She wandered inside the big ring to the smell of horses and the sound of a nervous giggle.
“You’re doing fine, Deb, just fine. Heels down, Jim. That’s the way.”
Frowning, she stepped closer, and saw Callen rather than Abe mounted and running a lesson.
Couple of novices, no doubt about that, but Callen had them under control.
The man could sit a horse, she mused. Just as easy as another might sit a Barcalounger.
He had the novices on a couple of reliable hacks—though the bay they called Biff could be as lazy as a teenage boy on a summer morning. He plodded along under the man while the nervous giggle rode the cooperative Maybelle.
“Ready to try a little trot again?” Callen asked them.
“Oh gosh, I guess.” The woman looked across the arena at Jim. “I guess, huh?”
“Let’s go for it.”
“Tell ’em what you want,” Callen advised.
Asses hit leather hard enough to make Bodine wince, but both students managed to circle the entire ring at an easy trot.
“Go ahead and change leads, go around the other way. You’ve got it now. Give him a nudge there, Jim. He’d rather stand than walk. That’s the way.”
Callen took his own horse—a gorgeous buckskin Bodine didn’t recognize—in a tight circle to keep both riders in view. When he spotted Bodine, he tapped the brim of his hat.
“You ready to try a canter? Elbows down, Deb,” he instructed when they jerked up on another giggle. “You can do this. Show her what you want.”
“I’m a little—okay.” Lips pressed in a tight line, Deb rocked in the saddle, and let out a squeal when the mare smoothed out into a gentle canter. “Oh my God! I’m doing it. Jim!”
“I see you, babe. We’re riding!”
They circled twice, and though the woman swung back and forth in the saddle like a metronome, she had a huge smile plastered on her face.
“Ease them back now, that’s it, all the way down to a walk. You did great.”
“Can we do it again? Time’s up,” Jim added with a glance at his watch. “But—”
“Once more around.”
“Yeehaw!” he said and, with some enthusiasm, had Biff reluctantly loping another circle.
Grabbing a mounting block, Bodine started across the soft dirt as Callen dismounted. He held a hand up to his horse, who blew out his lips, then stood hipshot with the reins tossed over his neck.
A little breathless, a little flushed, Deb beamed down at Callen. “Jim bribed me into this with a pair of boots I fell for in the shop back at the resort. I can’t believe how much fun it was! How do I get down?”
With a laugh, Callen held Deb’s mount. “Just swing your leg over, slide off. The block’s right here.”
Clumsy but game, Deb got her feet on the block, then grinned at Bodine as she stepped off. “Hi! Do you work for Cal?”
“This is the boss lady,” Callen told her. “We all work for her.”
“Oh! It’s so nice to meet you.” Deb stuck out a hand. “We had the best time, didn’t we, Jim? I went from never being on a horse in my life to a—What was it, Cal?”
“Canter.”
“That’s it. Oh, I’m going to be sore for a week, but I can’t wait to do it again. Let’s do a trail ride, Jim.”
“Sign us up.” With slightly more grace than his woman, Jim dismounted. “Or I will. I got the resort app on my phone. That’s a hell of an idea. Jim Olster.”
“Bodine Longbow.”
“Oh, even your name sounds like Montana. I love it here. We just got here yesterday, and I love it. Would you take a picture? Would you mind?” Deb pulled out her phone. “Of me and Jim and Cal and the horses. I love your hat. Now I have to have a hat, too. I like that flat-brim style. We’re going shopping, Jim, and celebrating in the Saloon. I rode a horse!”
Bodine took pictures, ending with one of Deb pressing her cheek to the mare’s.
As they left, Deb still chattering, Bodine walked the mare to the rail to uncinch the saddle. “I’d say there’s a pair of satisfied customers.”
“Then some. She must’ve really wanted those boots. Her hands were shaking when they came in.”
“We carry some really nice boots. Where’s Abe? He’s on the schedule for the Olster booking.”
“Ah, Christ.” Callen hefted a saddle from horse to rail. “You didn’t hear yet. His wife had some chest pains, so—”
“Edda? Chest pains? What happened, where is she?” Even as she peppered out the questions, Bodine yanked out her phone.
“Slow down. I got a text from him about halfway through the lesson. It looks like she had a little heart attack.”
Bodine nearly had one herself. “A—a—little?
“Mild’s what I got. They’re keeping her in the hospital for now, but she’s stable. I was here when he got the call. She was out—her day off, right?—with a couple of lady friends, and started having chest pains. I told him to go, I’d cover for him.”
“I appreciate that, I do, but somebody should have called me.”
“Abe was a little distracted—out of here in a flash. I was a little busy making sure the customer didn’t faint on me.”
“Right, you’re right.” To calm herself, she pulled off her hat, swatted it against her thigh as she paced back and forth. “I just—I need the details. She’s stable? You’re sure?”
“Abe said—here’s a quote: ‘She’s squawking about going home. But they’re keeping her overnight, doing some tests.’”
“What kind of tests? Why would you know?” she said before he could answer. “I’ll look it up. I’ll look up what they do, and I’ll call him.”
Calmer with a plan somewhat in place, she put on her hat again. “What else is on Abe’s schedule?”
“There’s a trail ride coming up,” he said before Bodine could pull it up on her phone. “Carol can take it. And a weekly lesson at four.”
“That’d be Lessie Silk, she’s twelve. I can take that myself.”
“I’ve got it,” he assured her. “Chase knows where I am.”
“Okay. All right. I’m hiring another hand. I’ve got someone to interview. I was going to talk to Abe about it, but I’m just going to call him up—the new hand—have him come in. If he’s not an idiot, we’ll take him on.”
She’d contact Abe, get details on Edda. Call the applicant, schedule an interview, and since Edda was in charge of housekeeping, she’d adjust the schedule herself, as Edda wasn’t going to come back to work until her doctors gave her an all clear.
“Got it worked out?” Callen said after a moment.
“I will have. Mild, you said?”
“That’s the word Abe used, same as he used stable.”
“Okay.” Bodine blew out a breath, steadied. “Who’s this handsome boy?” She rubbed the unfamiliar buff-colored gelding’s neck.
“This is Sundown. My better half. Sundown, meet Bodine.”
Callen swept a finger down, and the horse bent his forelegs, bowed.