Ella smiled. “With Brookstone’s Wild West Extravaganza, there’s something special each and every night.”
Ella stood atop her two-horse team and drove them around the arena, holding the reins in one hand while she waved to the crowd with the other. She focused on keeping her knees slightly bent and her suede-soled slippers firmly planted on the rough leather pads atop the animals.
“Isn’t she amazing, ladies and gentlemen!” Henry Adler called through his megaphone.
The horses handled easily for her. They were used to the show and seemed to crave the attention they were given.
“Oh, ho,” Henry called as Ella took hold of the lines with both hands and brought the horses back around. “Something is amiss.”
The crowd’s attention was turned to the rider approaching on the back of two matching blacks. Ella smiled at the sight of her cowboy husband standing Roman-style. Phillip had thought it would be great fun to propose to her on horseback, and for weeks they’d been practicing his trick. His agility and ability to master standing on the backs of moving horses had impressed everyone.
Phillip drove the team out to join Ella’s matched white geldings. He lined up with her, and once the teams were even, Ella and Phillip brought them to a halt.
“Young man,” Henry exclaimed, “this is an all-female performance.” The arena went absolutely silent. “I must ask you to leave.”
“I won’t go,” Phillip declared. “Not until she says yes.”
He handed Ella his reins as she planted her feet on the back of one white and one black horse. It wasn’t easy to keep his balance, but as he knelt down, he grabbed a handful of the horse’s mane to steady himself. Gasps could be heard all around the stadium.
Ella looked down at him with a smile as Phillip pulled a ring box from his pocket to the wild cheers of the crowd. “I think they approve,” she said as the crowd broke into cheers. Phillip held the box up to Ella, and she nodded her acceptance.
“Will you look at that, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. We have a proposal and acceptance, Roman-style!” Henry called.
Phillip pretended to put a ring on her finger, then tucked the box back in his pocket and stood. He gave her a quick kiss. Everything was just as they had practiced, and the crowd was on their feet as Ella handed Phillip the reins and took her place back atop her own team. Once Phillip was in place atop his, they put the two teams in motion, running side by side. While they’d been stopped, the crew had brought out hurdles for them to jump. They went around the arena and made the jumps in unison. The audience applauded as Ella had known they would.
She looked at Phillip, who gave her a nod. Ella moved toward the center, and as she maneuvered to stand with her left foot on one of the white horses and her right on the black, Phillip did likewise and stood behind her while Ella took the reins of all four horses. Phillip took hold of Ella’s tiny waist and steadied his stance as they moved around the arena one final time.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked against her ear.
Ella laughed as they approached the hurdle one last time. The horses easily jumped in unison. She glanced over her shoulder. “I guess that answers your question.”
Phillip laughed, and the cheers of the audience were deafening.
They circled one last time, waving to the crowd. Ella delighted at the wild elation of the people. She was happier than she’d ever been and knew that Phillip was too. Just a few years earlier, she had felt utterly hopeless about her future, and now it seemed the possibilities were endless and joy had replaced her despair. Lizzy had once told her that when God was at work, He could turn even the most desperate moment into something glorious and beautiful, and that was exactly what He had done for her.
One of the wranglers came to take hold of the horses as they exited the arena. Phillip jumped down from the back of the team and held out his arms for Ella. She jumped into his arms without a second thought.
“A superb job, Mr. DeShazer,” she said, smiling as he lowered her to the ground. “You really should perform on a regular basis. I think you have a knack for it.”
“As I recall, the Brookstone Wild West Extravaganza is an all-female show filled with women of extraordinary beauty and bravery. I think I’ll just stick to wrangling horses and breaking broncs,” Phillip said, putting his arm around Ella’s shoulders. “Oh, and loving you.”
She smiled up at him. “That suits me just fine.”
Tracie Peterson is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than one hundred novels. Tracie also teaches writing workshops at a variety of conferences on subjects such as inspirational romance and historical research. She and her family live in Montana. Learn more at www.traciepeterson.com.
Sign Up Now!
Instagram: Bethany House Fiction
Resources: bethanyhouse.com/AnOpenBook
Newsletter: www.bethanyhouse.com/newsletter
Facebook: Bethany House
Table of Contents
Cover
Half Title Page
Books by Tracie Peterson
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Epigraph
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Epilogue
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
List of Pages
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
291
292
293
294
295
297
299
300
301
302