River's End (River's End Series, #1)(29)

“What do you want me to do?”

“I need someone to help me fill out the forms.”

“Why me?”

“Because my brother will mock me, and everyone else wants me to leave here. I thought maybe you would help me and not think I’m totally stupid.”

Ben’s face changed towards her. She wasn’t sure why. “I’ll help you, Erin.”

“You will?”

“I will. And I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

Impulsively, she got on her tiptoes and hugged Ben’s tall, lanky body. He awkwardly patted her back. She almost smiled at how uncomfortable and young Ben seemed. His entire neck and face turned red.

“I’ll go to town first thing tomorrow and see what I can find.”

“All right, just let me know.”

Erin turned to walk away, but first, she smiled at him. “Thank you, Ben, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

****

Erin spent all day in Pattinson, which was a far larger town than River’s End and even sported its own McDonalds. She was looking for employment and returned to the ranch mid-afternoon, carrying several application packets. Now all she had to do was figure out which job she could do while remaining an illiterate idiot. She was a good waitress. Everyone thought she was brilliant when she managed to remember all the orders and drinks without ever writing anything down. Little did anyone know it was purely survival; she simply couldn’t write it down under pressure or quick enough, so she had to remember it all. It was her best chance at work around there, or so it seemed.

That afternoon, and the following three, Ben ventured out to the trailer and helped her painstakingly make her way through four applications. She could write decently enough, it just took her an unreasonable amount of time. What she couldn’t do was read what to write. And Ben had to correct a lot of her words. When they finally finished, she sighed and closed her eyes in relief. The task exhausted her. She could never thank Ben enough for his help. He was kind and straightforward, with no comments about her stupidity or slowness. The next day, she couldn’t wait to turn them all in, hoping she got a call back. She had to use the Rydells’ phone number as her contact, along with the ranch as her place of residence. Ben promised to try and field the calls while not mentioning to his dad that she used the ranch address as her home.

Needing to relax, Erin changed from her skirt and sandals into her jeans and tennis shoes. She started to head out towards the barn when she heard her name being called. Joey was jogging towards her. She hadn’t seen him since discovering his young age. An uncomfortable warmth filled her and she felt more awkward with Joey now than before they slept together.

“Jack mentioned you’d never been around the horses. He kind of reamed my ass for not noticing that, but anyway… you want to come for a ride with me?”

Erin gulped back her fear. Shit. Get on a horse? Sure, she loved to reach into the horses’ stalls and pet their silky noses and necks. But stand right next to a horse? Or get up on one?

“I don’t know how to ride.”

“I know. It’s not hard. I’ll teach you.”

“Really?”

She felt a spark of interest. When would she ever get such a chance again? Perhaps she could learn to ride a horse? She licked her lips and straightened her shoulders. “Okay, Joey. I’ll try.”

He grinned and she blinked, still just as surprised by his blonde good looks and killer smile as before. No wonder she failed to notice how young his eyes were.

Joey led her into the barn and spent the next twenty minutes saddling his mount. Then he pulled Georgie out of the stall and saddled her. Erin watched with utter fascination. Staring up at Georgie, the horse she was supposed to ride, sent beads of sweat trickling down her back.

“Are you sure I can do this?”

“Sure. We’ve had lots of novice riders here. Georgie’s a stop and go horse. She doesn’t do much except follow my mount, or try and eat along the trail. All of our horses are trained the same. I’ll show you the commands, but with Georgie, you pretty much only need to hold on and keep your balance. Come here; I’ll help you up.”

Joey lifted one of Erin’s legs to help her mount Georgie before placing them into the stirrups, which he adjusted. He handed her the reins, showing her how to hold them and said to barely move her fingers when indicating which way she wanted to turn, or stop. She was amazed at the barely-there pressure she needed to exert on the reins before the horse responded. It was amazing how sensitive the horses were.

“Worse case, pull one rein as hard as you can, so the horse's nose is facing towards its butt. They can’t run if they’re going in a circle.”

She listened closely as Joey explained how to squeeze her knees, using firm, but gentle pressure against the horse’s stomach to match her steering commands. Her butt already hurt and her body was taut with nerves, so Joey told her to relax, as the horse could sense her anxiety. She tried to breathe as Joey advised, and focused far out in front of her, instead of on the horse’s ears, which felt more natural. Joey explained that watching their ears caused the horse to look straight down. However, if she looked ahead to where she was going, apparently, so did the horse. She had no idea horses were so sensitive, or that their massive heights and great muscles took so little to control. She felt sure she had to use more strength in holding back a dog than she did in prompting Georgie through the few commands Joey tested her on out in the corral. Finally, after fifteen minutes, Joey mounted his horse, which was named Commander, and started up the driveway with a click of his tongue. Georgie followed right behind Commander, and suddenly, she was riding a horse.