Page 14 of Snowed In With the Snow Queen
send me a text?
It’s signed “Randy.”
I stare at the paper for a long moment, unbelieving. It has to be a coincidence. This can’t be my Randy. Not that I have a Randy.
There’s no way he left this for me. It must have fallen from someone’s car or pocket. The Randy Lamar I know isn’t this straightforward.
Maybe that’s a Beta thing? The Beta is supposed to always have his eyes on the pack, keeping the peace, meeting needs, while the Alpha protects it from the outside world.
But then again, it can’t be…Zander, the new Beta of the Lamar pack, chased every girl he could before he settled down with his mate, Nolig. Maybe it’s not necessarily a Beta thing, but could it be a Beta who had to spend years as an Alpha thing?
I don’t have time to think about it anymore, as the sound of the horses approaching in the distance catches my attention. I watch as Randy makes his way slowly toward the back lot of the Wild Hare on the back of a tall spotted horse. He has another horse–this one is brown–tied to the one he’s on by a long lead. I guess that’s my ride.
I watch as they disappear behind the Wild Hare and reappear at the other end, closer to my side of the parking lot. Carefully, I walk to meet them, not sure if the horses can navigate the parking lot. Fortunately, there’s already enough snow on the ground that I get enough traction without falling on my ass in front of Randy.
We meet halfway, alongside the Wild Hare, where the grass ends and the gravel begins, or at least it would, if the snow hadn’t covered it.
“You ready to go?” he asks.
I look down and realize the slip of paper is still in my hand. Quickly, I shove it in my back pocket and move closer to him and the horses. With a ridiculous amount of grace, he slides down the side of his horse and drops down in front of me, a smile on his face.
“Come meet Ramona, she’s your ride. Don’t worry, she’s a very calm horse.”
I don’t know anything about horses, but I figure it’s probably a good idea to let her smell me properly. I pull off my glove and reach out to her face, slowly, until my hand is right under her nose. She sniffs for a few seconds and doesn’t seem to find me lacking.
Randy says nothing. He just watches as Ramona dips her nose and lets me pet her. “Can I give her a snack?” I ask him.
He nods. “Go right ahead.”
From my backpack, I pull out two apples that I grabbed on a whim on my way out the door.
He laughs. “I thought you said you’d never been around horses.”
I shake my head. “I haven’t, but I have been around animals. I know how to make a good first impression.”
I offer the apple to Ramana, who takes it from me whole, and then move to Randy’s horse. She eyes me suspiciously for a moment before taking the apple from my hand and turning away. “She’s jealous,” I tell him, surprised, and he laughs.
“Yep, Grace has always been a diva. You ready to get on?”
I look around uncertainly, hoping for something I can use as a step stool. “How do I get on her back?”
“You can use my knee as a step. Here, give me your bag.”
I do as he asks and hand him the bag. He hooks it onto Grace’s saddle and comes back to me and Ramona. “You’re going to place your left foot on my knee and both of your hands on the saddle.” He instructs. “Grab on tightly and then bend your knee a little bit before you throw your right leg over.” I look at him, doubtful. I’m one hundred percent going to end up on my backside in the snow, but he’s come all this way. The least I can do is try.
I take a deep breath as Ramona and Grace turn to look back at me. I now have an audience. I picture the steps in my head and will myself not to do anything stupid. I brush off the bottom of my left foot, place it on Randy’s waiting thigh, and reach out for the peak of the saddle. With both hands on the saddle, I bend my knee and throw my leg over.
To my surprise, it works. Suddenly, I’m on Ramona’s back. “Hey, that actually worked.”
Randy smirks. “You didn’t think it would?”
I shake my head. “Absolutely not.”
He brushes himself off and moves to Grace. He’s in partial shift, and dressed more for a crisp fall day than the middle of a storm. He’s got on a flannel, a short jacket, and very well-fitting jeans. I stare for way too long at his backside as he jumps smoothly into the saddle with all the practice of a cowboy in a movie.
“Soojin?” he asks, breaking my focus on his backside. Guiltily, I shake my head and look away. He turns Grace so he can look at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, sure, why?”
