-walk. It’s getting freakin’ dark out here.” Hayley swatted another mosquito. “And buggy.”

  Jess held out the bag of M&Ms. “Here. Eat. Stop whining.”

  As they walked toward the faint lights glowing among the trees, the path became clearer, and Kyla breathed a bit easier, knowing they were almost back. Just as they reached the edge of a clearing, Jess pointed at a cabin ahead of them and to the right. “I think that’s one of the staff cabins. Cole and Decker are living in one of them this summer, and there’s supposed to be another one. I think it’s just too dark to see the other cab—oh, no!” Her voice suddenly sank to a whisper.

  “What?!” Kyla hissed as she backed up a step.

  Hayley backed up with her and grabbed her hand. “Yikes. There’s a guy coming out on the porch.”

  Kyla giggled. “Great. They’re going to think we’re out here spying on them like hormonal teenagers.”

  Jess pulled both of them back into the trees. “Let’s just hide here until he goes back inside. He’ll never see us. Make like a tree, ladies. Be one with the forest.”

  Kyla giggled softly. “We are so going to get in trouble.”

  “Not if we don’t get caught,” Hayley hissed. “Shh.”

  As they backed into the woods, Kyla stepped on a twig and suppressed another giggle. “I cannot believe we’re doing this. I feel like we’re back at Freshman Camp, sneaking over to the boys’ cabin.” Her stomach quivered as she tried to suppress her nervous-giggle reflex.

  “Jess, Kyla’s giggling. Shut her up.”

  “You know that’s impossible.”

  Kyla stifled another giggle. “Sorry. I can’t help it.”

  “Hush.” Hayley glared as she peered through the trees. “I think he went back inside.” She waggled her eyebrows at Jess and Kyla. “Hey, as long as we’re here, who wants to go take a peek in the window?”

  Kyla giggled again. “Right. Because that would be a really mature and only borderline illegal thing to do. Didn’t you learn your lesson at Freshman Camp?”

  “Those guys totally asked for it. They tormented us from day one.”

  “So you thought sneaking into their cabin and stealing all of their clothes was a strategy likely to end that?”

  “Nope, but it was fun.”

  “It wasn’t all that fun when they exacted their payback, Hayls.”

  “Oh, please. The lake was gorgeous that night.”

  “It would have been more gorgeous from shore.”

  “Now, now. Just because we had no clue how to sail back after they dove in and ditched us in the middle of the lake, there’s no need to be bitter.”

  Kyla laughed quietly. “Good thing it was a small lake.”

  “Plus”—Hayley winked—“it all worked out pretty well in the end.”

  “For you, maybe. You got Steve. I got poison ivy.”

  “Ooh. I forgot about that. Come on.” She elbowed Kyla. “Aren’t you even a little bit tempted?”

  “Hayley, you’re impossible,” Kyla hissed.

  “Admit it, sweetie,” Jess whispered. “We know you’re curious. Not that I’m condoning the whole Peeping-Tom thing.”

  “What is wrong with you two? I am most certainly not curious. So he’s hot. Really hot. Even, perhaps, exceptionally hot. Happy?” Hayley and Jess nodded. “That doesn’t mean I’m crouched here, looking at what might possibly be his bedroom window, dying to take a peek.” Kyla giggled again as a twig snapped. “Stop moving, you guys! We’re going to get caught.”

  “I didn’t move,” Jess whispered. Kyla heard another snap, this time closer.

  Hayley grabbed Kyla and Jess, squeezing hard as she pulled them downward toward the pine needle carpet. “Neither did I.”

  The darkness suddenly disappeared as a huge flashlight beam sliced toward the tree where they were hiding. All three girls screeched and scrambled to huddle together. Jess was the first to recover. “Who’s there?”

  “Depends. Who’s there?”

  Oh, thank God. It was Decker’s voice. Kyla started giggling. She couldn’t help it. They were in the dark, out in the woods, talking about spying on a gorgeous grown man like twelve-year-olds, and they’d been caught.

  “Decker, is that you? Oh, thank goodness.” Jess put her arm around Kyla’s shoulders and motioned to Hayley to do the same. At the same time, she poked Kyla’s tummy and whispered, “Behave.” As a threesome, they stumbled back toward the path.

  “Something wrong, ladies?” Decker shined a flashlight toward them, sweeping it from face to face. It seemed to land on Kyla’s a beat too long, but that could have been her embarrassment talking.

  Jess put on her best concerned voice and pointed to Kyla. “Kyla here has a bit of a sleepwalking problem. We just noticed she’d gone wandering, so we followed her out here. Thank goodness we caught her before she went down the hill toward the brook.”

  “She sleepwalks? At eight o’clock in the evening?”

  “She must have laid down for a nap while Hayley and I were out walking, and when we got back, she was nowhere in sight.”

  “Really. That’s quite concerning.” Kyla was sure Decker was shaking his head, though she couldn’t see it with the flashlight aimed at her face. “And she talks while she’s sleepwalking?”

  Hayley chimed in. “She does! Almost like she’s really awake. She even giggles. It’s freaky.”

  “And is she asleep now?” Decker shined the flashlight directly into Kyla’s eyes.

  * * *

  “What’s on the schedule this morning?” Hayley asked as she emerged from the bathroom with her hairbrush. She’d already pulled on jeans and a teal tank top, and was attempting to tame her hair into a ponytail.

  Kyla set down her cocoa mug and walked over to where the schedule was posted on the wall. “Crime and Punishment 101: Thou Shalt Not Stalk the Cowboys.”

  “Sweetie, that’s not what it says, and besides, you do have a nighttime wandering problem. You’re just not usually asleep when you do it.” Jess came out of her bedroom, tying her glossy black hair in a long braid. She check
ed her reflection in the wall mirror, then perched on the back of the couch, long cotton skirt brushing her ankles.

  She leaned closer to Kyla and ran her index finger gently under Kyla’s right eye. “Did you sleep at all last night, sweetie?”

  Kyla shrugged and picked up her mug. “Sure I did. Some.”

  She saw Jess and Hayley exchange a concerned look. Hayley took Kyla’s shoulders and walked her over to the wall mirror. “Honey, look at your eyes. When’s the last time you slept through the night?”

  Kyla sighed. “You already know I haven’t slept through the night since the accident.” She turned away from the mirror, then paused. “Since the night I found out about Alexis Nightingale. And the money.” The name tasted like acid on her tongue.

  “Secret wives should never have names that pretty.” Jess sighed.

  Hayley elbowed her. “Not helping, Jess. Really not helping.”

  “I didn’t say she was pretty. I just said her name was.”

  Kyla flopped down on the loveseat. “Well, she is pretty, unfortunately. Beautiful, actually. She was perfect for Wes. She probably called him Wesley. They were probably going to have three perfect children named Wesley the Fourth, Walker, and Waverly. All blond, all learning French from the nanny by age three, all tennis players at age four.”

  “Well, if it’s any comfort, he lost all of her money, too.”

  “Lucky for her, her daddy will set her up with a nice little pied-à-terre in Paris until the furor dies down. I just still can’t figure out how I was so damn stupid for so damn long.”

  “Sweetie, we’ve been over this a million times.” Jess sat down beside her. “He was a master con man. You have to stop blaming yourself.”

  “How can I not blame myself, Jess? It’s not just me he destroyed.”

  “Your grandparents never blamed you, Kyla. Only you blame you.”

  “I know. The logical part of me knows. But Jesus, you guys. He ruined them. They were going to live in that farmhouse until they died. Gramps always said the only way they were gonna take him off that farm was feet first.”