The Old Barn is His Sanctuary and Her Nightmare

Part 1

“How many horses do you have here? I thought Randolph said something like two hundred.” Katy turned herself to address Pop.

“Yep, we have 217 of the best Quarter horses around. This last foaling season, we added another 56 foals and fillies to our name.”

“Did Princess have twins again?” Randy asked, suddenly more excited than ever to get back into the stables. Princess had been one of his favorite trail horses to ride. Not only did she have a smooth gait, but she was also a wicked racer when she got it into her mind to put some distance between herself and the rest of the pack.

“No, but she had a fine colt. He looks just like she did at that age, all legs with a nice, deep chest on him,” Pop answered, warming up to one of his favorite subjects to discuss with his son. Both of them shared a love for the gentle giants, always having special treats in their pockets to share with their favorites.

“Fantastic! I can’t wait to see him.” Randy kept his fingers entwined with Katy’s as he pulled her out of the house. He could feel her reluctance even to step outside, yet his enthusiasm kept her moving. Since the stables were quite far away from the house, they loaded into the work Mule and drove over in relative comfort. Seeing Katy hold onto the metal tubing of the armrest reminded Randy of their drive onto the property.

“Hey, Pop, I was wondering if you’d mind me taking a tractor out to grade the driveway. I noticed it was getting a little bumpy.”

“That’d be great, except Walter has it torn down for regular maintenance. Otherwise, we would’ve had it done before you got here. You know how your mother hates it when it gets too rough to travel comfortably.”

“Something we share in common,” Katy added, leaning forward so Lucy could hear her.

Lucy nodded, her hand holding the scarf onto her head as she turned to address Katy with a conspiratorial grin, “We may live on the backside of nowhere, but we can at least make it civilized, right?”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“You should’ve seen this place before my mom got her hands on it,” Randy said.

“Oh, it was such a bachelor pad. Not much more than a shanty cabin where the boys could put their feet up for the night. No, I’m quite pleased with the touches I’ve put into the place.”

“It’s quite beautiful, Lucy,” Katy praised. “How big was the place when you got here?”

“I don’t know,” Lucy frowned; looking over at her husband, she asked, “What do you think? About 2000 square feet?”

“That sounds about right. Now it’s just over 15000 square feet. I guess we could house a whole army of workers now.”

“Not that I’d let them get their dusty boots all over the rugs.” Lucy playfully shivered at the idea before she began giggling again. “Do you remember that time when Randy came in from the rainstorm covered in mud? He didn’t want to track mud through the house, so he rolled all over the entry rug to get cleaned off.”

“Yep. I remember having to burn that rug since we couldn’t get the mud stains out of it.”

“Okay, that’s enough of going down memory lane.”

“Oh, I don’t know; I kind of enjoyed hearing how wicked you were. What else did he get up to?” Katy prompted Lucy to continue.

“Would you look at that? We’re at the stables already,” Randy exclaimed as he stepped off of the Mule to head inside. Throwing back over his shoulder, he said, “I guess we’ll have to wait to have more storytime.”

“There’ll be other times,” Katy teased back, swiftly joining him at the entrance to the massive building. She looked around in wonder. “Do you keep all of the horses in this one old barn?”

“No, this is just one of four stables we have on the property. We try to keep them spaced apart in case there’s ever a fire. It would be a terrible loss to the ranch if all of them were lost.”

“Oh, that sounds awful. Has that happened before?” She shivered at the idea.

“Not to us, but we’ve heard about it enough with other ranches. We made sure to plan ahead for it. Right over here; this’s always been my favorite spot. Just as he remembered, the smell of leather and cleaning solution surrounded him. He pulled her into the tack room and waited for her response.

She turned around in the ample space, taking in all the saddles, harnesses, and trophies. Walking over to the wall, she asked, “Are all of these awards for your horses?”

“Yep. It’s another way to increase our stud fees and increase the prices of the horses we sell. It’s been pretty lucrative, not to mention a lot of fun.”

“And here I thought you kept the horses only for herding the cattle,” she murmured. She turned back to him, a smile growing on her lips as she crossed over to where he stood. Draping her arms around his neck, she leaned into him and said, “I bet you look really sexy riding the horses.”

“I don’t know about that, but I sure like it. We’ll have to get a couple of horses saddled so you can see the ranch the way I’ve always enjoyed viewing it. There’s something peaceful about only having the slow movement of the horses and the quiet of the countryside surrounding you.”

“Sounds…amazing,” she replied, shifting her eyes away from him as she finished her sentence.

He tipped her head back to face him as he asked, “Have you ever ridden a horse?”

“No.”

“Are you afraid to try?”

“Maybe a little. They’re awfully big, and they seem to have a mind of their own.”

“I’ll be sure to get you a very gentle and reliable mare. You’ll learn to love it, I promise.” He reached down and took her hand, ready to show her some of his favorite horses nearby.

Once he came to Princess’ paddock, he opened the lever and pulled the door open. The beautiful, brown mare lifted her head to investigate her visitor. Instantly recognizing him, she whinnied and shook her head as if in greeting. “That’a girl,” he called out to her. “I’ve got someone I want you to meet.” He made nonsensical noises in greeting as he crossed the pen, pulling Katy along behind him.

Princess stepped closer until her nose touched his shoulder, and the tiny hairs tickled his neck. Knowing this as their customary greeting, Randy reached up and rubbed her sleek neck while continuing his murmuring. He turned and asked, “What do you think of her?”

“She’s beautiful; although, I wouldn’t expect any less. Is that her baby over there?” She pointed to the far corner and stepped away from Randy to get a better look.

Princess moved herself swiftly to be in between the stranger and her colt. She lowered her head and stepped toward Katy. With more than a bit of force, she pushed Katy backward, wanting to make sure the intruder knew she should keep her distance.

More than a little startled, Katy hastily backed up. Her foot landed in something squishy, almost causing her to lose her balance. With her arms pinwheeling, she managed to catch herself with very little grace. When Princess neighed in alarm, Katy had had enough. She turned and raced out of the stable.

Randy rushed to her side, very solicitously asking if she were okay. “Princess didn’t mean to scare you; she just wanted to keep her colt safe.”

“Well, he’s definitely going to be safe from me. I’m never getting anywhere near that brute of a beast again. Did you see how she tried to knock me over? She’s dangerous, Randolph.” She brushed her pants off, only then noticing the streak of green on the edge of her shoe? Leaning to the side, she asked, “Is that horse crap on my shoe? Do you know how much these cost?”

“Don’t worry about it; I’ll buy you another pair.” By the glare she leveled at him, he knew that was the wrong thing to say. “Why don’t we walk back to the house?”

“Fine, but you get to clean these shoes. I may never be able to wear them again after knowing what happened to them.”

Randy shook his head in dismay. Waving farewell to his parents, he shepherded Katy out of the barn. This was a side of Katy he had never before witnessed. Obviously, the charity events never involved horse stables, but he would never have thought she could become so enraged over a bit of dirt.

Author's Note:

Read more of this series on Vocal:

Part 1: The Old Barn is His Sanctuary and Her Nightmare

Part 2: The Old Barn Holds a New Secret

Part 3: Can they survive a gold digger’s scheming to discover their perfect match?

Part 4: Can they see past their differences to lasso happily ever after?

Part 5: Flirtations with Cake, Coffee, and Good Company

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This is an excerpt from the first book in the Billionaire's Venture Romances series. If you want more of Randy and Becky, you can read their full story inA Cowboy's Recipe for Romance.

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