A Special Kind of Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

bridle on.”
    Uh-oh,
he hadn’t been thinking this far ahead, too distracted by a certain pretty
lady. He was going to need some help getting Missy and Red, plus his own horse,
Phantom, out to the holding area where their ride would begin. He had Phantom
already saddled up in his stall, ready and waiting to go. He’d just get one of
the barn hands to help him out. He got Red outfitted with the bridle and handed
the reins to Sharon.
    “Y’all
just hang on here a minute.” He turned and walked down the aisle glancing in
stalls as he passed. He spotted Tim scrubbing out a waterer in Red’s stall.
    “Hey,
can you give me a hand getting these horses out to the pen?”
    “Sure
thing.” Tim stepped out of the stall. “Who do you want me to take?”
    “If
you’ll take Phantom out, I’ll get the other two. Thanks, man.”
    “No
problem.”
    Tim
headed to Phantom’s stall and Tanner turned back to Sharon and Aaron.
    “Do
you think you can handle leading Red out? You do it just the same as when you
led him out of the stall.”
    “Yeah,
I think I can handle it.”
    Tanner
took the reins from Aaron and carefully turned Missy around in the wide aisle.
    “Come
on up here and lead her out. I’ll walk right beside you.” He extended the reins
to Aaron.
    Aaron
held the reins just below the bit, stayed to Missy’s left side and led her
forward. Either he’d been paying attention when Tanner was giving Sharon
instructions or the kid had researched how to lead a horse, along with the rest
of his reading.
    They
reached the corral and joined the rest of the group. The horses were all
saddled and ready to go, some of the riders were mounted up and others were
holding their horse’s reins and waiting for assistance in mounting.
    “Do
you know how to mount a horse?” Tanner directed his question to Aaron.
    “Yes,
sir. Place the reins around the horse’s neck, hold the
reins in your left hand. Mount from the left side. Place your left foot in the
stirrup, hold onto the pommel with your left hand, keeping hold of the reins,
and grab the cantle with your right hand. Lift up and swing your right leg over
the back of the horse.”
    Yep, the kid had definitely been
reading .
    “That’s
right. But, you’re a little short to get your foot in the stirrup without help.
You can either use a mounting block or I can give you a leg up.”
    “What
is a leg up?”
    “I
lock my hands together like this,” Tanner made a cradle from his interlocked
fingers “and you put your foot into my hands, then you stand up and I lift at
the same time.”
    “I
want to do that. I like that word, legup , legup , legup .” Aaron’s volume
increased with each repetition of the word, causing several of the other riders
to look their way.
    “What
the hell’s the matter with that kid?” a surly voice growled. “Is he some kind a
retard or something?”
    “Shut
up, Harold.” A woman’s voice hissed.
    Tanner
had been struggling not to laugh at Aaron’s antics, damn the kid was cute. But
his demeanor changed instantly upon hearing the muttered comments. He turned a
fierce glare on the couple. The woman looked mortified and stared at the
ground. The man merely shrugged his shoulders and turned away.
    Tanner
turned back to his charges, and thankfully Aaron seemed unaffected. Sharon, on
the other hand…her face was crimson and her jaw was clenched so tightly he was
afraid she was going to crack a tooth.
    “Okay,
let’s mount up then,” Tanner said, hoping to defuse the tension.
    Aaron
swung into the saddle like a pro. Tanner adjusted the reins so the bit didn’t
pull on Missy’s mouth, but there was still enough tension to control her. He
arranged the reins in Aaron’s left hand, index finger between the reins, thumb
on top and the rest of the hand closed around both reins.
    “Okay,
just stay right there while I get your mom and I mounted up. Don’t squeeze with
your legs or move your feet around, those are cues to make her move. Just