“Let’s get you girls dusted off and then Carli can take you on a short ride. We have time before your moms get back.” Lola led the way to the cookhouse. Carli nodded in agreement to Lola and mouthed a thank you. It was obvious someone needed to teach these girls how to act, but Carli decided they'd spent enough time talking. She wanted to end on a positive note, give the girls a good memory to take home with them.
Maybe a short ride would calm the situation. After their faces were washed and clothes dusted off, Carli instructed both girls to follow her into the saddle house and pointed to the saddles.
“This is heavy,” said Lexi. “I can’t do it.”
“Just a poser, like I said,” mumbled Bianca.
Carli was at her wits’ end with both girls. Together, she helped Lexi lift the saddle over Sally’s back.
With boots in stirrups and everyone ready, Carli led Beau to the gate, and leaned down to open for all to pass through. Bianca kicked her horse, Mouse, and trotted off leaving the others behind. Carli’s mind was abuzz. With all the excitement she completely forgot about the riding tips she had planned to review today.
As they worked their way through the pen down to the creek bottom, Carli took in a deep breath. Towering cottonwoods were sprouting small buds as they reached towards a brilliant blue sky dotted with puffs of white. She inhaled again trying to shake off the tension caused by the girls' earlier scuffle.
Lexi trotted a few short strides to catch up with Carli, head down, eyes fixed on her horse.
"Looking good, Lexi."
"That's not what Bianca would say," she mumbled.
They both watched Bianca ahead of them trotting too fast, Carli thought, her flaming hair flying free.
"Lexi, we're all at different levels with everything in our lives, whether it's education, physical gifts, even our spiritual walk. We're all on our own journey. Some of us might have more riding experience. I think your mom said you used to have horses. Did you ever get lessons or was it just for fun? Did you and Brandon get on them once in a while?"
"I used to ride almost every day after school, and then my mom got rid of them. We couldn't afford their feed." She looked so sad.
"I'm sorry about that, Lexi. I can imagine you miss Itchy a lot. Animals give us so much love. It really hurts when we lose them."
"It sucks. Nothing ever stays the same."
"You know, Lexi, sometimes we look at others and think they have it all together or that their life is easier than ours. But you know what? Oftentimes they have it just as rough, or rougher, but we can't see what's happening to them on the inside. Does that make sense?"
"Sorta."
"I know Bianca gave you a hard time before when you two ended up thrashing around. We'll all have to talk about it next time you come out. That's gotta be one of our rules, no fighting. We want this to be a safe place for everyone."
"She started it." Still, Lexi's head was down.
"I know. But I'm going to give you two tips for today. One is when someone starts a fight, sometimes you have to be the one to walk away. If you don't add to it, like fuel on a fire, the fight can't escalate. Tip two is a riding tip instead of a life tip.” Carli laughed. “Keep your head up when riding. Look up, in the direction of where you want to go. Head up, shoulders back, your whole body follows, and then your horse follows. If your eyes and head are down, you slump, your body leans forward. It could convey to your horse that you want to stop. Got it?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"You're welcome. To be a good rider, you just have to learn the right things to do. Kinda like in life."
Just as Carli started to enjoy the ride and felt calmer, Bianca came fast loping up to them. Aiming for Lexi, she jerked back on the reins to bring her horse to an abrupt stop. Lexi's horse startled and sidestepped. "Watch it!" she snapped.
Carli saw the apprehension on Lexi's face. "Sally's okay, Lexi. Just tell her 'whoa'."
Turning to Bianca, she had to reprimand her. "I don't want you riding like that on my horses. Don't jerk on his mouth. And don't upset other riders or horses. Our number one goal is to keep everyone safe."
Bianca's mouth smirked and her eyes rolled skyward. "If little Miss Poser can't control her horse, she shouldn't be on one. I've been riding since before I could walk. I know what I'm doing. And I'm sick of your rules. You take all the fun out of everything. I'm outta here."
With that, Bianca yanked her horse around and jabbed both heels to kick Mouse into a gallop straight for the barn.
"Bianca! Walk him back to the barn, please. No one is to race a horse back..."
But it was too late. Bianca couldn't hear her anymore. Or maybe she just had tuned Carli out.
"Sorry, Miss Carli."
"It's not your fault, Lexi. Let's just get these horses back to the barn and unsaddle them. We're all going to have to talk before I can take students out on a ride again. That behavior is just too dangerous and it's unkind to the horse. It's not what LoveJoy Riding School is all about."
Good Lord, what have I got myself into?
Chapter Nineteen
Carli forced a smile and waved at Lexi’s mother as the girl climbed into the back seat. She watched brake lights move slowly out of ranch headquarters until their vehicle rattled the cattle guard at the top of the hill, and then vanish around the turn. As their car disappeared, another one came into view and drove slowly down the hill.
“Bianca, your mom’s here,” said Carli.
The red-haired spitfire emerged from the saddle house with a big smile. A total transformation from the angry
