The Cowboy's Christmas Proposal. Judy Christenberry

I’ll do that.”

      Penny hurried out of the house after pulling on her coat and adding a wool cap and gloves. She walked to the barn, collected a bridle and opened the gate that led to the pasture where the active horses were kept. She saw the horse she preferred to ride, a dark colored mare named Stormy that her father had given her when she’d first learned to ride.

      It took a few minutes to reach Stormy and talk her into accepting the bridle. Then Penny led her to the corral where Apache was waiting. She got some hay for Stormy and settled her down in the corral. Then she removed the bridle and, after patting Stormy’s neck, replaced her bridle in the tack room and headed back to the house.

      When she entered the house, she could smell fresh coffee. In the kitchen, she found Harriet going through the pantry.

      “I’m going to have some of that coffee, if you don’t mind.”

      “Of course not.” Harriet stepped out of the pantry. “You’ve got just about everything I can foresee for the immediate future. Your freezer is well stocked, too.”

      “Good. I’ve got my horse penned up ready for tomorrow. I’ll need coffee in the morning and oatmeal with bacon and toast or eggs with bacon and toast. Either one, or you can rotate them. I like pancakes on Saturday morning and even Sunday morning when I can eat more leisurely.”

      “That sounds good to me. Though I might suggest cinnamon rolls one of those mornings. I make them from scratch, and they’re quite good, if I do say so myself.”

      “Mmm, I agree. They sound perfect for a cold morning.”

      “Good. I’ll cook a couple of steaks for dinner because I can thaw them quickly, if that’s okay. And do you like salads?”

      “Yes, I do. I’m willing to try most anything.”

      “Then we’ll get along fine.”

      “Thank you, Harriet. I’m glad things are working out well for one of my new employees!”

      It was quite cold the next morning when Penny stepped outside. She had a wool cap on her head under the cowboy hat her dad had always worn. Leather gloves with wool lining were on her hands, and her jacket was snapped closed to her throat over a wool sweater.

      She carried a package that held her lunch. She wasn’t going to try to be tough just to impress Jake Larson. She knew the day would be hard on her as it was. She was a good horse-woman, but she seldom rode more than three or four hours.

      A canteen was strapped over her shoulder and would be added to her saddle. Also over her shoulder was a plastic raincoat her dad had always taken with him.

      She had her dad on her mind today. He’d never expected her to be in this situation and never prepared her for the job. She had always been his little girl and no matter how many times she had asked, her father had always discouraged her from learning the ropes. Certainly learning about ranching now was important to Penny, especially if she was going to make a success of the ranch, but more important now was proving herself to her father, even though he wasn’t there.

      When she reached the corral, after getting her bridle and saddle and saddle blanket, she found Stormy and got her ready for the day ahead. She added the raincoat, carefully tied it down so it wouldn’t startle the horse and placed her canteen in one side of the saddlebags. The other side held her lunch.

      Swinging into the saddle just at seven o’clock, she was ready to go, she hoped, as the men came out to mount up. Jake was talking to several of the men and looked up in surprise when the others greeted her as Penny.

      She spoke to the men, but she remained silent as Jake approached her. Nervous, she licked her lips and waited for his response.

      “I thought I’d meet you up at the house.”

      “I assumed it’d be quicker to meet you here, ready to go.” She kept her voice crisp.

      “Very well. I’ll be saddled in just a minute.”

      He efficiently prepared his horse and swung into the saddle. She moved ahead of him and opened the corral gate. He followed her out into the pasture.

      “I thought we might ride over the property to make sure I know the perimeters this morning. Are you up for that?” he asked Penny.

      “Of course.”

      “Do you know the perimeters?”

      “Yes, I do.” She led the way and gave a good description of each pasture. She’d listened avidly to her father’s talk at the dinner table. They came across several of the other cowboys already at work. Jake told her he’d talked to the men about the assignments they had been given before the past manager had left. “I told them to continue with what they were already doing until I figured out what I wanted to change.”

      “Did they all agree with that?”

      “Yes, they did. If they hadn’t, I would’ve fired them on the spot.”

      “I see.” She didn’t really have an argument against such behavior, but she didn’t want to say so.

      She was able to answer most questions he asked, though he didn’t ask many.

      Around noon, Penny took her lunch out of her saddlebag and quietly ate as she rode. She was feeling the strain of five hours in the saddle, but she didn’t intend to ask for a break.

      Fortunately, after she finished her lunch, Jake suggested they stop. They dismounted by a mountain stream that ran through the property. Jake told her to stretch her legs after she had returned to her mount, they both walked in the direction of a nearby stream. She took both horses to the water and let them drink. Then she took her apple core and broke it in half, feeding each horse its share.

      Jake gave her a quick look when she returned. “What did you feed the horses?”

      “They each got half of my apple core,” she told him, a challenge in her voice.

      “Okay. Thanks for sharing with Apache. He’s particularly fond of apples.”

      “So is Stormy.”

      “Ah. I wondered about her name.”

      As much as she dreaded mounting again, she turned to do so.

      “Mind if we walk a little ways along this stream? I’d like to see how full it is.”

      “All right.” She took Stormy’s reins and walked along the stream, grateful for the chance to stretch her legs.

      Much to her surprise, Jake began talking about the use of this particular pasture, noting what he’d read in a ranching journal about the treatment in vogue among ranchers. She asked several questions, hesitant at first.

      Jake answered each of her questions calmly, not changing his manner if the question was good or bad. Then he asked some questions about her dad and how he had handled certain things. Some questions Penny couldn’t answer, but she suddenly realized she might have the answers at home.

      “I’d forgotten about it until now, but Dad kept a journal in which he recorded what he did each year. Then he could look back from one year to another. Would you like to take a look at it?”

      “I’d like that very much if you don’t mind. I promise I’ll return it in the same shape it is now. I assume you value things like that.”

      “Yes, thank you, I do. I haven’t had much time—I haven’t gone through their things yet.”

      “It can wait if you’re not ready,” he said gruffly.

      “No, I can—I’ll look for it tonight.”

      “I appreciate it. I assume your dad’s ranch was profitable?”

      “Yes, but I hadn’t realized how much until I overheard my previous manager brag about collecting fifty thousand dollars each year without my father even realizing it.”