Second Chance Ranch

Sophie stepped in. “You want to ride, Andy?”

“Can Zach help? He can walk beside me.”

“Sophie knows how this works. I don’t.” Zach turned to her. “What do you want me to do?”

The tension seeped out of her shoulders. “I’ll lead Sam and you can walk on one side of Sam, and Beth on the other. Will that work for you, Andy?”

“Yes,” he crowed, hopping to his feet. He patted Zach’s arm. “It’s okay about your leg. I’ve got Down’s.”

“Really?”

Andy nodded. “Mom says I’m extraspecial.”

“She’s right.”

Sophie smiled at Zach. “Thanks,” she mouthed.

Satisfaction spread through Zach’s chest.

They walked to the mounting steps. Sophie got the horse into position. Andy scrambled up the steps.

“Put on your helmet, Andy,” Sophie called out.

He raced back down the steps and over to the row of helmets sitting on a shelf at the end of the stalls. He grabbed a helmet and put it on. He raced back to the steps. Zach rested his cane against the side of the stable by the mounting steps.

“Let Zach help you get on the horse, Andy,” Sophie instructed.

Whoa, he didn’t know how he was to help. Glancing at his sister, he silently questioned her.

“Just support him as he slips his leg over the pad,” she instructed, “then guide his foot into the stirrup.”

Resting his hands around Andy’s waist, Zach lifted the boy onto the saddle blanket. A smile curved Andy’s mouth.

Beth helped Andy put his leg in the stirrup attached to the blanket.

“Now, just hold his leg to make sure he doesn’t slip,” Beth instructed her brother. Beth had been here before and worked as a sidewalker.

“What do you say, Andy?” Sophie asked from her place by Sam’s head.

“Go forward,” Andy crowed.

Sam started walking.

Zach grabbed the front of the saddle pad and his other hand rested on Andy’s leg. Andy turned and smiled at Zach. His heart overturned. With the warm New Mexico sun on his back and the feel of the horse under his hand, Zach felt a peace in his soul—a peace he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Oddly enough, Zach, Beth and Sophie worked in tandem, he on the left side of the horse, Beth on the right, and Sophie leading Sam.

After three times around the ring, Zach felt the strain in his arms and legs. He stumbled, and his artificial leg folded underneath him, and he fell to the ground.

Andy cried out in dismay. Beth raced to Zach’s side. Sophie started to move away from Sam, but Zach waved her back.

“I’m okay.”

All the activity in both rings stopped. One of the sidewalkers from the next ring came to Zach’s side. The man stopped and said, “How do you want to handle this?”

He would’ve rather faced a terrorist in the streets of Baghdad, instead of being facedown in the dirt in front of his sister and the woman he’d been attracted to. He rolled to his side and told the man how to help him stand. It was slow and awkward as he struggled to his feet. When he stood, Andy clapped.

“You need any more help?” the man asked Zach.

Zach shook his head. He limped over to a bench under the stable’s awning, which sheltered the entrance to the stables. He’d been thrown by plenty of wild broncos and bulls in his rodeo days, but there’d been no shame in it. This time, he’d fallen flat on his face walking.

Walking.

What kind of man can’t walk?

He closed his eyes and rested his head against one of the porch posts. He knew that coming here this morning was a mistake. He just didn’t know how big a mistake it would be.

Sophie looked at Zach. Her heart had skipped a beat earlier when she glanced up and saw him standing above her. Beth had called Sophie at the beginning of this week begging for help with Zach. Beth and Sophie had kept in contact since their college days when they roomed together and Sophie was more than happy to offer her friend a helping hand.

Zachary McClure still took her breath away. Tall, with wide shoulders and narrow hips, he cast a large shadow. Somehow, that handsome face seemed to have aged more than the few years since she’d last seen him. The weariness in his deep blue eyes matched the new lines bracketing his eyes and mouth.

“Is Zach feeling okay?” Andy asked, snapping her out of her memories.

Turning to Andy, Sophie saw the frown crossing his young face. “I think he’s fine.” She prayed he was.

For the next few minutes Sophie walked Sam, but Andy remained quiet. When she guided Sam toward the steps, she motioned for another sidewalker to help Andy dismount. The instant Andy’s feet touched ground he raced to Zach’s side.

“I’m sorry you fell,” Andy whispered, tears in his voice.

Sophie’s heart contracted.

Zach opened his eyes. Sophie felt Beth stop behind her. They both waited breathlessly for Zach’s answer.

Reaching out, he ruffled the boy’s hair. “I’m okay. Only my pride was damaged.”

Andy nodded and moved closer. “I hate it when I trip and the other kids laugh.” His lower lip trembled.

Zach slid his arm around Andy’s shoulders and pulled him to his side. “I do, too. Makes me feel bad.”

Andy nodded. “That’s why my mom wanted me to come to ride on the horse. She said it would help me.” He touched his stomach. “She said it would make my tummy stronger. Maybe it would help you, too.”

Zach’s brow arched and he glanced at Sophie as if accusing her of planning that little scene. He couldn’t believe that, could he?

“Thanks, buddy.”

The boy accepted the praise and leaned against Zach. “Will you be here next time I ride?” The youthful hope in Andy’s expression pulled at Sophie’s heart.

Zach rubbed his neck. “Well—”