The Cowboy and the Pastry Princess by Elle Rush

Author:Elle Rush [Rush, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SBD Entertainment

CHAPTER 11

This was awkward. Paul saddled Drummer and swung himself onto the saddle, and they trotted out to join Joni. He was determined for things to go well; he owed her for letting Shannon take care of their mom. Mom may have recovered from her cardiac event and settled into having a pacemaker, but the rest of the family still panicked over the thought of her working too hard.

He led Joni and Highland Lass through the gate to the north pasture, and they walked along in silence. The sun was shining as hard as it could, but a cool breeze was blowing in from the east, where a bank of dark clouds loomed. There might be a few decent days left on the calendar, but summer was obviously over.

Joni and Reverend Birdie’s presence on the ranch was less intrusive to his life than he thought they’d be. They mostly did their own things and stayed out of the family’s hair, but they were always willing to chat when somebody came near. It was nice to have more people on the ranch into the fall; it usually got quiet around then, and trips into town were less frequent. They might have their houseguests into the winter, depending on how long it took Reverend Birdie to get back into the parsonage. As far as Paul and his family were concerned, the company would be welcome.

But when it came to Joni, the silence between them was getting to him. “Where did you learn to ride?” he asked.

Joni looked over, giving him her full attention. “Summer camp when I was twelve and every summer after that until I graduated from high school. I became the ultimate stereotypical horse-obsessed preteen after my first day. I love riding.”

He never would have guessed that. Joni was so city. “And before you were twelve and had your first real horse experience?”

“I’d read all the horse books ever written,” she told him with a grin.

He was shocked. “I assumed you’d gone to baking camp or something. You must have started baking really young to have your own bakery now.” Not everybody found their passions early. He had with horses, but he’d been born for ranching. Baking was a new hobby he’d only picked up in the last couple of years since his mom had gotten sick.

“Oh, I’ve been baking since I could hold a spoon. I baked for money when I was a teenager. Cupcakes and custom birthday cakes. But that was all to raise money for more riding time.”

“What happened?”

“I decided I wanted to buy and board my own horse, so I started looking at prices.” The look she gave him made Paul burst into laughter. He knew exactly what she’d discovered.

“Yes, I know, but again, I was a teenager. I had no idea that buying one horse cost the same as one two-hundred-horsepower car. Plus boarding fees!” She laughed again. “That killed my equine-owning dreams pretty quickly. I still went for a trail ride at least once

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