Cowgirl 101 Read online

  Table of Contents

  Synopsis

  Praise for Laina Villeneuve

  Other Books by Laina Villeneuve

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  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

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Epilogue

  Bella Books

  www.BellaBooks.com

  When you shop at Bella, more of your dollars reach the women who write and produce the books you love. Thanks from all of the authors & staff at Bella!

  Blog: Bella Media Channel

  Facebook: BellaBooks

  Twitter: @bellabooks

  Instagram: TheBellaBooks

  Synopsis

  What Jo Harding loves most about the summer is being able to retreat from annoying humans. Though her friends say she’d be happier with someone sleeping by her side, she insists that all she needs to be happy are her mules, her dog, and a trail into the backcountry. She has absolutely no time to teach the incompetent, if attractive, newcomer.

  Daisy Lucero is an eager student from the start. Hired for work in the café, her real dream is to explore the High Sierra wilderness on horseback. While she would love to earn the respect of the handsome woman who inspired her adventure, she may have to settle for pestering her with songs and questions.

  In the vast classroom of the California wilderness, each woman finds herself tested. Tests of perseverance for Daisy as she learns to ride, and tests of patience as Jo considers whether life is about more than riding alone.

  It doesn’t take either of them long, however, to realize that neither one of them needs a lesson in chemistry.

  Praise for Laina Villeneuve

  The Right Thing Easy

  The Right Thing Easy is a well written romance. The writing is clean, the characters are charming, and the story keeps you entertained. Villeneuve wrote the characters with a finesse and grace that I enjoyed, especially when they were struggling with tough choices. Laina Villeneuve writes nicely. The thoughts and feelings the characters had were real…I could not help but understanding what they were going though.

  —The Lesbian Review

  Kat’s Nine Lives

  …is a friends-to-lovers romance about putting in the time and energy to figure out who you are rather than accept what others think you should be. …Villeneuve does a superb job with the pacing of this story. It is clearly a romance novel, but there are elements to it that made me feel like I was reading a mystery. She reveals clues about Kat’s past bit by bit. As each new piece of information was revealed I was surprised over and over again. All of these tidbits lead up to a better understanding of Kat’s fears and understandings.

  —The Lesbian Review

  Such Happiness as This

  sThe novel describes Robyn’s journey from grief and disappointment, through the joy of new friendships and the uncertainty of potential love. Characters are skillfully drawn, and interweave in a plot with enough realistic problems, local references, and surprising twists to satisfy.

  —The L-Word

  Other Bella Books by Laina Villeneuve

  Kat’s Nine Lives

  Return to Paradise

  The Right Thing Easy

  Such Happiness as This

  Take Only Pictures

  About the Author

  Laina Villeneuve spent four summers on horseback in the High Sierras. While working on this book, she had the amazing idea to take her family on a road trip to her old stomping grounds. After pitching the dream, her wife said to imagine their boys and how hard it is to get them to brush their teeth and then put that on horseback. Revised plan: she found a stable closer by and has ridden with the kids one by one. She hopes they fall in love with riding, and one day they’ll make it back to Mammoth Lakes for an epic family ride!

  Copyright © 2020 by Laina Villeneuve

  Bella Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 10543

  Tallahassee, FL 32302

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  First Bella Books Edition 2020

  eBook released 2020

  Editor: Cath Walker

  Cover Designer: Pol Robinson

  ISBN: 978-1-64247-151-9

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Acknowledgments

  At the Las Vegas Con, Becky Harmon had a sit-down with me. She told me two important things. One, I write romance. Two, I know horses. Her encouragement woke up these characters who have taken me on the most fun writing experience I’ve had. For that, I cannot say thank you enough!

  I’m super lucky for Jaime Clevenger to have given this story time and consideration to make it better. Heather Coughlin, too, challenged me to think about how to honor the growth of the characters. That early feedback contributed a lot.

  Many thanks to my friend George whose status as a “white coat” got me thinking of a backstory for Daisy. If you have a chance to watch the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, keep an eye out for the staff dressed all in white. You might see my friend whose behind-the-scene stories were a lot of fun!

  I’ve had so much fun reconnecting with my “I Survived…” friends. Thank you for remembering and sharing stories with me and reminding me (or admitting you’ve forgotten too) of some of the details that have gone fuzzy. What a good time we had all those years ago!

  Along the way, I hit some snags that were difficult to untangle. I have to thank Rachael and Paul for their advice on how to get the story moving again. Laughter through tears and stories that will have to make it into a future book. My sister, Kat, had never told me that she hoped her character wouldn’t be limited to one book. I hope Linda knows what a gift it was to get to tell my sister about her cameo in this book. I will never forget those bedside conversations and laughing with my niece as I told her Kat’s best lines.

  Cath, thank you for helping me with clarity, catching the inconsistencies and giving such encouraging feedback. I’m g
lad I got to take you on a fictional pack trip since Albuquerque GCLS didn’t happen this year. I was really looking forward to swapping stories in person!

  Thanks to my wife for her unflagging support through the entire process a book takes, especially for the margin notes she leaves reading early drafts and nudging me to include the emotional content that does not come as easily as dialogue. Thanks, Ma for stepping in at the end to help with the “which word works better?” game.

  Thank you to all of you who read my books and take the time to reach out and tell me that the characters touched you. I am truly lucky to be able to share these stories with you!

  Dedication

  For Louisa

  After all these years,

  the trail is still sweeter with you.

  Chapter One

  “Hot rats!” Jo Harding hissed, jumping on one foot and shaking the other that she had finally extracted from under Ladybird’s devilish hoof. “You did that on purpose, you empty-headed jackass!”

  “Step on her other foot for calling you that, Ladybird!” Gabe Owen’s rich voice startled her all over again.

  “Daggummit it, Gabe! I’m mad enough to swallow a horned toad backward! Keep running your mouth and I’ve got a special name for you too!”

  “Keep tightening that cinch and you’ll turn that poor mule into a peanut!”

  “It’s not that tight,” Jo said as she loosened the girth.

  “Not as tight as the jeans she’s got on,” the cowboy joked, tipping his head in the direction of the newbie leading a dirty white horse toward the upper hitching rail.

  “Who?” Jo grabbed the next mule’s pack saddle. She had no intention of following Gabe’s line of vision. She’d already paid the price for watching the newcomer trying to catch a horse for the last fifteen minutes. Her irritation had grown with every hesitant step Tight Jeans had taken.

  “Zorro, the newbie you’ve had your eye on all morning. Thinking about asking her out?”

  “Thinking about chewing her out,” Jo mumbled as she watched the woman loop the lead around and around the rail in front of the employee shed. Gabe’s nickname was apt. Give her a black mask and cape to go with her flat-brimmed, unshaped black hat, and she could go trick-or-treating as Zorro.

  “I wondered if she was your type.”

  “I wonder if she knows a daggum thing about horses.”

  “Looks like she needs help.”

  Jo refused to take the bait. She untied Ladybird and said, “I don’t see anyone stopping you.”

  “Not true. My girlfriend’s a sheriff. She’s kept a close eye on me ever since she gave me that speeding ticket, and she’s got informants everywhere. No way I could help out someone as hot as that without ending up in trouble.”

  “Not my job.” Jo jutted her jaw in the direction of the lower pack dock where she had already sorted the guests’ luggage and sleeping bags, her cook’s kitchen boxes and camping gear like tables, chairs, shovel and ax. They were waiting to be loaded on mules and transported into the backcountry. “I’m one foot out of the yard. I don’t have time to teach Zorro the difference between a horse’s rump and its muzzle.”

  “You’ve got wagons of time.” When she frowned at him, he added, “I’ll help you out of the yard.”

  “Not my job,” Jo shot over her shoulder as she led Ladybird and Dumbo over to the pack dock across the yard from the sheds and hitching rail where the dude horses were saddled each morning. The day-ride crew of Lodgepole Pine Pack Outfit led up to twenty tourists down to Rainbow Falls three times a day on the “bombproof” dude horses that could be trusted not to spook at unexpected things on the trail. Jo regarded the trip as the Disneyland of the backcountry, with families who wanted a quick thrill and a photo opportunity. Gabe had told her to be grateful for the revenue the two-hour-long rides brought in, but it was difficult since Leo was often forced to staff it with unskilled workers.

  Gabe followed her to the shed with a raised wooden platform full of packing gear: boxes and the metal racks that attached them to the mule’s pack saddle, huge leather panniers, ropes to tie down the loads and tarps to protect it all.

  Away from the chaos at the Lodge, Jo was able to do her own thing. Out in the mountains, she always worked alone. In the yard, especially if she wanted to get an early start, she’d accept help but only from those who had proven their worth and skill. Gabe ranked at the top of that list. He was every inch a cowboy—and he had several above six feet—along with great upper-body strength from hauling hay bales his whole life. He wore his brown hair and beard short and usually put work before conversation.

  “She’s not hard to look at,” he said, catching the straps of the heavy pannier Jo held in place.

  “Being good-looking doesn’t get the job done.” Jo waited for him to lift the bag on his side onto the mule, with no expectation of his saying something about her ability to work and be pretty. Jo wore her dark brown hair as short as the men and though she lacked Gabe’s bulk, she was nearly as tall. With her tight sports bras and her preference for working in silence, she was often mistaken for a man. Not that she minded. Jobs typically held by men held much more appeal for her and she was fine being “one of the guys.” She checked the load and made necessary adjustments before she was ready to tie it off.

  “But it makes the job more fun!” he said, uncharacteristically chatty. And distracted. She kept catching him glancing up at the day-ride crew.

  For that she launched the end of the lash rope over the top of the mule without hollering the customary “Headache!” in warning.

  “Hey!” Gabe barked when the long rope made contact.

  “Sorry. Thought you were watching.” Jo wasn’t sorry. She had a job to do, and the sooner she got it done, the sooner she’d be in the saddle with only her five mules for company, the way she liked it. Takeisha, the cook, would take her time riding to camp with the guests, but once the equipment was loaded, Jo would travel faster, arriving at camp first to begin the setup. She expected Gabe to be as steady and hard-working as a mule, the highest compliment she could give anyone. Today he was acting as unfocused and as flighty as a hot-blooded horse.

  “There are breaks in the day. You know, times that people stop working. Times when it’s nice to sit next to someone easy on the eyes.”

  “When I stop, it’s dark. Time to turn in.”

  “An even better time to have someone like that in your bedroll.”

  “It’s not that easy.” Jo nodded to the pile of gear she wanted put on Dumbo.

  “I never said it was easy. But it’s sure as hell not as hard as you make it.”

  “Come on. You’re saying you’d hook up with someone from the day-ride crew?”

  “Not anymore, but back in the day…”

  “Back when you were helping on a trip, not lead packer.”

  “You’re a snob. Those girls do a load of work every day.”

  “Not Zorro.” Gabe’s nickname suited her better than Tight Jeans. “I haven’t seen her do a bit of work up there.”

  “See, you have been watching!” Gabe’s smile made Jo regret her words. “So she has a lot to learn. You could be the one to teach her.”

  “And next summer, she’ll be gone, and we’ll have some new hoo haw who doesn’t know…”

  “…a ‘daggum thing.’ I heard you. And I know how much you hate flighty people.”

  “I don’t have much use for people. Period.”

  Gabe slapped his palm on his chest as if to keep his heart in place. “That hurt.”

  Jo unclipped the packed mule and led it away from the dock to make room for the next two to be loaded up for their trip to Third Crossing. She tied Skeeter to Blaze and crossed paths with Takeisha on the way back to the dock. This was their second year as a team. Takeisha had been part of the day-ride crew for three years and itched to get into the backcountry. Since the pack station sent couples on travel trips and she was single, she had accepted the norm and stayed on day rides, stuck training
greenhorns and seeing the same scenery day after day.

  Jo had always been one to challenge the norm, and as Gabe liked to point out, she wasn’t partnered, either. For Jo, dating meant permanence, and in her experience, animals were the only ones she could trust to stick by her side. Takeisha worked hard and didn’t ask a bunch of questions, so Jo pitched the idea of being a team, not a couple, but a matched set of outsiders—her the only queer cowgirl, Takeisha the only black one.

  She handed a brown bag to Jo. “Here’s your lunch.”

  “Did you get good stock for us?”

  “I snagged Mouse for a bell mare, and I made sure we don’t take Bailey and Lumpy.”

  Jo took a bite of the apple she’d pulled from her lunch sack. “Sounds good.”

  “I’ll stop the group for lunch right after that patch of granite, so you can pass us before the switchbacks.”

  “That’ll work. Thanks for lunch.”

  While she and Gabe finished packing, she ate her apple and all the Starburst, except for the orange one which she gave to Blaze, and drank her juice box. The sandwich, she folded in half and shoved in her vest pocket to eat on the trail. She accepted Gabe’s offer to string up her five mules while she grabbed her mount.

  Mentally, she was already in the saddle, settling into the rocking gait of Tuxedo, the mule she’d be riding for the summer. But the sight ahead literally stopped her in her tracks. “Son of a biscuit eater,” she mumbled under her breath.

  Still tied to the hitching rail, Churchill leaned away from Zorro who held the bridle up as if she was trying to picture where to hang a painting on a wall. A wave of heat ran through Jo’s body. She told herself it was the way the woman was holding the bridle all wrong, the bit up between the big white gelding’s ears, the headstall at his muzzle, and the reins hung around her shoulders like a necklace.