Wilde Fire (Forever Wilde 3)

“Well, if you want to talk about it some more. I’m here. You’re not alone. And, hell, if they have a problem with the single-parent thing, maybe you won’t be single for long,” I said with a wink. Walker’s face flushed and his eyes widened. “But if it’s the gay thing… ain’t nothing we can do about that now, can we?”

I leaned in for a quick kiss and then patted his ass before pulling away to gather the bucket of little apples I’d brought.

“Thank you,” he blurted.

I turned around to look at him and was surprised to see a wide grin on his face. “For what?”

“For talking me down. You’re always so cool under pressure, Otto. Always have been. It’s like nothing rattles you.”

“You’re wrong about that, Sheriff. But that’s a conversation for another time. Now let’s go show these guys how to ride a horse.”

As soon as we came around the corner to where the kids were chatting happily at the horses and Jolie was wringing her hands nervously, the kids squealed and jumped up and down, throwing their arms around each other. I couldn’t help but smile at how close they clearly were. It reminded me of my relationships with my own siblings and cousins.

“Hey guys. Who wants to ride a horse today?” I called.

Jolie’s worry seemed to dissipate and Walker’s stress faded as I introduced myself to everyone and began talking to the horses.

“DemonShanks, did you want to eat, I mean give a ride to, a nice young lady today?” I asked the black mare with the white blaze on her face.

“DemonShanks?” the kids screeched.

“Oh, wait. Is this the one with the all-black hooves? I can’t see because I’m too tall. Can someone shorter than I am look and see? They look alike. DemonShanks has all black hooves and Patty Cake has two white socks. Other than that, they’re identical.”

They squatted down to investigate before jumping up with smiles. “It’s Patty Cake!”

I clutched my chest and took two steps back before resting my hands on my knees. “Oh thank goodness. I didn’t want to say anything, but I was worried. That DemonShanks… well, let’s just say his last rider never came back. But Patty Cake is a sweetheart. She likes long walks in the sun and eating clover. Oh, and apples.”

I saw Jolie smile out of the corner of my eye and come a little closer to the black mare. After taking a few apples out of the bucket, I reached out to hand the rest to Walker.

“You want to show Jolie how to give them an apple while I show the kids? You can start with that dappled gray on the end. That’s Angie. She’s Doc’s horse.”

He took the bucket from me and gestured for Jolie to follow him. I handed each of the kids an apple. “Okay, first I’m going to show you how to properly greet the horse and let it get to know you. Never, ever approach an animal without your parent’s permission or another adult, okay? You never know what their temperament is like ahead of time. Now, in this case, I’ve picked the sweetest horses we have for today’s visit. This chestnut gelding’s name is Lego. He’s my brother Cal’s favorite. I thought maybe you’d like to ride him, Cody.”

The little boy nodded his head vigorously. I showed him how to greet the horse and then hold the apple out flat-handed for the horse to take. When those giant lips nibbled the tiny apple off Cody’s palm, both kids giggled.

“Now it’s your turn, Tisha. This is Patty Cake and she’s the horse my Aunt Gina and my sister MJ always fight over. She’s a total sweetheart and will take good care of you today.”

We repeated the process of meeting the horse and feeding her an apple before I reached over to give one to poor Gulliver who was leaning his neck toward me so much the other horses snorted at him. I overheard Tisha tell Cody about Gulliver.

“That’s Mr. Wilde’s horse. He’s painted.”

I chuckled to myself. “He’s a paint horse and his coloring is called pinto, which is sort of like patches of brown and white. So Gulliver is a Paint like Patty Cake is a mustang and Lego is a quarter horse.”

Jolie and Walker came back over to us and listened while I explained the bridle, reins, saddle, stirrups, and anything else I could think of that was important.

Once I’d covered it all, I handed the kids helmets that Doc and Grandpa had picked up when I originally mentioned inviting Tisha over for a ride. I’d had a classmate in school who got thrown into a tree on a trail ride once and ended up with a head injury. Ever since then, Doc and Grandpa had been sticklers for minors wearing protection on our horses. We had plenty of helmets for adults too, but it was their choice to wear one.