steady, but I promised my daughter a picture of me on a horse, so I have to do it.”
“Daddies don’t disappoint. If you wanna gimme your phone, I’ll take it for you.” Shea held out his hand. “I’ll take a whole bunch, and you can pick the ones you like.”
“Oh. Wow. Thanks. Yeah, that’d be great.”
Shea had an ulterior motive. He figured if he could take Jake’s mind off the ride, he’d be less nervous.
“Here’s my phone.” Jake held it out, and Shea moved closer to Birdie.
“Thanks.” Their fingers touched, and Shea slowed down a stride or two. Rambo nudged Jake with his nose.
“He doesn’t bite, right?” Jake eyed him suspiciously.
“Naw, he’s a pussycat too, ain’t ya, fella.” Shea patted the horse’s neck.
Rambo snorted and shook his head.
“Smile, now. Show your family how much fun you’re havin’.”
Jake looked as if he were getting stitches without anesthesia.
“Now, that’s just painful to see. Gimme a real one.” An idea hit Shea, and without asking, he took his hat off, leaned over, and set it on Jake’s head. “There. Now you look like a real cowboy.”
Jake laughed, and Shea managed to get in a few great shots of him. He leaned over to return the phone to Jake, when three rabbits shot out from the bushes, directly in Birdie’s path.
Maybe if Jake wasn’t so off-balance, Birdie would’ve been easier to settle. But Shea knew they were fucked when the mutt from the farm across the road came chasing after those rabbits, barking his damn fool head off. Rambo, not nearly as placid and easy to control as Birdie, whinnied and pranced when the dog sped by him. Birdie sidestepped out of the way. Shea had managed to get Rambo under control, when a second, much larger dog burst through the trees, and ran in between Rambo’s legs. He reared up, and Birdie trotted away. In his attempt to straighten up and find his seating, Jake yanked the reins hard and kicked Birdie several times. The horse grunted, decided she didn’t appreciate the abuse, and took off at a smooth lope down the path, with Jake clinging to her. Shea’s cowboy hat sailed off.
“Help, I’m falling.” Jake grabbed the reins and yanked them, and his feet slipped out of the stirrups. The other horses danced nervously, and Craig and Johnny were kept busy getting them all under control.
“Stop,” Shea heard Jake yell in the distance. “Help, stop.” Birdie continued to lope away and disappeared around the bend.
“Shit.” With Rambo finally calmed down, Shea took off after Birdie and Jake. He guessed Birdie, who’d traveled the trails for years, was heading to the open field by the lake.
Rambo galloped after them and found them in the field as predicted. Birdie had stopped and was calmly grazing on the grass, but Shea didn’t see Jake.
“Jake? Jake, where are you?” Shea yelled out, anxious to make sure nothing bad had happened.
“Over here.” At the sound of his voice behind him, Shea turned to see a grass-stained Jake walking toward him.
“Jake, you okay?” He hopped off his horse and ran over to the man, who stood before him with a somewhat surprising wry smile.
“No. Not if you count my ego being shredded in front of my coworkers.” His lips twitched, and he winced as he took a step. “Your quiet, calm horse can run like a bat out of hell.”
“Do you think you need to see a doctor?”
“Nah, I’m okay.” He eyed the horses cropping grass. “Except I am not riding back on her, no matter what you say.”
Relieved Jake wasn’t hurt or threatening to sue, Shea allowed himself a laugh. “Don’t worry about it. You can ride with me. I’ll text one of the others to come get her. But really, she’s a pussycat. This was a freak thing. Never happened before.” He texted Cody to pick up Birdie.
“I think I’ll walk, thanks.”
“Jake, it’s too far. C’mon. I promise not to let you fall. Besides, you lost me my favorite hat. You owe me.”
“You seriously didn’t just try and pull the guilt card on me when I was the one who almost died.” Jake winced and rubbed his side.
“Aw, come on now.”
Rambo nudged Shea’s shoulder as if to say, Could ya hurry up, Boss? I’d like to get home and have my lunch.
“Well, I guess. Okay.”
“All righty. Let’s go.”
Inexplicably happy, Shea helped Jake into the saddle, then settled himself behind the man. He reached for the reins, and Rambo, unaccustomed to carrying the excess weight, whinnied his