Chapter 3 Elise
Copper’s hooves made that steady, soothing crunch that Elise Hale loved to hear the most. The sound of this horse’s steps across the hay of Snowberry’s stable, headed to the paddock with Elise on his back, was music to her ears.
The horse’s flaxen mane fluttered against a rich reddish brown coat, while his warm breaths puffed clouds into the crisp mountain air.
Elise sat tall in the saddle, confident in how her body fit in the curved leather and secure harness that would keep her from falling if she suddenly started to slide to one side or the other.
Her gloved hands kept a loose grip on the reins as she grinned down at her friend and future sister-in-law. Of course, Nicole was beaming. Every time she got Elise on this horse, Nicole was happy.
And so was Elise. The only way it could be better would be to get on this horse alone and ride without an escort. But that was never to be, so she basked contentedly in what she had—some freedom and access to a horse.
In fact, there were few places on Earth where Elise felt more content and at home than on this horse.
Maybe in the teaching barn at the Great Basin Veterinary Institute, where she was starting her second year of graduate school.
Or around the dinner table with her family—that was always a happy place.
But riding Copper—a thrill that Nicole had made possible last Christmas and continued all through the year—was definitely her greatest joy.
“Can you believe it’s been a whole year?” Elise asked as she thought about it. “I still remember the first time you—and your dad, Red, and Cam—got me up on this king and my life changed.”
Nicole looked up at her, dark eyes dancing as she no doubt remembered how they’d dragged the rig and rolled Elise to her first taste of heaven in fourteen long years. Before the car accident that put her in a wheelchair, Elise had been a superstar competitive rider.
“Your life changed in more ways than one,” Nicole said. “That was the day you told me about your dreams to be a vet.”
Another thing that wouldn’t have happened without Nicole Kessler, who’d risked her romance with Cameron to push for Elise’s independence.
“And you made those dreams come true.” Elise sighed, awash with affection and appreciation. So much so that she had to fight the urge to put a hand on Nicole’s shoulder, but she never let go of the western saddle’s horn with her non-rein hand.
A paraplegic couldn’t be too careful. The seat may have become as comfortable as her normal ride, and under it she had a secure but invisible harness, but one slip could be a lot more dangerous than falling from her wheelchair.
“You’re the one making your dreams come true, E,” Nicole replied, using the simple nickname that Elise’s brother had hung on her when she was about three. “You’re absolutely killing it at Great Basin, not that I’m surprised.”
“Oh, speaking of school, I forgot to tell you I accepted the ultimate extra-curricular challenge. They have a hard time finding volunteers for the Live Nativity at the institute because it’s between semesters.
So…yours truly was selected—and by that, I mean no one else volunteered—as the program manager this year. ”
“Really? A Live Nativity? Like with real animals?”
“Well, we are a veterinary school. It’s on Christmas Eve, right on the campus quad.
Real people playing Mary, Joseph, and baby J, and—the big draw at GBVI—actual sheep, a donkey, and one particularly dramatic goat who thinks he’s an understudy for Jesus and tries to get in the manger. Wise men, too, but no camels.”
“I bet kids love that,” Nicole said as they stepped through the wide barn doors to the paddock that Elise would circle on Copper for as long as she could. “We’ll have to make a family outing and take Benny. Are you in it?”
She snorted. “No wheelchairs in Bethlehem at the time. My job is to coordinate actors, the set, costumes, and props—which is mostly done by email and a few meetings—and to supervise the care of the animals.”
“That sounds like a big job.”
“It’s manageable. Since the event takes place after the semester has ended, a lot of the faculty and students are gone, so…they scraped the bottom of the barrel and got ‘Hale on Wheels.’”
Nicole cracked up at the nickname Elise’s classmates had given her. “I’m so glad you have friends and a rich life, E.”
Did she have a rich life, Elise wondered as she sat tall and proud on Copper while Nicole opened the paddock gate. She certainly had a fine circle of friends, a true purpose, and a bright future as a vet.
The year of independence at the school a little more than an hour away had done wonders for Elise. She was still careful—still cautious about getting stuck or stranded—but she was finally living the wheelchair version of a life she’d only dreamed about before.
She didn’t have everything, but she had a lot. And what she didn’t have, she didn’t obsess over.
Copper flicked an ear, and she rubbed his neck. “He’s walking easier today. I’m glad that joint supplement I recommended helped.”
“Thank you, Dr. Hale on Wheels. Please tell me that’s going to be the name of your vet practice.”
“It might be,” Elise said, lifting her gaze to scan the sunbathed paddock, checking out the small snowdrifts and…whoa…cowboy.
“Who is that?”
Nicole angled her head and peered through sunglasses in the direction of Elise’s locked gaze. “Oh, that’s Wade Reynolds.”
“Guest at the lodge?”
“Yes and no,” Nicole said. “He’s Matt Walker’s nephew.”
“Oh, the lottery man courting Aunt MJ,” Elise said, completely up to speed on the latest gossip at Snowberry. “His nephew, huh?” She eyed the tall man who wore a soft down vest over a plaid flannel shirt, and a cowboy hat that screamed country songs about whiskey and women and well-loved trucks.
Sauntering down the road from the cabins to the lodge, he paused at the paddock when he saw Copper. He leaned against the wood, one boot hooked on the bottom rail, his gloved hands resting on the top as he watched.
“Did he come to check out Aunt MJ and make sure she’s not trying to siphon millions from his rich Uncle Matt?” Elise asked.
Nicole chuckled. “Girl, you watch too much Lifetime TV. Also, he calls Matt Graham, which is slightly confusing, but remember, Matt used his middle name to hide his millions.”
“And you say I watch too much Lifetime?”
“True. Anyway, apparently Wade has never been to Utah and came along with his uncle. He hasn’t been around much, but I’ve said hello.”
“He’s cute. I mean, if you like sexy cowboys with square jaws and a day’s worth of whiskers and jeans that fit like…like, holy moly, there should be laws against that. I ask you—who likes that?”
Nicole snorted. “Not me, but I’m about to marry your brother.” She leaned close enough to press her shoulder into Copper’s flank. “You, however, are quite single.”
And paralyzed from the hips down. But Elise didn’t say that because…right now, sitting on this horse and feeling like she owned the world, she wasn’t paralyzed.
At least not to a stranger, not for five minutes. The fantasy of it was too irresistible. “Introduce me, Nic.”
“Of course. You’re in charge of the horse, so head on over.”
She lifted the reins ever so slightly—Copper could read her every move now—and Hot Cowboy must have sensed their attention because he lifted his chin slightly, meeting Elise’s gaze across the paddock.
For a second, she forgot to breathe. Then he smiled—slow, crooked, devastating.
Her pulse tripped. “Oh, boy.”
Nicole laughed. “I’m going with man, not boy. All I know is he’s about thirty and has a toe-curling Southern accent.”
If only her toes could curl.
She kicked the thought away with imaginary toes that did work, and rode closer to the cowboy named Wade.
When they stopped a few feet away, he tipped his hat, revealing that it covered dark brown hair that looked like he’d tried to tame it and given up halfway through. His eyes were startling—a green so bright they almost looked lit from within.
“Mornin’, ladies,” he drawled. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. Just admirin’ the view.”
Elise’s lips curved before she could stop them. “I’ll assume you mean the horse.”
He chuckled, the sound low and warm. “Well, ma’am, I don’t limit my admiration.”
Elise arched a brow. “Smooth-talker. Also, I just got ma’amed.”
“My mama raised me that way,” he said easily. “It’s the way we do things where I’m from in Alabama.”
Elise’s grin widened at the way he dragged out the state’s name, emphasis on at least two syllables.
“Wade, this is Elise Hale,” Nicole said, making the introduction easily, “who will be my sister-in-law in two-and-a-half weeks. Elise, meet Wade Reynolds, our guest from the Deep South.”
“Welcome to Utah.” She clutched the horn with her left hand and bravely reached out her right, certain that Wade didn’t notice Nicole’s subtle move to hold Elise’s leg safely in the tiny harness that only a trained eye would see.
Smooth, Nic. I’ll pay you in hundreds later.
“Thank you kindly,” Wade said. “I admit, I’ve fallen in love.”
Elise gave a saucy lift to her shoulder. “Already? We just met.”
He laughed heartily, deep from inside his very impressive flannel-clad chest. “Doesn’t take long when a woman’s on a horse.”
She patted Copper’s mane, a thrill jolting through her. Had she ever flirted with a man before? Sure, she was flirty by nature. But one who hadn’t met her in a wheelchair? No, never. Not once in her adult life.
“I’ve fallen for the mountains, too,” he clarified, taking a quick glance to the peaks against the blue sky, but then his gaze moved right back to Elise as if…well, as if she were even prettier than those mountains.
She was pretty—she’d always known that. And she took great care with her hair, makeup, and fashion because it was all she could control of her body.