be working side by side—for hours.
Carolina slipped between the rails of the wooden fence, glancing at the covered arena on the other side of the barn. Lessons were in full swing. Carolina heard Natalie calling to one of her clients as she schooled her horse over a jump. Something about weight in the heels and keeping her hips open—whatever that meant. The smell of dust and a water-soaked pasture filled the air.
“All right,” Colt said. “Chance, you’re up first. I need you to try and swing up on old Teddy here without a saddle.”
Chance eyed the animal skeptically. “He doesn’t have a bridle on.”
“I’m aware of that, Chance,” Colt said, deadpan. “Perhaps that’s why I want you to climb aboard, so you can practice riding him without a bridle.”
The skin between his brows wrinkled. “Won’t he run off?”
“Just do as I ask, please.”
Chance studied the horse as if contemplating the odds of his brother’s request being a prank. Satisfied with what he saw, he moved forward. “You know, the last time you told me to do as you asked, you blew the toilet seat off with me on it.”
Colt chuckled. “This is different.”
Chance grabbed a hank of mane. He shifted around a bit, as if trying to recall the position he needed to be in to complete his task. With a deep breath and a giant heave, he threw his leg over the horse, slipped, and almost fell to his knees. He shot them both a grimace before trying again. To Carolina’s complete shock, he swung up the next time as if he’d been doing it his whole life, and maybe he had.
“Wow,” his brother said. “Impressive.”
All week long, Carolina had told herself there was no way Colt’s idea for a new routine would work, not when his brother hadn’t ridden in years. And yet there Chance sat, staring down at her triumphantly, looking as if he belonged on an old Western movie poster with his black hat and denim shirt. All he’d need was a black eye mask to be a Western hero like the Lone Ranger.
“Okay, that was easy,” Chance said. “What’s next?”
“Bill the Barrel Man. He’s going to play the part of bad guy.”
“Yeah, but he’s not here.”
“You’ll have to use your imagination.”
“I didn’t know that man was still around,” Chance said.
“Still going strong after all these years. We follow the same rodeo schedule, which is why this’ll work out great. He actually seemed a little excited about joining in on our routine. Said we can practice it when we’re at the rodeo this next weekend.” Colt turned toward the middle of the arena and pointed. “Bill’s going to be off on the sidelines dressed as Dastardly Dan.”
“Who?”
Colt waved away his brother’s question. “You’ll be just finishing up your act with Teddy. The Galloping Girlz will be announced. Carolina will ride in as if all is well. She’ll stand up on Rio’s back, only Bill will jump out of his barrel and grab her horse’s bridle or something. We’ll have to work out the details of that. I want it to look kind of like Pitiful Pearl.”
“Pitiful Pearl?” Chance asked.
His brother released a long-suffering sigh of impatience. “You know, like those old black-and-white movies without the sound. Overacted skit. Lots of arm waving and facial expressions. Caro will be perfect.”
“Caro?” Chance asked, eyeing her anew.
She had a hard time meeting his gaze. “It’s what my friends call me.”
He smiled wickedly. “I could be your friend.”
Oh, dear Lord in heaven.
He was teasing, she knew that, just as she knew his words shouldn’t affect her, not after everything she’d been through. Yet they did. The man was too gorgeous for his own good.
“Anyway,” Colt said, eyeing the two of them askance. “Caro will be pulled from her horse...somehow. I want you to swing up on Teddy and rescue her.”
“Rescue her how?”
“You know, ride up to her at breakneck speed, clasp her hand, then swing her up behind you. Like in the movies. Then you’ll ride back to the trailer and Caro will grab a rope. She’ll stand up on the back of Teddy and the two of you will set off, and she’ll rope Bill and drag him back to his barrel, or maybe out of the arena. I haven’t decided yet. And not really drag. He can sort of be walking, but pretending to fight you the whole time. We’ll have to see what looks best.” He turned toward his brother. “My biggest concern is your riding skills. We’ll need to work on them. It might take a while before you’re in the proper shape to lift Caro up from a run.”
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