Chapter Five #3
Whitman snorted, shaking his head. “You think you could beat me on a horse? I would love to see you try!”
Determination filling her chest, June spun on her heel and strode toward Louise, who was still talking animatedly with Henry and Jack’s parents. “Louise,” she called, her voice sweet but firm. “Mind if I borrow your horse for a bit?”
Louise looked at her, then Whitman, and smirked in a knowing kind of way, and it made June’s blood boil all over again. Her eyes twinkled with an amusement that June wanted nothing more than to correct.
She wasn’t asking for a horse to spend time alone with him—she wanted to put him in his place.
She couldn’t stand men like Seth Whitman.
Cowboys who thought they could say and do whatever they wanted to whomever they pleased; cowboys who thought so little of a woman that they assumed she couldn’t ride a horse for an hour.
“Just bring her back in one piece, Annabelle,” Louise said with a wink.
June cringed at the name. Annabelle. She didn’t like that name one bit. “Where’s your saddle?” she asked.
Louise gestured over her shoulder. “She’s already saddled. I had to ride out this morning to gather up decorations.”
Even better.
Proud of herself, June strode up to Louise’s paint mare, tied to the hitching post just next to the church. She was a gorgeous horse, strikingly colored, with large chestnut splashes across her white coat.
June unwound the reins from the hitching post, and the mare flicked her ears amicably.
Clearly, she was well-tempered. “Good girl,” June cooed as she lifted herself up into the saddle, swinging her leg over the horse’s back in one smooth motion.
As she adjusted her feet in the stirrups, she caught sight of Whitman atop his black horse, trotting toward her.
His eyebrows went high, and he was staring at her with a look that was equally mocking and repulsed. “That’s how you ride a horse?” he asked. “Like a man?”
June’s cheeks flared crimson, heat spreading all the way to the tips of her ears as she looked down between her legs.
He wasn’t wrong. This wasn’t anything like the feminine sidesaddle style of proper ladies.
She stiffened, gripping the reins a little too tightly as her pride warred with her embarrassment.
“I—” she stammered, searching for something clever to say, but she came up short.
“What’s it to you?” she finally shot back, sharp and hateful.
Whitman rolled his eyes. “Just wondering. Never seen a lady sit a horse like that, is all.”
June’s jaw clenched. She’d been so careful since arriving in Fort Davis, so careful in playing her part the best she knew how.
She’d thought she was doing well adapting to this new life, the life of a bride-to-be.
A lady. Trey had taught her plenty—how to charm, how to lie, how to survive—but proper ladylike etiquette hadn’t been high on his list of lessons.
After all, she’d never needed to learn beyond what a housemaid knew.
“I ride the way I know how,” she said sullenly, clearing her throat. “It gets the job done.”
Whitman shrugged. “Fair enough. Let’s hope you can keep up.”
She straightened her back and nudged the mare with her heels. “Try me.”
She was pleased when the cocky smile fell from his face.
“Alright, then,” he said, turning his horse toward a gap between the buildings, where June could see a trail leading off into the hills.
“Let’s see what you’ve got. We’re heading down south, about an hour.
The spot is marked by two big rocks shaped like fins that jut out from the ground.
That’s where you’ll stop… if you can manage to get ahead of me.
Ready?” His lip curled up in a challenge.
“More than ready,” June shot back. She wasn’t about to let a man win, least of all Seth Whitman.
“Alright then.” He tipped his hat. “Go!”
“Giddyap!” June snapped the reins against the mare’s neck and she shot forward, hooves stampeding across the ground.
The wind whipped through June’s braided up-do, threatening to pull it loose, but she didn’t care.
She loved being on the back of a horse. It had been far too long.
She leaned low over the mare’s neck, laughing as she tucked her legs up as tightly as she could.
They thundered on for miles, Whitman still just a few lengths ahead. I’ll be darned if I’m going to let him win this. With another sharp nudge of her heels, she pushed Lousie’s mare even harder, closing the distance.
Whitman glanced over his shoulder. “Not bad!” he called. “Hiyaa!” His stallion began galloping faster.
June clicked to her mare, urging her forward, keeping up.
“Not bad yourself!” Her breath was ragged.
It had been a long time, indeed, since she’d ridden.
She was getting tired, and she wasn’t quite sure how long it had been since she’d been on a horse, but it was already starting to wear her out. But she was also excited—exhilarated.
They crossed a creek or two, streaking across rough ground, until they were practically neck and neck. Then June caught sight of the fin-shaped rocks, a few miles up ahead. Suddenly, Whitman pulled ahead in the final stretch. “Ready to lose?” he shouted.
With a shock, June realized that she’d been grinning—for the first time in a long time, actually grinning. And… laughing?
June Thatcher wasn’t used to having fun. At least, not with anyone other than her two friends. Certainly not with a man.
Her momentary distraction was her undoing.
Whitman reached the clearing mere paces ahead of her.
He tugged on his reins tightly, wheeling around to face her as she brought her mare to a halt, fuming.
He threw his head back and laughed at her, which did nothing but anger her more.
Knots twisted in her stomach. Part of her wanted to smack the smug look off his face…
yet still, she felt so invigorated. It was the first time she’d felt free in a long time.
“You cheated,” she accused, stifling a laugh as her cheeks ached from wind chap. Groaning, she slid down off the saddle.
“Cheated?” Whitman feigned offense. “You can just admit that I’m a far more superior horseman—”
June snorted and rolled her eyes, but her smile lingered. “Next time, you won’t be so lucky. You’ll get beat by a lady.”
“Let me know when you find a lady,” he retorted, pulling off his hat to run a hand through his short hair.
June pulled a mocking face at him. “So, what is this place, anyway?” she asked as he dismounted.
Then he walked up to her with a smile, and suddenly she was on edge almost immediately. Who does this guy think he is? Her fists balled almost defensively, and when he reached out his hand, she took an immediate step back.
He shook his head, almost contemptuously, clearly noticing her apprehension about him. “Come look over here,” he said, gesturing with his hand before turning on his heel, leading his stallion with him.
Taking her mare’s reins, she followed him hesitantly as he walked toward the two large rocks in the middle of the clearing.
Oaks towered on either side of them. As soon as June drew up to the rocks, her mouth fell open in a gasp.
The grass there was almost golden, and purple flowers littered the ground, perfuming the air with a fresh scent.
“It’s beautiful,” she admitted despite herself, her voice suddenly quieter.
“Told you,” Whitman replied, tying his horse’s reins to one of the nearby oaks. She followed suit with Louise’s horse. “Thought you might also need a break from it all. Been a lot going on lately.”
June looked away, crossing her arms defensively. She wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “I’m fine.”
“You know, I can tell you don’t want to get married. Looks to me like it’s a cover for something else,” he said abruptly.