Montana Hearts: Her Weekend Wrangler by Darlene Panzera Page A

the hay bale.
    “Her name’s on her collar,” Bree told him. “Last year when I came home to visit, my best friend, Sammy Jo, and I went hiking every day along the path bordering your family’s fields. And each day Annabelle came boundingout to greet us. After the first few times, I started bringing her treats.”
    Cody took a step closer. “Do you have a dog?”
    “My father has one. A German shepherd. It follows him around everywhere, but I don’t have one of my own.” She dug again into her bag of tricks and pulled out two ziplock baggies. “Here,” she said, placing them into Cody’s small hands. “One is for Annabelle. She reallylikes my grandma’s homemade dog biscuits. And the other is for you.”
    “Me?” Cody stared at the bag. “You brought me a treat?”
    Bree nodded. “I hope you like fruit leather?”
    He opened the baggie and bit off one end of the sweet, sticky sheet of dried strawberry. “Oh, yeah.” Cody quickly finished the rest and gave her a big smile. “Thanks. Annabelle’s going to love her treats, too. Wouldyou like to see her puppies?”
    Bree thought of the next item on her brother’s list of advice. Enlist recruits.
    “Maybe later,” Bree said, smiling at her new friend. “How ’bout right now you help me with these horses? Do you want to feed the mare a treat?”
    As the boy nodded, her gaze fell from his familiar brown eyes to the slight dent on the tip of his chin. She had to admit Cody wascute. Just like his dad. No doubt he’d grow up to be a heartbreaker as well.
    “Move real slow,” she cautioned, though she doubted he was in any danger. While they’d been talking, Cody had already moved close enough to the stall to pet the horse, and the mare hadn’t reacted in a negative way.
    The boy stepped up to the half door of the stall and the mare eagerly took the carrot from his hands.Standing beside him, Bree then offered the mare an apple.
    “ Whoa! Cody, get away from there before you get bit!” Ryan hissed from the open door at the other end of the stable.
    “It’s okay,” Bree assured him. “The mare doesn’t consider him a threat.”
    “But I am?” Ryan walked toward them and the mare pinned back her ears and began to toss her head.
    Bree laughed. “Yes, you are.”
    “She likes me,” Cody told his dad.
    “Many horses have a different reaction to children than they do to adults,” Bree added. As if on cue, the next song on the CD player crooned, “Nothing like a young’un to soften the likes of this old heart.”
    “What’s with the music?” Ryan asked, stepping into a nearby stall out of the mare’s sight but still within Bree’s.
    “I thought it would help themrelax.”
    Ryan grinned. “Great idea. Creates the perfect mood.”
    The filly sidled up against her mother, and when Bree reached for her, the filly pulled away. So much for a truce.
    “Cody, you better run, or you’ll be late for school,” Ryan told him.
    “Bye, Bree! Thanks for the treats.” Cody hurried toward the door and waved to his dad. “Bye, Dad.”
    Ryan returned the wave and thenmotioned for Bree to join him as he opened the stall door of a black quarter horse with a white strip across his nose. “Bree, I want you to meet the Blue-­Eyed Bandit.”
    “ Your horse?”
    He nodded and she glanced at the muscular horse, but was more aware of Ryan than the animal before them. Broad shoulders. Strong arms. He waited for her reaction, so she smiled and said, “Nice.”
    Ryan circledaround, touched the small of her back, and she jumped forward, which . . . placed Bree between him and the horse. Too late, she recalled her brother’s instructions, “Don’t get caught behind enemy lines.” She took a step forward to give the animal a pat on the neck, without letting Ryan know she was really trying to distance herself from him .
    “I thought maybe we’d brush Bandit together beforeyou give the filly another shot.”
    Bree frowned. “You think I need a confidence