K.N. Casper - As Big As Texas

“She’s not having a reaction to the horses, Mr. Ritter. She’s brought this attack on by getting upset.”

“What would have happened if she’d reacted to the horses?”

Kayla glared at him. “I would have taken her home immediately, put her on her nebulizer and not brought her back. As it is, I may not anyway.”

“I can’t believe you’d take that chance.”

Kayla prayed for patience. “Mr. Ritter, I’ve lived with my daughter’s health problems all her life. I’m well versed on what she can tolerate and what she can’t. She’s been around horses nearly every week for the past year without difficulty. Today has been no exception. She’s upset because she can’t take Birdsong home. It’ll pass.”

The man didn’t look convinced.

“You offered to give her riding lessons a few minutes ago. Are you going to renege?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then you do your part, Mr. Ritter, and I’ll do mine. Can we agree on that?”

He clearly didn’t like being cornered. Daryl hadn’t liked it either when she called him on commitments he’d made.

“Bring her Monday after school. But if she has another attack, the deal’s off.”

Dear Reader,

Those of you who’ve read Back in Texas by Roxanne Rustand, last month’s kick-off book for this HOME TO LOVELESS COUNTY series, know that the mayor of the shriveling town of Homestead in central Texas is determined to save the once-thriving ranch community by establishing a land-giveaway scheme to lure people back.

One of the program’s takers is Kayla Price, a divorced mother, who brings her father and her eight-year-old daughter to the beautiful Hill Country with plans to start a vineyard. Another is Ethan Ritter, a local horse trainer and riding instructor, who has lost everything: his family, his home, his sense of worth. Kayla and Ethan don’t seem to have much in common—other than an unwelcome attraction to each other—until they meet the most vulnerable members of their community.

This is a story about saving a small town, but even more, it’s about saving children. It’s a story fraught with danger, both physical and emotional, the kind that makes vulnerable people more vulnerable, but also has the potential to make strong people stronger. These two wounded people have to fight hard to understand themselves and to realize that together they are invincible.

This series has given me the wonderful opportunity to work with some truly talented storytellers: Roxanne Rustand, Linda Warren, Roz Denny Fox and Lynnette Kent. I hope you enjoy As Big as Texas and the other books in the HOME TO LOVELESS COUNTY series.

I enjoy hearing from readers. You can e-mail me at kncasper@kncasper.com or write me at P.O. Box 61511, San Angelo, TX 76906. Please also visit my Web site at www.kncasper.com.

K.N. Casper

www.millsandboon.co.uk

This story is dedicated to all the members of NARHA,

the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association,

and especially to their hundreds of volunteers who contribute

countless hours to help children and adults meet the special

challenges in their lives with smiles on their faces.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

“MEGAN, DO YOU HAVE your inhaler?”

“Yes, Mommy.” The eight-year-old patted her black patent-leather purse, her latest acquisition.

“If you have any trouble breathing, I want you to use it right away and tell me,” Kayla instructed her. Megan would use it if she had to, but she wouldn’t make a public display of it if she could avoid it.

“You know horses don’t bother me, Mommy,” Megan insisted. “I’ve been riding for a whole year now, ever since Daddy let me sit on that pony for my picture, and I haven’t had to use my inhaler even once.”

“That was in Oregon, honey. We don’t know if you’ll react that same way here in Texas. We have to be very careful.”

The fact that her ex-husband let their daughter sit on a horse, when he’d been told cats and horses were the worst triggers for asthmatics, still riled her. Daryl seemed to think ignoring Megan’s illness, or pretending it didn’t exist, would make it go away. The kitten he’d brought home should’ve taught him otherwise. Megan’s reaction had been so severe she’d ended up in the emergency room on a forced-air machine. He—or rather Megan—had been lucky in the case of horses that she hadn’t had an adverse reaction. In fact, for the past year she’d been riding almost every week and doing fine. The first sign of troubled breathing today, though, they’d be out of there for good.

“Mommy, what color is Birdsong?”

“I don’t know, honey. Mr. Tanner didn’t say.”

“I hope she’s gray. I really like gray horses. Is she very big? I like big horses, too.”

“Mr. Tanner didn’t call Birdsong a pony, so I imagine she’s a regular-size horse.” Kayla just hoped the mare would be suitable and available.

She slowed as she approached a break in the wire fence that stretched on as far as the eye could see, up and down the low, rolling hills. A rustic wooden sign announced The Broken Spoke. She turned left. The car rippled over a cattle crossing.

The rooster tail of dust her aging Toyota was kicking up on the dirt road reinforced just how completely different this Texan countryside was from the damp and rainy coast they’d left behind. Kayla missed the tall trees and snow-covered mountains she’d grown up with, but the doctors had insisted Megan needed a drier climate. The girl had been considerably better since they’d moved here a month ago, and Kayla had to admit there was an unexpected beauty and charm in this wide-open land, a sense of boundless freedom that was invigorating. And she was delighted by the friendliness of the people. Megan, of course, was thrilled to see real live cowboys.

Over a low rise Kayla spied a ranch house in the shade of what she’d learned were live oak trees. Behind it was a big wooden barn and a cluster of smaller metal buildings. She rolled to a stop in the gravel parking area beside the barn, her eyes instantly drawn to the man in the middle of the corral opposite, who was quietly approaching a horse. The horse was staring white eyed back at him.

Unbuckling her seat belt, Megan jumped out of the car, slammed the door and took off for the enclosure.

Startled, the horse tossed its head, neighed and sidestepped skittishly away from the man.

Kayla saw him slouch in frustration. Uh-oh, not a good start.

“Megan, stop right there!” she called out.

The girl hesitated, then reluctantly obeyed. When Kayla caught up with her, she took her hand and together they cautiously approached the pipe fence.

“Is that Birdsong?” Megan asked.

“I don’t know, sweetheart, but you can’t go racing around here, disturbing things.”

The man in the ring was tall, slender and wore work-faded jeans with a large silver belt buckle, plaid shirt and high-heeled cowboy boots. All that was missing was the Stetson.

He sauntered over to them.

“What can I do for you?” He wasn’t unfriendly, but somehow his tone lacked the warmth she’d come to associate with Texans.