CHAPTER NINE
––––––––
NICK SLOWED DOWN AND jumped off his mount. With a loving gesture, he tapped the powerful neck of the svelte filly he had been riding for a couple of hours and led her toward the pen he had built on one side of his ranch. A gush of wind ruffled his hair, and he looked up.
The sun was high in the sky and shone brightly. However, angry clouds gathered from the west and advanced slowly to that part of the mountain.
The smell in the air warned Nick that rain would come soon, and he shrugged with indifference. He had already trained all his horses, so the storm wouldn’t be a hindrance or slow him down.
Nick rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease off the aches in his stiff neck, shoulders. Tension had knotted his muscles. Nick had worked hard since morning without
