“Oh. God. That is perfect.”
“Just what I love to hear when I’ve got my hands on a beautiful woman,” he murmured.
Warning bells went off. Sutton had been saying things like that since they’d set up this test run. Was he flirting with her?
Don’t be ridiculous. Sutton knows you’re with Fletch. You’re just feeling neglected by the man you love.
Fletch had been scarce the last week. They’d seen each other once. They’d talked on the phone twice. She understood he was busy, but they hadn’t been this hit-and-miss since they’d first started seeing each other before Fletch started his sabbatical.
A truck and trailer rig eased up the driveway.
Her heart rate increased dramatically.
“Showtime.” Sutton squeezed her shoulders once before his hands fell away.
She knew the drill. Let the owners unload the horse. Let the horse run free in the corral a bit. Then introduce her.
Tanna remained in the shadows and paced. She heard the horse kick the inside of the trailer. The sound of hooves hitting metal made her jump.
Eli was on hand although Summer had made herself scarce.
Tanna wanted Fletch here so bad she dug her phone out of her pocket.
You don’t need a man to be strong. You can do this.
She didn’t call him.
Late afternoon heat seeped into her bones. She ducked into the barn and let the cool darkness calm her. Breathing in familiar scents. Watching dust motes dance in the shafts of sunlight like bits of fading glitter. She rested against the partition that held her tack, knowing she might not need it. Some owners preferred to use their own bits and training gear, especially in a situation like this one. She forced herself to zone out and wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the barn door creaked.
An arc of sunlight cut through the shadows. “Tanna?”
“I’m here.”
“Thought you might be. Gradskys are ready for you.”
“Okay.”
Eli’s boot steps thudded across the dirt floor. “You all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t have to do this, you know.”
“I want to. I just don’t know how to tell them that even if they do lend me the horse for a trial period, I don’t know how I’ll pay for feed.”
“We’ll figure something out. I promise.”
Her lips flattened. “This isn’t Sutton’s doing?”
“We’ll talk later. They’re waiting.”
“What do I need to bring out?”
“Just your saddle and saddle pad.”
Tanna grabbed her stuff and headed to the corral.
Chuck and Berlin Gradsky were in conversation with Sutton.
Tanna came up on the back side of the corral. She thrust out her hand. “Hi. I’m Tanna Barker.”
The slender, dark-haired woman, fifty or so, smiled. “I’m Berlin Gradsky. This is my husband, Chuck.”
She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you both. Thanks for driving up here and for the opportunity to try out your horse.”
“We’re happy to be here. We’ve been huge fans for years. We watched you win all three championships at the MGM Grand.”
Tanna smiled. “Those were good times. Anything I oughta know about Madera before we get started?”
“She’s been brushed down. Since we knew you’d ride her right away, we left on her protective boots.” Berlin handed over a bridle. “We’ve been reintroducing competition bits, but for right now we’d prefer if you’d use this transition bit.”
“No problem.” Tanna fingered the smooth metal bit. Then she examined the headstall portion of the bridle, noticing it had a noseband tie-down. “She always use a noseband? Or is that new?”
“She’s always used one.”
“Great. I’ll just go ahead and get Madera ready, if that’s all right.”
Berlin said, “We can’t wait.”
She looked at Eli and Sutton. “If one of you wants to get the gate and the other set up barrels, we’ll get this under way.”
Madera trotted over as soon as Tanna entered the pasture. “Such a pretty girl.” The mare was a striking-looking horse—bluish-gray with a black mane and tail. Tanna looped a lead rope over her and loosely tied her to the fence where she’d draped her saddle and saddle blanket. Madera seemed smaller than Jezebel. But as Tanna double-checked Madera’s legs and swept her hand across her back, she realized the mare was all muscle.
Tanna stroked her neck, talking softly to her, reassuring her, petting the area between her eyes to calm her. When Madera lowered her head, Tanna slipped the bridle on without issue, tightening the buckles and checking the bit.
So far, so good.
But as soon as Tanna put on the saddle pad, Madera balked. Backing away. Acting like she was going to kick before she did a series of little crow hops. Tanna jerked on the reins and sharply said, “Hey. Enough.”
That stopped some of her antsy behavior.
Almost by rote Tanna finished saddling her. She led her half the length of the corral, stopped, backed her up and checked the cinch. Loose. No surprise that Madera had expanded her belly in anticipation of being ridden; most horses did. Tanna tightened the cinch, walked Madera forward another twenty paces and checked the cinch and the position of the saddle again. No change. They were good to go.
But when she mounted up, a shot of pain burned through her bad knee. She needed to adjust the stirrups. Tanna felt like a jack-in-the-box popping off and on the horse. Finally everything felt right.