The Cowboy's Surprise Baby (Cowboy Country Book 3) by Deb Kastner Page B

about it.
    Better. She smiled, satisfied with today’s progress. They’d get where they needed to go with Matt. She was sure of it.
    One kid down, eleven to go.
    Marcus turned Sissy around and trotted toward her, examining the line of teenagers and horses as he went.
Now
he came to help? She snorted. Better late than never.
    “We’re all good back here?” he asked, flashing a smile that was curiously similar to Matt’s earlier attempt at getting his way. And just about as effective.
    “No thanks to you.”
    “So you had to play the old battle-ax, huh?”
    “Ha! Keep talking to me that way and you’ll find yourself on the sharp edge of a battle-ax, you jerk.”
    “Tessa,” Cole called from behind her, his voice laced with raw concern. “One of the girls just took off in another direction. Should I bring her back in line?”
    Tessa glanced over her shoulder. One of the teenagers, Briana, was, indeed, heading down a different trail, but it was immediately apparent to Tessa that it was the horse doing the leading and not the other way around. Unlike Matt, who’d made all kinds of noise, Briana’s jaw was dropped in a silent scream. Her enormous eyes sparked with terror. She hoped Cole recognized the teenager’s lack of control as well, and didn’t try to mimic the kind of counseling she’d just given Matt. The last thing a panic-ridden, inexperienced rider needed would be anything that resembled the chewing out she’d just given Matt.
    Fortunately, Cole had paired Briana up with Zephyr, who was one of the gentlest and most trustworthy horses in the stable. Just as his namesake indicated, he was a breeze to ride. He wasn’t easily spooked and was well adapted to green riders. On the other hand, Briana must have somehow accidentally guided him the wrong direction. He and Briana were headed down an intermediate trail with a rather large embankment not more than twenty feet in front of them. It was a good obstacle for later on in the Mission Month when the teens were used to riding, but right now Tessa could think of nothing worse.
    “Hurry, Cole. There’s a—” she started, but it was already too late. Zephyr had nearly reached the two feet high edge. Poor Briana was clinging to the saddle horn like a lifeline, the horse’s reins forgotten and dropped well over his neck.
    Cole leaned forward and kicked his horse into a canter, but Zephyr reached the embankment before Cole did. Tentatively the horse stepped forward, his front feet reaching the landing below while his back hooves remained at the top of the rise.
    And then Zephyr stopped.
    Just...
stopped
.
    Two hooves down and two hooves up, his flanks in the air and his long tail twitching back and forth.
    Instead of clearing the embankment as Tessa expected him to do, Zephyr dropped his head and started grazing on the nearby grass, just as calm as you pleased. He didn’t appear to notice the awkward position he was in—never mind that he still had a rider on his back. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that a terrified human being still clung to his saddle.
    Thankfully, Cole reached Briana’s side. Tessa couldn’t tell whether Cole’s low tones were for Briana or for Zephyr as he reached for the horse’s head and guided him the rest of the way down the step, but she breathed a sigh of relief when the horse was once again on flat, solid ground.
    Crisis averted, thank the good Lord. Cole removed his Stetson, wiped his brow with the sleeve of his shirt and did the one thing Tessa never imagined he would do.
    He laughed.
    * * *
    Cole had never seen anything like this horse’s crazy antics in all his life, and he’d seen many things over the years. Whatever had possessed Zephyr to stop the way he had? Crazy equine.
    He’d immediately recognized that the girl thought she was in distress, but it hadn’t taken much to fix the problem. Clearly she was a new rider. Good for her for staying in the saddle. Thankfully he’d been able to guide the horse