felt the plane touch down on the other side of the world. The captain had announced the local time but she wasn’t sure if they’d gained a day, lost a day or if it was still Friday. She was exhausted and she was pretty sure Rida felt the same. While the horse had been exceptionally well behaved in his metal stall, he’d also been restless and hadn’t slept much.
She waited until the plane taxied to a stop before standing and stretching. The crew would open the huge rear doors and put the ramp in place before Rida was moved. Bethany wanted to make sure the horse had a few minutes to adjust to the brighter light and sniff the fresh air before trying to walk him out. He might be a sweetie—at least to her—but he was still a massive guy who could crush her like a bug if he chose to.
She grabbed sunglasses from her backpack, then headed down the ramp and out into the afternoon. The sky was clear and bright blue. They were in a tiny, private airport. In the distance were mountains. She was pretty sure they were to the east, and to the west, a couple hundred miles away, was the Pacific Ocean.
Everything felt different—from El Bahar and from the eastern part of the country, where she’d briefly gone to college—yet there was familiarity, too. Perhaps because she’d spent the first nine years of her life not that far away in Riverside.
She shook off the memories and glanced around at the small group waiting for her and Rida. There were three good-sized trucks, a regular pickup pulling a horse trailer and a handful of men. One of them walked toward her, grinning as he approached.
He was tall—but at five foot four she found a large percentage of the world was tall to her—with light brown hair and broad shoulders.
“Beth Smith?” He held out his hand. “I’m Cade Saunders.”
They shook hands and he removed his sunglasses. His eyes were hazel and he had a scar by his eyebrow. As she stared at him, she felt a weird kind of quiver low in her stomach, followed by a powerful desire to flip her hair—despite her French braid.
No, no, no, she told herself. There would be no hair flipping on this trip. No swooning or thinking Cade was handsome. This was about work and nothing else. The last thing she needed in her life was some semicharming, cowboy type.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, carefully removing her hand from his hold.
Cade glanced anxiously toward the plane. “How’s he doing? Did he make the trip okay? How can I help?”
“You can stay out of the way when I bring him out,” she told him. “Otherwise, you brought the trucks, so we can get going on offloading Rida’s supplies.”
“I can’t wait to see him.” Cade sounded more like a six-year-old than a grown man as he spoke. “I still can’t believe the king let me buy him. I’d heard he was for sale and figured it was a long shot, but I had to try, you know. I mean, he’s glorious. I watched his video maybe fifty times. The way he moves, the power. I met the king once, in Texas. At a dinner. He was a great guy. Have you met him?”
She stared at Cade. “Once or twice,” she murmured. “You’re really excited.”
“Wouldn’t you be? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I run a small ranch in Happily Inc, California. Guys like me don’t get a chance at a horse like Rida every day.”
She did her best not to smile. She liked how happy Cade was and that he understood what had been offered to him. At least Rida would be appreciated, even if knowing that wouldn’t make her miss him any less.
“Then let’s get you two introduced,” she said and started up the ramp.
On the plane, she spoke quietly to the horse. Rida listened, his ears forward, as if he knew he was finally going to get out of his stall. She took a couple of minutes to stroke his head and neck, getting a horse nuzzle in return, then untied him and led him toward the ramp.
Rida walked along easily, inhaling sharply, testing the air. At the top of the ramp, Bethany paused to let his eyes adjust before starting down.
When they reached the tarmac, she walked him in a large circle to get the kinks out. He seemed more interested than apprehensive—as if curious about his surroundings.