“Oh, dear Lord!” From the look on Karly’s pretty face, he knew she was a hair’s breadth away from all-out panic.
“Don’t freak out,” he said calmly. “I haven’t been leading Suede since the first trip around the pen and you’ve done just fine.” When they reached the gate, he opened it and stepped out to untie Boomer while the mare continued to walk slowly around the inside of the pen.
“B-Blake?”
“I’m just going to get Boomer so I can ride beside you,” he reassured her. Swinging up into the saddle, he guided the gelding into the pen and caught up with Karly and Suede as they made another trip around the inside. “There are a few more things I want to show you, then we’ll be ready to leave the round pen and start the ride up to the pasture.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Karly asked. “I’d hate to have to spend eternity haunting you.”
“I’ll take my chances on that, sweetheart,” he said, laughing.
As he showed her how to guide Suede by doing nothing more than touching the reins to either side of the mare’s neck, he noticed that Karly began to relax. She sat looser in the saddle and actually started moving with the mare instead of remaining as stiff as a ramrod.
On the third trip around the inside of the circular fence, Blake nodded toward the open gate ahead. “It’s time we take this show on the road.”
Karly looked doubtful. “I really don’t think—”
“Good idea,” he said, grinning. “Don’t think. Just do it.”
When they rode the horses out of the round pen, he could tell by the tightening around her mouth that Karly was anything but confident. But he admired her willingness to give riding a try. He just wished she had shown that kind of consideration to giving their marriage a chance.
* * *
By the time she and Blake reached the pasture where the herd of steers had spent the summer, Karly was feeling a little more sure of herself. Suede had proved to be as docile as Blake had promised and once Karly relaxed in the saddle, riding the mare wasn’t bad at all.
“Are these mountains part of the Rockies?” she asked, gazing at the splendor of the high mountain meadow.
“Yup. The Laramie Mountain range is part of the eastern edge of the Rockies,” he answered, stopping his horse to look at the black cattle on the other side of the river that wound through the valley.
When she looked over at him inspecting the animals, she realized that he’d been right not to give up his way of life to move to Seattle with her. Blake Hartwell wasn’t a man who was meant to be a city dweller. She could tell he loved living on this ranch, loved watching over the animals in his care. He was as deliciously rugged as this beautiful land and she couldn’t imagine him living anywhere else.
As she continued to admire the man who had swept her off her feet eight months ago, she spotted the butt of a gun attached to his saddle that she hadn’t noticed before. A sudden thought had her looking cautiously at the tree line surrounding the vast clearing. “Are there grizzly bears in the region?”
Grinning, he shook his head. “Black bear, mountain lion and bobcat, but no grizzlies.”
All three species were prominent in the mountains surrounding Seattle and normally black bears and bobcats weren’t overly aggressive unless startled or if they were being protective of their young. Although she was extremely cautious when she was in an area where they were known to be, she wasn’t as concerned by them as she was by the mention of mountain lions. They were an entirely different matter. They were more aggressive and so silent, one could be within a few feet and a person might never realize the animal was there until it pounced.
Blake must have realized she was worried about the predators that might be close by. “Don’t worry, the big cats and bears in the area don’t normally wander down from the higher elevations unless there’s a drought or a shortage of the game they prey on.”
“What keeps them from making these cattle their next meal?” Karly asked as she gazed at the herd of steers grazing on the thick prairie grasses.
“Unlike grizzlies, black bears are too opportunistic to bother with hunting larger game,” he explained. “They’ll eat whatever is available—roots, berries, bugs, carrion. They’ll even eat garbage or whatever else they happen to find along the way.”