Page 52 of The Cowboy Takes A Bride

Meredith laughed and nodded. “I called her Lizzy. We took to each other instantly. Grams said I had the touch and was hoping to convince me to take over her business when I grew up.” Meredith stared at the horse and was lost back to a time similar to this one, leaning against the fence and talking to her mother and Grams. Would her life have been similar to this had they lived?

“So why didn’t you?” Pops asked softly.

Meredith shifted her focus to the dirt kicked up from the horse as it trotted around the corral. “When they died, I was sixteen. Everything was sold off.”

The Anglo-Arab, named Coconut, Coco for short, slowed asshe passed Meredith. When Meredith stuck out her arm, Coco stopped and let her stroke her muzzle.

“She likes you.”

“Because I feed her. Sometimes I bring her apples.” Meredith had taken to the horse the first time she had helped clean out the stalls. “She's very good natured.”

Pops nodded. "Yes, she is. Good range horse. Used to guns, stampeding cattle, and the odd wild animal that sneaks into the yard. You want to ride her?”

Meredith jerked her attention to Pops, her breath caught in her throat. “Can I?”

“Hell ya, you can. Come on, girl. Let’s get her saddled up.” Pops moved slowly, pushing off the fence with a groan. She’d spent some time researching his condition so she knew he tired easily and was gradually getting weaker. Meredith looped her arm through his, and together they walked to the barn.

Pops sat on the bench and told her where to find everything she’d need. “I’d love to get on a horse myself,” he said with a sad shake of his head.

“What if we could get you to where getting on wasn’t as much work?” From the saddle support she had to lift the saddle up and over and nearly buckled from the weight. Instead, she staggered back and dumped the saddle on the ground. “Holy crap, that's heavy. I'm used to sliding them off the horses. Not lifting them up.”

Pops laughed and slapped his knee. “Used to those English saddles? One day you'll be able to lift it.” He chuckled some more.

Groaning, Meredith hoisted the saddle and put it back on the saddle support, her arms screaming from the exertion. “I don't think I can do it, Pops.”

He wiped the smile from his face, though the corners of his mouth twitched every so often. “If you look in that back tackcloset, there should be a few English saddles. One ought to fit Coco.”

That was when the idea struck her. From what she’d seen, his weakness was in his legs and arms, and yeah, he would need that to ride a horse, but his trunk was still strong, so balance wasn’t an issue. Marjory had mentioned the other night how she’d like to get out on a horse as well. “Which horse do you ride?”

“That one.” Pop pointed to Moses , a large but gentle quarter horse. “But I don’t think I can get on the animal.”

Inside the closet, Meredith selected two saddles and lugged them to where Pop's sat on the bench. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.” She didn’t wait for Pops to say anything but ran to the cabin and knocked.

After sharing her idea, Marjory was more than up for it. They returned to the barn, and Meredith helped Marjory shove a large set of metal stairs out into the open space of the barn.

“I'd forgotten we had these,” Marjory said and attempted to shake the stairs, testing their construction. “They're in good shape.”

“They're perfect as a mounting block. What are they originally from?” Once the stairs were in place, Meredith moved to saddled Coco, while Marjory set a large saddle on Moses.

“Originally we didn't have the back deck. We added it a few years ago. These were the back stairs,” Pops answered.

“I hated them, but look how handy they are now,” said Marjory as she led Moses to stand next to the stairs. She patted the English saddle. “It's been years since I sat on one of these.”

“Hopefully it will be more comfortable than the Western saddle,” Meredith said, praying she was right. There would be no big horn for Pops to hold onto.

When they were good to go, Meredith stood on the other side of Moses while Marjory offered support as Pops climbed thestairs. It took two tries but he was able to swing his leg over the horse with Meredith offering stability. After Pops was situated, the stirrups adjusted, Marjory swung onto the saddle behind Pops.

“It’s like we’re kids again, right lover?” Pops asked as Marjory wrapped her arms around him.

“Only this time let’s not try to see how fast the horse can go and jump anything, please. These bones are getting old.” Over Pops’ shoulder, Marjory winked at Meredith.

Laughing while mounting, Meredith asked, “Where to?”

“What haven’t you seen?” asked Marjory.

“I’ve only seen this part.” She gestured to the house and barn. “And the far pastures by the foothills when we camped.”

“You haven’t had a tour yet?”

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