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right-hand man. I wasn’t going to quit just because there was a guy around.
    Right after supper was the first chance I got to spend some time working with the mare. As soon as we finished eating,I excused myself and headed outside. To tell the truth, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Good old Mom had decided that since Cole was working here right up until suppertime, he could just as well eat with us. Two meals a day across the table from that mocking grin was enough to spoil even my appetite.
    I caught the mare easily enough in the corral and tied her up. Then I got my saddle and blanket. “Easy girl,” I soothed, letting her sniff the blanket and then laying it on her back. Then the saddle. No reaction. Not even when I pulled the cinch up tight. I led her around a little. Okay, there was only one thing left to do. Get on her and find out what she planned to do about it.
    I lined her up facing into a corner. If she did decide to explode, I might at least have a chance to get settled in the saddle first. “Whoa now, roan. Be nice, okay?” I took the reins in my left hand and got a firm grip on the saddle horn with my right. Then I started to put my foot in the stirrup. That’swhen I caught a glimpse of something over my shoulder. I brought my foot back to earth and spun around. “You work here, Cole. You don’t live here,” I said, giving him a nasty look. “You can go home now.”
    He just grinned and stepped up a rail higher on the corral fence. “I’ll get there, Blue Jeans. Just wanted to see how our horse was coming along. Go ahead and get on. Unless havin’ me here distracts you too much.”
    I rolled my eyes. “You couldn’t distract me if you ran through the pasture in your underwear throwing away hundred-dollar bills. But if you’re gonna hang around, at least shut up so you don’t distract the horse.”
    â€œMy lips are sealed.” He climbed up on the top rail and made himself comfortable.
    I sighed and turned back to the horse. I tried to recapture the confidence I’d worked up a few minutes before but to tell you the truth, I was distracted as all get-out.
    I gathered the reins and my wits. Then I stuck my foot in the stirrup and swung aboard, making sure to land lightly. Therewas a long period of silence in which the horse tried to decide what to do about me. “Easy girl, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Whether she was planning to hurt me was probably a lot more to the point. The mare wiggled her ears a little. Nothing else happened.
    It finally occurred to me that I couldn’t just sit there on the horse forever. Especially with Cole sitting there watching me with that irritating little grin on his face. Okay, here goes nothing, I thought. I nudged the mare’s sides with my heels—and waited for her to erupt like a volcano.
    She moved forward at an easy walk. One trip around the corral and I remembered to start breathing again. Two trips around the corral and I loosened my deathgrip on the reins. Three trips and the mare started tossing her head restlessly. I knew what her problem was. All horses hate being ridden around and around in tight circles.
    I glanced over at Cole. “If you’re gonna hang around, you could at least open the gate so I can take her out in the pasture,” I said.
    Cole lazily unfolded himself from his perch on the corral fence. “So you think you can handle her out there, huh?” he asked.
    â€œGet real, McCall. This horse hasn’t even twitched. What do you think, I’m scared of her or something?”
    Cole shrugged and wandered over to open the gate. The mare moved smoothly out. We made a tour of the pasture. Halfway around, I gave her a little squeeze with my knees and she broke into a trot. I could feel her favoring her bad leg when she trotted so I turned her back toward home.
    Near the fence she suddenly gave her head a little duck. In the