Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“Yeah, well…I’ve never ridden.”
JB made a dismissive noise and waved a hand a Cole. “That’s fine. We got some well-trained trail horses that’ll be fine for you.” Cole opened his mouth to reply, but JB was already twisting in the opposite direction in his saddle and letting out a high-pitched whistle. “Danny! Could you saddle up Dopey for Cole?”
A young man who looked as if he couldn’t be more than nineteen popped his head up. “Got it, Boss!” he shouted and darted off for another barn.
“Dopey?” Cole inquired, earning a groan from JB.
“My sister—you’ll meet her eventually. She thought she was being cute. When I bought a new bunch of horses for the ranch, she talked my dad into letting her name them.”
“Seven dwarfs?”
“Yep. Her husband ended up buying Happy, Sneezy, and Bashful off us, so we don’t even have all the dwarfs anymore.”
“Do the names fit their personalities?”
“Not at all. Well, except for maybe Grumpy. She only lets my mom ride her. But I promise Dopey is a sweetheart. You’ll be in good hands.” JB gave quick directions to the right barn and they briefly separated.
Cole ignored the flutter of butterflies in his stomach. Trying something new and adventurous was always good, but getting up on such a large creature and trusting it to not throw him off was somewhat terrifying.
He found the horse barn with no trouble and immediately spotted the same young man tightening the saddle on the back of a black-and-white horse who looked as if he were only half awake. The horse was enormous, but it at least appeared to be docile.
“Don’t worry about Dopey. He’s an overgrown kitten,” the kid said as he scratched the horse’s nose. The horse tossed his head and then took a step closer to Danny, seeming to nuzzle his pockets.
“Okay, part kitten and part cow.” Danny flashed Cole a grin. “He likes to eat constantly. Trust me, he needs this exercise today. If he pauses to eat the grass, just give him a nudge with your heels and that’ll get him moving again.”
Cole was mentally scribbling down now. Horse eats = nudge him.
Yeah, taking one look at Dopey, Cole had a feeling this horse wasn’t going to give a shit about a “nudge” from him.
“Don’t look so worried!” JB called from the open doorway at the other end of the barn. Cole looked up to see JB dismount and loosely tie up his horse before walking over. When JB reached Dopey, the horse gave up on trying to find treats on the kid and started snuffling over Cole.
“Okay, he is part cow, but he knows this ranch backward and forward. He’s also used to following Bandit around,” he said, jerking his thumb to the other horse. “Most of the time, you’ll simply have to hang on. Dopey will do the rest.”
Cole nodded. “Okay. I like that arrangement.”
With the horse all saddled up and harnessed up and whatevered up, Dopey was led over to a mounting block. Cole hadn’t realized he’d wrinkled his nose with distaste until JB nearly fell over laughing.
“Come on. Don’t look like that. All good cowboys start there.”
Yeah, JB was right. Maybe he’d imagined being all tough and impressive, bounding up into the saddle, but he knew better. There would be no bounding into the saddle or anywhere with Dopey, and that was fine.
With Danny holding the horse’s harness thingy, JB stood beside the block, instructing Cole which foot to put where and where to hold on the horse. Cole sucked in a deep breath and followed JB’s instructions as closely as possible.
Of course as he lifted into the saddle, the horse shifted and moved. Cole cried out and JB’s hand landed on his ass, pushing him the rest of the way over into the saddle. He dropped down with a grunt and tightly gripped the horn with one hand. After a moment, he realized he was actually seated and not tumbling to the floor of the barn. A shaky laugh left him, and he looked down to find JB smiling up at him. A new flutter hit his chest, trying to steal his breath away, but it had to be from sitting on a horse. That was all it was.
“Look at you. You look like you were born to be in a saddle,” JB crowed.
“Err…” Danny started and then blushed when he caught a glare from JB. “No. He does. Just…he needs a hat.”
Cole shoved his hand through his thick, dark hair at the mention of a hat, and now JB was frowning at him.
“He’s right. You need a hat if we’re going to be out in the sun. Even if we’re only out an hour.” JB turned to the young man and opened his mouth, but the kid was already talking.
“The spare in the office. Got it!” Danny shot off, running full tilt through the barn to disappear into a small room at the far end.