At last Lydia brought Periwinkle out from the stable. She was a beautiful horse, a piebald covered in black-and-white splotches. Her tail swished and she had a bit of a prance to her step, and Emily felt a little disappointed. She’d been hoping for some mopey old nag that would spend the entire ride just trying to get back to the barn, but this horse looked fresh and strong.
“Here you go, mister.” Percy helped Tag mount, grunting a bit as if Tag were too heavy. “Let me adjust those stirrups a bit. They don’t look quite right.” Percy fiddled with a few straps, and Emily’s disappointment waned as she watched him shorten the straps to an awkward position. Wily. That Percy was wily, and Tag looked none too comfortable on the back of that horse.
“So, Lilly, where shall we ride to?” Emily asked, nudging Tilly forward so her sister wouldn’t notice those too-short stirrups.
“If you don’t mind me making a recommendation,” Percy said, “I think the ride along Gilbert Trail is a good bet. That’ll take you right through some real pretty sections of woods. Then when you reach Lakeshore Avenue, you can give the horses a little break. Maybe let them get a drink from the lake since it’s awful warm today. They don’t mind getting their feet wet.”
“That sounds good to me. How’s that sound to you, Lilly?” Emily asked. She wasn’t sure why Percy suggested that path, but since he had, there must be some good reason judging from the conspiratorial smile he sent her way.
“Sounds fine to me. Let’s go.”
“This so awesome!” Chloe’s giggle made Emily giggle, too. Hopefully this would be awesome. At least for some of them.
Ryan didn’t know what to expect, but today he was just along for the ride, literally. If he saw an opportunity to get in a subtle dig, he’d take it. So far, that wild-haired, overgrown stable boy had done his part. Ryan tamped down a chuckle at the sight of his father in the big orange hat. He looked like a pumpkin. No matter how infatuated Lilly might be, that hat would not work in his father’s favor. Wearing an orange helmet was definitely not fun.
They left the paddock with Emily in the lead, followed by Chloe, Lilly, Tag, and then himself bringing up the rear. Not the best view, staring at a long line of horse rumps, but from back here at least he could keep an eye on things. Lilly was much quieter today, a noticeable shift from the bubbly, gregarious person she’d been that first night when they’d all had dinner at Tag’s. Getting called a gold-digging bimbo probably still stung. Remorse buzzed past him like a menacing horsefly.
The sounds from Main Street faded away as they made their way down a wide path toward the trees, and other sounds took over. A dozen different chirping, clicking, and chattering noises, along with waves and the wind in the trees. People always said the woods were so quiet and peaceful, but if you really stopped to listen, it was actually noisy as hell. A branch smacked him in the face as his horse veered too close to a pine tree, and Ryan tightened his grip on the reins. He tried to maneuver his horse, but Duke seemed to have his own ideas.
Ryan got smacked by a second branch. He pulled at his shirt. The air was thick and sticky, and he was wearing jeans because the only thing worse than being too hot would be getting rubbed raw from a saddle. Hard to explain that kind of injury to the guys at the gym. “Oh, this road rash on my inner thighs? Just something involving leather. I won’t bore you with the details.” Yeah. That was not a conversation he wanted to have. Ever.
“Hey, Ryan! Smile.” Chloe turned in her saddle and held up her phone to snap some photos. Because, you know, nothing says back to nature like a kid on a cellular device. Still, he smiled big and hoped he didn’t look like too much of a moron. At least his helmet was blue.
“Okay now, you guys,” Chloe called out to Tag and Lilly. They were riding next to each other, and instantly and comfortably leaned in together. Awesome. They could use that for their engagement photo. Chloe giggled and turned back around, clucking at her horse until she’d moved forward enough to ride by her mom. Now both their ponytails went sway, sway, sway. From this vantage point Ryan could just barely see Emily’s legs stretching out on either side of her black horse. The straddle triggered a mental picture for him that made his saddle suddenly more uncomfortable and yet the ride somehow more pleasurable. Probably not a thought he should indulge in, but he was going to anyway.
“Selfie time, Mom!” Up ahead, Chloe stretched her arm as far as she could reach and took more photos of herself and Emily. He heard their laughter floating over the breeze, and it made him smile. They were cute together, and Chloe seemed like a sweet kid.
“Everybody doing okay?” Emily called out a few minutes later as the trail got narrower and the woods thicker. She looked back over her shoulder at him. He offered up a brief salute.
“Doing great,” he answered as another pine branch whacked him in the shoulder. Seemed like old Duke here might be a little nearsighted. Or he was doing that on purpose. His horse also seemed to be inordinately interested in the backside of his father’s horse. Every time he got too close to her big, round rump, she’d whip him with her tail and give a little hop and a skip.
“Sorry to tailgate you, Dad. I’m not doing it on purpose.”
“Yeah, back it up. I think you’re making my horse jumpy.” Periwinkle gave another little hop in response. “Whoa, whoa there, girl.” Tag patted her neck, and she gave her head a rigorous shake.
“I don’t think that’s what’s bothering her,” Lilly said. “She seems a little skittish. Do you want to trade? This horse I have is mellow as a hound dog.”
“No, of course not,” Tag responded tersely. “I can handle her. I’m certainly not going to have you ride the more dangerous horse.”
Lilly chuckled. “No offense, honey, but I’ve been riding since the first grade.”
“So, about ten years then?” Ryan said loudly.
She tossed a dirty glance his way. If she wasn’t annoyed with him before, she was now.
“I can handle a jumpy horse better than you can,” she said, turning back to Tag. Ryan leaned forward in his saddle. This should be interesting. He’d never heard anyone tell Tag that they could do something better than he could. He saw his father sit up straighter, his tangerine helmet tilting at an angle.
“I’ve got this, Lil. I’m good. If Ryan would just back up.” Now his father’s voice sounded downright testy. Ryan tugged back on Duke’s reins, for all the good it did. Then he pulled his phone from his back pocket to see if he was talented enough to text and drive. His thumbs moved over the screen to send a message to Bryce.
GUESS WHAT? I’M ON A HORSE.
Bryce’s response was almost instantaneous. WHY ARE YOU ON A HORSE?
RIDING WITH DAD AND BIMBO. BTW HER NAME IS LILLY, NOT DAISY.
WHATEVER. A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME . . .
VERY FUNNY.
I THOUGHT DAD HATED HORSES?