Christmas Kisses with My Cowboy Read online

  “Yes!” Teddie enthused and followed Parker into the barn.

  Parker put a bridle on Bartholomew and led him out into the corral that adjoined the stables.

  “Where do your cowboys keep their horses?” he asked.

  “Oh, Jerry keeps them at his place,” Teddie said. “He and Lacy, that’s his wife, have a big stable that his father built years ago. Mom says it’s much nicer than ours, and he’s got lots of room. There are two line cabins on the place, too, and the full-time men live in them with their families. They have a stable apiece. It was a really big ranch when my grandmother was still alive.” She sighed. “They said she could outride any cowboy on the place, shoot a gun, rope a calf, even help with branding when she was in her sixties. But she broke her hip and she could never do it again. Mom says she lost heart and that’s why she died.”

  “It’s hard for active people to sit still,” Parker replied. “I remember your grandmother,” he added with a smile. “She used to sell milk and butter. My mother, and later my uncle and aunt, bought them from her.”

  “Your aunt and uncle, they still live on the reservation?”

  He nodded his head. “Yes. They’re the only family I have, except for their son, my first cousin, who’s in the navy. He never comes home. I think he’s ashamed of us,” he added quietly.

  “Why?” Teddie asked. “I mean, I think it would be awesome to be a member of a tribe and know all that ancient stuff that people used to know. It’s such a heritage!”

  He chuckled, surprised, as he looked down at her. “Where did you get that from?”

  “My mom,” she said. “She loves history. She had a friend who was Northern Cheyenne when she lived in Montana. They lost touch, but Mom knows a lot about native customs and stuff. She said that’s how people were meant to live, in touch with nature and not with big stone buildings and pavement.”

  He pursed his lips. “That’s exactly how I feel about it.”

  “Me, too. I hate the city. This”—she waved her arms around—“is the best place on Earth. Well, now that I’ve got Bartholomew, it is,” she amended. She grimaced. “I didn’t want to come here. I had a good friend where we lived, and I had to leave her. She sends me e-mails, though, and we Skype. So I sort of still have her. And I made a friend here named Edie. She has a palomino, too.”

  “You have two friends here. I’m one of them,” he chided.

  “Of course, you are.” She laughed.

  “So. First lesson. Horses 101.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  He went over the various parts of the horse, from fetlocks to withers, tail to ears, and he taught her the signs to look for when she was working with Bartholomew.

  “Watch his ears,” he told her. “See how he’s got one ear toward us and another swiveled behind him? He’s listening to us, but also listening for sounds that mean danger.”

  “Wow.”

  The horse looked back at Teddie and both ears swiveled forward.

  “That means all his attention is on you,” Parker said, indicating the horse’s ears. “That’s important, when you’re training him.”

  “I guess he’ll need a lot of training. Poor old thing,” she added.

  The horse moved forward and lowered his head toward Teddie.

  “Poor horse,” she said softly. She didn’t make eye contact, but she let the horse sniff her nostrils. He lowered his head even more, so that she could stroke him beside his nostrils.

  “He likes you,” Parker said. “And he’s intelligent. Very intelligent,” he added, when the horse turned its head and looked directly at him.

  He chuckled softly and put out a big hand to smooth over the horse’s mane. “Sweet old boy,” he said. Bartholomew nuzzled his shoulder.

  “I was afraid he was going to be mean,” Teddie confessed. “You know, because he was hurt and didn’t trust humans not to hurt him anymore.”

  “Some horses can’t be turned back after they’re abused,” Parker agreed. “But lucky for you, this isn’t one of them. He’s a grand old man. He’ll make you a dependable mount.”

  “I wish I could already ride,” she confessed. “Mom used to go for horseback rides with Dad when we lived back East, before he . . .” She swallowed. “But I didn’t go with them because I was afraid of horses. But the first time I saw Bartholomew, it was like, well, I don’t know what it was like.”

  “Like falling in love,” Parker said, smiling at her.

  “I guess. Something like that.” She cocked her head and looked up at him. “You ever been in love?”

  He averted his eyes. “Once. A long time ago. I lost her.” He didn’t say how.

  “Maybe you’ll find somebody else one day.”

  He smiled sadly. “Not on my agenda. I like my life as it is. I have absolute control of the television remote and nobody to fuss when I don’t take out the trash on time.”

  “Have you got pets?”

  “Just Harry.”

  Her eyebrows went up. “Harry?”

  He pursed his lips. “You scared of snakes?”

  She shivered a little. “Oh, yes.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Is Harry a snake?”

  He smiled. “Harry’s an iguana,” he said. “He’s four years old and about five feet long.”

  “Wow! What sort of cage do you keep him in?”

  He pursed his lips. “Well, that’s sort of the reason I’m still single. See, he’s a little too big to keep in a cage. I just let him go where he wants to. His favorite spot is the back of my sofa. He watches TV with me at night.”

  “An iguana who watches TV.” Teddie sighed.

  “Well, Sarge has a wolf who watches it. Maybe animals understand more than we think they do, huh?”

  She laughed. “I guess so. Could I see your iguana sometime?”

  “Sure. I’ll invite you both over when we get a little further along with the repairs and your Horses 101 training.” He looked down at her. “Is your mom afraid of reptiles?”

  “Oh, no. She’s not afraid of anything.”

  “An interesting woman,” he mused as he turned back to the horse.

  “That man’s coming out here next month,” Teddie said miserably. “For Thanksgiving, he said.”

  “That man?” he asked, trying not to sound too interested.

  “That lawyer who helped her settle Daddy’s business,” she explained. “He doesn’t like me. I really hope Mom doesn’t like him. He’s . . .” She searched for a word. “He’s smarmy.” She laughed. “I guess that’s not a good word.”

  “It suits,” Parker replied. “It says a lot about a person. But are you sure it fits him? Sometimes people aren’t what you think they are at first. I hated Sarge’s guts until we were under fire and he saved my life.”

  “Gosh!”

  “Then I saved his, and we sort of became friends. So first impressions can be altogether wrong.”

  She drew in a long breath. “That would be nice. But it’s not really a wrong impression. I heard him talking to another man, when Mom wasn’t listening.” She pulled a face. “He said that my daddy had lots of stocks that were going to be worth big money and that my mom wasn’t all that bad looking. He said if he could get close to her, and get control of those stocks, he’d be rich.”

  Parker’s black eyes sparked. “What does he have in mind, you think?”

  “I think he wants to marry her. She doesn’t like him. She told me so. But he thinks he can wear her down.” She drew in a breath and looked up at Parker with sad eyes. “If she marries him, can I come and live with you and Harry?”

  He laughed softly. “Come on, now. You won’t have to do that. Your mom’s a sharp lady. She’s intelligent and kind and she has a sweet nature.”

  Teddie’s eyes were widening. “You can tell all that, and you’ve only known us for a few days?”

  He nodded. “I have feelings about people,” he tried to explain. “You know how horses respond to me? It’s like that, only I sense t
hings that are hidden. My mother had the same ability. Nobody could cheat her. She saw right through confidence men.”

  “Maybe you could talk to Mom, if that man comes out here?”

  He chuckled. “I don’t mind other people’s business, sweet girl,” he said softly. “Life is hard enough without inviting trouble. But I’ll be around in case I’m needed. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Now. Let’s go over the diamond hitch again.”

  She groaned.

  “Might as well learn these things. You’ll need to know them in order to be able to ride.”

  “There’s bridles, and all sorts of bits, and ways to cinch a horse, and what to do if he blows his belly out when you tighten it . . . I can’t remember all that!”

  “You’ll learn it because we’ll go over and over it until the repetition keeps it in your mind,” he said. “Like muscle memory.”

  “Dad talked about that,” Teddie recalled. “He said it saved his life once when he was overseas and he got jumped by three insurgents. He said he didn’t even think about what he needed to do, he just did it. He learned it when he was in boot camp.”

  “That’s where all of us learned it,” Parker said complacently. He indicated the horse. “And that’s how you’ll learn what you need to know about how to take care of Bart and ride him: muscle memory.”

  She laughed. “Okay. I’ll do my best.”

  “That’s all anybody can do,” he replied warmly.

  Chapter Three

  Teddie was a quick study. She mastered the preparations for riding and was now learning how to get on a horse properly.

  “There are all these programs that tell you to get on a stump or a stepladder so you don’t overburden the horse’s back. But you’re small enough that it won’t matter. Ready?”

  She grimaced. She looked up to the pommel of the Western saddle she’d put on Bartholomew with Parker’s instructions. “It’s a long way up there,” she said doubtfully.

  He laughed. “I guess it is, squirt. Okay. Lead him over here.”

  Teddie led him to a stump near the porch, positioned Bart on one side of it, put her foot into the stirrup, and sprung up onto his back.

  The horse moved restlessly, but Parker had the bridle. “It’s okay, old man,” he said softly, offering a treat on the palm of his hand.

  Bart hesitated, but only for a moment before he took it. Parker smoothed over the blaze that ran down his forehead. “Good boy.” He glanced at Teddie, who looked nervous. “You have to be calm,” he instructed. “Horses, like dogs and cats, can sense when we’re unsettled. They respond to emotions, sometimes badly. Give him a minute to settle down. And whatever you do, don’t jerk the reins. Riding is mostly in your legs. Use your legs to tell him when to go, when to stop, which way to turn. The bridle gives you more control, but your legs are where your focus needs to be,” he said as he adjusted her stirrup length.

  “I have little scrawny legs, though,” she said worriedly.

  He smiled. “You’ll do fine.”

  He had a calming nature, Teddie thought, because the words relaxed her. She noticed that Bart reacted to it. He tossed his head, but his ears stayed turned to the front, not the back. It was only dangerous when a horse had both ears flattened, because that meant trouble.

  Teddie stroked his mane. “Sweet horse,” she said softly. “I’m so happy I got you, Bart.”

  He seemed to relax even more.

  “Okay. Contract your legs at the knee and see if he’ll respond by going forward.”

  He did.

  “Wow!” she exclaimed softly.

  Parker chuckled. “Good job. Now, when you want him to turn left, put more pressure on your left leg and move the bridle very gently to the left. You don’t want to hurt his mouth.”

  “Okay.” She followed the instruction and so did Bart. “This is awesome,” she said.

  “Horses are awesome,” Parker agreed. “Try turning him the other way. Same procedure.”

  She did. Bart followed through beautifully.

  “How do I tell him to stop?” she asked.

  “You pull back very gently on the reins.”

  She did that, and Bart stopped in his tracks.

  “Nice job,” Parker said.

  “Can we go riding now?” she asked.

  He smiled at her excitement. “Not just yet. First things first. You have to know what to do in case of an emergency. That’s the next lesson. But we have to stop for now. Boss man is bringing over a few new horses for the remuda and I have to work with them.”

  “It’s so nice of you to help me with Bart,” Teddie said as she dismounted cautiously. “I could never have done this by myself.”

  “I love horses,” Parker said. “It’s no trouble. I enjoy working with this sweet old man, too,” he added, patting the horse’s withers. “So let’s get him unsaddled and back into his stall.”

  “I’m with you,” she said, and followed him back into the stable.

  * * *

  “How are you doing with Bartholomew?” Katy asked at supper one night.

  “Really good,” she told her mother. “Parker’s so smart!”

  “He knows horses, all right,” Katy replied.

  “No,” Teddie corrected. “That’s not what I mean. He’s really smart. He had a phone call Saturday when he was over here. I only heard what he was saying, but it was way over my head. Something about Einstein-Rosen bridges and somebody named Schrodinger.”

  Katy’s mouth opened. “Are you sure that’s what he said?”

  “Well, I think so.”

  “Did he mention a cat when he talked about Schrodinger?” Katy pressed.

  Teddie frowned. “Yes. But the cat was alive and dead in a box until you opened the box he was in. Strange!”

  Katy caught her breath. That was theoretical physics. And it was something she wouldn’t have expected a horse wrangler to know anything about. Parker had said he graduated from college, but he hadn’t mentioned in what field. This wasn’t only over Teddie’s head, it was over Katy’s.

  “Well,” she said finally, as she finished her mashed potatoes and skinless chicken breast.

  “I told you, he’s real smart,” Teddie repeated. She sighed. “Some man was trying to get him to go to the Capitol and do some work, but he said it wasn’t summer and he couldn’t spare the time, they’d have to get somebody else.”

  “Amazing,” Katy said.

  “What is an Einstein-Rosen bridge?” Teddie wanted to know.

  “Over my head,” Katy laughed. “It has to do with time dilation, and wormholes. I used to have a best friend when I was in college who had a degree in physics. She talked like that, too.”

  “And that cat?”

  “It’s a thought experiment,” Katy replied. “There’s a cat in a box. The cat is either alive or dead. But until you open the box and look in, the cat exists in both states.”

  “Weird.”

  “Very weird. That’s the sort of thing physicists do. Einstein came up with the theory of relativity, and he was a physicist. Probably the most famous of all of them, although Stephen Hawking came close to that.”

  “If Parker’s that smart, why’s he breaking horses out in the country?” Teddie wondered.

  “Maybe he doesn’t like the city,” Katy said. She made a face. “Truly, I didn’t either, but your dad loved where we lived.”

  “He was a rancher, too,” Teddie said.

  “He was, but the military became his whole life after he went overseas. He was a doctor. He said having a practice here was fine, but good men were dying in other countries and he needed to be a combat physician to help fight for his country. He was the most patriotic man I ever knew.”

  “He was a good daddy.”

  “He was a good husband,” Katy replied, fighting tears, as her daughter was. “We’ll get through this, Teddie,” she said after a minute. “It’s going to take time, that’s all. I thought maybe coming out here to live wou
ld make it easier for us. It’s a wonderful ranch.”

  “Yes, it is. I made two friends.” Teddie laughed. “Edie and Parker.”

  “You did. Parker’s a kind person.” She shook her head. “Theoretical physics and horses. Oh, my.”

  Teddie grinned. “Maybe he’s dreaming up ray guns and stuff.”

  “Maybe he’s trying for a unified field theory of relativity.” She yawned. “I have to get some sleep. It’s test day tomorrow. My students are dreading it. Me, too, I guess.”

  “You like teaching, don’t you, Mom?”

  She smiled. “I do like it. I didn’t expect to. It’s really different from teaching college students,” she added. “But I have a good class to teach things to. Education is education, no matter the age of the student.”

  “Yes, I guess it is.”

  “How about you?” Katy wondered. “Is school getting any easier?”

  Teddie nodded. “A lot easier, now that Edie and I can hang out together. We talk about horses. Everybody talks about horses,” she chuckled. “Most of the kids in school around Benton are ranch kids, so most everybody rides. Except me. But I’m learning.”

  “Parker says you’re doing well,” Katy told her.

  “There’s a lot to learn,” Teddie replied. “He said we have to do it with muscle memory, like in the army. You go over and over things until they’re a reflex, especially if you get in a dangerous situation, like if your horse runs away with you.”

  “It’s a good way to teach,” Katy said. “I like Parker.”

  Teddie grinned. “I like him, too.”

  “You didn’t eat your beans, Teddie.” Her mother indicated the plate in front of her daughter.

  Teddie made a face. “I hate beans.”

  “Eat just one and I’ll say no more,” her mother coaxed.

  Teddie sighed. “Okay. Just one. Just for you. But only one.”

  “Only one.”

  Teddie glared at the bean before she lifted it to her mouth and chewed, as if she were eating a live worm. The face got worse.

  “Swallow,” Katy dared.

  Teddie gave her a pained look, but she did as she was told.

  “That’s called compromise,” Katy told her with an affectionate smile. “You did great. You’re excused.”