Leave It to Chance by Sherri Sand Read Free Book Online

listening to his dad talk about how he wished Ross had gone to law school and, like Ross’s brother, joined their dad’s law firm.
    He gave his cousin a direct look. “The polo training is about all he can handle. He’s too old to be taking on more work.”
    Kyle leaned back against his truck door and scuffed the tip of his shoe against the rocks. “There’s really not a lot of work involved, especially as this one doesn’t need to be trained to chase those balls around the field.”
    Ross shook his head. “Sid would skin you alive if he heard you talking about his ponies like that. And no, he doesn’t need to take on one more horse. Don’t ask him.” He felt a smile emerge. “Though he’d skewer me good if he knew I’d told you that.”
    Kyle nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.” He tilted his head at Ross’s barn, then the field behind it, and let a slow smile spread across his face. “Well, lookee here at all this fenced pasture just going to waste….”
    Ross let out a long laugh. “You dog. You set me up.”
    Kyle’s grin kept growing bigger. “Are you biting?”
    “Who’d you offer it to?”
    Kyle’s voice took on his normal enthusiasm, and he rubbed his hands together. “Abbey Lassiter. She’s looking for a place to stable her daughter Sierra’s horse. Sierra has three young kids, and Abbey said they’re pretty desperate to find a place for Chance.”
    Ross shook his head, still bemused at how his cousin had suckered him in. “The barn hasn’t been used since I was a kid, and the fence is close to falling down.”
    “You wouldn’t have to do a thing.”
    “Except say yes.”
    Kyle’s smile stretched to his back molars. “Except say yes.”
    “And chase down that horse when he gets out.”
    Kyle’s smile weakened. “Well, I could help with that. And I’m sure Sierra would be here in a heartbeat.”
    Ross challenged him with a raised eyebrow.
    “Really, Ross. I’ve known Sierra for years. She’s very capable.”
    Ross brushed a thumb across his jaw. “So I give her a call to let her know the horse is out. She runs over, lassoes, uh, Chance—did I get the name right?” At Kyle’s cheeky nod, he continued. “She lassoes Chance and settles him back in the barn, then gets her leather gloves and wire cutters and goes out in the muddy, wet field and repairs the fence?” He paused. “Did I miss anything?”
    Kyle didn’t hold back the chuckle. “The rain.”
    “That’s right, the rain. No, the sleet . So Miss Sierra is out in the driving sleet repairing the fence while Ross the Louse is in the house reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee in front of the fire. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
    Kyle’s blue eyes crinkled with laughter. “Trade me with Sierra and you got it right. And I’d expect you to save me a cup of that coffee.”
    Ross shook his head and felt his lips twitch in an answering grin. “No, let me tell you what would really happen. Ready?”
    Kyle stuffed his hands in his pockets. “You got the platform, buddy.”
    Ross scratched the back of his head and gazed around the yard. “I would come home from a long hard day of mulching Mrs. Latham’s flower beds. Cold, wet, exhausted, and hungry. You with me?”
    “I’m with you, man.”
    “I pull up my drive, and there’s Chance, not a care in the world, blocking my road. I get out of the truck, and he bolts. I drive to the house and call you, but you don’t answer, and your cell phone is dead. I get a lead rope and spend an hour chasing the nag down. Then, in the dark—”
    “Don’t forget the sleet.”
    He nodded. “With sleet pounding my back, I try to find the blasted hole in the fence. And when I find it, I can barely fix it because my fingers are frozen.”
    “Where’re your gloves?”
    “Forgot them in the truck because I was spittin’ nails when I couldn’t get a hold of you.”
    Kyle leaned back with a loud hoot.
    Ross crossed his arms. “Glad you can see why this