The Challenger Read Online Free PDF

but Jeep didn’t want to be followed.
    Sam had just recognized the cracked rock on her left when Brynna stopped her mount. Two monthsbefore, water had dripped from the crevice in that rock and Dark Sunshine, snatched by Sam from the rustlers, had stopped there to drink.
    Now Brynna had chosen this wide spot in the trail to look irritated.
    â€œI don’t know if you’re trying to be difficult—”
    â€œI’m not,” Sam interrupted. “It’s just that the horses are working things out and I need to pay attention. I’m still just a teeny bit afraid of getting bucked off.”
    Sam watched Brynna’s lids lower over her blue eyes. She let her reins rest on Jeep’s neck as she watched Sam, deciding whether to believe her.
    â€œYou know, don’t you, that your dad and I love each other.” Brynna said the words carefully. “That’s why we’re getting married.”
    â€œWell, that’s what I figured,” Sam said sarcastically. Why was Brynna talking to her as if she were a toddler?
    Ace’s hindquarters shifted nervously. Sam laid a hand on his neck. The move seemed to steady her, too. She took a deep breath, deciding to tell the full truth. “It’s just that I keep thinking of my mom,” Sam admitted.
    Brynna sighed. “I don’t blame you, but it’s not our fault your mom is gone,” Brynna said gently. “You might as well blame the herd of antelope your mother swerved to miss.”
    â€œI know,” Sam said.
    Both Gram and Dad had told her that her mother’s last action was typical. Everyone had been saddened, but no one had been shocked to hear that Louise Forster had driven her car off the road rather than crash into a herd of wild antelope.
    â€œI was hoping,” Brynna said, slowly, “that you’d be glad your father’s finally happy.”
    â€œHe was happy with me and Gram!” Sam heard how bratty the words sounded as soon as she uttered them.
    Brynna could have snapped right back, but she didn’t. Instead, her voice softened. “Of course he was, but this is different.”
    In the quiet that followed, Jeep moved aside so that Ace could lick the damp rock. Sam let him.
    Overhead, a hawk’s cry rang, but when Sam looked up, the blue sky was empty.
    â€œWyatt has told me things about your mom that made me think we could have been friends.” Brynna held her reins in one hand and took off her deerskin gloves by nipping at the leather covering her index fingers, then tugging the gloves off.
    â€œLike what kinds of things?” Sam asked.
    â€œProbably stuff you know.” Brynna looked a little embarrassed. Now that she had both gloves off, she flexed her fingers.
    â€œTell me anyway,” Sam encouraged her.
    â€œDid you know she worked with a mechanic in Darton to rebuild the engine on her VW bug whenshe found out she was pregnant?”
    Sam shook her head. “That’s kind of weird.”
    â€œWyatt said she not only wanted it new and reliable, she wanted to know how the engine was put together so that if anything went wrong without Wyatt there to help, the two of you wouldn’t be stranded and helpless.”
    Sam thought of a snapshot in the family picture album. In it, her mom wore overalls and long auburn pigtails. She could imagine Mom tying a bandanna over her hair, then sliding under a car with a wrench.
    â€œThanks. No one ever told me about that.” Sam pulled Ace away from the rock and backed him up a few steps. “We can keep going if you want.”
    â€œIn a minute.” Brynna drew a deep breath. “Sam, I love your dad and I want us to be a happy family, but I know I can’t replace your mom. After all, she gave him you.”
    Sam didn’t know what to say, and Brynna saved her the trouble of thinking of something.
    â€œLet’s go find some wild horses,” she said, “so I don’t have to listen to