Riley’s Downfall(8)

“Leave him be,” Pa warned and then slid his grey eyes toward Sterling. “Why don’t you go help Riley?”

Sterling stood, taking his dishes to the sink, and then walked outside. He smiled when he saw the cows. He liked cows. Sterling had never seen one before coming to the ranch, and he found them to be the gentlest creatures.

“Morning,” he called to them and then hurried to catch up to Riley. His breath caught in his throat when Riley mounted his horse. Sterling’s dream was coming to life right before his very eyes, only he knew Riley wasn’t going to dismount and kiss him, professing his love.

And didn’t that just suck?

“Pa told me to work with you today.”

“Go find Bryce,” Riley said as he grabbed the reins.

Sterling narrowed his eyes as he pointed up at Riley and then back at the barn. “Saddle me a horse, Mr. Grumpy. I’m working with you today whether you like it or not.”

An arched eyebrow indicated Riley’s surprise. “Did you just order me to saddle a horse for you?”

Sterling walked into the barn, not waiting to see what the sourpuss was going to do. He glanced around, spotting a small room toward the back of the barn and heading toward it. He had never ridden a horse before, but he was sure it wasn’t that dang hard.

Sterling saw a few saddles in the small room and grabbed the smallest one. Damn if the thing wasn’t still heavy. He carried it out, although it took a bit of a struggle, and glanced at the horses he had to choose from.

He was not liking his options. They all seemed too large for him to even try to saddle. One was eyeing him suspiciously, as if it wondered if Sterling was stupid enough to even try.

“Are there any small ones around here?” he asked himself as he walked down the row of stalls, starting to feel like he had wasted his time coming in here. He finally came to a black horse that wasn’t as big as the others. He set the saddle down and unlatched the gate, smiling up at the pretty horse.

“Are you going to let me ride you?”

The horse made a strange sound and lifted his head as if nodding.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Sterling stepped back and waved the horse from its stall. “I need to saddle you, so you have to come out.”

“Don’t. Move.”

Sterling glanced behind him to see Riley standing in the large opening of the barn, his eyes locked onto the horse Sterling was trying to get out of the stall to saddle.

“Why?” he asked, glancing from Riley to the horse, and then back at the nutty bear. Was Riley mad because Sterling decided to try and ride a horse without anyone’s help?

Riley’s grey eyes never left the horse. “Because you just opened Hell Raiser’s stall.”

Sterling turned to look at the black horse, wondering what Riley was talking about. The horse looked as harmless as a fly. Riley was talking as if Sterling had just opened the gate to hell. “Hell Raiser? Why do you call him that?” The horse didn’t look like a Hell Raiser. He looked more like an Ed, or a Black Beauty.

Riley moved cautiously toward Sterling, his eyes still locked on the horse. “Move slowly away, Sterling. Don’t make any sudden moves.”

Was the man nuts? The horse wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was just standing there, eyeballing Sterling like he was waiting to be saddled.

Sterling shook his head decisively, refusing to put the horse back because Riley disapproved of Sterling taking matters into his own hands. “He’s not going to harm me.” Sterling reached down and grabbed the saddle, heading toward the horse. “Since you won’t come out, I’ll just have to come in.”

“Sterling!” Riley shouted, but it was too late. The horse reared back, making a crazy noise as its eyes went wild. Sterling dropped the saddle just as Riley turned into a bear, charging straight for Sterling and the black horse.

“Don’t eat him!” Sterling shouted at Riley, tossing his hands out as if he could stop Riley when the bear reared up on its hind legs and roared at the horse. “You just scared him, Riley.”

The horse backed up, but still raised its front legs, almost as if warning Riley away. Sterling held his hands up at Hell Raiser—and he most certainly did not think that an appropriate name for the gentle creature—trying his best to calm the horse.

“Whoa, boy, calm down. The big bad bear isn’t going to eat you. I promise.” Sterling turned toward Riley, glaring at him. “Are you, Riley?”

Riley was still on his hind legs, but took a step back, and then dropped to all fours. He grunted, gave a low roar, and then took another step back. Hell Raiser dropped to all fours as well, but remained in his paddock.