sure I’ll be fine. Thank you for your help.” She paused. “Actually, there is one thing. When I made the initial reservation, I was told I was welcome to use any of the Hope Springs horses during my stay.”
“That’s generally the policy. If you need help saddling a horse, you can usually find me or Bill Higgins, the hired man, somewhere around the place.”
“I shouldn’t need help. I’ve been around horses most of my life. But thank you.”
A woman who sewed fancy hats, wore her clothes with the kind of flair that belonged in a fashion magazine, drove a rented Lexus SUV and apparently had plenty of experience with horses. He gave a mental head shake as he said good-night and walked back into the December night.
He wasn’t sure what to think of her. Nothing, he reminded himself. He didn’t need to spend one more minute than necessary thinking about the woman. She was a guest at the ranch, that was all. One he would be thrilled to send on her way at the earliest possible opportunity.
Chapter Two
She slept better than she had in months.
It was an unexpected boon. She had never been able to sleep well in a strange bed. Coupled with the insomnia that had troubled her since before her mother died, Emery had anticipated a rough night.
Perhaps she had only been exhausted from the long day of travel and the complications of her arrival. Whatever the reason for her deep sleep, she awoke invigorated, her mind racing with ideas for the boutique hotel redesign she was working on for one of her favorite clients, Spencer Hotels.
This is exactly what she hoped might happen, that escaping from her routine in Warrenton might help her recapture some of the joy she had always found when a new project started to click in her head.
What she had taken to be a blizzard the night before left only about three or four inches of new snow on the ground. She opened the rather ordinary beige tab curtains to the alpine scene outside her windows and spent the morning with her sketchbook.
The hotel Eben Spencer had recently purchased was in Livingston, Montana, gateway to the north entrance of Yellowstone. He wanted mountain chic with an edge and custom everything—window coverings, upholstery, bed linens.
By early afternoon, she had filled her sketchbook with several possibilities she thought would work for the property. After a quick bowl of canned tomato soup and half a sandwich, the lure of the brilliant blue sky—the pure clarity of it against the dark green pine topped with snow—was too powerful for her to resist.
She bundled into silk long johns and her warmest outdoor gear and decided to check out the ranch’s equine offerings.
As she walked past red-painted outbuildings toward the large horse barn and corrals she had spied the night before on her way in, she saw no sign of her reluctant host. Her only companion was a magpie who squawked at her from atop the split-rail fence then hopped away in a flash of iridescent wings.
At the horse barn, a half dozen horses munched alfalfa that had recently been spread for them in the snow-covered pasture and it appeared as if that many again preferred the warmth of the barn.
She stood at the railing, admiring the quarter horses. She could see a couple mares were ready to foal and all of them looked well-fed and content.
After a few moments, a strong-boned dappled gray gelding wandered over to her spot and dipped his head for a little love.
“You are a pretty boy, aren’t you,” she murmured and he whinnied and tossed his head as if in complete agreement.
“That one was our mom’s horse.”
She whirled around and found the girls from the night before watching her from the corner of the pasture. Claire and Tallie, she remembered.
They wore jeans and parkas and mismatched gloves and Tallie’s hair was slipping out of her braid. Had her sister fixed it or had Nate? The idea of that dangerous-looking man trying to wrangle his niece’s hair tugged at her emotions.
“Hi,” she greeted the girls.
“That was our mom’s favorite horse,” Claire repeated.
“He’s beautiful,” Emery answered.
“His name is Cielo. It means cloud in Spanish,” the younger girl said. “You can ride him if you want.”
“Oh, I don’t…”
Tallie didn’t wait for her to answer. “Annabelle was our mom’s other favorite horse, but she’s having a baby after Christmas so you can’t ride her.”
“Which one is Annabelle?”
“The black with the white stockings,” Claire said, gesturing to a lovely mare currently drinking from the water trough.
“So do you want to ride Cielo?”
She did, suddenly, but she was wary about riding a horse that had been a favorite of their deceased mother.
“If you’re sure it’s okay.”
“Sure,” Tallie answered, then her gamine features lit up. “Hey, she could come with us! Then we could go now.”
“Where are you going?” Emery asked warily.
“Just a friend’s house,” Claire said.
“By yourselves?”
The girls exchanged glances. “We’re allowed to ride as long as we have someone with us,” Claire finally answered, an explanation Emery didn’t completely buy.
“What were you planning to do before you ran into me here?”
“Wait.” Tallie heaved a put-upon sigh. “We’ve been waiting all morning, and Uncle Nate is still busy with the man who came from Idaho Fall.”
“The lawyer,” Claire said. “He’s talking about our mom and dad’s state.”
It took Emery a moment to deduce their uncle and the attorney must be discussing their parents’ estate. Poor little things, to lose both their mother and their father.
Let that be a lesson to her. Just when she was tempted to wallow in self-pity at the strange journey her life had taken over the past few years, she was completely gob-smacked by someone whose path was even tougher.
“I’m sure they’ll be finished soon.”
“But we have an important mission,” Tallie declared. “We can’t wait much longer. We really can’t.”
Emery couldn’t help her smile. Had she been so dramatic at eight? “What could possibly be so urgent?”
“Our friend Tanner has been home sick from school for three whole days.”
Again, Emery had to swallow a smile at the gravity in the girl’s voice. “Oh my goodness. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“He
