by Deb Kastner
“It’s as much about the attitudes of the youths as it is their riding abilities or the temperament of a particular horse,” Tessa explained.
Cole remembered once being responsible for choosing Tessa a mount from Serendipity’s public stable, the very first time she’d ever ridden a horse in her life. He’d been the one to teach her, and they’d spent many hours together exploring the countryside. She’d apparently continued riding after he left, if she was now in possession of her own horse.
His chest tightened. A lot of time had passed since their dating days. He experienced the odd sensation of a gap, the lost time, opening like a large black cavern before him.
So much in Serendipity had stayed the same, and yet so much had changed.
Tessa had changed.
“I know horses,” he admitted. “But how am I supposed to know what the kids are going to be like, much less what kind of ride to give them?”
Tessa and Marcus burst out laughing simultaneously.
“Trust me,” said Marcus with the annoying grin of his that Cole wanted to wipe off his face, “you’ll know.”
“They tend to wear their emotions on their sleeves,” Tessa explained. “Five minutes in their presence and you’ll know exactly which horse goes with which teenager.”
Great.
He had his doubts that the boys would even try to be straight with him, especially given that they were all delinquents. They’d try to pull a fast one on him, and he suspected their attitudes might make teaching them to ride more complicated than it needed to be.
Then there were the girls, whom he could easily imagine overloaded with emotions. He wasn’t so old and removed from civilian life that he didn’t remember what happened when a bunch of teenage girls got together. Bubbly young ladies and skittish horses really did not mix. The very thought made him shiver. He was the last person in the world who wanted to deal with the racket created by a bunch of young women, with or without adding horses to the equation.
He groaned inwardly as his dream of losing himself on the peace and quiet of the range floated right out the window. Instead, he was supposed to be a mentor. Alexis and Griff clearly thought it was possible, but he still had his doubts.
“What about my hours?” he asked, tapping his pen against the table just to have something to do with his hands.
“We know you have a sweet little baby to go home to,” Alexis said. “You’ll have office hours, so to speak, and your weekends will be free to spend with Grayson. We’ll have some of the other wranglers cover those shifts for you.”
“I appreciate the consideration, but you really don’t have to do that,” Cole said. “Grayson is in good hands. I don’t mind evening and weekend work when it’s called for. I want to carry my weight around here.”
“And you will. We all understand that your baby comes first,” Alexis insisted. “It’s no bother.”
“That’s the way we want it to be,” Tessa agreed, compassion softening her voice. “The way it should be for a single parent. At the very least.”
Cole swallowed hard.
“Be sure to let your father know he can contact you at any time, for any reason. On your cell phone, or he can reach us at the office, either way. It doesn’t have to be an emergency.”
“Your father?” Tessa echoed, arching her auburn brows.
“Dad is taking care of Grayson while I work.”
“I was wondering who would—” She stammered to a halt. “I mean, that’s incredibly generous of him.”
“You’ve got that right. I wanted to hire a nanny, but Gramps, as he calls himself, wouldn’t hear of anything else. He’s over the moon to have a grandson and says he wants to spend every second with him.”
Tessa chuckled, but her expression was a little sad. Cole’s father had always treated her like a daughter, at least until their bad breakup. He’d never asked his dad about it, but he suspected she and Pop weren’t on speaking terms now. Not after she’d publically humiliated Cole and left his heart in shreds.
Tessa shook her head and appeared to recover. Cole refused to acknowledge the warmth in his chest that accompanied the reappearance of her smile.
“So you really think I can do this?” he asked, directing his question to no one in particular. “This mentoring thing?”
“It’s mostly a matter of practice,” Tessa assured him. “You’ll be surprised how fast you pick up the nuances of teen-speak.”
“Yeah, but y’all have a degree. I’m just a wrangler.”
“A degree is neither here nor there,” Griff said. “And besides, you’re way more than just a wrangler, Cole. You’re a sailor, too. I’m guessing you learned a great deal in the navy. College isn’t the only way to learn about life. You’ve overcome obstacles in your past.”
Yeah. By running away.
Cole quickly shifted his gaze away from Tessa lest she read on his face what he was thinking. The biggest obstacle of his life was sitting right across the table from him, and he couldn’t say with any certainty that he’d overcome anything.
He focused on Griff. “Yes, sir, but nothing that’s going to help me in this situation. The navy didn’t give me a clue on how to wrangle a herd of rambunctious kids.” He tried to make it sound like a joke, even if it wasn’t.
“We’ll ease you into it,” Alexis promised, although from the smug look on Marcus’s face and the distressed expression on Tessa’s, he wasn’t sure he believed Alexis’s words. “Let’s just start with the trail ride and see how you do. We’re not leaving you on your own, you know. We’ll all be along for the ride, so to speak.”
Griff chuckled. “Literally speaking, she means.”
Be that as it may, part of him wanted to get up right now and walk out of the room, even if that meant being without a job. The whole situation was way out of his comfort zone. But at one time in his life he’d chosen to run away to escape his problems, and he’d promised himself he would never do so again. He would face this challenge and conquer it.
Besides, this wasn’t just about him. He had a son to provide for now. Griff and Alexis were offering him the flexibility of hours he needed in order to care for Grayson.
“Guess I’m up for a little adventure,” he said reluctantly, punctuating his sentence with a nod. He swallowed around the apprehension clogging his throat. “Trail rides and teenagers.”
And working with Tessa—which he knew would be the biggest challenge of them all.
Chapter Four
Tessa walked her palomino quarter horse gelding out of the barn and into the corral and haphazardly slung the lead around the split-rail fence. It was more habit than anything else. It wasn’t necessary for her to tether Little Bit. Her horse had a remarkably easy and gentle spirit, and Tessa knew he could be depended on to stand steady while she tightened the cinch and swung into the saddle.
If only her emotions would behave as her horse did—stable and reliable instead of flitting off in every which direction.
If only Cole hadn’t come back to town.
She’d purchased Little Bit as a gift to herself after she’d been at Redemption Ranch for a year. To me, from me, because I love me, she used to joke to Marcus. She adored riding and often chose to spend time in the saddle on her rare evenings off. It was one of her favorite perks of country living.
Back when she’d first arrived in Serendipity, she’d been an introverted army brat who’d never been within touching distance of a horse. Learning to ride had been a dream of hers, and Cole had made that dream come true. He’d become her whole world as he gave up his afternoons to teach her everything she now knew about horsemanship. She’d instantly taken to the majestic animals under Cole’s gentle guidance, and to this day she remembered the smile on his face when he complimented her on how quickly she’d picked up the skills. As with everything else h
e’d done for her and with her, he’d treated her with tenderness, love and respect.
She sighed softly as memories overtook her. She and Cole had spent many happy hours in the saddle exploring the Texas plains. Racing across the grassy fields, enjoying the fresh air and the colorful wildflowers. Laughing with wholehearted abandon. Eagerly speaking of their combined hopes and dreams of what was to come, of spending their lives together. She’d been so certain their love would endure forever. Was it that long ago she’d imagined her future with Cole shining as brightly as the sun?
Though Cole had been her first serious boyfriend, she’d been thoroughly convinced he was her one and only true love. In her innocence of the way the world really worked, it had been incredibly simple back then for her to picture their lives forever entwined. Engagement. Marriage. A family. Gray hair. Growing old together, linked hand in hand until death did them part. Cliché, maybe, but her heart’s desire nonetheless. Or at least it had been.
Then in one single moment, her once shiny world had turned as dark as a thunderstorm. And the truth was, she’d never quite gotten past the clouds. She didn’t believe in fairy tales anymore. Her heart burned in an agonizing heat as those memories washed over her, and with them, the realization that the young man Cole once was no longer existed.
At least she’d finally been able to fulfill one heartfelt dream in her life—having a horse of her own. Before she’d permanently returned to Serendipity and gotten the job at Redemption Ranch, she’d put her love of horses aside to focus on her studies. Owning a horse wouldn’t have been practical even if she’d had the time to ride, which she hadn’t. Even when she’d returned home to Serendipity after college, her heart had tangled with the mixed memories of Cole and horses, the shades of white and black that swirled together whenever she thought of either one. It had taken her some time to get over those emotional imprints.
But when the Haddons had generously offered their stable and pastures to her as part of her employment package, how could she resist? She supposed it was God’s perfect timing. Though the melancholy never quite went away, trail rides with Little Bit had become something to which she always looked forward.
Except today.
She usually tacked up in the stable, but today she’d taken Little Bit into the corral simply because she couldn’t bear to be in the same room as Cole—even if the room in question was a barn, and even if he was busy saddling a dozen horses for the teenagers to use during the trail ride.
Echoing from inside the barn, she could hear Alexis lecturing the kids on trail ride etiquette, giving Tessa a moment to touch base with God before mounting up. As she usually did before any of the teens’ activities, she offered up a prayer for the kids, but this time she asked for extra grace for herself, too. She had a feeling this wouldn’t be a normal day for her in any regard—not with Cole along. It was going to be all she could do to tamp down the memories she knew would rise to the surface the moment she saw Cole on the back of a horse again. She was already struggling enough as it was.
In general, trail rides weren’t especially noteworthy events, despite the protests that were even now forthcoming from some of the mouthier teens. At the beginning of their tenure, the teens seemed to think every event was worth a good grumble or two. At first it had concerned her, but now she’d experienced enough Mission Months to know that their complaints, loud as they were, were mostly guff and hot air. The boys, especially, liked to strut their stuff and act like tough guys, covering their vulnerabilities with a ramped-up bad-boy facade—and showing off for the young ladies.
Trail rides were an important part of the kids’ rehabilitation. As a rule, the youth of both sexes were fascinated by the horses, whether they immediately cared to admit it or not. In Tessa’s experience, she’d often found that the best kind of therapy for some of the teenagers was working with and caring for the equines assigned to them. Giving them the opportunity to nurture their horses not only gave them a sense of responsibility they often lacked in their daily lives at home but also afforded them the delight of discovery when their horses responded in turn. As Tessa well knew from her own encounters the bond between a horse and a human was both powerful and enchanting.
Tessa ran a hand down Little Bit’s muzzle and breathed in the tangy blend of horse, hay and saddle leather that settled her heart in a way few other scents did.
“I think I may be in need of a little bit of therapy myself,” she said aloud and then laughed at her own unwitting joke. “Pun not intended.”
Little Bit snorted and threw his head as if he was nodding.
“I know, right? I’m absolutely hopeless.”
“I could have told you that,” said Marcus, leading his mount next to hers and flipping the stirrup out of the way in order to tighten the cinch on his mount. “I’m sure Little Bit agrees with me. Sissy, too. Right, girl?” he asked, running his hand across the bay mare’s flank.
“Shut up, you.” She rolled her eyes. “Only you would name your horse Nemesis and then go and call her Sissy.”
Marcus made a face at her, and she chuckled in response.
At least Cole hadn’t been the one to discover her talking out loud to her horse. That would have been...worse than being caught by Marcus. Mortifying, actually. She could only imagine what Cole would think if he’d heard her admit to needing therapy, even if it was only in jest, and only to an animal who couldn’t share the information. The last thing she wanted to do was give him an indication that his return to Serendipity affected her in any way.
Nothing like chasing trouble.
She mounted Little Bit and walked him around in a tight circle as she waited for the teenagers to make their way into the corral. The first ride always took the most preparation as the kids learned the basics of tacking up and mounting up. On their first day at the ranch, they’d been exposed to the back end responsibilities of caring for their assigned mounts—mucking stalls was always the first job Alexis assigned to the teenagers. The point was to get them acclimated to country life, she said, to shock their systems so they’d be ready to learn.
Equine boot camp, so to speak. And quite effective.
Tessa nudged Little Bit out of the way as Alexis led the first of the twelve teens out of the barn. A dark-haired young man named Caleb was clearly trying to look as if he rode horses every day. It was just as obvious to anyone in the know that he’d never been on a horse in his life. He clutched the saddle horn with white-knuckled hands as if it were a lifeline, and he was swaying loosely from side to side even though his mount was barely at a walk. His feet flopped all over the place despite being in the stirrups. An accidental trot and the kid would go flying.
Tessa reined Little Bit into position to keep Caleb’s mount in place until the others were ready. She quietly gave him a few hints to stabilize his weight in the saddle. As Alexis returned to the barn, Cole led the next teenager out, Kaylie, a spindly, pretty little blonde dressed in jeggings and a blouse two sizes too big for her. The young lady probably swam in a size one.
Tessa shook her head. She couldn’t believe how reed-thin teenage girls kept themselves these days. A stout burst of wind would blow Kaylie away. And by the end of the trail ride, she would regret wearing jeggings instead of good, solid denim. Tessa made a mental note to add that to her pretrail ride instructions for future groups. Designer jeans were bad enough, but jeggings? Spandex and saddle leather wouldn’t mix for long, and Kaylie was bound to find herself saddle sore by the end of the ride, poor girl.
Marcus left Sissy tethered to the fence and helped Cole and Alexis lead the rest of the teens and their horses out one by one and line them up in a row. After a few minutes, all of the horses were out in the corral, the lead ropes were secured onto the saddles and the adults had mounted.
Tessa did everything she could to keep from looking at Cole. She gave various teenagers tips on technique. She counted backw
ard from one hundred. But despite her best efforts, she found her gaze drifting his way. Her breath caught at the picture he made on the back of his horse. He still rode the same Appaloosa gelding he’d had in high school—Spot Check, nicknamed Checkers. She’d always admired how he looked in the saddle—like a cowboy out of an old Western. The way he rode was simply magnificent, man and horse moving as one unit. Back when they’d been dating, she’d never tired of watching him gallop across golden prairie grass.
Cole chose that moment to look in her direction, and their gazes locked. Her heart clenched in her throat, and for a few seconds it was as if the break between them had never happened. Everything else seemed to fade away. Only the two of them were here now, just as it had been back then.
Connected. Happy. Fulfilled.
“Listen up,” Alexis called, gathering the teenagers’ attention and whipping into Tessa’s consciousness, causing her to jerk inadvertently on Little Bit’s reins and send him into a half rear. Cole’s blue eyes narrowed on her and then shifted away. She felt the loss intensely and only with effort turned her mind to gaining control over her horse and focusing on what Alexis was saying to the kids.
“I expect you to remember everything we’ve been over this morning. You’ll be riding single file. No doubling up. Nose to tail, but be sure to leave room between your horse and the one in front of you. I don’t care how capable you think you are as a rider—no funny stuff. No goofing around in the saddle. No wandering off the trail. Anyone who doesn’t follow the rules gets KP duty for a week. You’ll be responsible for the worst chores I can throw at you.”
As Alexis continued her speech, Tessa walked Little Bit around the corral, checking to make sure each rider appeared securely balanced in the saddle and whispering suggestions and encouragement to the teenagers whenever she saw errors in form.
“I’ll be leading this little expedition today,” Alexis continued. “As we’re exiting the corral, Marcus will direct you. Don’t move until he tells you to, and pay special attention until we’re all out on the trail. Cole and Tessa will be bringing up the rear and watching to make sure you’re all safe and following the rules.”
