Lib Novel Page 34
“Ready to see the horses?” I ask, because I can’t be in this room with her much longer. She beams at me, and I can see the younger version of her, the one I wish I knew way back when she was on the ranch, and I didn’t even know her because I was away at college, drowning in my grief.
“Can I see Meredith?” she asks, her blue eyes shining with hope.
“I don’t know if we’ll have time,” I say. “There’s a lot of work to do and—” I stop when I see the way she’s hiding her disappointment, then grin. “Of course we can, I’m teasing.”
She smacks my arm. “You can’t do that!” she laughs. “I’m extremely gullible and I’m bound to believe everything you say.”
“I’ll be more careful,” I tease, but I also take a mental note, because for her to say she trusts me is a huge deal. Her whole family has let her down, and she still has the ability to trust. Whatever I do, I can’t take that away from her.
We reach the barns, and the horses nicker lightly upon hearing our footsteps, noses peeking out from stalls. Nina watches as I hoist a flake of hay into each stall, but soon joins me once she sees how I do it. I’m surprised, as the hay is almost half her body size. But the girl is stronger than I thought, and not afraid to get dirty. I can’t help thinking of how Jordy would be in this situation. She wouldn’t even be out here, not willing to get her high heels dirty because work boots are not part of her wardrobe. And according to her, hay makes her skin itchy. But here’s Nina, hay showering all over her as she miscalculates her aim and hits the top of the stall.
“I thought I had that one,” she says as I stoop to help her. Our heads are close together, and when she looks up it takes my breath away. I see the flicker in her eyes, a bridled fire that makes me want to forget the hay as I learn exactly how she tastes. I look down at her lips, which she parts slightly. All I’d have to do is lean a few inches closer, to claim her honey mouth, to show her everything I’ve been holding back since that first day we met.
She moves back, breaking the spell as she scoops hay into her arms and does her best to fling it into the stall. I pull myself together and help, though we’re making more of a mess than a solution. The horse doesn’t mind, though, nibbling at the pieces that land on her door, then reaching her long neck out to find the ones in Nina’s hair.
“Hey,” she laughs, her hand flying to shield her hair. I move closer and pick out the pieces I can. My hand stills at the first touch of her hair, at the lush softness, at the tantalizing urge to tangle her hair between my fingers. This time when our eyes meet, there’s a question in hers—a dangerous one. What will you do with me?
Everything.
I find the last piece of hay, then drag my hands away, stuffing them in my pockets so I don’t cross the boundaries I want to shatter.
“Here they are,” I say instead, leading her to the last two stalls in the barn. Meredith pokes her head out, followed by Sara in the stall next to hers. Nina gasps, then cautiously moves forward, her hand finding the top of Meredith’s nose.
“Hey girl,” she murmurs, pressing her lips to the terracotta mare’s soft muzzle and then inhaling. “I forgot how sweet horses smelled,” she says to me, and I think I see tears in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and she quickly swipes at her eyes.
“I’m fine. I just…” She pauses, offering a shaky smile, then turning back to Meredith. “When I came here, it was because my grandmother thought the horses could be therapeutic for me. She was right, and I guess I didn’t realize just how much until I saw Meredith here.”
So she came here for healing. I don’t ask her about it, because I have my own reasons why this ranch means so much to me. Even though I’ll never be fully healed, the ranch saved me. Sara saved me. I’d ride Sara across the white sands of the beach, trying to race faster than my pain. I never could run fast enough. But it’s like Sara absorbed everything I couldn’t put into words, holding my pain as she carried me down the beach.
The thought of it now inspires a new image in my head—one of Nina riding next to me, her turquoise hair flying in the wind, her face flushed as we run the horses on an empty morning beach.
“Want to go for a ride?”
Chapter Twelve
Nina
“Now?” My heart leaps at the thought, out of excitement, but a little out of fear. I haven’t been on a horse for years, and I’m not sure I remember how.
“I owe you a ride, remember?”
As if I’ve forgotten. “Right. The one you asked me on before I found out you’re with my cousin?”
He wipes his hand through the air, as if deleting the facts. “That’s neither here nor there. But right now is the perfect time to catch a quick ride. There are no guests and nothing important do right now. Unless you need to be somewhere?”
My day was going to include sitting in my room, eating all the snacks while binge watching Gilmore Girls, avoiding Jordy as she settles in, even if we’ve made peace. I still feel awkward as hell around her, and the idea of riding horses on the beach sounds way better than anything else I could be doing.
“I haven’t been on a horse in years,” I admit, getting nervous as he places a bridle on Meredith. He opens her stall and hands me the reins.
“Your body will remember,” he says, then moves toward Sara as my cheeks burn. Just the mention of my body from his lips, and I’m distracted. I shake myself free as he turns again, and we lead the horses toward the tack. He helps me saddle her, then stands back as I place a boot in the stirrup and swing over. He’s right. It’s as if I’ve only taken a few weeks off from riding, because being up there feels like the most natural thing in the world.
He leads the way down the road, then across the highway where we follow a narrow path through the brush to the beach. While getting up on a horse feels natural, riding one reminds me that these muscles haven’t moved like this in years. I know I’ll be sore later today, but right now the swaying motion is like an old friend.
We get to the clearing, and I inhale sharply at the sight of the beach in the morning. Thin wisps of fog hover over the unblemished sand, which is washed free from the retreating tide. The sky still holds remnants of rosy pink and flush purples, though the light of the rising sun is starting to envelop the colors of dawn. My back soaks in the rays, my skin prickling from the contrast of cool morning air and the succulent warmth from the sun, and I arch as I drink it in. When I glance over at Brayden, he’s watching me. Once again, I feel the heat rise in my cheeks, and I duck my head. I can’t stop the smile creeping over my lips, and realize I probably look like a fool.
“We can just walk the horses,” Brayden says, seeming oblivious to the effect he has on me as the horses sway down the beach, side by side. “Or if you’re comfortable, we can trot a little.”