“Oh. How do you know him?”
I gave her a quick recap of the history I shared with Rad.
“Wow,” she said. “That’s really cool—especially about the snow globe. And then you deleted each other’s numbers?” Her eyes were unusually dreamy. “I mean, I’m not a romantic, but God, that’s like fate, destiny—whatever you want to call it. Don’t you think?”
“I suppose.” I didn’t know what Rad’s sudden appearance in my life meant. But it was wreaking havoc with my emotions. All the feelings of guilt that were tied to Ana had come rushing back. At the same time, the connection I felt to Rad was growing more intense by the day.
“I mean, what are the chances?” Trinh continued. “It’s almost like you were meant to meet up again.”
The following Saturday, Duck was away at a seminar, and Lucy had locked herself away in her room to cram for her first exam. The night before, she’d given me strict instructions not to disturb her unless it was an absolute emergency.
It was a beautiful, crisp morning, and I was out in the courtyard with the paper and a fresh cup of coffee. I was flicking through the Lifestyle section, wondering whether I should go and see a film, when my phone rang.
“Hey.” It was Rad.
“Hi.”
“What are you up to?”
“Just reading the paper.”
“Anything interesting?”
“There’s a documentary called Killer Clouds coming out soon. Apparently they are the most dangerous things in the sky.”
“Those fluffy, marshmallowy things?”
“You mean those angry, lightning-inducing, tornado-facilitating monsters.”
“Wow, I will never look at a cloud in the same way again.”
“They are the original wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“Long before there were wolves.”
“Or clothing.”
Rad laughed. “Hey, are you doing anything today?”
“Nope. How about you?”
“Nothing. I’m kind of bored. Want to hang out?”
I thought about Duck and felt immediately guilty. I knew he wouldn’t like the idea of me seeing Rad again, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Okay.”
Rad came to pick me up about an hour later.
“So what should we do?” I said, when we were pulling away from the curb. “Want to see a movie? There’s one about the US economy that everyone at work is raving about.”
“That sounds like a good option,” said Rad. “It’s such a beautiful day, though; do you really want to spend it inside a cinema?”
“I suppose not.”
“What about a hike?”
“A hike? Are you kidding me?”
“Why, what’s wrong with hiking?”
“Nothing, other than the fact that it involves walking.”
We were silent as we thought of things to do.
“You know, it’s been, like, a million years since I’ve gone down to the trails. The weather is so great today I wouldn’t mind going for a ride.”
“On a bike?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of a horse,” said Rad.
“Oh.”
“Have you ridden before?”
“Sure.” I had no idea why I said that, since I had never ridden a horse in my life.
“Excellent! I used to ride a lot when I was a kid. I miss it.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, thinking back to Lucy’s tenth birthday when her parents had hired a pony and we took turns riding him while a lady led us slowly up and down the yard.
“My mum is mad about horses,” Rad continued. “We drove out west every weekend to the stables. I used to ride a horse named Periscope. He was a scraggly brown thing, but I absolutely adored him. He got sent away when I was about thirteen, and I was beside myself.”
“That’s strange. I knew this guy who went through the exact same thing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, his name was Sodapop,” I teased.
“This is what I get for baring my soul to you.”
About an hour later, Rad pulled into a dirt driveway off the Central Coast with an overarching sign that read “Eureka Equestrian.”
Rad parked the car, and we got out, making our way over to the log building up ahead. A teenage girl in riding gear sat behind a glass booth.
“Hi,” she said. The tag pinned to her shirt read “Sally.”
“Hi,” said Rad. “We’d like to book two horses for an hour.”
“Sure. That will be seventy-five each.”
Sally led us to the stables, where a burly man in a plaid red shirt was running a hard wire brush over a handsome black horse. He looked up as we approached.
“Two for an hour ride on the Bereewan Trail,” said Sally, motioning to us. She grabbed a couple of helmets that were hanging on the side of the stable and passed them over to me.
“That’s a good track, especially for a day like this,” he said in a low, gruff voice. “I’m Bill, by the way.”
“I’m Rad; this is Audrey.”
“Hi,” I said, strapping on my helmet.
“And this is Midnight.” He patted the side of the horse affectionately.
“He’s beautiful,” said Rad.
“He sure is. You two ridden before?”
“Yeah,” said Rad. “I used to ride almost every weekend.”
“Great,” Bill replied.
“I’m a little rusty,” I said.
Bill nodded. “Okay, then, Rad you take Midnight.” He handed the reins to Rad. “And for you, Audrey, I’ll go and get Molly. She’s a little old and slow.”
“Sounds good.”
Bill disappeared into the stable and came out a moment later with a white mare. She had large gray patches across her body and big, doleful eyes.
“So how long since your last ride?” asked Bill, as he threw a saddle across Molly’s back.
“Um, a couple years,” I lied.
“How often were you riding?”
“Not too often.”
“Do you remember the basics?”
“Uh, I might need a quick reminder.”
Bill buckled up the saddle and placed the bridle over Molly’s head. Then he pulled up a stepladder and placed it on the left side of her body.
“This is a mounting block,” he explained. “Just step up onto it, put your left leg in the stirrup, and swing yourself up over the horse.”
“Okay,” I said and followed his instructions.
“That’s the way,” Bill confirmed.
“Holy shit,” I said, when I was sitting in the saddle. The sudden height was giving me vertigo.
“Are you okay?” said Rad. He had already mounted without any assistance and was now sitting back in his saddle like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“I’d forgotten how tall horses are.”
Bill handed me the reins, and I took them with nervous hands. “Okay, so when you want Molly to start walking, sit straight up in your saddle, put your heels down, and squeeze gently.”
I did as he directed, and Molly moved into a slow walk. I let out a yelp, and Rad gave me a strange look.
“You sure you’ve ridden a horse before, Audrey?”
“Of course I have.”
“You’re doing good,” said Bill. “Now, if you want Molly to go right, pull on the right rein and hold. Same thing if you want to go left. Got it?”