Page 49 of A Tinsel Tale

I wave to Danny as he pulls out of Parkers’ drive. He grins and flashes me a thumbs up. I avoid a few ruts in the drive, making a mental note to fill them. I park then make my way to the barn and find that Evie has the horses saddled and almost ready to go. She’s wearing a blue fitted down vest over a thick white sweater and blue jeans. She left her hair loose and it cascades out from under a blue knit ski cap. “Hey beautiful,” I say. “Looks like you got a head start.”

“Hey there,” she says while tightening Randy’s cinch. “Randy likes to puff out when I’m saddling him, so I had to adjust his cinch. This guy’s a smart one. Danny helped me tack up. He just left.”

“Yeah, I passed him coming in.”

When she finally looks up her eyes are full of heat and awareness.Mm. After yesterday things seem more intimate. I can see our lives intersecting and blending. The caveat is she’ll be heading back to Chicago and leaving me behind. Then what? I spend too many nights fantasizing about a future together. I’m royally fucked.

I stride forward and wrap my arms around her waist and gaze down into her incredible emerald eyes. Rubbing my nose across the tip of hers I say, “I thought noon would never get here.”

Biting her bottom lip, she nods. “Me too.” She closes her eyes and leans into me.

Bending down, I press my lips to hers. “Yum,” I murmur. “You taste like apples.”

“The horses had to share,” she says on a giggle.

“Breakfast of champions.”

“Something like that. Is Hux coming along?”

“Yeah. I assume we’re not doing anything too crazy.”

“Nope, mostly walk, trot… slow and easy. I figure we’ll be gone for about an hour or less. Sound good?”

“You’re the trail blazer. Where you go, I follow,” I say, sounding dead serious. She looks away then squirms out of my arms.Alrighty then. Guess we’re not going there today.

She hops onto Bunny gracefully and I mount Randy. “Ready Hux?” He lets out two sharp barks. Evie clicks her tongue and Bunny steps out of the barn and into the bright winter day. The sky is a brilliant cerulean blue, the air crisp and clean. The dusting of snow covering the ground from last night is untouched. Randy snorts as we start down the trail, falling in line behind Bunny. Hux takes off ahead of us, disappearing into the trees.

There’s a hush as we enter the woods, everything quiet, except for Huxley running through the underbrush and the horses’ footfalls crunching over dried leaves and fallen twigs. All the trees have been stripped of their colorful fall foliage, so we have a clear view of the lake as we ride along the parallel path.

There’s something holy about riding a horse out in nature. It’s not only the bounty of our surroundings. It’s the unspoken communication magically transmitted between horse and rider that either makes or breaks trust. I struggle for the right words to express the intangible. I respect the fact that this animal knows more about what’s going on in the moment than I ever could.

“Feels like we’re in church,” I settle on.

“Yeah. That’s a good way to describe it,” Evie replies. “I always feel cleansed of my sins after a ride, like I’ve unpacked a load of sorrow and regret and left them on the trails.”

I nod my head in agreement. “Renewed,” I add. Randy grunts and farts when we step over a log, and I chuckle. “I’m not that bad, am I Randy?” I joke.

Evie laughs and turns in her saddle to look back at me. “He’s out of shape. Pure and simple. Don’t take it personal.”

I pat his muscular neck. “He seems to be enjoying it as much as I am,” I say.

“I think they get bored too,” she says.

I’ve lost sight and sound of Hux, so I whistle and immediately hear him crashing through the woods. “Good boy,” I say as he sidles up next to us, tongue lolling. “You’d better not be rolling in any scat.” Evie’s warm laughter ripples through me.

She brings Bunny to a halt and we stop a few feet behind her. “Hux stay,” she commands, pointing out several deer some distance ahead. Hux understands the assignment and freezes, eyes locked on the deer. They see us and stand stock still, staring back at us. The only thing moving are their large ears, like receivers trying to pick up alien transmissions. The horses snort and puff, Bunny takes a couple of nervous side steps. Evie’s steady, soothing tone quickly deescalates the situation and the deer finally scamper away, white tails pointed high in the air.

“What a good boy you are, Huxley,” Evie croons. His tail wags and he looks like he’s smiling.

“He’s a glutton for praise,” I say.

“Aren’t we all,” she replies.

“Ah… giving away your secrets. I’m taking notes. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, do you still eat the filling of your Oreos before the cookie part?”

“Are you part elephant? How do you remember this stuff?” she jokes. “Hm… well I think the last time I ate an Oreo was in college and yes, it’s the only way to get the full experience.”

She continues, “Speaking of burning questions, do you still put one sock and shoe on one foot before moving on to the other one?”

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