Caine

Chapter Three

 "I haven't seen you out riding much lately," Caine commented one day in spring, when he'd been there for a couple of months.

"Nah it's been a while. Glory's really frisky and I came off, and I'm too scared to get back on." She felt embarrassed, admitting that to Caine. "And now that I haven't ridden her in so long she's going to be even worse."

"Maybe I can help you tomorrow then. What time do you get home from school?"

"Are you offering to ride her for me, get the kinks out of her?" Sarah asked hopefully.

Caine smiled as he shook his head. "Nope. I'm offering to help you build up your confidence so you can work the kinks out of her yourself."

Sarah looked doubtful. "Do you reckon that can be done?"

"Course it can. You just need to get her respect, and build up the bond you have with her. It's not hard. You'll see. We'll have you running barrels in no time!" His smile was so warm, so confident, that Sarah almost believed him.

***

The next day when Sarah got home from school, Glory was all tied up in the barn waiting for her, and Caine was grooming her. He'd already gotten most of the mud off her fetlocks and legs, and was shining up her golden coat when Sarah walked in. Glory nickered quietly in greeting.

She leant against the rickety wooden door for a moment, watching Caine, admiring the natural way he worked with her horse; he seemed so at ease, and looked just like the rugged handsome cowboy of her childhood dreams. He was wearing the battered cowboy hat she remembered from the very first day she'd laid eyes on him, his chambray shirt was rolled up to the elbows, showing off his muscly forearms and was covered in dust, and his jeans were grubby too. But despite all the dirt, Sarah thought he was gorgeous – her cowboy dream come true.

"You can take over from here," Caine said as he looked up and saw her in the barn. "I want to watch you work with her before we get out in the corral."

The second Caine moved away and Sarah stepped up, Glory started stamping her feet, prancing on the spot, tossing her head and showing how full of energy she was. Frightened, Sarah stepped back. Great, she though. Not only am I afraid to ride my horse, I'm too scared even to groom her! She ticked then – screwing her face up, cracking her jaw, releasing the build-up of pressure. Now Caine was bound to think she was a freak – twitching like a lunatic, and afraid of her horse.

"Take a deep breath, you're okay," Caine's gentle, hypnotic voice broke through her fears and gave her the encouragement she needed. It seemed to calm Glory too. The horse stood still for a few seconds, long enough for Sarah to get herself together, so she picked up the brush and continued grooming her.

When the grooming was done, Sarah reached for the saddle.

"Nah, leave that there, you won't need that at the moment. What we're going to do is take her out into the corral like that, just with her halter; we're going to do some ground work. Dan's out there waiting already."

She nearly swooned at the sexiness of his voice – so deep, husky, but gentle at the same time. There was an air of authority about him, but without being bossy. So Sarah untied the lead rope from the loop in the wall and started walking out to the corral, trying to look more confident than she felt. Glory was prancing beside her, her friskiness obvious, but she held tightly to the lead rope and tried not to let it bother her. Stop being a wuss she told herself sternly. You've been around horses all your life, suck it up! So she took a deep breath and kept walking.