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I parked my car and got out to pull a slip of paper out from the open box, and when I slipped back into my car, I looked over the information. Four bedrooms, two and a half bath ranch-style home with a basement that sits on nine acres of land. Wrap-around porch, forced heating, central air conditioning, hardwood floors… the works.
“Someone really put a lot of work into this home,” I murmured to myself.
The home and property were trying to be sold for $200,000.00, but I could tell it had been on the market for a while. My eyes watered at the idea of Flynn experiencing the passing of his parents by himself, and it made me sick to my stomach with guilt. I should have been here to help him.
Jesus, I really needed to tell him what happened. I needed him to know it wasn’t his fault.
I needed him to know he didn’t chase me away.
I opened up my phone and called the only restaurant in town that I knew took reservations, and I made one for us for 7 o’clock tonight. I still wasn’t sure how I would get in touch with Flynn, but I was sure if I asked around town enough, I would figure it out. That’s th
e thing about a small town, you never really can hide from where you are and where you’ve gone.
Unless, of course, you up and leave without telling anyone except your parents in a note.
I tossed the piece of paper to the floor after I hung up my phone and I sped down the road towards the stables. I used to go there whenever I felt overwhelmed or needed to think, but the owner’s son knew Flynn from high school. If they still owned the barn and he was still working there, they might know where Flynn was, and I might be able to get in a relaxing ride before cleaning up and meeting Flynn tonight.
That is if he would come.
I weaved my way to the stable as if I had been there yesterday. I looked exactly as I remembered it: apple trees lined the half mile gravel driveway so the horses could have snacks while they were out to pasture. The grass was a lush green that could be seen for miles. My parents owned the second-largest piece of property to this stable. It sat on close to forty acres of rolling hills and land, and no matter how much the city tried to buy out some of their land, they simply paid the higher taxes and kept on going with their services. They provided everything anyone could possibly want when it came to horses and their care: boarding services, breeding services, grooming services, shoe services, and even training services. They gave lessons and had a partnership with my parents in the summer to help with the summer camps, and they even held horse shows and competitions so the local kids learning to ride horses could compete.
It was where I found my solace whenever I felt stressed during my days in high school or college, and I volunteered my time whenever I could in the summer to help out when I was a kid. I shoveled stalls, I brushed horses, and I even helped birth a few foals in my day, too.
My smile hurt my face as I pulled up to the stables, and the shaggy-haired boy I’d known throughout high school turned around with the face of a man plastered onto his neck.
“Well, I’ll be! Chelsea is that you!?”
I threw the car into park and barreled up the parking lot. I jumped into his arms, and he swung me around, and he held me for a while before he put me down.
“You ain’t been ‘round here in a while! How ya been!?” he asked. Bradley had always been such a good kid, even after losing his mom so young. His dad stepped up the best he could, and the two of them decided to open this place when he was in middle school. They dedicated it to her and everything. They always said this place had her soul: she loved apples in the fall and there was nothing she loved more than a horse in white. Every horse they ever purchased to own of their own volition either had white coats or white manes and tails, and it made me teary-eyed every time I thought about it.
“Thinkin’ ‘bout mom, aren’t ya?” Bradley asked.
“Sorry,” I sniffled.
“Don’t be. So! What brings you here? Wanting to take a ride?”
“Well, yes, and there’s something else,” I said.
“You wanna know where to find Flynn,” he smirked.
I felt my face flush before he held out his phone.
“Give it here.”
I watched him open it up and type something in, and when he turned it around, I realized he had put Flynn’s number in my phone. I looked up at him with tears in my eyes before taking the phone from him, and I slipped it back into my pocket before throwing my arms around his neck.
“I don’t know what happened with y’all, but call him. He’d be happy to see you.”
Lord, didn’t I know it.
“Any chance I can cash in that ride?” I murmured.
He led me out to the barn and showed me this beautiful white horse. His coat was white, and his mane and tail were black, and I could have sworn the horse had a mischievous smirk on his face.
“This here’s Oreo. Let’s get you saddled up, and you can take him out. He hasn’t been out yet today, so he’ll love you just for gettin’ him out of his stall.”
“You think I don’t remember how to put one of these on?” I asked. Bradley laughed while he saddled up Oreo, and when I swung my leg over, he whistled lowly before he turned to walk away.
