close to any horses. The old familiar terror infused his muscles with torpor, whilst his heart fluttered fast enough to take flight.
Duke was not in the stables.
The stallion was standing just on the other side of a very ordinary, very jumpable fence. Although he would not be kept with other stallions, three intimidating geldings stood in a loose huddle behind him.
Duke was the tallest by three hands and weighed several stone more.
Miss Harper’s eyes shone. “Beautiful, isn’t he?”
“Glorious.” The word cracked in Eli’s too-dry throat. The stallion looked like danger personified.
She wouldn’t lead him out here to be trampled to death, he assured himself. Miss Harper hated him, but she didn’t want him dead.
Probably.
He hoped.
“Well?” she prompted. “Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”
“Someone else should introduce us,” he muttered. “Duke outranks me.”
She smirked. “All horses do.”
Very well. Eli could see he was going to have to do something.
Keeping a safe distance, he chucked a bit of carrot over the fence and into the midst of the horses.
The three smaller horses looked down at the piece of carrot, then back at Eli.
Duke never took his gaze from Eli for a second.
With a sigh, Miss Harper strode forward, and vaulted the log fence. She caressed Duke’s cheek before offering him a large, unbroken carrot.
He nibbled it from the palm of her hand.
“This handsome fellow is the famous Duke.” She gave him an extra carrot, then fed another treat to each of the following horses in turn. “These other dashing bucks are Rudolph, Mr. Edward, and Charley. They’re gentle as lambs. The local children love to ride them.”
Eli took a hesitant step forward.
All four horses took several steps back.
“I’m impressed,” said Miss Harper. “I expected Duke not to like you, but you seem to actively repel all of my horses.”
Eli took another tiny step forward.
Mr. Edward and Charley took off running across the snow-covered field and vanished off behind the stables.
Miss Harper burst out laughing, one gloved hand held up high to cover her face.
Eli flinched.
Her instinct to hide her smile was at least partly his fault. He’d hoped that was in the past. The thought that one deplorable moment had eroded her confidence for the rest of her life twisted his stomach into a hard little knot.
She caught him looking and dropped her hand.
The smile was long gone.
“What are the top five winter footing issues to avoid when tending horse hooves in below freezing weather?” she demanded.
“Top… five?” he echoed faintly. He could think of three, at best.
She rattled off detailed answers and fired new questions faster than he could retrieve long forgotten equine trivia from the recesses of his mind.
The more his answers disappointed, the faster and more obscure the questions became. She had clever, practical solutions for every situation.
If Miss Harper thought her superior knowledge would snuff out his interest in her, she had misread him entirely.
Nothing was more attractive than a clever mind.
She let out an aggrieved huff. “I see I cannot leave you alone with horses. You’re a danger to them and to yourself. That is, if you manage to get close to one.”
That was... an accurate representation of the facts.
Harsh, but true.
Not for the first time, Eli wished he were the equine savant his father had hoped he would be.
How lovely it might be if their situations were reversed! If Miss Harper were the timid young lady seeking Eli’s help on her first ride. He would be forced to place his hands on her midsection, and help her up into the saddle...
She needed no help.
Miss Harper coaxed Duke to the topmost log of the fence, which she used as a stepping-stool to launch herself atop the enormous stallion.
Before Eli’s disbelieving eyes, she pranced Duke about like a prized pony, making intricate patterns in the snow as they danced this way and that.
He had never seen a better horsewoman than Olive Harper.
Woman, full stop.
Horseman, full stop.
Eli didn’t have words to describe the ease with which she led Duke through his paces, showing off to magnificent effect. They were not horse and rider, but rather an all-powerful Centaur, sent to Earth by the gods as a trick to play on mere mortals.
The man who married Olive Harper would be a lucky devil indeed.
As the gossips were fond of saying, there was no hope of “taming” Miss Harper, which in Eli’s opinion was the best part. She was wild and free and reckless and capable. She didn’t need anyone to rescue her. She was the adventure.
She waved her gloved fingers