Chapter 5 #2
‘I’ll meet you guys at Gifford’s at two. I’m gonna drive myself so that I can leave a little early if I need to.’
Markus clapped his hands excitedly at the prospect of wedding dress shopping. ‘I think we could all use some serious retail therapy.’
She headed out, only stopping one last time to look back at him. Markus sat straight in his chair, and though his eyes were focused on his open laptop again, they were sad.
Sierra knew how empty those two little words, ‘I’m sorry’, landed. So, she didn’t say them. Instead, she said, ‘Hey,’ and when he looked up at her, she settled on, ‘you’re going to get through this. And I’m here if you need anything.’
He didn’t reply, only blew her a kiss.
Sierra drove straight to the resort building, parked, and was seated at her desk only fifteen minutes later.
She worked solidly for a few hours, keeping her attention focused on the monthly accounting, marketing and advertising, and reviewing the restaurant’s weekly produce order, certain that she’d be interrupted at least once with a wedding emergency.
It came at ten-fifteen, only forty-five minutes before the bride was supposed to walk down the aisle.
Lucas, Hunt Ranch’s event planner, flung open the office door, his eyes wild. ‘We have an emergency.’
Experience had taught Sierra that wedding emergencies could typically be resolved, and that panicking wouldn’t help anything. So, she calmly leaned back in her chair. ‘Lucas, take a breath.’
He took a comically huge inhale, filling his tiny chest, and then expelled it in a whoosh of air. ‘The bride wanted to arrive on horseback.’
‘I know.’ Sierra frowned. ‘I thought we arranged it.’
‘Oh, we did.’
‘I’m confused. What’s the problem?’
‘Sierra, she can’t ride. Like at all.’
‘What?’ She caterpillared her manicured nails on the glossy surface of her desk. ‘She said she was intermediate.’
‘It must have been a petting zoo when she was a kid or something. Benji brought Midnight up to start getting him ready and Charlotte had a panic attack.’
Because her urge was to curse, Sierra took her own advice and breathed deeply.
Midnight was one of their two Friesian horses.
The huge, black horses with their regal forms and feathered legs were used for ranch photo shoots, movies, and weddings.
And while Midnight did well with beginner riders, a completely green, terrified rider on a seventeen-hand horse was never a good idea – especially on the most important day of her life. ‘Let’s not panic.’
‘She’s supposed to walk in forty minutes!’ Lucas collapsed into a nearby chair. ‘I hate weddings!’
Sierra knew he secretly loved the drama. But she didn’t call bullshit. ‘Solutions,’ she demanded, and pushed to her feet.
Marching to the door, she asked, ‘Is she committed to the horse? Or can we just change it to a normal walk? Have the horses for the photos afterwards?’
‘She pulled the “Ever since I was a little girl” card,’ Lucas said, following her.
‘Is her father giving her away?’ Sierra pushed through the doors of the resort like a woman on a mission. ‘Would he be comfortable enough to lead Midnight?’
‘Her dad died, which – at least according to her – is part of the reason she wanted to arrive on a horse. Distract people from the fact that nobody was giving her away …’
Sierra vaguely remembered that from one of her conversations with the bride. Her long stride never faltered as she made her way around to the back of the resort where Charlotte Sinclaire was supposed to get on the horse. ‘And we can’t have Benji lead him because of the photos,’ she said to herself.
She saw the little group huddled together.
The bride wrung her hands anxiously. Her bridesmaids, dressed in black, hovered around her, unsure of how to help.
Midnight, freshly washed and groomed, his black mane and tail intricately braided with white ribbon, stood nearby, Benji patiently holding his reins.
He looked up as she approached, tipped his head once in greeting.
Sierra didn’t say anything about the fact that Charlotte had potentially screwed up her own wedding. She held out both hands, said, ‘Charlotte, you look absolutely gorgeous.’
The bride’s eyes filled instantly, but she took Sierra’s hands and gripped them tightly. ‘I’m sorry. I just … I figured how hard could it be, you know? But then I was standing next to him, and I panicked.’ She shook her hands, cast an anxious glance at Midnight. ‘He’s so big.’
‘We’ll figure something out,’ Sierra assured her. ‘But just to clarify: How many times exactly have you been on a horse?’
‘Once.’ Charlotte hung her head. ‘When I was five. It’s my favourite memory. My dad organized for pony rides at my birthday party.’
‘Do you have someone else who you wouldn’t mind leading you – and being in the photos?’
She shook her head. ‘Not really. Or, at least, nobody who’s dressed for it.’
‘Okay.’ She cast a look at Benji. ‘One moment. Let me brainstorm with my team quickly.’ Gripping Lucas by the arm, she practically dragged him to where Benji and Midnight stood.
‘Ideas?’
‘She walks on her own two feet?’ Benji suggested dryly.
‘We might have to resort to that if we can’t think of anything else,’ Sierra said calmly, but the possibility filled her with dread.
Not only were the couple paying a fortune to have their wedding at Hunt Ranch, but the bride, Charlotte Sinclaire, was exactly the type to leave a scathing review if everything wasn’t perfect.
And Hunt Ranch couldn’t afford to take another hit, especially to their reputation as a luxury wedding venue.
Weddings provided a huge percentage of their annual revenue …
‘Midnight could handle a beginner with basic instruction but not one who’s afraid to even get on him,’ Benji said, his frustration clear. ‘And at this point, I wouldn’t put her on without a riding helmet anyway.’ He cocked one hip. ‘She’d deserve it.’
Because her instinct was to snap at him, Sierra forced herself back to calm, said quietly, ‘Benji, it’s her wedding day. What else can we do? What about a lunging rope? It’ll be long enough to lead Midnight from a distance …’
‘The rope would still be in the pictures,’ Lucas pointed out.
‘The photographer could photoshop it out,’ Sierra suggested.
Lucas sighed. ‘There’s no way Charlotte would go for it.’
Benji shook his head. ‘There’s only one other option …’
She knew by the way he looked at her that she wasn’t going to like it. ‘What?’
‘We have Zeph, Ty, and Diablo. Three horses that are liberty trained and that Mav, you, and I can work with from a distance and actually hope to get a response from.’
Sierra’s stomach sank. ‘She won’t want the Mustangs in her photos.’ The Mustangs were beautiful, athletic horses. But they were relatively small and didn’t have the size and flash that the Friesians or her Thoroughbred, Ty, did.
‘Nope,’ Benji agreed. ‘But Ty …’
‘Benji, Ty hasn’t been worked in over a year,’ she argued. ‘And he took almost six months off before that.’ Though neither of them said it, she knew that they both thought about her pregnancy.
‘I work with him every day,’ he replied quietly.
Sierra took a full step back. ‘What?’
Benji shrugged. ‘He needs the exercise.’
Sierra didn’t have time to ponder why that particular admission made her feel grateful and guilty and angry all at once. ‘Could he do it?’ she asked. ‘If we put her on him, and you stood at the front, out of the camera’s way, would he walk to you?’
‘Maybe for me.’ Benji’s green eyes bore into her. ‘But he would definitely do it for you.’
‘Benji …’
‘You know he would.’
‘We have no way of knowing—’
‘Don’t make me call bullshit.’
‘Guys,’ Lucas interrupted, ‘to be entirely honest, at this point we either risk it or we make her walk.’
Sierra’s heart thundered in her chest. She could feel it there, threatening to explode.
Benji didn’t move. He didn’t speak. Only waited patiently.
‘I don’t see what choice we have,’ she began, running one hand anxiously through her hair. ‘You’d keel over if you knew how much they’re paying to have their wedding here.’
‘If you’re not ready, Si, just say no,’ Benji insisted. His eyes, so familiar, were hot on her face.
‘The wedding has to be perfect,’ she argued. ‘It’s our reputation. It’s our business.’
‘It’s one bride who put herself in a bad situation,’ he corrected. ‘We – you – did everything right.’
Before they got into a full-blown argument, before she could change her mind, she said, ‘We need this wedding. Fetch Ty. Put his Western saddle on; it’ll be easier for her to sit in.
We don’t have time to come up with anything else.
I’ll give Charlotte a basic ‘hold on and smile’ tutorial.
You can work with him. I’ll be nearby in case I need to help. ’
Benji nodded once and then turned and led Midnight back in the direction of the barn.
Sierra plastered a smile on her face and approached the anxious bride, who looked adequately embarrassed. ‘Okay, we think we have a solution,’ she began as she drew nearer to the wedding party.
Charlotte looked up hopefully.
‘My horse, Ty, is really well trained.’ Although she didn’t say it, she’d once planned to put her own daughter on Ty for her first ride.
‘My head wrangler is going to stand out of the way and bring him forward, down the aisle. All you need to do is hold on to the reins and look beautiful, maybe give him a small nudge in the right direction if he gets distracted. The guests will know you had a little help, but the photos will look like you rode in.’ When Charlotte nodded slowly, her eyes narrowed in consideration, Sierra put her foot down.
‘I’m sorry, Charlotte, but that’s as far as I can compromise unless you’re willing to have someone lead you or put a riding hat over your hair and get on Midnight. ’
The bride patted her hair nervously. ‘Is your horse black?’
‘No, he’s a grey – a white grey.’
‘Is he white or grey?’ she asked, clearly confused.