4. Madeleine
MADELEINE
Trail Ride Through the Property
Heavy snow fall.
Supper: Chicken pot pie ·Winter greens
Ididn’t sleep well. It was so quiet I could hear an occasional rustle in bushes and the wind blowing in the trees.
Then, just as Knox had predicted, I heard coyotes.
It sounded like an entire den howling at the moon.
At one point, I’d gotten up to look out the window and sure enough I saw four of them together near the fire pit looking utterly terrifying.
I’d stood and watched them for a few minutes, shivers running up the back of my spine, before diving back under the feather quilt on the bed.
By eight the next morning, I’d only just pulled myself together, having finally fallen asleep at three a.m. But I needed to show up for Ivy.
Today we were riding horses up some godforsaken trail, God help me.
I dressed in the warmest things I’d packed—jeans, my thickest sweater, a puffy jacket, and snow boots I should’ve been wearing yesterday when I arrived.
I hoped no one would mistake me for a marshmallow and try to put me between a cracker and a piece of chocolate.
We gathered at the barn after breakfast, scents of hay and leather mingling with horse manure to remind us where we were. The weather was cold and gray, with a close sky that felt poised to dump snow at any moment.
Soren Moon stood in the barn waiting for us, arms crossed.
He was a big man and one who seemed to belong to the ranch as much as the ranch belonged to him.
The day before, Ivy had told me more about the Moon family and what they did to save the land and ranch that had been in their family for generations.
It had been the eldest brother’s idea to turn the ranch into a tourist destination.
According to Stella Moon, the matriarch, it saved them from having to sell but also gave each of them a new sense of purpose.
“All right,” Soren said. “I matched you up with horses according to your experience level.” He went down the list. Jack and Ivy were given a matched pair of bays.
Grant was matched with a big dark gelding named Ranger who seemed to match his rider’s energy and physical prowess.
Luci was assigned a golden palomino called Clementine who was already stretching her neck over the stall door, perhaps hoping for an apple.
And finally, Beck was to ride a gray mare, Blake a chestnut, Holly a sturdy little mouse-colored thing.
Rhett was to ride a flashy sorrel named Bandit.
“Keep a strong hand on him,” Soren told Rhett. “He’s got more energy than sense.”
“Um, okay. I’m not really a horse guy,” Rhett said. “Maybe you should give me one with a little less energy?”
Soren gave him a long look. “I have a feeling you’ll be just fine.”
“You’re the boss,” Rhett said, flashing one of his killer smiles.
Soren came to me, looked me up and down. From the knit in his brow, he found me lacking. “Miss Price, you’re on Duchess.”
A groom led out a glossy bay mare with a delicate head and the unmistakable air of a creature who found her surroundings beneath her. She stopped, looked at the snow beyond the door, and sighed.
“She doesn’t like mud,” Soren said. “Doesn’t like puddles. Doesn’t like being rushed, crowded, or surprised. She’ll pick the cleanest line on the trail and take her sweet time doing it, but she’ll get you home safe.” He handed me the reins. “Finley says she’s a lady and well suited to you.”
“I’m choosing to take that as a compliment,” I said.
Soren didn’t comment, turning to Knox. “You have Cash.”
A groom brought out an enormous old buckskin who ambled up the aisle like he was headed to the pub for a cold one.
“He’s old,” Soren said. “But steady. Knows every trail on this ranch better than I do. He could do this ride dead asleep, which is good, because he might.”
“You gave me a retired horse?” Knox asked.
“He’s not retired. Just slow,” Soren said. “Ivy thought he’d be a good one for you.”
I laughed before I could stop myself. Knox shot me a look.
“At least my horse isn’t a princess,” Knox whispered to me.
“She’s a duchess, not a princess,” I said.
I somehow managed to get on, thanks to Duchess standing like a statue as I ineptly mounted her.
Once I was safely wedged into the saddle, I took a good look around.
From up here, it was more obvious how expansive the property truly was, not to mention the white capped mountain range in the distance.
“Stunning,” I said to Duchess, patting her neck.
Duchess’s ear twitched. I took that as a good sign.
Snow began to fall. Nothing serious, just some lazy, meandering flakes that caught in Duchess’s mane.
Knox swung up onto Cash with more ease than I expected.
“Have you ridden before?” I asked.
“I’m from Alabama.”
“Everyone in Alabama rides?”
“I don’t know if everyone does. Some of us clean stalls to earn enough money to buy a beat up old truck,” Knox said. “But yeah, I learned how to ride when I worked for a horse farm one summer.”
Of course he knew how to ride a horse. Was there anything the man couldn’t do? It was annoying.
Ahead of us, Soren mounted his horse and turned her to face the group.
“Listen up, please. Stay with the group. If you somehow fall behind or get lost for any reason, look to the horizon for a line of smoke coming from the ranch fireplace and head that direction. Do not try and catch up. Just go back. The moment I notice anyone missing, I’ll turn the whole group around and head back.
That’s just a worst-case scenario, though.
I’ve never lost anyone in the years we’ve been doing this. ”
“That’s a relief,” I said, mostly to myself, wishing I was at the lodge having a latte and a scone.
Soren flicked his reins and turned his horse in the direction of the trees.
“Single file through the trees,” he called from the front.
“Then it opens up. We’ll take the loop trail toward the overlook and circle back.
Two hours, easy pace. Then a hot lunch back at the restaurant.
” He glanced back down the line, and I could’ve sworn his gaze snagged on Duchess and me at the tail end.
“Stay with the group. That’s the most important thing. ”
“You hear that?” I asked Duchess.
She whinnied in response.
We headed up the hill and into the pines.
Within minutes, I understood the appeal of a trail ride.
The white blanket of snow made everything quiet and peaceful, with only the sounds of leather creaking and hooves crunching through snow.
At one point, a raven appeared, scolding us for trespassing.
Bunny and deer tracks appeared occasionally, reminding me that wild creatures lived in this forest. I shivered, remembering the haunting howls of coyotes last night.
Snow began to fall harder, making it difficult to see. Should I be worried? What if we got lost in a blizzard? That happened here, I’m sure.
“You good, Price?” Knox asked from behind, as if picking up on my worries.
“I’m fine.” I didn’t look back, afraid I might fall off if I did anything other than watching the trail ahead of us.
Duchess, as promised, did as she pleased.
No, she would not trot to close the gap between us and the next horse.
No, she did not care for that shadowy patch of the trail and would be going around it.
Not ten minutes into the ride, the group had strung out ahead and it was just Knox and Cash keeping us company at the tail end.
I suspected Knox had stayed behind on purpose.
Just like a man to think we needed his protection.
“Your horse is holding up the parade,” Knox said.
“She doesn’t like to be told what to do. Reminds me of someone else I know.”
“Yeah, she reminds me of you too,” Knox said.
“I was talking about you.”
“You hear how she talks to me, Cash?” Cash’s ears flicked. Knox patted the horse’s thick neck. “Cash sure isn’t in a hurry, though, are you buddy?”
We rode a while without talking, snow falling all around us. I’d figured it would be uncomfortable, but we’d seemed to have arrived at some kind of unspoken truce. “You don’t have to stay with me,” I said at one point.
“I know.”
“Why are you then?” I asked.
“You smell good.”
“What?”
“I’m just kidding. I promised Ivy I’d look after you today. She said you have a fear of large animals.”
“Not a fear exactly. I just don’t know anything about them.”
“No horses in the city, huh?”
I puffed out a breath. “I’m not from the city, actually.”
“Oh yeah? Where you from?”
“Just here and there,” I said.
“That’s still your answer?”
“What do you mean, still?”
“Never mind.”
By that time, we’d fallen behind the group. I wasn’t sure how far ahead they were. I was just about to ask Knox what we should do when a bird the size of a football exploded out of a drift practically under Duchess’s nose.
Apparently Duchess was afraid of football-sized birds with wings that spanned several feet because she squealed, spun on her haunches, and bolted sideways into the trees.
I screamed and hung on for dear life. Some ancient instinct deep inside me must have come out because I grabbed the saddle horn with one hand and tightened my thighs to stay put.
By a miracle, I didn’t fall, ducking a branch that tried to take my hat.
We stopped twenty yards into the thick forest, both of us quivering.
Knox and Cash came galloping through the thicket. He jumped off Cash and sprinted over to where Duchess and I were breathing heavy and shaking so hard my teeth rattled. I can’t say if Duchess’s large teeth were doing the same.
Cash placed a hand on Duchess’s neck. “Whoa—easy, easy now, girl.”
He was speaking to the horse, not me.
Duchess pushed her nose into his chest, still shaking as he stroked the side of her face. “You’re okay, Miss Duchess,” Knox said, so gently it made my eyes sting. “That ol’ bird didn’t mean no harm to you.”
Darn, I could hear the Alabama in him. Alarmingly, it was sexy.