The Last Waltz

Chapter 18

A few hours later, they silently sat at the table, eating another catered lunch. Poppy couldn't fault it; it was delicious but lacked the warmth of the other meals she had shared with Isaac and the children.

"How was your ride?" Chester asked with a smug smile. It gave Poppy pause. Perhaps Siobhan wasn't the mastermind of the family after all. Had Chester told Siobhan to give Poppy Slinger?

"It went fine," Isaac said, putting his fork down. "It appears that Slinger has chosen Poppy."

"Chosen? What does that mean?" Boyd asked with a look of concern at Poppy.

"It means that the two were fast friends, and Slinger was as docile as a kitten while Poppy rode him," Isaac said, taking his gaze off his uncle and focusing it directly on Chester. "My question is, whose idea was it to give Poppy, Slinger?"

Poppy looked from Isaac to Chester, watching the interaction. It was evident that the two men had a history that Poppy knew nothing about and that Isaac thought Chester was also the mastermind.

"I'm sure it was the stable man's decision." Chester shrugged.

"Yes, who also happens to be your nephew," Boyd pointed out, having caught on to the situation.

"He's lucky Poppy is an excellent horsewoman. Otherwise, there could have been a nasty accident." Isaac said.

"Yes, how did you learn to ride so well?" Siobhan asked with a lifted eyebrow. The way she asked was almost as if Poppy learned by nefarious means.

"I'm guessing the same way you learned, I was taught." Poppy sat her fork down and wiped her mouth with her napkin as she enjoyed watching Siobhan's face turn red. "Believe it or not, we have horses across the pond, especially in Texas."

"Do you know any cowboys?" Peter asked excitedly.

Poppy smiled at him. "My whole family!"

"You too?" he started bouncing on his seat.

"I would be a cowgirl, but yes." Poppy nodded, enjoying his excitement even as Siobhan huffed her disbelieve.

"You shouldn't lie to the boy!" Glynda said with a frown.

Poppy turned to look at her. "I'm not lying. I can ride, rope, and cut with the best of them. I even barrel raced when I was about Mary's age." She let her tone tell Glynda she wasn't happy being called a liar.

"What's cut?" Mary asked with a frown.

"It's when you use your horse to separate a calf from its mother for branding," Poppy explained.

"Branding?" Peter asked with a frown.

"That's enough. You're going to upset the boy!" Glynda's voice was high-pitched as she objected to Poppy's attempt to describe branding.

"No, she's not!" Peter objected loudly.

"Chester takes the boy hunting. I can't see how branding is more upsetting than shooting a stag." Boyd pointed out, scoring a direct hit, and they all watched Glynda turn red, the same as Siobhan had earlier.

"Well, I disagree with that, too!" Glynda insisted, shooting her husband an 'I told you so' look.

"Can I meet a real cowboy, and can we go to Texas?" Peter asked.

Poppy's feelings weren't hurt that she wouldn't do, and that he wanted to meet a cowboy. He'd probably only seen cowboys in movies and books. Cowgirls weren't as well advertised as the cowboy.

"Sure, we can stay on my family's ranch, and you can learn to rope." Poppy smiled.

"No, I don't think they will be going to Texas any time soon," Chester grumbled, shaking his head.