Peppermint Winter

Chapter 7

"Bye Kayden," I wave from the truck window, "see you tomorrow."
He waves back, turning towards the barn.
"Thanks so much for letting me help Kayden with Peppermint, dad," I great fully say to my father.
"Sure thing. I hope you guys make great progress with her."
"I hope we do too."

It's the next morning, and I'm getting ready to go help Kayden with Pepper.
I pull on some bootcut jeans and a V-cut T shirt. I braid my hair and pull on some cowgirl boots before heading downstairs.
I look at the clock, '7:33 am'.
I grab a big coat and step out on the porch, waiting for Kayden to pull up.
The snow has almost all melted, except for a few shady spots.
I pull out my phone and text Mia, my bf.

'Hey, u up yet?'

'Ya, feeding horses. u goin 2 Kayden's?'

I start to text her back but slide my phone into my pocket when I see a car pull into the driveway.
I walk over and slide into the passenger seat.
"Hey,"
He gives a friendly nod.
"So did you start with Peppermint yesterday?" I ask, not looking at him.
"Yeah-well sort of. I tried lunging her, and she um, she charged me."
"Oh, are you okay?" I turn to him, and for the first time I notice a big bruise on his cheek.
He nods.
"Are you sure you didn't get in a fight at school?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
He laughs, "no, I'm sure."

We ride in silence for a few minutes, and I ask, "so um, how's school?"
"It's fine."
"You have a girlfriend?"
He shakes his head.
"What? A strapping young man like you?"
"Nope. you?"
"No, I don't get to be around boys much anyways, though."
"Well, that's a shame, you'd be a fine catch."
I blush.

We ride the rest of the way there in silence.

"Come on girl, the other way now," I am lunging Pepper in the round pen. Kayden is leaning on the railing watching me.
"Wow, you're making a lot more progress with her than I was," He says.
"Thanks," I reply, pushing her into a canter.
"You wanna try?" I ask, not taking my eyes off Pepper.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea?"
"Of course. after all, I'm just supposed to be helping, not doing all the training myself," I laugh.
"Okay," he chuckles, climbing under the fence.
"Here," I hand him the lunging rope, stepping behind him.
He takes her around a few times with no complications.
"See? She does like you. now try and join up." I stand back, this should be interesting.
He lowers the lunge Line and stands still, "whoooooa" he softly calls.
At first, Pepper slows to a walk, then stops completely. She lowers her head, walking to him.
He then strokes her forelock, whispering to her.
I think he forgot I'm here. I suddenly feel uncomfortable, like I'm spying on him.
"Ahem," I clear my throat, "wow, I didn't see that coming. how'd you get her to come on the first try?"
He shrugs, leading her out of the corral.
"Well, I guess Pepper does like you. this will make training a lot easier."
"Yeah, it will."
He takes her into the barn and changes her leg wrap, while I groom her. We put her into a stall.

"Hey, it's 12:14, did you bring a lunch?" He asks me.
" Yeah, do you mind if I eat inside with you?"
"Not at all," he replies, and we walk to the house.

Authors note

Hey everybody, I hope you're all enjoying the book. just so you know all the members of Lexi's family, I put up an info board below.

Lexi's family-
Dad, David. Age: 39
Mom, Christina. 36
Brother, Tanner. 17
Lexi. 14

Thanks for reading!