Cowboy's Bride (11 page)

"I could use some." When Kalli reached the
barn she waited by the door while Becky dismounted and tied her
horse to the corral rail.
The girl was as tall as Kalli.
Did she
saddle her own horse?

"Which horse do you want?" Becky asked,
looking through the rails into the corral.
There were several
horses dozing in the afternoon sun.

"I don't know.
Does it matter?" Kalli
asked.

Becky looked at her for a moment.
"I guess
not.
Which one did you ride before?''

"A brown one."

Becky rolled her eyes and looked at the
horses milling around.
"Most of them are brown.
Did you ride Stony
or Billy or Roman?"

"I don't know.
Whatever one your father
saddled for me." Kalli came to study the horses, trying to remember
which one she'd ridden before.
They all looked alike to
her--big.

"Then we'll take Stony," Becky announced,
climbing the fence.
In only a few minutes, she had the horse tied
to the top rail and was bringing out a saddle, blanket and
bridle.

"I can help," Kalli said, reaching for the
blanket and the bridle.
She already knew the saddle was too heavy.
How did Becky manage?

"Getting on is a problem.
How do you mount?"
she asked as Becky dumped the saddle beside the horse.

"I find a fence or stump or something, if
I'm away from home.
Can you saddle him?"

"I know how, but the saddle's too
heavy."

"Do what you can and I'll help you lift the
saddle," Becky said, stepping back.
Her expression was
challenging.

Think I can't do this?
Kalli thought as she
stepped up to the big horse.
Before long she had the bridle on,
took the blanket from Becky and flung it in place.

"How do you manage to saddle your horse?"
Kalli asked as she struggled with the heavy Western saddle.
She
remembered her uncle had always taken care of that when she
visited.

"Dad built me a platform.
I cross tie the
horse beside it to groom him and tack him up.
Here, you'll never
get it on that way." Becky helped her swing the heavy saddle onto
the horse's back.
Once it was in place, the horse shied away.

Reaching beneath him, Kalli drew up the
cinch, began tightening it.
The horse blew from his nostrils,
sidestepped again, dancing nervously in the dusty corral.

Persevering, Kalli cinched it tight, flipped
down the stirrups.

"Climb on the rails and step into the
saddle," Becky suggested, squirming through the rails and going to
her horse, watching Kalli as she walked.

Kalli tried to bring Stony near the rail,
but he was skittish, sidestepping, dancing, moving.
Finally he was
close enough.
She climbed the wooden fence, stepped into the
stirrup and swung her leg over quickly before he could move
away.

Scarcely had her bottom touched the saddle
before the horse exploded.
He threw up his hind legs, humped his
back and jerked around.
Head lowered, he bucked again and again.
Kalli felt herself leave the saddle, slam down hard on her
bottom.

The second time she attempted to sit the
horse, he moved from beneath her.
One minute she was on him, the
next she was floating through the air.
Her foot caught in the
stirrup and held.
She came down on her shoulder, feeling the
twisting in her ankle before the horse jumped to the side,
dislodging her boot before she could be dragged across the soft,
dry dirt.
Her hip hit hard.
Stunned by the unexpectedness of it
all, Kalli lay still, trying to catch her breath, trying to
determine if she'd broken anything.

She'd heard Becky's laughter when she first
mounted the horse.
Now there was only silence.

"Kalli?" Becky came flying through the fence
and over to her.
"Kalli?
Are you dead?" Her voice was scared.

Kalli opened her eyes and looked at the
girl.
"No.
I'm not dead."

But by tomorrow she'd probably wish she was.
She felt as if she was one gigantic bruise already.
Gingerly she
moved, tried to sit up.
"I don't even think I broke anything.
What
happened?" She leaned toward her right hip, easing the pain in her
left one.
Her left shoulder was throbbing, her whole body tightened
and began to ache.
Looking around, she saw the other horses mildly
watching her.
Her hat was several feet away.
She rolled to her
knees and tried to stand.

"Ow!" Sinking back into the dirt, she
clutched her left ankle.
She had definitely twisted it.
Glancing
around, she saw Stony standing several yards away, still nervous,
his eyes on her, blowing hard.

"Stony bucked and you came flying off,"
Becky said, sitting back and watching Kalli worriedly.
"Are you all
right?"

"Shouldn't you get the horse?
I don't want
him bucking his way back over here," Kalli said, her wary gaze
never leaving Stony.

Becky walked up to the skittish horse and
grabbed his reins.
In only moments she had him unsaddled and turned
him free.
She put the equipment away, casting worried glances at
Kalli all the while.

"Can you get to the house?
Should I ride for
my dad?" she asked when she came back.

Kalli almost groaned.
The last thing she
needed was for Trace to find her here in the dirt.
She had not
managed on her own after all.
He thought so poorly of her ranching
abilities, this would only confirm his bad opinion.

"No, don't tell your father.
If you could
help me up, I can hop to the house." She got on her knees again,
careful of her injured foot.
She stood on her good leg, using Becky
as a support.
Slowly they made their way to the gate, through it
and to the house.
Every hop jarred her shoulder, her hipr.
Her
entire left side felt on fire.
Her head began to pound and her foot
felt as if it was being hit by a hammer with each jolting step.

"Horses buck sometimes, you know," Becky
said as she helped Kalli.
"You have to watch for that and be ready.
I never get bucked off," she said proudly.
"Neither does my
dad."

"Well, bully for both of you.
I'm still new
at this."

"You don't belong here.
I heard my dad
saying that.
You should go home.
This just shows you can't be a
rancher.
Ranchers never get bucked off," Becky said.

Kalli wasn't going to argue with her.
At
this moment, she wasn't too sure Becky wasn't right.

They made it as far as the kitchen table,
where Kalli pulled out a chair and sank down, her shoulder
throbbing, her ankle white-hot agony, her hip aching.
God, she was
a mess.
Would a warm bath help?
Then ice for the bruises?
She
wondered if she could even make it as far as her bathroom.
How
would she ever manage getting into and out of a bath?

The throaty roar of a pickup truck sounded
in the distance, grew louder until it was right outside.
Kalli felt
her insides tighten.
Maybe it would be Charlie.
Maybe he could help
her into her room.

"It's Dad," Becky said with a smile.
Hurrying from the house, she flew out to meet her father.

"Dad, you better come see to that city lady.
She fell and hurt herself.
Probably needs to go into town and see a
doctor," Becky said as soon as he drew to a halt.

"What happened?" Trace forgot his curiosity
at Becky's being here at her words.
For a moment he felt sick.
What
had happened to Kalli?
Was she all right?
Did she really need a
doctor?

"Come see." Becky turned and ran inside,
Trace only inches behind her.

Kalli looked defiant as she sat in the
chair, her left leg crossed over her right knee.
Her clothes were
dusty, there was a smudge on one cheek and her eyes were bright
with unshed tears.

"What did you do to yourself?" he asked as
he drew near, leaned over her.

Blinking her eyes to keep the tears at bay,
she tried a smile.
"Just took a little tumble off a horse.
Nothing
a big rodeo star would even notice," she said.

"Ah, hell, honey.
Did you get hurt?"

She nodded, prepared for his sarcasm, not
prepared for his concern.
"I think I twisted my ankle." Not to
mention her banging her hip, shoulder, and every other part of her
that was now starting to ache.

His hands reached out and felt along the
boot, firmly, yet gently.
She winced at his touch, catching her
breath at the pain that coursed up her leg.

"It's already swollen.
How did it
happen?"

He continued to examine her foot, ankle, leg
as she told him about her aborted attempt to ride.
When he
finished, he looked into her shimmering eyes.

Trace's heart slammed against his chest.
He
hurt that she hurt.
He wanted to snatch her up and ease the pain
away.
Shelter her so she never got hurt again.
She wasn't any
bigger than Becky.
She needed to be cared for, cherished.
Why was
she dang so foolish, insisting on continuing in this quest to own
and operate a cattle ranch?
Dammit, she was as unsuited for this as
he was for a boardroom in Boston.

"I told her ranchers didn't fall off
horses," Becky said, sidling up to her dad and staring at
Kalli.

"I didn't fall, Stony bucked me off," Kalli
clarified.

"Stony?" Trace asked in disbelief.
"He's as
gentle as they come."

"Well, if he's so gentle, I'd like to see
some wild stock."

Gently Trace tugged on her boot.
A white-hot
lance of pain shot through her leg.

"Ow!
Dammit, Trace, what are you trying to
do, rip my foot off?" Tears spilled over and coursed down her dirty
cheek.
The pain was worse now.
What was he, some sort of
sadist?

"Just seeing how bad it is.
We'll have to
cut off your boot.
There's no way we can pull it off if that little
tug hurt so bad."

"Not my new boots," she protested.

"I'm open for other suggestions," he said as
he rose and fetched a knife from the cutlery drawer.

She watched him approach, then looked sadly
at her fancy Western boots.
She'd been so excited to buy them.

So excited she needed boots where she was
going.
She'd only had them a couple of weeks.

"I'll buy you another pair," he said
sardonically as he knelt beside her.
Tossing his hat on the table,
he slipped the blade down between her leg and the boot top, cutting
the soft leather as if it was butter.

She gritted her teeth.
She knew he was
trying to be careful, but it still hurt.
Finally the boot was off.
Instantly she felt better.

He rose and picked her up.
As he turned to
head for her room, he told Becky to fix up an ice pack.

Shouldering open the door to her room, he
noticed she'd made the bed.
For a second his eyes met hers and they
both remembered that morning.

Slowly he lowered her to the mattress,
taking care to keep her foot from jarring.

She lay back, moaned slightly and turned
toward her right.

"What else?" he asked.

"I landed on my shoulder, I guess it's
bruised, too." He unbuttoned her shirt and drew it down her arms.
The pale skin of her shoulder showed an ugly purple patch larger
than his hand.

Kalli gripped the front of her shirt across
her breasts.
She looked at her shoulder and frowned.
"I'm sure it's
just bruised."

He took her arm, releasing her grip on the
material, and rotated it slowly, gently.
"How's that?"

"Just great, Doctor." It pulled a little,
but she knew nothing was broken.

"I may not be a doctor, but I do know a
little about injuries people get from being thrown.
I probably have
more experience at that than most of your Bostonian doctors put
together."