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and not worry about it anymore.” She didn’t
like how awkward it felt at times, to use Ben’s things. Did it
bother Brent? When she looked back at him, he met her gaze,
probably seeing her doubt.
    “ It’s just the way it is. I
was pissy when you got here, but it wasn’t about you. Believe
me.”
    Unable to answer with
words, she nodded. At the stables, he took her around to the tack
room. “We keep the keys right here. Here’s an extra
set.”
    He dropped them in her
hand. Thank you stuck in her throat. Just a few days ago, he had wanted to run
her off. Now he handed her keys to one of the ranch
vehicles.
    He watched her face, so she
nodded like it wasn’t that big of a deal.
    “ You can take Speckle
today. She’s gentle and isn’t particular about who rides her.” He
pulled equipment down for them to use.
    “ Speckle?”
    “ She’s an Appaloosa like
Jeffery, and she came with the name. She’s your horse, now, guess
you can rename her. But she might not like it.” He waited for her
to lead the way into the stables. She noted he’d grabbed one
saddle. “Pad first.”
    Since he held it out to
her, she assumed she was going to learn how to saddle a horse. So
she laid the blanket over the horse’s back. The black horse, across
the way, watched and protested loudly. Missy gave Brent a look
since she didn’t get horse talk yet.
    “ He wants to go, but I’m
not taking him out with you along.” He didn’t elaborate on why, but
Missy turned to the angry beast, remembering it had been Ben’s
horse.
    “ What’s his name
again?”
    “ Dancer.” He flicked a look
back at the horse and turned back. She hadn’t seen him pay
attention to Dancer at all, now that she thought about
it.
    “ He misses Ben,” she said,
wanting to sooth the horse but didn’t dare reach out to him. Brent
waited with the saddle, so she went to work.
    Judging by the look in
Brent’s eyes and the emotional charge to the air, he missed Ben
too, but she wouldn’t say that now.
    She heaved the saddle up
and adjusted it. A book she’d checked out had shown her how to lace
up the girth strap and cinch it. Though he didn’t direct her, she
gave it a try.
    “ Hook the stirrup,” he
said, pointing.
    “ That’s it?” she asked,
looking it over. Should she ask him to check it?
    “ Looks good,” he said as he
tugged on it here and there. “Lead her out. I’ll saddle
Jeffery.”
    Outside, she made it up on
the first try. It was easier without Brent standing behind her
where he could stare at her bottom.
    “ Hey, Speckle,” she said to
the horse and rubbed her neck to get acquainted. They needed to
trust each other. Trust wasn’t something she gave away easily, but
this felt different.
    Brent emerged with
Jeffery.
    “ Hey, look at me. First
try, even.” She couldn’t remember the last time she felt gleeful.
She breathed in the cold air, feeling snappy and alive.
    “ I am looking.” He mounted
his horse and clicked. She almost missed his comment, but suddenly
did a double take at him.
    She started to say
something about it, but she did ask for it, didn’t she? One side of
his mouth lifted, and he moved his horse up next to
hers.
    “ Speckle knows what she’s
doing,” Brent said, tilting his head to look at her, “So you’ll be
getting used to sitting up there on the trials.”
    They rode out along the
pasture and then turned into the forest of cedar and pine. Brent
glanced over every few minutes, but he never commented. She hoped
that meant she was doing okay. Ferns grew in clumps on the ground
under the forest canopy. Water dripped off everything.
    “ Feel okay?”
    “ I love it.” She didn’t
want to look so happy in front of him, but when he gave her an
honest, friendly smile, she couldn’t hold it in.
    “ I thought all this would
be hard for you.” He ducked under a pine branch. “You sure you’ve
never done this before?”
    She shook her
head.
    “ Missy?” he
persisted.
    “ All right. I wanted to
ride