by Kadie Scott
“So why bother?”
“Sheer curiosity. I want to know exactly what they can do. Especially Solario.”
“I guess I can see why.”
Another sidelong glance, this one assessing. “Really?”
“Yes. I can hear in your voice how much pride you have in him. The fact you wouldn’t give up on Solario tells me how much you love him.”
Cash couldn’t interpret all the expressions that flitted across Holly’s face, but she’d seemed almost sad for a moment. His impression that this woman had led a solitary life intensified. Not only that, but she wasn’t used to people understanding her.
However, he couldn’t be positive, because she blanked her expression so expertly as she watched the bumpy road.
Cash glanced out the side window again. “I originally thought maybe you had a thing for Will.”
“What? You don’t think I’m good enough for your big brother?” She said it with a laugh in her voice, indicating she was joking.
But something in him, down deep and very caveman, didn’t like the thought much.
Jeez, Hill. Get a grip. “I’m not going to dignify that with a comment. I noticed you didn’t answer the question.”
Holly laughed. “You got me, Sheriff. Are you going to break out those handcuffs you threatened me with last night?”
“I thought we agreed no flirting.” He couldn’t help that his voice deepened a bit at the image that flashed in his mind. Holly in his bed, arms above her head, gloriously naked. He ruthlessly pushed the image away, shifting in the seat to ease a new physical discomfort.
“Right,” she muttered. “Well, nothing’s going on with Will. We’re both horse people is all.”
“Common ground is usually a good basis for a relationship.”
“True. But I’m sure Will would agree, we’re just friends.”
“I see.” Cash waited for the flash of anger, or jealousy, or even irritation. But it didn’t come. As that realization struck, a weight lifted from him. He glanced at Holly, who’d fallen silent beside him.
Maybe he was finally moving on?
Chapter Fourteen
Once they arrived at the ranch, Cash hopped out and went inside, where his family waited. They were gathered in the family room.
“You should be out there helping her,” his mother admonished when Holly didn’t come in with him but, instead, pulled around to the barn to unload the horses by herself.
“I would, but one of her horses is skittish around anyone but Holly. Especially men. She’d rather do it herself.”
Apparently that didn’t seem like a good enough reason to his mother, who shook her head and tsked.
“I’ll go. I promised her I’d help clock him, anyway.” Will jumped up from where he’d been sitting in the wing-backed armchair and headed out the door.
Evaline gestured after Will pointedly, letting Cash know his brother’s actions were the appropriate ones. Cash caught Will’s quiet chuckle as he left the room.
It took a while for Holly to get unloaded, Mischief settled and Solario tacked up. Eventually Will called up to the house to let them know they were heading to the track.
The entire family, en masse, trooped on down. The grass outside the fenced-in garden was starting to get a little high, waving in the breeze with a soft whooshing. Cash made a mental note to mention that to his dad. He didn’t want a fire hazard like that so close to the house. For now, though, Sophia enjoyed it. She giggled as their walking kicked up a grasshopper that jumped and flew a few feet in front of them. Cash smiled as she bounded after the bug, though he also kept a sharp eye and ear out for rattlesnakes.
The grasshopper finally found a hiding place, and Sophia returned to Cash’s side to hold his hand. She skipped along, chattering nonstop as they made their way to stand along the rails of the track and watch. Will ran horses here, of course, but this was different. This was Holly, to whom all of Cash’s family seemed to have taken a shine.
Himself included. Somehow, hearing that conversation with Marcus, Cash’s steps suddenly felt lighter than they had in a long time. The weight on his shoulders gone.
“Do you think he’ll be fast, Daddy?”
He glanced at Sophia’s eager expression and smiled. “I don’t know, but we’ll find out soon.”
“Is he big?”
“He’s very big and handsome. All black with white socks.”
“Uncle Will says he’s mean.”
“Holly said he’s scared of strangers and most men.”
“But not little girls?”
“I’m not sure about that. You stay away from him, just to be safe.”
“Oh, but—”
“That’s a rule, young lady.”
Sophia’s face fell, but she took it like a champ. “Yes, sir.” She scuffed her feet in the dirt. Then she perked right back up. “I hope he’ll be fast, Daddy.”
Cash grinned. All it took was the little things in life sometimes. “Me too.”
They got to the track, which was a soft, groomed dirt oval encircled by a wooden fence inside and outside the loop. They all took their places to watch.
Will stood just inside the fence on the track, only a few feet from where they watched. He held a stopwatch. “She’s warming him up first.”
Holly guided Solario around the track in an easy lope. She was standing in the stirrups and, every once in a while, Solario danced to the side or tossed his head, obviously eager to go. Holly had him fully under control.
Watching her in such command over so powerful a creature was a complete turn-on. Cash shifted uncomfortably, forcing his hyped-up body to calm down. He tried to keep his attention on what she was doing, not how she looked doing it. Definitely not on how her thighs looked encased in the tight riding breeches she’d donned.
Holly made it around to where Will stood and reined Solario in. “I’m going to take him back to the far turn then head back this way,” she called. “I’ll set him off as I pass by you. Start the clock then.”
Will raised a hand in acknowledgment. Holly took the big black horse down and around.
Sophia tugged on his sleeve. “Are you scared, Daddy?” she whispered when he leaned down to her.
Cash raised his eyebrows. “No, sweetie. Why?”
“Because you’re scratching the fence with your fingernails.”
Cash blinked and glanced down to realize he was white-knuckling the rails. With something akin to shock, he noticed he’d gotten a good-sized splinter from the wood.
He released his grip and plucked the splinter out with a wince. “Racing can be dangerous. I just want Holly to be okay.”
“Oh, okay.” She smiled.
“How about a better view?” He reached down and swung her up onto his shoulders. Together they turned to watch.
As Holly passed Will, she hissed at the horse, kicking him into a gallop. Solario took off like a shot. They both flew around the track.
It was quite a sight—the big black horse eating up the ground with his long strides and Holly low over his back, guiding and urging him on, her long dark braid dancing around from beneath her helmet.
They flashed around the turn, down the backstretch and around the second turn, not letting up until they blazed by Will. Dust kicked up in their wake. Everyone waved it away, not wanting to miss a thing. As they continued to watch, Holly stood in the stirrups to slow her mount, but Solario fought her, and it took her another quarter-length of the track to get him to back down into a canter.
Will whistled.
“Fast?” Cash asked.
“You could say that.” Will showed Cash the time—a smidge over two minutes.
“Is that good?”
“That’s Kentucky Derby good,” Will said.
“Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!” John exclaimed.
Cash grinned as Evaline slapped his dad on the arm then nodded toward Sophia. “Little ears.”
John gave his wife a sheepish smile.
H
olly was coming back around the track. She pulled Solario to a halt and slid off his back then led him farther away and tethered him to the fence before walking back toward Will.
“What’s the verdict?” She pulled her gloves and helmet off.
Will waited and showed her the stopwatch when she got closer.
Holly froze. “That can’t be right…”
“It’s right, honey,” John said. “I got the same time.” He held up an old watch Cash hadn’t seen him pull out.
Holly’s jaw dropped in stunned disbelief. Eyes wide, she shifted from foot to foot. “I’m not even sure what to think about that.” She giggled.
“How’d he go?” Will asked.
Her eyes focused. “He was certainly easy. I didn’t need to direct him too much. Ran straight, was responsive to small corrections. I’m no jockey, so it’s hard to tell.”
“Didn’t want to stop, huh?”
Holly grinned. “He nearly dislocated my arms from my sockets trying to pull him out of it.” She shook her head, still seemingly dazed by the results.
“I’d say you need to find yourself a lady jockey and start training this million-dollar miracle you’ve got here.” John grinned.
Cash caught her glance in his direction and raised his eyebrows in an unspoken question. She seemed to know he was wondering what she was going to do now. In reply, she gave him a small shrug as if to say she hadn’t the faintest clue.
“Guess I’ll have to think about this one.” She slapped her gloves on her leg. “Might as well exercise Mischief while I’m at it.”
She walked back over to Solario, who was keeping close tabs on all the humans with wary distrust. He nuzzled her shoulder in greeting as she untethered him. “I’ll cool him down and get him settled in a stall first.”
Then she turned and walked off, a tiny woman beside a massive horse, both in perfect harmony with each other. Cash shook his head. She might not be a witch doctor, but she’d sure cast a spell on that wild beast.
“I’ll head up to the barn and get Mischief tacked up and ready for her,” Will said. “Save her some time. It’s starting to get hot.”
“What’s she going to do on Mischief?” Sophia asked, as they all turned to trek back that way.
“We’ll find out in a bit.” Cash smiled.
*
Holly gave Solario a couple of cubes of sugar and patted his sleek neck one last time. She still couldn’t believe what he’d done today. Though she was far from being an expert when it came to riding a racehorse, anyone with access to the Internet could figure out the time he’d turned out was impressive. She just didn’t know what, if anything, she should do about it. Although, John’s suggestion seemed like a decent place to start.
Will was getting things set up for her, so she took the opportunity to run into the tack room and change out of the jumping breeches she’d used to ride Solario and into her jeans and cowboy boots. She tucked in her white button-down shirt and slung on her leather belt. Then she made her way out to the covered arena—the same one where she’d had to put down Will’s mare—to find him standing there with an already saddled Mischief and the barrels set up for her.
Once again, the entire family was there. Holly had sort of understood why they’d all come down to watch Solario. Man, had they gotten a show. But this?
“Will,” she whispered. “I’m only training him for barrels. They have to have seen this type of thing before. Why are they here?”
He glanced over his shoulder to where his family stood along the fences then turned back to her. “They just like you.”
“Oh.”
“For Cash,” he added casually.
Holly was putting her foot in the stirrup. At those words, she missed and stumbled into Mischief’s side with a muffled “Oof!”
Will grinned, and Mischief craned his neck to look at her as if to say what the heck was that?
Uh-oh. “Nothing’s going on between us, Will.”
“Okay.”
“No, really.”
“I believe you.” Typical cowboy, there was no sarcasm or speculation in his voice.
“He thinks I’m just like—” She bit her lip. Will knew about Georgia leaving, but she got the impression Cash still hadn’t told anyone about the paternity suit.
“Like Georgia?” he asked.
She nodded.
Will patted Mischief’s neck. “After she died, he changed, you know.”
“Changed?”
He nodded. “He stopped visiting us as much. Stopped sharing things about his life. Like he’d lost faith in everyone and was cutting himself off from the world. Cash has always believed loyalty is the most important thing in a relationship. I think her note broke his sense of trust so badly, that he’s had to rethink some things, but maybe, in his shock and grief, he took it to an extreme.”
“Oh.” Holly couldn’t think of any response. Oh, Cash.
“But he’s different with you. More himself. Sophia too.”
“Oh,” she said again, doing a great imitation of a flaming moron.
Will grinned. “Just something to think about.”
Conversation over, Holly tried again for the stirrup. This time, she managed to get her booted foot in. In a smooth motion, she swung up and into the saddle. She gathered the reins and set to work.
At her request, Will had set up six barrels about twenty feet apart in a circle formation. She was taking Mischief through an exercise she found helped with consistency. It was a method her horses learned from the beginning, one she used to teach them turning, so he knew the drill.
Holly started him at a trot, keeping a light touch on the reins as she approached the first barrel. She pulled the left rein to her hip then used her leg to curve him around. Mischief arched his body around her leg and naturally turned around the barrel in a perfect circle. As they came out of the turn, she let up and moved him to the next barrel, where she repeated the actions.
Horse and rider moved through all the barrels like this. She helped Mischief switch leads and took him through it, turning around to the right. He did everything she asked of him, so she moved him up to a slow canter and repeated the run in both directions. When they finished, she rode over to the fence where Cash and his family stood.
Immediately, she noticed Sophia’s long face. “Why the droopy mouth?”
“I thought you’d run him around the barrels fast,” came the immediate answer. “Like at the rodeo.”
Holly’s lips twitched at Sophia’s simultaneously forlorn and disgusted expression. She cast Cash and Will a nod, and both of them proceeded to go drag three of the barrels into the racing formation, moving the rest out of the way.
As Cash walked by, she waved him over and leaned down. “Mind if I let Sophia ride Mischief for a minute?”
He smiled and, with an unreadable twinkle in his eyes, reached out to give a light tug to her braid, which had fallen over her shoulder. “Sure.” He walked away.
Holly turned to the girl. “Want to ride him while they set up?”
“Really?”
In answer, Holly swung her leg over Mischief, kicked her other foot free and dropped to the ground. In seconds, Sophia scooted between the fence rails, careful to stay away from the back of him, and came around to where Holly stood on his left side. Holly boosted her into the saddle and adjusted the stirrups to Sophia’s shorter legs.
Mischief was a pushover, so she had no concerns with him. Besides, Will had told her Sophia had shown good skills in her lessons.
“Why don’t you trot him around the arena?” Holly said.
“Okay!” And before Holly could say more, girl and horse were off.
“You just made her day,” Evaline murmured from behind her.
Holly smiled and moved closer to the white fence. “She’s got a good seat.” She nodded toward the far side of the arena, where Mischief trotted along, with Sophia in complete control of her mount.
“Are you working tomorrow?” Evaline asked.
<
br /> “Umm. No.”
“Good.”
Holly was busy keeping an eye on Sophia, or she would’ve wondered at that comment more. As it was, Sophia was pulling up beside her. She helped the girl down, readjusted the stirrups and hopped back up on top of Mischief. Cash and Will almost had things in place, so she headed over to the entrance to the arena, where Cash had already opened the gate.
She waited there until they’d positioned the barrels and moved over to the fence, well out of the way. Once they were all ready, Holly kicked Mischief into a hard gallop and went hell for leather for the first barrel. She and her horse were in perfect sync as they tightly turned around the obstacle before sprinting toward the next one. A quick lead change and they were circling the second barrel. With a flick of her heels, she spurred him on toward the third barrel, and around, then rode for the gate. Once they were through, she pulled Mischief up sharply.
As she went back to the arena, she heard Sophia’s excited chatter.
“You’re gonna teach me how to do that someday. Aren’t you, Holly?” Sophia asked enthusiastically.
Holly received a wry look from Cash as she guided Mischief to the fence. She grinned. “I warned you. It’s an easy bug to catch.” She was, of course, referencing their conversation in the car. Sophia was already begging to get a barrel racing horse for her next birthday.
Cash shook his head and laughed. “Don’t you think Misty would be sad?” he asked about her new horse. That worked to hold Sophia off that idea for the moment.
“And it won’t give me a heart attack before I’m thirty,” he muttered in an aside to Holly, who winked back.
“Why don’t you go get your horse cooled off and settled? Then come on into the house,” Evaline suggested to Holly above the chatter of her family.
Holly nodded and sent her a grateful smile.
Close to thirty minutes later, Holly let herself into the house through the mudroom, where she took off her dusty boots and left them by the door.
She felt a sense of déjà vu as she followed the sound of voices to where the entire Hill clan gathered in the family room.
She sought out Will with her eyes and made her way toward him with her hand outstretched. “Thanks for letting me use your arena. I’d better get going.”