“We like brave women,” Pappa said.
I smiled. “We do.”
“If we loop back, we’ll see her come back up the next line,” Jaz pointed.
Before she could finish, Dad took off in his powerchair.
“Good lord!” Jaz laughed. “That guy is having the time of his life.”
“I think we have officially sold him on the idea of one,” I said. “I can thank Betty for all of that. If I’d gotten him one, he would have said no.”
“That’s parents for you. Stubborn.”
Dad knew to follow the crowd. They nicely parted for him as we waited for Betty to come into view. Ahead of her, another rider on a big brown male horse—that Jaz confirmed was a gelding—barreled into a fence. He had the same dedicated expression.
“Now, are you going to tell me about Betty?” Dad asked, disapprovingly.
“What about Betty, Dad?”
“The obvious. And how the hell did you meet her?”
“She’s King Olav’s niece. Her father is his brother. We met at a bar five years ago and then again when she came toa show. I didn’t know who she was. In fact, I didn’t react well when I found out who she was. I had to grovel a bit over that.”
He raised his eyebrows. “And her parents? They are… okay with all of this?”
“Her parents don’t have any say. She’s twenty-nine, dad.”
He crossed his arms. “Uh-huh.”
Betty came uphill, steaming towards the hedge to our right. Her horse cleared it valiantly, ears pointed like an antenna towards the next fence. Betty navigated the big timber fence before us and the crowd erupted again—Pappa even louder than before.
“Hell yes!”
I chuckled. He loved competition. This brought out the best in him. I knew it tickled him to cheer on someone—anyone. He loved sport most.
“Back to start and finish.” Jaz pointed off in the distance.
This time, Dad waited, going at a moderate pace.
“I worry about you. I have not heard any of them were with women,” Dad said. “I don’t want you hurt.”
“Look, we’re trying to keep it under wraps,” I said. “But she’s already told a lot of her family. They’ve been really cool about. And her mom was raised by two moms. The main concern is she is hosting UniVox and she’s also been interviewed and followed around. It’s her official job right now. So, it doesn’t look good if we are dating. That’s the only reason we’re behaving ourselves.”
“Ah. And you believe that to be true?”
“She’s not a good liar,” I snickered. “So, yes. She’s effusive. I think that’s the American in her. I worried, too. I worried so much that she almost didn’t forgive me.”
“And now?”
“Now, I just want to be happy, Dad,” I said. “And I think she can make me happy.”
“Well, having an athlete in the family would make me happy.”
“Don’t put the cart before the horse,” I said as we settled at the finish.
With her camera, Jaz zoomed in on the final fence and Dad watched intently. We spotted the big grey horse coming back into view—up a slight hill.
“She’s hauling,” I noted. “Damn.”
