“Uh-huh.”
“If you want to go into a slow trot, give the old girl another squeeze and lift your butt off the saddle. If you want her to stop, sit down in the saddle and pull gently on both reins. She will also respond to ‘whoa.’”
“Okay.”
Bill let me walk Molly around the paddock until he was satisfied I knew what I was doing.
“Now, come to a stop,” he said.
I sat down into the saddle, pulled back gently on the reins, and said, “Whoa.” Molly came to a halt.
“Good,” Bill smiled. “All right, then, you’re all set to go.”
About ten minutes into our ride, I was actually enjoying myself. I had gotten used to the height and the motion as we bounced along in a slow trot. The scenery around us was stunning. A dense forest edged the trail and paved it with dappled light. Birds chirped in the eaves above us, and in the distance, we heard the faint roar of crashing waves.
“This was a good idea,” said Rad, as though reading my thoughts.
My horse, Molly, let out a snort. “She agrees.”
Rad smiled at me. “So how come you’ve got the weekend free? What’s your boyfriend up to?”
“He’s away at a seminar. W-Y-S-A.” I spelled it out. “It stands for World Youth Success Academy.”
“Sounds kind of like Star Trek.”
“You’re not that far off, actually. It preaches a holistic, new age kind of ideology. There’s, like, a career element to it, but most of it has to do with how you run your life—from your mind-set, spiritual values, even down to your diet—it almost borders on theology.”
“You seem pretty clued in.”
“I looked them up when Duck was trying to convince me to join.”
“Sounds kind of cultish, doesn’t it?”
“A little,” I admitted. “Hence the research. I was actually thinking of doing a story on it. I pitched it at one of our meetings, but my editor, Sam, says it’s been done to death.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that your boyfriend is involved with them?”
“No. Duck’s mainly there for the career side of things.”
“And he’s doing all this on top of his law degree?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Wow, busy guy. I’ve only got a book to write, and I’m having trouble with that.”
“You’re working on another book already?”
“I kind of have to if I want to keep paying rent.”
“But I thought Snowflake was selling by the truckload. I mean, I saw a copy sitting in the window of Ariel.”
“The book industry is a lot smaller than everyone thinks,” said Rad. “I’m barely covering my living expenses.”
“Oh. I thought you were set for life.”
He laughed. “Not even close. The Elliott Tate nomination has helped, but I have a long way to go.”
“So what’s the new book about?”
“To be honest, I don’t know. I saw a documentary a couple months back about bees and how they’ve been dying out in masses.”
“I read an article about that the other day.”
“It’s really sad. They’re like a barometer of our ecosystem. It’s just one of the major signs that we’re screwing it up.”
“Do you know why they’re dying?”
“Probably a combination of things like pesticides, predators like wasps, global warming. Bees pollinate a lot of our crops, so we’re pretty screwed if they die out completely.”
“Yeah.” I glanced over at Rad, who was staring straight ahead, his expression serene. He had on the same shirt he wore that night at Blues Point. I remembered his arms around me, the way his warm skin felt against my cheek. I’d thought about that night a lot, and now he was here and I longed to be that close to him again.
He caught me looking at him and smiled. I turned away quickly.
“So how is work going for you?”
“It’s going great. Your article is coming along well, so Sam is giving me lots of new assignments. She’s happy with my progress and says I could be up for a promotion soon.”
We came to a turn where the trail was only wide enough for one horse to pass through. Rad held back and let me go in front of him. I tugged the rein gently with my right hand when, all of a sudden, a small gray blur shot out in front of us.
“What the hell—” I began. Then Molly let out a whinny and reared. I screamed, pulling frantically on the reins. “Whoa!” I cried as she broke into a gallop. “Rad! What do I do?”
“Audrey,” I saw a flash of him in my peripheral, reaching out toward me. “Hang on!”
My heart was going a million miles per hour. “Oh my God!” I shrieked when Molly bounded forward at lightning speed, turning everything around me into a blur. The forest cleared, and, before I knew it, we were on sand, racing toward the waves. My saddle was coming loose, and I could hear Rad’s horse, Midnight, galloping behind me.
“Audrey! Let go of the reins,” he called.
“Are you kidding me?” I screamed back.
“Get your feet out of the stirrups and let go of the reins. Do it! Now!”
“Shit!” I cried. I kicked my legs free and let go of the reins, my stomach lurching as I was thrown off the back of my horse. I tumbled onto the sand and came to an abrupt standstill. As I strained to sit up, I saw Molly bolting off back the way we came.
Rad came to a stop and looked down at me from his horse. “Audrey, are you okay?” he asked, breathing hard.
“I think so. God, my butt is killing me.”
Rad dismounted and came over to me. I saw a hint of laughter in his eyes when they met mine.
“Glad you think this is funny,” I said, wincing.
“I’m sorry,” he said, holding his hand out to me. “But you look so cute with your helmet dangling from your head like that.”
I took his hand, and he pulled me up. “Never again. From now on I’m sticking to merry-go-rounds.”
He looked at me, a strange expression on his face.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he shook his head and smiled.
“No, seriously, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just what you said about merry-go-rounds. You’re the only person I know who would say something like that.” He grinned at me and shrugged. “I just like how your mind works; that’s all.”
I was taken aback by the compliment and wasn’t sure how to respond. I looked at my feet and smiled.
“So have you fallen off a horse before?” I asked.
“Sure, lots of times.”
I stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” he gave me a look. “You’ve never ridden a horse before, have you?”
“No,” I admitted.
“Audrey, why would you lie about that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I figured I could pick it up as I went along.”
“You are ridiculous. You could have been seriously hurt. Luckily, you had a soft landing.”
“What the hell happened, anyway?”
“I think a rabbit ran out onto the trail. It must have startled your horse.”
I sighed. “We’re miles away from anywhere. What the hell are we going to do now?”
“Do you have your phone on you?”
“No, I put it in the saddlebag.”