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."You see, Major, I've never told Moon Racer that he's a horse-he thinks he's a person."The great stallion tossed his head and whinnied, pushing against the pinto and causing the mare to edge sideways."Moon Racer, stop it," Abby demanded, trying to guide Sassy away from the aggressive stallion's powerful teeth.Before Abby could intervene, the roan had already nipped the pinto's neck, and the frightened mare reared and backed away.When Abby finally calmed the frantic Sassy, she slid out of the saddle and went to Moon Racer."You should be ashamed of yourself." Even as she scolded him, she drew his head toward her and patted his back."Why do you have to be jealous? You know how important you are to me."Moon Racer would have gone after the mare again, but Abby grabbed his mane and yanked his neck toward her."Don't do that!"She looked up at Jonah."I'm sorry about this.If I had known Christmas put Moon Racer in this pasture, I would have taken us in a different direction.I am going to have to change mounts."Jonah leaned forward in the saddle."So you let the stallion have his way?""Not always, but I will today." She went back to the mare and unsaddled and unbridled her.Looking Sassy over to make certain that the stallion had not drawn blood, Abby nodded in satisfaction when she saw no injury.With a gentle pat on the mare's rump, she sent her galloping across the pasture."I'll have Christmas bring her home tomorrow."Before Jonah could offer his help, Abby had already thrown her saddle over Moon Racer and cinched it.He watched her smile at the horse, dimples dancing in her cheeks."You can't always have me to yourself," she said to the stallion before climbing into the saddle.Then she turned to Jonah."I know he's spoiled, but he almost died as a colt.He grew up without a mother, like I-"Even though Abby had clamped her lips together, Jonah knew she had stopped short of telling him about her motherless childhood.She was tugging at his heart, and other lower extremities, and he didn't seem to have any defense against her.He found himself thinking how difficult her life must be, knowing her father had murdered her mother.The woman in the portrait had definitely been a lady, and if she had lived, her gentle guidance would have helped her daughter.He wondered if Abby dressed in trousers because she had never learned how to be a woman, or if it was her way of defying convention.He tried to think of Patricia, but her image was blocked by Abby's mischievous green eyes.He had to concentrate on something else, say something, anything, to distract himself."Now that I see how much the stallion means to you, I know why you were offended when I offered to buy him."Her mood changed from somber to hostile."Moon Racer is as much a part of this ranch as the soil itself Many of the horses you see here were sired by him, and many of our neighbors' horses as well."She nudged the stallion forward, and they rode away from the pasture, through another gate, until they finally reached a hilly meadow."The two horses you asked to see are just over the next hill," Abby told Jonah."If you choose one of them, I'll train it for you."He glanced out at a land that looked like Eden, but there were thorns and secrets in this paradise.The woman who rode beside him was like an unbroken horse herself, wild and untamed.Abby Hunter had disturbed him almost to the brink of madness.He'd had trouble going to sleep the night before, knowing that she was in the room next to his.He had been awake to hear her restless pacing and wondered at the reason for it.She reined in the powerful stallion."After lunch I'll take you to see the mustangs," she told him.Jonah nodded, his attention centered just above her head because he dared not look into those mesmerizing eyes."I'll look forward to it," he answered, wishing she had never come bounding out of that tree at him, disrupting his orderly life.Frances had prepared a feast.She had certainly outdone herself for the major's benefit.Abby thought of the sandwiches and fruit the housekeeper usually packed for her on the days she couldn't get home for lunch
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