Escaping the Past (Wester Farms) Read Online Free PDF

apples , and a sandwich for herself and headed for the barn. She stopped at the saddle rack and tucked her lunch into a clean saddle bag. Clucking softly to Sunny, a bay gelding of sixteen hands, she c hose a leather bridle from a hook on the wall and approached a stall.
     
    Sunny bumped his head against her shirt, demanding her attention.
     
    “Oh, all right…here,” she said, removing a peppermint from her pocket, unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth. He crunched heartily and snorted at her. She giggled and snorted back. Draping the bridle over his ears and fit ting the snaffle bit between his teeth was the easy part. As was covering him with a blanket and saddle . She lowered the saddle to c over the blanket, tightened the cinch , and counted to sixty. She mumbled, “If you would just let out that last breath, we could get moving.” She tightened the cinch again. Lou led Sunny from the stall and out into the bright sunshine beside the barn.
     
    “Going for a ride?” a deep voice ask ed as she swung up into the saddle.
     
    “Yeah. There’s a wild horse out by the south pasture. John bought her at an auction, not realizing how wild she was. She’s due to foal soon . I’m going to see if she’s still hanging out in the same spot. She bred with Wester’s Folly, one of our best sires, before she flew the coop.”
     
    “How far away is she?”
     
    “About a half hour’s ride north of here.”
     
    “Care if I join you?” Brody asked, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his Levis as he scuff ed up dirt with his heels.
     
    “Not at all. I’ll go and get you a horse.” She started to dismount.
     
    “There’s no need. I can just ride with you.” Before she could protest, he slid her foot out of the left stirrup and replaced it with his own. He swung up in the saddle behind her, his legs and calves touching her own as his lap pushed her to the front of the saddle. Her zipper nearly touched the saddle horn. His zipper touched her bottom. Her breath caught in her throat at the intimacy of the contact . She turned slightly so she could look him in the eye.
     
    “This saddle is too small for both of us,” she started.
     
    He grinned at her and said, “If I’m not mistaken, this is the same old saddle Jeb used to ride double with all his nieces and nephews. So, it’s made a little wider and just fine for both of us to share.”
     
    “Jeb’s skinnier than you are.” She tried one last complaint.
     
    “You saying I’m fat?”
     
    She sighed. “It would really be better if we got you your own horse, don’t you think?”
     
    “It’s been twelve years since I ’ ve ridden , so I’m afraid I might be a little rusty. Do you mind?”
     
    “I would rather…”
     
    He cut her off with, “Aw, come on. Please...” His attempts to sound like a five-year-old failed miserably, especially since he was one hundred percent man sitting behind her in the saddle.
     
    “Are you really scared to ride by yourself?”
     
    “Yep. Terrified.” He gave a mock shiver. “Let’s go.” Without waiting for her to agree, he wrapped his arms around her and took the reins from her hands. He clucked gently to Sunny and nudged the horse with his knees. “You don’t mind if I drive, do you?”
     
    “Actually, I do.” She took the reins from his hands and sat straight up in the saddle, avoiding his length behind her as well as she could.
     
    His breath bushed across her cheek when he spoke. “I want to apologize again for what I said earlier. I'm sorry. I had no reason to distrust you or to speak to you the way I did.” His voice rumbled over her shoulder and across her neck. She fought a shiver.
     
    “Apology accepted. If someone bothers my family, I am a little territorial, too.”
     
    “Where is your family? Nearby?” he asked casually.
     
    “Sarah is my only family. I have adopted Jeb, Sadie, your mother , and John. Or they adopted me. I don’t know which happened first . ” A