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“She’s growing on me.” I grabbed my riding crop from by the door and smacked Ali’s butt lightly, not hard enough to hurt her. “Come on, Sis, race you to the barn.”
Ali yelped and rubbed her ass dramatically, then took off at a sprinter’s pace.
It wasone of those October days that felt like summer. Ali leaned her face back to take in the sun. “We used to call hot autumn days like these days Augtober.” She laughed.
“It sure is beautiful today.” I was sweating underneath my tweed jacket.
We had flown through the fields, our hair flying behind us. I finally felt free and alive, the stress of the team and my disappointment in Gunnar melting away as the powerful horses’ legs thundered on the ground beneath us. We settled into a canter and led the horses to the river. I’d wanted to avoid the cabin, but the little beach by the willow tree was the best place for the horses to get a drink.
I hung my jacket in the tree, and Ali and I slipped off our riding boots and waded into the river. “It’s freezing,” she squealed.
“What did you expect? It’s October.” I kicked some water at her. She put her hand up to her face and then bent over and sent a tidal wave at me with her hands. My button up shirt was completely soaked but I didn’t care. “You’re like the sister I never had.” It wasn’t the first time that I’d said those words to her, and she moved to hug me. I laughed and kicked more water at her. “The annoying sister.”
“And you’re the bossy sister I never wanted.” Ali skipped to the shore and sat on the bank. “Come on. Have a seat, Sis.” She patted the grass beside her.
I shook my feet and then joined her. “What a day.” I leaned back onto my elbows.
We let the silence sit, welcome between us, until it was broken by the caw of a raven. “Everleigh, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” I still hadn’t opened my eyes and was basking in the sunshine.
“Can you tell me the truth about the guy you were seeing?”
I waited for a second and then sat up. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve gotten to know you pretty well, and I can tell when you’re not telling me the whole story. And, I don’t know…” She dug her toes into the sand. “I can tell that there’s something bothering you, and it hurts my heart to see you like this.”
I was lost for words, and that didn’t happen often. I picked at a piece of grass and then blew it from my fingertips. “I want to tell you, I really do. But if I did…”
“Let me guess.” Ali laughed. “You’d have to kill me.”
“Worse.”
Ali raised her eyebrows. “Worse than that?”
“If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell Colton.”
“Oh.” Ali’s voice was quiet. “We don’t keep secrets.”
“I know.” I stood. “And I love that about you two. I don’t want to put you in that kind of a position.”
“Wait.” Ali grabbed my wrist. “Sit down. I feel like you need to get this off your chest. As long as you’re not sleeping with someone on the team, I promise I won’t tell Colton.”
My face must have given me away.
“Oh my God, Everleigh. Who?”
“Shit.” I stood and shook my hands. “I have to tell someone.”
Ali took a deep breath. “You can tell me, but with the caveat that you will tell Colton someday. And you have to tell him that you swore me to secrecy with the threat of death. He’ll believe it.”
“How did my brother get so lucky?” I inhaled and sat down next to Ali. The story poured out of me – everything from our first kiss to the shitty text he’d sent. I even pulled out my cell phone to show her the message.
Ali squinted in the sunlight at the screen on my phone. “It’s not that bad.” She shrugged.
“Not that bad?” I reread his text.
I guess you’re done slumming it. Thanks for ruining my career.
