“Hold on,” I said, trying to buy myself some time. “We need to, um, go over procedures and shooting schedules and segment plans before we get to, you know… horses.”
Ty laughed—a deep, knee-buckling laugh—and turned back to face me. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of horses.”
I threw a sideways glare at Eddie, who was laughing and getting this all on tape.
Only Genevieve managed to keep a straight face.
“I’m not afraid…” I insisted. “I’ve just never met one before.”
In New York, there weren’t many ways to meet horses. You could take pricey riding lessons at one of the few stables left in the city—which I didn’t. You could take a carriage ride through Central Park—a favorite pastime of gawking tourists, but not life-long residents. Or you could chat up one of the mounted police officers from the NYPD—not exactly a recommended activity.
So, no, I’d never met a horse.
“Don’t worry,” Ty said, walking backward toward the fence line full of horses. “Roughshod is the sweetest mare we’ve got. She’ll be gentle with you.”
“Roughshod?” I whispered. “Doesn’t sound sweet.”
Genevieve moved to my side.
“Ty is magical with horses.” She looped her arm through mine and started walking me closer to the horses. “I think he keeps sugar cubes in his pockets. They make moon eyes at him whenever he walks by.”
As Genevieve led me across the gravel driveway, I watched in awe as Ty walked up to the fence and the horses jockeyed to get closest to him. He patted them on their noses and they snickered in return. Such big, scary creatures acting like gentle puppies.
In one fluid movement, Ty placed his hand on the top rail, lifted one foot to the middle one, and then launched himself over the fence and into the pen.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
“Has that effect on the ladies, too,” she added. She called out, “Show off!”
I bit my lips to keep from saying anything that might indicate that I’d had that very reaction just minutes ago.
“I keep trying to get him to pick one and settle down.” She clucked, like a despairing mother. “A lady, I mean. I’m ready to be an auntie. But working eighteen-hour days doesn’t leave much time for dating.”
Her voice grew quieter, the closer we got to Ty, like she didn’t want him to hear.
Which didn’t explain why she was telling me. We only met three minutes ago, and already she’s confiding family secrets.
When we reached the fence, all my thoughts and questions fled. Genevieve released my arm and I stood there with nothing more than a few pieces of weathered wood separating me from the horses.
Ty had his arm hugged around the neck of a yellow horse. It was huge—although, in comparison, it was not quite as tall as Ty and not nearly as big as the rest of the horses. Frozen to the spot, I watched as he whispered soothing words and led it over to me.
“Cassie, this is Roughshod,” he said, patting the horse on the neck. “She’s a sweet old thing. Roughshod, this is Cassie. She’ll be riding you for the next couple weeks.”
As if she understood, the horse leaned forward and sniffed at my hands that were holding the fence rail in a death grip. The soft velvet of her nose tickled over my fingertips. Hot breath puffed out a second before she opened her lips and—
“Aaack!” I screamed and jumped back, knocking into Eddie who was capturing every last terror-filled moment.
The horse nickered softly as Ty soothed her. “Shhh, it’s alright. Just startled her is all.”
“She was going to bite me,” I accused.
“Roughshod? Nah.” Ty gave me a lopsided smile, the dimple in one cheek deeper than the other. “She was just feeling you out.”
He waved me back up to the fence.
The warm look in his bright blue eyes overrode my fear and I cautiously inched forward. He held out his hand and, with warning bells clanging in my mind, I took it.
Between the feel of his hand wrapped around mind and the fear of the crazy beast in front of me, it was amazing I stayed upright. But somehow I managed, and I let Ty guide my hand toward Roughshod’s mouth.
“Keep your palm flat,” he said softly.
Again, the horse sniffed my fingers and when she tried to nibble Ty held fast and kept my hand in place.
“Shhh,” he whispered.
Roughshod moved her lips over my skin, as if using them to feel instead of fingers. After a thorough exploration, she snickered—sputtered hot air on my palm—and then moved away.
She dropped her head and reached for a tiny patch of grass just out of chomping range on the other side of the fence.
“Wow,” I said, because there were no other words.
“Told ya,” Ty replied.
I looked at him—his blue eyes sparkling and twin dimples accenting his smile, his hand still enveloping mine—and I felt it. That punch in the gut that told me I was in deep, deep trouble. Texas-sized trouble.
“See, nothing to be afraid of,” Genevieve said as she stepped up to my side.
Her voice yanked me out of the moment.
I pulled my hand away and turned to her.
“You’re right,” I said, louder than necessary. “She’s a big teddy bear.”
Her blue gaze—a slightly darker shade than her brother’s—studied me for a moment, then shifted to Ty. When she settled back on me there was a spark of mischief in her eye.
That way lay danger. I had to change the direction of this runaway train—fast.
“So, now that we’ve done the introductions,” I blurted, “Eddie and I should go check in at the hotel. We need to go over the footage and—what?”
Genevieve started shaking her head before I finished voicing my escape plan.
“There’s no hotel in Rocky Gulch,” she explained. “Only the Bluebonnet Bed and Breakfast.”
“Oh.” Was I missing something? Wasn’t a bed and breakfast pretty much a hotel? “That’ll be fine.”
“There’s a wedding this weekend.” Genevieve made an apologetic face, but there was a flicker of glee hiding underneath. “The Bluebonnet is fully booked.”
Well that made things more difficult.
“That’s okay,” I replied. “We’ll head to the next town over and find a hotel there.”
Ty laughed. “Next town over is an hour away.”
I frowned. We would lose a lot of time in the commute that way. But I could make it work. If Eddie drove, I could draft shooting plans and write my daily reports for Gorman on the way here and back. It would be fine.
“That won’t be necessary,” Genevieve said before I could open my mouth. “We have plenty of room here.”
“Here?” I echoed.
She grinned like a Cheshire cat—and I felt like a big, juicy canary.
“Absolutely,” she insisted. “You two will stay with us.”
Eddie shifted his weight.
Ty coughed.
I closed my eyes. This was going to be bad.
Andy's Playlist #3 -- Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift
