Page 55 of Cowboy's Sinful Bargain

Right?

I jumped up and followed Wade out of Monty's office. He headed through the kitchen to the backdoor, then off the porch and across the yard to one of the corrals by the barn.

I could see several of the ranch hands standing around the fence before I even got there. A couple of them were sitting on it. No one was saying a word.

As soon as I reached the corral, I pushed through until I reached the fence. Words left me as I caught sight of what had fascinated them all into silence.

Miko was riding around the corral as if he had been born in the saddle. More confusing yet, he was riding Bucky. Bucky never let anyone ride him except me.

I was struck by the fact that I never truly thought Bucky would be able to be ridden again and yet the proof as right in front of me that Miko had been right. He'd healed my horse. Bucky was galloping around the corral as if he had never been injured at all.

I rested my arms on the top of the fence and leaned into it. "Well, would you look at that?"

"I thought Bucky was a goner for sure," Wade said, "but whatever Miko did seemed to do the job. He looks even better than he did before he got injured."

He did look better.

I just wasn't sure why.

When Miko slowed and rode closer to my part of the fence, I climbed over it and hopped down to the other side. Miko rode right up to me and stopped. He had a big grin on his face as he looked down at me.

"Did you see him?" Miko asked.

"I did." I stroked my hand over Bucky's flank. "There's barely even a scar."

"Oh, I made some ointment for that," Miko said quickly. "It's actually supposed to help the healing process, but it also has the effect of diminishing scars."

Of course he did.

"Mind if I come up?"

Miko's eyebrows lifted for a moment before he scooted forward and then removed his feet from the stirrup. I grabbedthe pommel, fit my boot into the stirrup, and then pulled myself up behind Miko.

I took the reins from Miko, gave Bucky a gentle nudge with my boot, and then made a tsking noise to get him moving. We rode gently around the corral several times as I tried to get a feel for how Bucky was riding. His gate seemed normal and even paced. Even when I sped him up, he still ran normal.

"You think he's ready to go out on the range again?" I asked as we slowed.

"He should be," Miko replied. "I wouldn't take him on any long rides yet, but I think he's good to go on a daily basis. He's been out of commission for several weeks so he needs to work his muscle tone back up first."

I held the reins with one hand and wrapped the other around Miko's waist before leaning in close to his ear. "Thank you, Miko."

"Doitashimashite."

I'd been around Miko enough now to know that meant "you're welcome". I was picking up more Japanese every day. I'd even purchased a dictionary and signed up for an online learning class. I wanted to be able to talk to Miko in his native language, even if I wasn't sure what I'd say.

"Who is that?"

I glanced up and looked around until I spotted the two cars coming up the driveway. I didn't recognize them, mostly because they were fancier than I usually saw around the area.

"I'm not sure," I told Miko. "Guess we should go find out."

I guided Bucky over to the fence line and then help Miko down to the ground. After I climbed off, I handed the reins over to Axel. "Can you give Bucky a wipe down? I need to go see to our company."

"Sure thing, Boss."

"Wade, you're with us." Since I didn't recognize these cars, I wasn't taking any chances. "Miko, you stay close to me, okay?"

"Hai."

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