Rancher to the Rescue Read online

  “Prickly?”

  “Yeah, and this guy’s important.”

  Zannah studied him for a second, then stepped around so he’d have to look her in the eye. “Important, how?” she asked.

  “Just...important, so don’t be mule-headed like you get sometimes.”

  “I’m not mule-headed. I’m focused and...single-minded, but if I ever am stubborn, I learned it from you.”

  Gus brushed that statement aside. “I’m only trying to tell you to be nice to Gallagher.”

  Hands on her hips, Zannah eyed him suspiciously. “Dad, what’s going on?”

  “Uh, nothing.” Gus turned and hurried away. “I’ve got work to do,” he said over his shoulder.

  “Fine, but get me the rest of those receipts—and Mr. Gallagher’s record of payment. I can’t find it.”

  He waved a hand. “Sure, sure. See you later.” He zipped around the corner.

  “For a man who’s always complaining about his arthritis, he can haul his behind when he needs to,” she muttered, continuing to the corral.

  As she walked, she glanced up at the sandstone cliffs, striped in hues of tan, white, brown and deep red. Eaglecrest was nestled in a beautiful little valley, bisected by the San Ramon River. It backed up to the cliffs, and farther to the west, the property spread out into rangeland. In the distance, she could see the foothills of the White Mountains. The view always made her happy. She had missed it so much during the years she had lived in Las Vegas that she never failed to appreciate it now.

  Eaglecrest Ranch had belonged to her mother’s family, the Graingers, since the 1920s and had gone through many financial ups and downs along with the price of beef. Matters had improved when her father had started the cowboy training college. He had fully focused on it, and the running of the ranch, ever since her mother died.

  Now, though, Zannah didn’t know what was happening with him. He’d never been a big reader, but lately, he’d been studying topographical maps. When she’d asked about them, he’d whisked them away and said he was doing some research.

  She knew that over the past few years, she had become wary and suspicious, questioning people’s motives. She didn’t want to be like that, and certainly not with her dad. Still, she knew there was something going on.

  She glanced around to see that all their other guests were following Phoebe’s instructions and getting to know their horses. Mr. Bardle had his excitable six-year-old boy, Liam, on the saddle in front of him, carefully showing him how to use the reins to flex the animal’s head smoothly from side to side. Some of the guests were on horseback, walking their mounts around the corral, and the others were almost there.

  She caught Phoebe’s attention and pointed to herself and then Gallagher, indicating she was on her way to help him. Her cousin gave her a nod and a grateful smile.

  As she approached, she saw that Gallagher was still sitting stiffly in the saddle and had an expression on his face that said he would like to be almost anywhere else.

  He didn’t look scared, though. More resolute, as if he was going to get through this no matter what. Again, she thought of the previous evening and the watchful attitude he had shown. There was something about him that felt odd to her. She shook it off, reminding herself he was a paying guest who deserved the best experience possible at Eaglecrest.

  “Good morning, Mr. Gallagher,” she called out as she approached him. “How are you and Belinda getting along?”

  Gallagher pulled back on the reins to stop Belinda, who had been taking uncertain steps. He looked down at Zannah as she strolled up to Belinda’s head and looped her arm under the mare’s neck. She stroked the silky hair and black mane as she smiled up at him.

  “Not sure,” he answered, resting his hands on the saddle horn. “Call me Brady. And I don’t know much about this.”

  “Well, that’s why you’re here, so you can learn. What seems to be the problem?”

  “This horse...”

  “Belinda,” Zannah supplied.

  “Belinda doesn’t seem to understand what I want her to do.” His expression was serious, and his head cocked slightly as he waited for her answer.

  Zannah continued to smile, trying to lighten the mood. “You only need to relax. She’s a smart girl. She can tell that you’re tense, but don’t worry, she’s taken care of newbies before.” Zannah looked down to see that his shiny new boots were in the stirrups at an awkward angle. His calves weren’t snug against Belinda’s flanks so he could easily give her direction.

  “Oh, here’s part of the problem,” she said, placing her hand on his knee. He jerked, causing Belinda to move back. Gallagher took the reins in one hand and reached down with the other to soothe the horse.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Gallagher—uh, Brady,” Zannah said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “It’s okay. Like I said, I don’t know much about this.”

  She paused and blinked as she processed how he’d gone from awkwardly holding the reins to expertly quieting the mare. In an instant, he was back to looking unsure of himself. She refocused, wondering if she had imagined it.

  “Sit straight, but easy in the saddle. Your job is to let her know who’s boss. Keep your calves tight against her ribs. That’s how you’ll give her directions. Horses are a lot like little kids. They need to know someone’s in charge. Don’t worry. You two will get used to each other, and she’ll be your partner the whole time you’re here at Eaglecrest.”

  “Oh, yeah? I can’t change horses if I need to?” Brady asked.

  “You can, but I don’t think it will be necessary,” she answered, trying to understand the weird vibe she was getting from him. “You and Belinda need to become friends and partners.”

  “Maybe we got off to a bad start,” he said. “I’ll dismount and you can show me how to get going with her.”

  “Didn’t Phoebe do that?” Zannah asked, glancing to where her cousin was speaking earnestly to a nervous young girl on the back of a placid pinto.

  “Yeah, but I guess I missed something.” Brady stepped down and stood beside her.

  Zannah looked up at him, taking in his solemn expression and the watchfulness in his deep brown eyes. He was tall, a couple of inches over six feet, with a square jaw and thick, dark eyebrows that matched his mahogany hair.

  Zannah gave him an uncertain smile but couldn’t think of anything to say. She felt completely out of step, as if she’d put her boots on the wrong feet and was walking backward through thick mud. She hated this feeling.

  After a few seconds, he moved away from her. “Why don’t we start with saddling and bridling?”

  Zannah frowned. “But Belinda’s already saddled.”

  “Maybe I did it wrong.”

  While she tried to control the “you’ve got to be kidding me” look that was fighting to take over her face, Zannah checked the cinch and the position of the saddle. “No, you did it exactly right.”

  “How do you know?” he persisted. “You weren’t here when I saddled her.”

  She held out both hands, palm up. “But I can see the result, so I know you did it correctly. Why do it again?”

  “Because the customer is always right?”

  Either that or slightly deranged, she thought, but she manufactured a smile even as her bewilderment gave way to growing annoyance. “Of course. If you feel at all uncertain, we’ll start again.” She stepped back. “Since you put Belinda’s saddle on, it should be easy for you to take it off. I’ll watch and give you pointers if they’re needed.”

  “Fair enough.” He paused. “So, what do I do first?”

  “Make sure she doesn’t wander off while you unsaddle her.” Zannah gestured toward Belinda’s head. “That’s why there’s a halter under the bridle. You tie her to the fence using the halter. If you take the bridle off, she’ll think it’s time to run and she’l
l be gone in a flash. Belinda is laid-back, but she loves to run after a trail ride, and you’ll have a hard time catching her. You don’t want to tie her up with only the bridle, because she could pull on it and hurt her mouth. Don’t tie her too tightly. As soon as she’s secure, you can take off the saddle.”

  Brady nodded as if satisfied with her answer, tied up the mare and fumbled a little as he unbuckled the cinch strap. Zannah didn’t step in to help. When it came to most aspects of horsemanship, it was necessary to learn by doing.

  Grasping the saddle with both hands, Brady lifted it off, placed it on the fence, then removed the saddle blanket. When he tossed it over the top rail, it slid to the ground. Brady crouched down and reached between the fence rails to retrieve it.

  Belinda looked around, snorted, shook her head and kicked out with her rear right hoof. She grazed Brady’s backside, throwing him off balance.

  “Hey!” Brady yelped, scrambling to stand up while Zannah grabbed Belinda’s halter to bring her head down and around.

  “Belinda,” Zannah said firmly, her voice pitched low. “We don’t kick the guests.”

  The unrepentant mare shook her head.

  “Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Zannah insisted, but Belinda only twitched her ears.

  “What was that all about?” Brady asked, dusting off his jeans as he came back to them.

  “I don’t know,” Zannah answered, mortified. “I’m so sorry. She’s never done anything like that before.”

  “That you know of,” Brady pointed out. “Haven’t you been gone for a while? Only came back a few months ago?”

  “Well, yes, but how did you know that?”

  “You must have said something last night at the barbecue.” Brady met her gaze squarely.

  “No, I didn’t.” She never told the guests that she was new at running Eaglecrest, because she didn’t want them to think she didn’t know what she was doing. Her uneasy feeling about Brady Gallagher hardened into solid suspicion.

  “Let’s get back to saddling this horse.” He tossed the saddle blanket over Belinda’s back. She stood waiting, the picture of tranquility.

  Zannah didn’t mention that he hadn’t removed and replaced the bridle. She wanted to get this lesson over and done.

  Brady smoothed the blanket. Belinda flicked her tail up and caught him across the back.

  “Has this horse got it in for me?” he asked.

  “Of course not. She probably thought she felt a fly, or...something.”

  Brady’s mouth firmed. “See if you can calm her down while I get the saddle.”

  “Calm down, Belinda,” Zannah said dutifully to the serene animal.

  After a moment, Brady came back and put the saddle in place. He scooted it too far forward, and Zannah was happy to correct him, taking the emphasis off the mare, who shook herself and flicked her tail again.

  This time, Brady was ready for her, holding up his arm to block the sweeping tail.

  “It takes a while to learn to adjust a saddle,” Zannah said. “But you’ll get the hang of it.”

  Following Zannah’s instructions, he settled the saddle into place, buckled and tightened the cinch straps and untied the halter.

  “That’s perfect,” Zannah said, checking the tack. “You did a good job, as I knew you would.”

  He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Except for crouching down behind her.”

  “That’s true, and I don’t know why she kicked out...”

  “Yeah, yeah, she’s never done that before.”

  Eager for a change of topic, Zannah said, “Let me see you mount. Remember to relax. She’s really a very easygoing horse. Once you get used to her, you’ll love her, I promise.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  As he lightly grasped the reins, he placed his left foot into the stirrup and threw his right leg over Belinda’s back.

  He gave a self-assured nod, squared his shoulders and shifted in the saddle. That was when Belinda exploded.

  Feet dancing, she twisted and turned as Brady held on to the reins and tried to get her under control.

  As everyone else turned to see what was happening, Zannah leaped for the horse’s head but couldn’t grab her before she lifted her front hooves off the ground and dumped Brady into the dirt. Free of her burden, she streaked across the ground and headed for the foothills.

  Horrified, Zannah ran to Brady, who lay stunned, blinking up at the sky and trying to catch his breath.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, crouching beside him and reaching to help him sit up.

  “Ye...heh...hes.” He finally managed to get a deep breath. “I...have...haven’t been thrown...like that...in twenty years.” He shuddered slightly as he filled his lungs with air again and breathed out as he turned to her with a firm gaze. “We’re going to have to do something about that horse.”

  “What do you mean?” Zannah was only half listening as she gently placed her hand on his jaw and turned his head so she could check for bumps and gashes. She was relieved to find none. Across the corral, she saw Phoebe start their way but waved her back to indicate that everything was fine.

  “We can’t have a skittish animal like that in our string, especially not if we’ve got small kids and inexperienced riders around.”

  Zannah straightened and looked into his eyes to check that both pupils were the same size. That done, she finally focused on his words. “She’s not skittish. At least, she never has been before, not until she met you—and what do you mean we?”

  “I mean we because I’m about to become part owner of that animal.”

  Zannah frowned and shook her head in puzzlement. “You mean you want to buy Belinda?”

  While Zannah stared at him, he stood up easily and offered his hand to pull her to her feet. “I didn’t want you to find out this way, but hello, Miss Worth,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to be your new partner.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “PARTNER?” ZANNAH ASKED. “What are you talking about?” Her expression concerned, she studied him for a second, then asked, “I didn’t find a bump, but did you hit your head?”

  Brady dusted off his jeans and shirt as he tried to gauge her reaction. She was staring at him in complete puzzlement, her golden-brown eyes examining him as she tried to understand. He certainly hadn’t meant for her to find out this way. It was time to explain.

  “My head is fine. Your father and I have almost reached an agreement for me to buy into Eaglecrest. We still have a few details to work out, but we shook on it.”

  Her face cleared as she gave a burst of laughter. “That’s hilarious. My father would never accept an investor in the ranch—except for me, of course.” She turned to see where Belinda had gone. “I didn’t take you for a joker, Mr. Gallagher.”

  “Call me Brady,” he reminded her.

  She waved a hand. “Sure, sure, Brady. Listen, part of learning about horses is learning to catch one. There’s a patch of grass by the river that’s Belinda’s particular favorite, so if you’re not injured...”

  “Zannah, what did you do?” Gus Worth demanded as he hurried up to them. He gave his daughter a fierce glare, then turned to look Brady over, checking for injuries.

  “Me?” Zannah’s voice came out in a squeak as she stared at her father, clearly dumbfounded at what she seemed to see as an unfair accusation. “I didn’t do anything to him. Belinda threw Mr. Ga...um, Brady, but...”

  “Belinda’s never thrown anyone in her life,” Gus insisted. “You did something to scare her.”

  Zannah clapped a hand to her chest. “Me?” she asked again. “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “I told you not to get prickly with him.”

  Brady watched Zannah go from puzzled to flabbergasted. He wasn’t liking the way this was playing out. It was his
own fault, though. He’d let Gus decide too many of the terms of this agreement, including keeping it a secret from his daughter. But it had been his own idea to come to Eaglecrest as a guest to see how the operation ran—both the ranching and cowboy college sides of things. And he really shouldn’t have blurted out the news of the impending partnership. His only excuse was that he’d been rattled by his unexpected flight through the air and meet-up with the ground.

  “No, Gus,” Brady said, holding up his hand. “I’m sure I did something to scare the mare. I haven’t ridden in a while, and...”

  Zannah turned on him suddenly, her gaze narrowing. “You haven’t ridden in a while? You said you don’t know much about this, and I assumed you meant riding, horses, ranching, but you also said you hadn’t been thrown like that in twenty years.”

  “I may have understated the facts,” Brady answered. He resisted the urge to look away from her stare, which reminded him so much of his fifth-grade teacher. Mrs. Price could get the truth out of even the shiftiest kid simply by locking eyes with them. Zannah didn’t look a thing like his old teacher, but she seemed to have that same ability, which was probably why Gus was withering before that look.

  Zannah’s hands rose to rest at her waist, her shoulders squared, and she rocked back slightly on her heels. Her color began to rise as she asked, “And exactly why would you have done that, Mr. Gallagher?”

  Brady cast a quick glance at Gus, who was regarding his daughter as if he was ready to duck and cover.

  “I wanted to see exactly how you run this place, including how you deal with inexperienced riders.”

  “And as a paying guest, you would have seen all of that, experienced all of that, but you’re not a paying guest, are you?” She gave her father a furious look. “Is that why I couldn’t find any paperwork on him?”

  Gus’s gaze shifted away from her. “Now, honey, I didn’t want you to get upset.”

  “What is it, in the simplest possible terms, that you didn’t want me to get upset about?”

  Gus looked away, and then back. “If Brady likes what he sees here, he’s going to buy in to Eaglecrest.”