Chompin' at the Bit (Horse Play #2) (20 page)

“Good,” I said, smiling back at her as she handed me my cell phone. “I’ve actually got a few errands to do in town today, so I’m glad you’ll be busy with Lilah.” 

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What errands? We have enough feed. It can’t be an errand for the ranch, which can only mean it’s a personal errand, in which case I feel compelled to know—what with my birthday coming up this week and all. A birthday I specifically told you no party, no cake, and no presents for.” 

The woman was good at reading the situation and the people around her. However, I wasn’t ready to give up my plans for my afternoon, so I laughed it off, bending over to plant a soft kiss on the top of her head. “You’re being paranoid. I’m getting the oil changed in my bike.” 

“Oh. Well, okay then. Glad we came to an understanding,” she said, nodding her head once as if to affirm her point.

Little did she know … 

“All right, I’ll let you finish up here so you can meet up with April before Lilah gets here. I’ll see you in a bit.”  

Two hours later, Lilah’s red mustang pulled into the driveway. She parked in the parking alley on one side of the barn and climbed out. Smiling, I rushed over and pulled her into a hug. “It’s good to see you,” I told her, setting her back on her feet and noticing how tanned she was. 

“Lilah,” I heard Madison say behind me. “I’m so happy you came by today. Are you ready to go pick out your horse?” 

“Okay, you ladies have fun. I’m going to head into town for a bit. Call if you need anything.” Placing one last kiss on Madison’s lips, I jogged toward the house and hopped onto my bike. Her birthday wasn’t for another five days, but I planned to make it her best one yet. 

I made a few stops around town before the one little shop I came across earlier in the week. Smiling as I looked in through the window again, I pulled the door open and walked through the main foyer. I knew that it was a smaller, independently owned shop, and that was actually what I preferred. Had I gone to one of the bigger, well-known chains for this sort of thing, I would have been paying out the ass, and Madison would have none of that. She would prefer no money to be spent on her, but that wasn’t going to happen. 

I moved slowly through the aisles between the clean glass cases, peering in and admiring everything I saw. While I knew what I was doing went against what Madison said about birthday gifts, there was a part of me that wanted this to show her just how serious I was about us. It was the next logical step in our relationship. 

Everything I looked at varied in size, color, and shape. I had a basic idea what I was looking for, but nothing was really popping out at me. When I was in town earlier that week, I really liked what I saw in the window display, but they had since changed it. I was suddenly regretful for not making my purchase then. 

“Can I help you?” a woman asked from behind me. 

Turning quickly, I smiled. “Yeah. I’m looking for something for my girlfriend.” It suddenly occurred to me that, while that’s exactly what Madison was now, it was the first time I’d ever said it out loud. I liked hearing it. 

“Big step. Been together long?” the sales lady asked. 

“Just a few weeks,” I replied, looking back into one of the glass showcases. “Actually, I walked by on Tuesday, and I really liked the ones you had in the window.” 

Her eyes brightened. “Come with me, they’re closer to the back. I’m Rhonda, by the way.” 

“Jensen,” I replied.

As she led me farther into the store, I couldn’t help my eyes from taking in all of my other options. I would have bought out the entire store if I could afford it … and if I knew with absolute certainty that Madison wouldn’t kick my ass into next week. Of course, as soon as my eyes fell upon what I initially came here for, all of the others were forgotten. 

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” the woman asked. 

“Very,” I said, kneeling down to get a closer look at them all. It was hard to decide; other than their varying sizes, they were pretty much identical, and I could see Madison with any one of them. 

After a lot of contemplation and holding each one to inspect and get a feel for them, I made my decision. “So, would it be too much trouble to pay today and come back Thursday? It’s for her birthday, and it’s hard to keep anything from her.” 

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll mark it ‘sold,’ and you can come by whenever. Just make sure you have your receipt in case I’m not in when you come back.” She handed me my credit card and receipt after marking down the details of our arrangement. “It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Davis.” 

“Thanks, Rhonda. I’ll see you next week.” Feeling good about Madison’s birthday gift, I exited the quaint little shop, excited to present Madison with my little surprise. 

It was a big step, but I was more than ready to take it.

Chapter 18. Mending Burned Bridges

A
fter Jensen left Lilah and me alone, I turned back to her with an elated grin. “So, let’s go find you a horse.” Lilah beamed, falling into step with me as we went into the barn. “When’s the last time you rode?” 

“Oh, it’s been years,” she replied, her eyes roaming around the expanse of the facility. “This place is huge! I mean, I knew it had to be from what Jensen said, but I just never imagined … It’s amazing.” 

Before grabbing a couple of halters and leads, I showed Lilah around. I took her into the viewing gallery where we each grabbed a soda from the fridge and sat to watch a bit of Jillian’s lesson. Lilah was completely enraptured by the experienced class as they maneuvered around the small indoor hunter course. 

“I’ll have to make sure you’re here next time we use the cross-country course. There are uphill banks, a drop fence, and a few corner rails. I even convinced my dad to have a coffin put in.” Lilah’s head snapped to me, a completely horrified look on her face, and I laughed. “Oh no! A
‘
coffin’ is an obstacle found in a lot of cross-country courses. You go over the first hill, and at the bottom of it is this ditch—usually filled with water—and the horse has to jump it before climbing a second hill. It’s actually pretty fun.” 

“Well, they should call that a ‘ditch’ then. ‘Coffin’ sounds dark and ominous,” Lilah joked, returning her eyes to the lesson and taking a sip from her soda can. 

“Actually, there is a ditch obstacle, but it’s totally different. We have one of those, too. Seriously, I’ll have to show you one day.” I loved that Lilah seemed to be taking an active interest in my line of work. While I knew she had past experience with horses, as Jensen did, it was exciting to help her remember how much fun the sport could be. 

When the lesson ended, Lilah and I made our way back to the barn. “I think I’ll put you on Starla. She’s young, but she’s incredibly well-tempered; I think you two will complement each other nicely.” 

I led Lilah out to Halley and Starla’s shared paddock. After catching Starla, I handed her off to Lilah and caught Halley. We took them to the outdoor hitching post and Lilah came inside with me where we grabbed my brushes. As I brushed Halley for a second time that day, her coat gleaming in the sun from her bath earlier, I had to smile every time I’d catch a glimpse of Lilah with Starla. She was talking to her and would laugh freely whenever Starla would nudge her with her muzzle. This would cause Lilah to lose her balance and stumble a few steps back time and time again.

Once the mares were brushed, Lilah and I went back into the barn to drop off the grooming equipment and grab our tack. I showed Lilah where Starla’s saddle and bridle were before grabbing my own personal equipment, and we met back outside. 

“Okay!” I exclaimed, making the last adjustment to Halley’s girth before going over to check Starla’s. “I’m just going to make sure it’s tight enough. Starla can be tricky; she hates a tight girth, so she puffs out her lungs making you think it’s tight. Then, as soon as you get on, she expels the air and the saddle slips. I’m sure
she
thinks it’s hilarious.” 

I lifted the left saddle flap and gripped the girth strap closest to Starla’s shoulder before leaning into her lightly. I waited a beat, and when I saw her breathe out, I pulled the strap upward, smiling victoriously. Now that that strap was tightened, she wouldn’t be able to fight the second one. Tricky horse. 

“There you go. Do you need a leg up?” 

Lilah pulled her stirrups down the leathers, measuring them against the length of her arms to make sure they were right for her height and hummed. “Umm, no. I think I can manage.”

I was a firm believer that riding a horse was a lot like riding a bicycle; if you had done enough of it earlier in your life, it could be permanently engrained into you and should come almost as naturally as breathing. Seeing Lilah mount up in one graceful movement only proved my theory—that or she was just as perfect as her brother. Actually, that was probably
exactly
it. 

Within minutes, Lilah and I were on the trails. The ride to the river was about forty-five minutes long, giving Lilah and me a lot of time to talk. She told me all about her honeymoon—well, maybe not
all about
. I didn’t need to hear about the sex parts … even though I was fairly certain Kyle would have found a way to talk all about it if he were here. 

“We stayed in Athens,” Lilah said. “It’s absolutely stunning. On the first day, Kyle and I went to Acropolis … Jensen was right. It was breathtaking.” 

“Jensen’s been to Greece?” Was that jealousy in my voice? Why, yes. I believed it was. 

Lilah nodded beside me. “Yeah, he backpacked all through Europe fresh out of high school.” 

“Did he go alone?” Yeah, that bitchy, green-eyed monster was starting to rear her ugly head; sometimes I just couldn’t contain her. 

Lilah inhaled deeply and shook her head. “Mmmm. Nope. Not alone.” It didn’t take me long to decipher the tone in her voice as one of disgust. It was then that I realized that Jensen didn’t travel Europe with a
woman
, but he likely went with Robert. 

Neither of us said anything else, letting the awkwardness fill the air between us for a moment before the steady rush of water could be heard as we neared the Tennessee River. Until Jensen introduced me to our little picnic paradise, this used to be my favorite place. There was nothing more calming than the sound of the water or the way the breeze would pick up the clean, fresh scent and wash it over you. 

“Oh wow,” Lilah said breathlessly. “This is beautiful.” 

Taking a deep sigh of contentment, I nodded my agreement. “Do you want to walk along the bank of the river for a bit? Just, you know, enjoy the scenery.” After nodding, Lilah and I urged our horses along the riverbank, walking side-by-side and talking. 

“So, Mom and Dad haven’t stopped talking about you since the wedding.” 

I could feel my cheeks warming, and I tried to keep the silly smirk off my face. “I’m sure you’re exaggerating.” 

“No, really,” Lilah told me with conviction. “And actually, I’d like to apologize.”

Stunned, I looked at her as my eyebrows pulled together. “Apologize? For what?” 

“Uh, because I’m a raging bitch?” Lilah snorted, and I laughed in response.

“Not at all!” I declared. “Why would you even say that?”

Lilah rolled her eyes, suddenly serious. “Come on, after how I treated you when we first met? I was a bitch, and I shouldn’t have been.” 

I shook my head, my eyes falling to my hands, which were tightly gripped around Halley’s reins. “No. I understood. You were friends with her. That’s where you felt your loyalties should have been. I was the new girlfriend and a threat to them getting back together.”

“See, but that’s just it. I
knew
they would never get back together,” Lilah said surely as we walked out from under a canopy of low-hanging branches and into the sun. “He was so angry with her when they broke up. I honestly thought it was about his time away. I thought she was going through hell while he was locked up, when in reality she brought everything on herself. God, he must hate me for taking her side all this time.” 

“Not at all. He thought he was protecting you from more—” With a strangled squeak, I cut myself off from finishing that sentence. I wasn’t sure if Lilah knew just how deep my knowledge of her past stemmed, and I didn’t want her to be upset with Jensen for telling me. 

Her curiosity had already been piqued, however. “More what?” I shook my head, trying to brush off her probing question and redirect her focus. But, like her brother, she was stubborn. She halted Starla and kept her eyes locked on me.