Homespun Bride

the right thing—the only thing he could do. And yet, remembering the pain on Noelle’s beautiful face, it had been the wrong thing, too. He’d been caught between a rock and a hard place, and he still was.
    “I guess I’ll look farther out in the county. Maybe the prices will be better there. Something close enough to ride in and help you with the wheat—and our brother, but far enough away from bad memories.” That and the fact that he could see the county road from here, the road the Worthingtons also used to go to and from their spread. A lone horse and rider cantered along the lane.
    “Sounds sensible.” Aiden mounted up and swung his horse toward the driveway.
    Some days reality was a tough thing. Thad gave one last look at the property. His hopes had been higher than he’d thought. He eased his boot into the stirrup and grabbed hold of the saddle horn.
    “Would you look at that fool?” Aiden sounded concerned. “He’s gonna get himself killed.”
    Thad slid into the saddle and looked up. Sure enough, it did look as though that horse and rider were in serious disagreement. They’d come to a stop in the road. The black was head down, tail up, bucking like a wild bronco. The man clung to the saddle. There was something familiar about that man. Thad reined Sunny toward the driveway, fighting a bad feeling in his gut. Robert Worthington had a brown wool coat like that, and he was not in control of his horse.
    Aiden had already pressed his mount into a fast trot. “That man needs help. Is it—that looks like Mr. Worthington. He’s a banker, not a horseman. What’s he thinking?”
    Thad couldn’t answer, as he pressed Sunny into a fast gallop. Could he get there in time to help? The long stretch to the road seemed a hundred miles. Sunny’s mane and stinging snow lashed his face as he pushed the mustang faster.
    Hold on, Robert. Thad watched the black horse’s nose nearly touch the snowy ground as the hind end rocked up high and then higher. Thad was close enough to see Robert scrambling to stay on, but he was slipping. Looked as if he was clinging to that horse with all his might. Chances were that Worthington was going to be unseated. Since he didn’t know how to sit a green-broke horse, then he likely didn’t know how to take a fall from one, either. Didn’t he understand how dangerous that was?
    “Faster, Sunny.” Thad willed the mustang on, and Sunny went full out, his gallop so fast, they could have been flying.
    It was not enough.
    With the cold wind in his ears and tearing his eyes, it was hard to tell the exact moment Worthington went flying. But the bad feeling was back in his gut when he saw the man lift off the horse’s back end and take a hit from those powerful, carefully aimed rear hooves.
    Worthington hit the ground like a rag doll and didn’t move. The black, freed from its rider, didn’t run, but stayed, stomping and bucking and rearing up to paw the air, dangerously close to the fallen man. Thad winced, hurting for the man, knowing what this could mean. Robert looked unconscious. Maybe worse. Maybe dead.
    Please, Lord, not that. A rare prayer filled his heart. Adrenaline chugged through his veins as Sunny’s hooves ate up the distance. The instant Sunny hit the main road, he swung out of the saddle, keeping one eye on that black horse. His boots hit the hard-packed snow and he dodged just in time to miss a well-aimed, angry kick to his head.
    Thad stood between Robert and the enraged horse and caught the mare by one rein. The instant his fingers tightened on the leather strap, he yanked straight down, pulling the bit with him. The mare fought him with an angry scream, sidestepping and half kicking and baring her teeth, fighting to get in a good bite.
    “Whoa there, filly. Whoa, now.” Beads of sweat broke out on the back of Thad’s neck, strong-arming the powerful horse farther away from Robert. The man was still unconscious. Sunny stood by the fallen man, nosing him gently. Where was Aiden? As the mare fought, trying to knock him off balance, he heard hooves striking nearer.
    “I said whoa, girl.” The beads of sweat began to roll down his back. His arm muscles burned as if they’d been set on fire. He stood his ground, gritting his teeth, trying to use what leverage he had to force the mare even farther away from Robert.
    “Hold on,” Aiden called out from behind him.
    Not sure how much longer I can do that. Teeth gritted, the mare surged upward into a full