Big Sky Mountain by Miller Linda Lael

Author:Miller, Linda Lael [Miller, Linda Lael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Swoon-Worthy Cowboys
Publisher: HQN
Published: 2012-02-02T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“I’LL NEED BOOTS,” Madison announced the next morning at breakfast. “Can we buy some, please? Today?”

Practically from the moment she’d opened her eyes, Madison had been fixating on the upcoming horseback ride out at Whisper Creek Ranch. Even as she spooned her way diligently through a bowlful of her favorite cereal, her feet were swinging back and forth under the table as though already carrying her toward the magic hour of three-thirty in the afternoon.

“Let’s wait and see,” Kendra said, sipping coffee. She didn’t normally skip breakfast, but that day she couldn’t face even a bite of toast. She had orchestrated this whole horseback riding thing, set herself up for yet another skirmish with Hutch and now the reality was almost upon her—and Madison.

What had she done?

More importantly, why had she put herself and her daughter in this position?

“Everybody at preschool has boots,” Madison persisted. Daisy, having finished her kibble, crossed the room to lay her muzzle on the child’s lap and gaze up at her with the pure, selfless love of a saint at worship.

“Most of those children have been riding since they were babies,” Kendra reasoned, making a face as she set her coffee cup down. Usually a mainstay, the stuff tasted like acid this morning. “Suppose you get on that horse today and find out you hate riding and you never want to do it again?”

“That won’t happen,” Madison said with absolute conviction. Where did all that certainty come from? Was it genetic—some vestige of all those English ancestors riding to the hunt, soaring over hedges and streams?

Kendra shook off the thought. She hadn’t slept all that well the night before, imagining all the things that might go wrong today, and now she was paying the price. Her thoughts were as muddled as her emotions.

“What makes you so sure of yourself, young lady?” she challenged with a small smile.

Madison grinned back at her. “You’re always saying it’s good to try new things,” she said with a note of triumph that underscored Kendra’s impression that the child was only posing as a four-year-old—she was really an old soul.

Busted, Kendra thought. She was always telling Madison that she shouldn’t be afraid—of preschool, for instance, or speaking up in class, or making friends on the playground—and now here she was, projecting her own misgivings onto her daughter. Speaking to the frightened little girl she herself had once been, instead of the bold one sitting across from her on a sunny, blue-skied morning full of promise.

“I’ll make a deal with you,” Kendra said, brightening. “If you still want boots after this first ride, we’ll get you a pair.” She wondered if the child had visions of racing across the open countryside on the back of some gigantic steed, when she’d most likely wind up on a pony or an arthritic mare.

“Okay,” Madison capitulated, not particularly pleased but willing to negotiate. “But I’m still going to want those boots.”

Kendra laughed. “Hurry up and finish your breakfast,” she said. “Then go and brush your teeth while I let Daisy out for a quick run in the backyard.

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