Montana Wrangler by Charlotte Carter Page B

you?” She kept brushing and stroking the horse. Peaches seemed to be enjoying Paige’s efforts and, to her surprise, Paige was, too.
    After a few minutes, she had a totally outlandish thought. No one was around to see her making a fool of herself. If she could manage to saddle Peaches, she might be able to mount her and ride her around the corral a time or two. She had watched both Jay and Bryan saddle a horse. Nathan, too.
    Now that she thought about it, putting a saddle on the back of a horse didn’t seem so hard. Or scary. Not when the horse was Peaches, anyway.
    In the tack room, she found Peaches’s saddle and blanket. She carried them back to her stall.
    Okay, Lord, I’m going to need a little help here.
    Drawing in a deep breath to build up her courage, she held the blanket out in front of her and stepped up to the horse.
    â€œNow, Peaches, you have to be extra patient with me.” When she placed the blanket on Peaches’s back, the horse didn’t seem at all disturbed. “Good girl. I’ll get the hang of this yet.”
    Hefting the saddle was a different matter. She’d forgotten to hook up the stirrups to get them out of the way.
    She tried again. This time she got the saddle settled. Facing the right way! She cinched the saddle into place and stood back to admire her work.
    â€œNot so bad for a city girl, huh?”
    Peaches nodded. Archie stood and stretched. It looked as though she was ready to go for a run.
    After another moment appraising her success, she realized something was missing. Something important.
    The bridle and reins.
    Checking her watch, she found the trail ride wasn’t due back for nearly an hour. If she could figure out how to get the bridle over the horse’s head and the bit in her mouth, she’d still have time to go once around the corral all by herself.
    What do you think about that, cowboy?
    Fortunately, the tack for each horse was kept together. Even more fortunate, Peaches sensed Paige’s inexperience and practically put the bit in her own mouth. Or maybe it was the Lord who was giving her a helping hand.
    She led Peaches into the corral. Using a big rock to stand on, Paige leveraged herself onto the saddle.
    â€œSweetheart,” she crooned, patting the animal’s neck. “You are the best horse in the entire world.”
    The way Archie was watching, her head tilted to one side, Paige didn’t think she was all that impressed with her horsemanship.
    The reins in one hand, the saddle horn grasped by the other, Paige gave Peaches a little nudge with her heels. To her great delight, the horse started forward. If she’d been wearing a cowboy hat—and had a free hand—she would have waved it in the air. Ride ’em, cowgirl!
    With Peaches’s cooperation, she took one turn around the corral. That went so well, she decided to try another one.
    She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she sensed someone approaching the outfitting station. She turned in her saddle and saw Bryan walking toward her on the road leading a big gray horse that was limping.
    â€œAunt Paige! What are you doing?” he shouted.
    Heat raced to her cheeks. Peaches decided on her own to trot over to meet Bryan by the fence. Paige gripped the saddle horn with all her strength as she bounced up and down, her feet coming out of the stirrups.
    Peaches stopped abruptly.
    Paige barely managed to hold her seat.
    â€œI’m riding Peaches,” she gasped. “What does it look like?”
    A big grin creased his face. “Looks like you’re not as scared as you used to be.”
    Paige took that as the finest compliment she’d ever received.
    Now all she had to do was get off Peaches without breaking her neck. She dismounted with about as much grace as an ungainly kid belly flopping into a swimming pool.
    It took her a minute to regain her breath. “So why are you back so early?”
    â€œSir Grayson threw a