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“Will you help me with my problem?” he asked, a smile fluttering on his lips and tingeing his voice.
There was only one thing she could do, although she was dreading it already, seeing he was slowing down, ready to take the exit for his place. “Sure, partner, why not?”
They drove the rest of the way to his place in a loaded, tense silence as Kay braced herself for what was about to happen. He’d insisted she meet Miranda before, and that was probably what he was planning to do, although she couldn’t think of a reason why that would help.
When they arrived, the house seemed empty. No lights were on, although the sun had passed over the tree line and was about to set. Shadows were long, as long as the seconds that dragged on forever, fraying Kay’s nerves.
He got out of the SUV and beckoned her to follow him. She did, struggling to keep her heart steady and her face relaxed, when she was cringing inside. If she were that woman, and her partner dragged some thirty-year-old blonde from work to meet her after staying late every day? She’d be at her throat in no time flat.
Surprisingly, Elliot walked around the house and headed toward the fenced acreage he called a backyard. He lived in a small farmhouse, placed on a couple of acres of lush pasture. The house was just as dark in the back, but he kept on walking until he left it behind, heading for the barn.
“Wait here,” he said, “it’s dark inside.”
He unlocked the barn and walked in. Moments later, he came out, holding a horse by the reins.
“Kay, this is Miranda.” He patted the horse’s neck, then whispered next to the animal’s ear. “Miranda, this is Kay.”
Relief flushed over her, bringing tears in her eyes. She laughed out loud. “Miranda is a horse? I thought—”
“Yeah, I know.” He looked at her with a hint of that secret amusement in his eyes.
All this time she’d been fuming over his secret woman, and he knew exactly what was going on. She wanted to strangle him, but it wasn’t his fault. He’d offered to introduce her to Miranda the first time she’d visited.
“May I?” she gestured toward the horse. She was beautiful, his Miranda, a reddish-brown color with a white star on her head. She was snorting and sniffing the air toward her, then she nodded once, slowly, as if saying hello.
“Let me read you your Miranda rights,” he said, smiling widely. “You have the right to visit her whenever you’d like. You have the right to ride her, and feed her an apple a day, to keep the horse doctor away. You have the right to bring her baby carrots, she loves those.”
Kay laughed again, approaching the horse. She held her hand out, letting the fine animal sniff her, then touched the side of her neck, scratching gently. The horse drew near and looked at her without blinking.
“May I ride her? Really?” She couldn’t stop laughing at herself, at how foolish she’d been.
“Yes, really, if you’re up to it.” He put Miranda’s reins in her hand and went inside the barn, then returned with a saddle. He put it on the horse’s back and tightened the girths. Then he looked at her for a long moment. “And you have the right to always tell me what’s wrong.”
She lowered her head, ashamed, feeling her cheeks on fire, afraid he’d see right through her. Probably that moment had passed already, or she wouldn’t be there. For a beat, she wished he would sweep her off her feet and melt her heart with a kiss.
He didn’t move, and she was left waiting, wanting, until she finally pulled away, then resumed scratching Miranda’s neck. “I thought, because the night lamp was on the other side of the bed, and the sheets were, um, never mind,” she laughed.
“You assumed, when there was no real evidence.” He patted the saddle. “Here, hop on. Have you done this before?”
“When I was eight, my mom took me for a pony ride for my birthday,” she admitted humbly. “I might fall. She’s tall.”
“She’s also very gentle, she won’t throw you off. Hold the reins, yes, like that. Grab this, it’s called the horn.” He pointed at the front of the saddle at something that looked like a vertical handle. “Right hand on the back of the saddle. Left foot here.”
She slipped her left foot into the stirrup, hopping in place on one foot as the horse moved and feeling ridiculous. She wasn’t going to make it. “I—let’s not—”
“Now pull yourself up as if jumping over a big hurdle. Shift your weight over to your left foot, then straighten it and throw your right leg over her rump.”
Too embarrassed to back down, she did as instructed and felt his strong hands on her waist helping her, his touch setting her blood on fire. She settled into the saddle and grinned widely, taking the reins and gently pulling them. The world looked different from the back of a horse, and she loved every moment of it.
“Remember, she’s very gentle,” Elliot added, giving her a head-to-toe look with unspoken pride in his eyes. “Now, hold the reins like this, between the pinkie and the ring finger, and then put your thumbs up top. You get excellent control like that. Don’t pull the reins, or she’ll walk backward. Just straighten your back, nice and tall, and squeeze her with your legs a little when you’re ready to go.”
She did, and Miranda set off in motion slowly. After a few steps, she pulled the reins just a little, and she stopped. Thrilled, she beamed at Elliot. “Do I get to say yeehaw?”
He walked over and stopped by her side.
She leaned forward slightly, patting the side of Miranda’s neck and getting familiar with how it felt to be in the saddle. “What?” she asked, seeing how he was looking at her. There was an intensity in his gaze, something she’d never seen before.
“You’re missing something,” he said, then took off his hat and put it on her head.
* * *
