Brotherhood Protectors_Ranger Loyalty by Layla Chase

Author:Layla Chase [Chase, Layla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Worlds
Published: 2018-04-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

What Malin wished for the previous night came true—her sleep proved thoroughly refreshing. Because of that, or probably because she’d see Tag today, she couldn’t help smiling. Although both sisters gave her quizzical looks, Malin kept her secret to herself. Today would be Tag’s first chance to make an appearance at a pre-determined time. She wanted to be sure he fulfilled that implied promise before announcing the planned ride. Hopefully, he wouldn’t act like her old boyfriend, Peter, who had often cancelled at the last minute and left her hanging.

As soon as she updated the website and checked for emailed reservations, she rushed out to the barn to groom two horses. Her favorite mare, Stormy, came right to the stall door and accepted the offered chunks of carrot. “Hello, Stormy. I hope one of the hands has been treating you right. I’ve been so busy I’ve been neglecting you.” She lifted a hackamore over the gray’s ears and settled the rope on her neck. “Today, we’ll have a nice, long ride.” Malin led Stormy from the stall, walked her across the barn’s aisle, and slipped the end of the rope through an iron ring on a post. Then she went into the nearby tack room to grab the handle of the battered wooden crate filled with grooming tools.

After slipping on the curry comb, she circled it over Stormy’s coat, working dirt and bits of straw to the surface. Then she grabbed a hard-bristled brush to scrape away the loose hair until the gray shined like pewter. “You’re such a pretty girl. Don’t these strokes feel so good?” The way the mare stood still through the procedure hinted at her pleasure for the attention. Using the softest brush in the box, she worked it over the face and legs with an extra-light touch. Saddling her and switching the hackamore for a bridle and bit took only a few minutes.

Then Malin repeated the process for Big Red. This roan gelding was the most recent horse brought onto the ranch. She hadn’t worked much with the seventeen-hand high animal. Tag sounded like he had more experience around horses than she and could handle any of the gelding’s bad habits. She stepped near the horse’s shoulders. “Hello, Big Red. You are a gorgeous animal. Look at the breadth of your chest.”

With her right hand, she rubbed the comb in circles and followed with swipes of the stiff brush in her left. “Reminds me of a man I know.” She ran the comb on both sides of the neck before moving to the roan’s hindquarters. “Such fine muscle definition on your rump.” Was complimenting a horse silly? Maybe, but she didn’t care. Today, silly and carefree described her mood. She stretched on tiptoes to comb his back but had to duck into the tack room for a stepstool.

Once she climbed the steps and reached toward the horse’s back, she spotted a silhouetted figure leaning against a stall. Recognizing the man’s straw Stetson was the only reason for biting back her building scream.

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