Page 19 of The End of Summer

“What happened?” Dad said.

“I’m not sure, Dad. It’s just a black and blue mark.”

“Let me see.” He held me back from him and studied my legs. I turned my left foot out to second-position-in-ballet to reveal some wicked nasty bruises that honestly, I should have known were there but wasn’t looking for in my mad dash to get to brunch on time.

He narrowed his eyes. “Who did this to you?” he growled.

“No, Daddy. I swear, nobody did this.”

“You know what this looks like? Annie, doyouknow what this looks like?”

“I swear I’m fine.”

“What does it look like, honey?” Mom asked.

“Assault,” my father announced.

My mother gasped.

Dad couldn’t stop there. Ever the chief, he continued to push. “So, then, you tell us how you got these bruises, before I –”

It’s hard to think on your feet when you’re exhausted. Which, I guess explained my answer. “Oh,Iknow. It must have been the horseback riding.”

“Horseback riding?” my dad raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. For Jenna’s birthday. A group of girls went horseback riding.”

“Isn’t Jenna born in April?” Mom wondered aloud.

“Wow – good memory, Ma. Um, yeah; it was a belated celebration. Very hard to coordinate schedules.”

“I don’t remember you saying anything about going horseback riding,” Mom replied.

“No? I could have sworn I told you.”

She shook her head. I immediately felt bad for making her so confused.

“And when was this little equine adventure?” my dad asked.

“Um,” I considered the color of the bruises. Bright purple. Means they were probably about three to four days old. The daughter of a cop knows details about things like this. My palms began to sweat. “Wednesday,” I said.

“Didn’t you have work?” Dad retorted.

“Yup, but I went in late,” I lied. “We did the ride first thing in the morning.”

“Trail ride?” he asked.This is becoming an inquisition,I thought.Best to shut it down as quickly as possible.

“Uh huh,” I replied, knowing the only way he’d let up was if I give him something to hang on to. “The horse’s name was Boomerang. The trail was in Sandwich. Afterwards we went to Café Chew for brunch. It was a really nice time. She loved it.”

“So, how did you get the bruises?” Dad asked, but his shoulders were no longer up by his ears, so I could tell he was relaxing a little.

“Must have been from mounting,” I went on. “My horse was super tall.”

Dad nodded, a touch of skepticism still firmly lodged in his expression.

Mom said, “Well, next time, be careful. It looks awful.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” I replied. We went about our meal then, but I made a mental note to just wear pants next time.

---