Second Chance Ranch

“Zach McClure.”

“Ah, the guy with the fake foot.”

She winced. Ollie didn’t pull any punches, but there was not a mean bone in his body. “He was a wonderful rider. Watching him ride…” She could still remember how awed she’d been watching him practice calf roping. “It’s like he was born on a horse.” She heard the wistfulness in her voice.

Ollie’s mug stopped inches from his mouth.

Sophie realized her feelings colored her comments. “Zach’s sister was my roommate in college,” she hurried to explain. “I went home with her several times. She was with him yesterday.”

Ollie took a swallow of his coffee. “I saw him when he was a teenager. He had a talent.”

“Really?”

“Best I’d seen up ’til that time.”

Then Ollie would understand. “He lost his foot when a roadside bomb caught his patrol in Baghdad.” She looked down into her coffee. “I think that talent awoke yesterday. He’s willing to work to get stronger.”

Ollie nodded. “My son was in the First Gulf War. He needed help when he came home. I’ll do it.”

Those were the most words that Ollie had spoken since she knew him. And she never knew he had a son. Maybe Zach’s rehab would touch more than Zach himself.

She heard a car pull into the parking lot. It was seven-thirty.

“Looks like your client is here,” he murmured, looking down at his watch. “And I think he’s eager.”

She prayed Ollie was right.

Chapter Three

Ethan pulled the key out of the ignition. “You ready to do this?”

Zach had tossed and turned all night and finally gave up trying to sleep at five this morning. He spent the time praying and reading his Bible. For the first time in a long time he felt like himself. “I am.”

They got out of the truck and walked toward the office. Some of the horses were in a corral on the other side of the stable.

“There’s some good-looking horse flesh out there,” Ethan commented.

From what Zach saw he had to agree with his brother. “I’ll have to ask where they get their stock.”

They emerged from the tunnel and saw Sophie and Ollie resting up against the hitching rail. The sun kissed Sophie’s skin and her brown hair danced with red tones in the sunlight. The braided tresses nearly came to her waist. She’d been beautiful at eighteen, but now there was a maturity about this woman. That coltish girl had become a stunning woman.

“Good morning,” Ethan called out, touching the brim of his cowboy hat.

“Good to see you this morning,” Sophie replied, pushing off the rail. She introduced Ollie.

“We’ve met,” Zach said, meeting Ollie’s gaze.

Sophie looked from Zach to Ollie. Apparently the old guy hadn’t told Sophie of their little chat. His opinion of the ranch foreman went up.

“You ready?”

“I am. And Ethan’s up for the session.”

“He couldn’t keep me away,” Ethan added.

Zach didn’t know whether to be encouraged by his big brother’s eagerness or insulted.

“Let me go get Prince Charming, and we’ll start.” Sophie put her mug on the apple barrel and turned to Ollie. “You want to go get the tack?”

Ethan straightened up, then glanced at his brother. He grinned. “Prince Charming?”

Ollie nodded. “He’s the right size for a man of Zach’s stature—sixteen hands.” He nodded at Sophie. “She calls him Prince Charming.” He shook his head. “What kind of name…” He headed for the tack room.

A whirlwind of feeling churned in Zach’s stomach. He lifted his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He wanted to ride so much he could taste it. He watched as Sophie pulled a halter out of one of the stalls, grabbed a lead rope and carrot from the pail on a bench in front of the stalls and walked to the corral beside the stable.

At the gate, she called out. A handsome black horse with a star on his nose and his left hind foot with a “white stocking” trotted up to her. She crooned to the magnificent gelding and offered the carrot.

The man in Zach reacted to her tender treatment of the horse. He glanced at his brother and saw Ethan smiling at him.

As Prince Charming ate the carrot, Sophie rubbed his nose. When he finished the carrot, he nudged her hand. “No, I don’t have another one. It’s time to work, big boy.”

The horse nodded and allowed Sophie to put the halter over his head and attach the lead rope. She opened the gate and led him to where Zach stood.

Ollie quickly put the saddle blanket and pad on Prince Charming’s back. He handed Ethan one of the stirrups to attach to the pad.

“No saddle?” Ethan asked.

She shook her head. “I’ve been in constant contact with the folks running the rehab program outside of D.C. For the first few times, we want to have Zach ride without the saddle. It will exercise his muscles.”

Doubt colored Zach’s eyes. “I could’ve jumped up on his back in my rodeo days, but now—”

“That’s why you should try the mounting block. You’re going to be asking your body to do a lot of work today, Zach, which it hasn’t done in a while. You’ve got to focus on the final goal.”

His pride fought with his common sense. Lord, this is hard to swallow.

His gaze touched each person’s face. He saw only support, but in Sophie’s eyes, he saw something else. A promise. He reached out and stroked the horse’s nose. “You going to be nice to a rusty cowpoke?”

Prince Charming nudged his hand. Zach patted the horse’s neck. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Taking a deep breath, Zach walked up the steps of the mounting block. Ollie and Ethan took their positions on either side of the horse. Zach handed his cane to Ethan, put his foot into the left-side stirrup, then threw his right leg over the horse’s back. He tried a couple of times to get his prosthesis into the stirrup attached to the saddle blanket. Ollie helped. He pushed back his cowboy hat and a spark of admiration lit his eyes.

Using the mounting block wasn’t as big a deal as Zach had thought it might be. He looked down into Sophie’s face. She smiled. “You look good.”

He felt good. The world lay at his feet. “Let’s move.”

“You want a helmet, Zach?” she asked. “It’s just a precaution.”

He was willing to go just so far. “I’m okay.”