Cole Ryder's Arc

Chapter 9 of 9

Cole drove the dark blue Dodge to Catherine's ranch before the sun cleared the hills. Spirit rode in the trailer behind him, calm now. Every morning that week had gone the same way. Catherine met him at the round pen, close enough to touch, her green eyes moving over him too long. He kept his answers short and his hands on the horse. But he felt the pull, and it scared him worse than the stallion ever had. This morning she saddled Spirit herself. The deep blue and brown leather sat clean on the black horse, silver catching the early light. "Look at him," Catherine said. "Ready to ride. I did that." She stepped beside Cole and rested a hand flat on his arm. "A man could do worse than stay out here." Cole's mouth went dry. Her hair was loose. Her touch was warm. For one breath he let himself lean toward it. Then he thought of the rose-gold bracelet on Lilly's wrist, and shame hit him hard. He stepped back. "Catherine. You've mended my horse and I'm grateful. But I'm courting Lilly. Whatever this is, it stops now." Her hand fell. The warmth in her face cooled to something flat and hard. "Lilly," she said. She looked at the saddled stallion, then at Cole. "You think that soft schoolteacher made this horse rideable? I did. And you'd throw me over for her." "I'm not throwing anyone over," Cole said. "I'm being straight with you." Catherine crossed her arms. A long silence stretched. Then she jerked her chin at Spirit. "Fine. You want it straight. The horse is ready. He'll take a rider today." Her voice was cold. "So there's nothing left for me to teach you. Get on him or don't. Either way, our mornings are done." Cole looked at the stallion. Weeks of fear and work stood between him and that saddle. He set his boot in the stirrup. Spirit shifted but held. Cole swung up, slow, the way he'd been shown. The horse tensed under him, then settled. Cole sat a saddled Spirit for the first time. His hands were steady. Catherine watched from the rail, arms still crossed. No smile now. "He'll walk for you," she said. "But he's green under saddle and jumpy at speed. You've got a horse you can sit, not one you can ride hard. That last part was mine to give. You just refused it." She turned and walked to the barn. Cole understood what she meant. Spirit would carry him at a walk. But the true test, riding him free and fast the way Lilly had promised, still waited. And now the trainer who could have finished the job had shut her gate. Cole rode Spirit in a slow circle, alone in the pen. He had his mount at last. He had lost the teacher who could tame the wild out of it.