Chapter Seventeen

Travis

I stared at Harper as she walked away and wondered what I had said wrong. For a second I thought she might actually be flirting with me, but then all of a sudden she was gone. I replayed the conversation over and over again in my head, but I had no idea where it had all gone wrong. I hadn’t had a girlfriend for a while though so perhaps I was just losing my touch. Either that or Harper was actually interested in me but didn’t like the fact that I lived out in the middle of nowhere. Was I too lower class for her? Not that I was. But she had no idea what I really did for a living. I hadn’t lied to her yet, but I was certainly leading her on. I still wasn’t sure why I hadn’t told the group who I really was, but I actually enjoyed them all thinking that I lived there. If Harper was going to judge me for that, then I wasn’t sure I wanted to get to know her anyway. I shook my head. I had no idea if she was even thinking that. Maybe she just didn’t find me attractive.

I closed up the stable, forgetting all about how I’d found it open not so long ago, and headed back to the house with my head filled with thoughts of Harper. What was it about her that I found so appealing? She was beautiful, but so was Jillian. Every one of the other women in the group was attractive. But I just didn’t find myself drawn to them like I did when I was around Harper. There was something about her. It was magnetic.

By the time I got back to the house, I felt a bit better. I was going to try and get to know Harper a bit more and see where it led. If it didn’t lead anywhere then at least I could say I tried. Once again, when I closed my eyes that night, I found myself dreaming of her, and when I woke up, I couldn’t get her out of my head.

I enjoyed a hearty breakfast with Allison and Mike again. I decided not to tell them about the open door or the evening stroll with Harper. The one would make them concerned, and the other would make them tease me. I would just keep an eye on the stable at night and see if anything funny was happening. But I couldn’t imagine what. The animals were all safe, and nothing seemed to be missing. So it was probably just a case of someone forgetting to lock. Who knew, maybe it was even me. My mind had been a little distracted lately.

“So, are you boys looking forward to today?” Allison asked.

“Aren’t you coming with?” I asked. We were going on a full day horse ride, and I assumed it was something she would join with. Allison was a natural with the horses. We’d always called her the horse-whisperer.

She shook her head. “Not this time. I have too much going on around here. But I’m sure it will be fun. You think the group is going to enjoy it?”

“Yeah, I think so. They were pretty good at their first lesson. Well, except for Jillian. She wasn’t all that good. But I’m sure she’ll be fine with it today. She probably just has to get over the fear. I don’t know about you, Travis, but I was pretty surprised about Jackson. The guy wasn’t too bad up there. I had horrible visions of him falling off.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I thought the same thing. I think we all thought the same thing,” I said as I thought of the conversation I’d had with Harper. “I’m glad though. The guy seems to be loving his time here. I think he would’ve been super disappointed if he hadn’t been any good.”

“He’s driving me a bit mental with all the questions, but he’s certainly very excited to be here. I hope he gives us a glowing recommendation.”

“He better after all we’ve put up with,” I said between mouthfuls.

Allison laughed. “Oh dear. I have a feeling I’ll be better off staying here today. I hope you come back with lots of stories.”

“We always do,” Mike said.

After breakfast, Mike and I headed out to the ranch to meet the group. They all looked very excited, except for Jillian who just looked like she was going to throw up. I knew she was going to need a lot more attention than the rest of the group. I pulled Mike aside and told her that we were going to have to take it easy for her, so he suggested that he rode up front while I brought up the rear in case someone needed help. Harper, despite being even better her second time on a horse, stayed close behind too just to be with her friend. I thought that was nice of her because she could’ve easily have ridden up front with Mike if she wanted to.

“I’m just terrible at this,” Jillian said as we got going.

“No, you’re not. Don’t worry. Try and relax. The more you relax, the more the horse will relax.”

“Easier said than done,” she mumbled. Unfortunately, she didn’t take my advice at all and seemed to stiffen as the ride went on. The problem was that the tension was making her horse tense too and I had a horrible feeling she was going to fall off. Horse riding was not nearly as scary as some people seemed to think it was. It had more to do with creating a bond with the horse than anything else. This was the problem with Jillian. You could tell just by looking at her that she wanted to be anywhere other than on the horse, and I was certain that the horse could sense it. I felt bad for her though. It wasn’t as easy for some people as it was for others.

I had been looking forward to a nice day out with the group, but I couldn’t even talk to anyone for fear of Jillian falling. I tried to talk to Harper a few times, but I could see that she was just as worried. Every time we tried to talk, Jillian would call for help and Harper would go see to her. Harper was a very good friend to her, and I could see that the two of them were close. I still wondered what brought the two of them to the ranch together. It seemed like such an unlikely thing for them to want to do together. I wondered if they had simply had too much to drink one day and booked the experience because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Sort of like what I had done when I had told Mike I would stay for a month.

“Are you sure I’m not going to fall off?” Jillian asked for about the hundredth time.

“You’re good. I promise. You’re holding on nicely. You’re going to be fine. And we’re taking a nice slow ride today, so there’s no need to panic at all. Just try to relax and enjoy yourself.” I had a feeling this was going to be the longest day of poor Jillian’s life.

“You’re doing great,” Harper said with forced enthusiasm.

“You are,” I said too and I hoped it didn’t sound like we were being patronizing. Thankfully she didn’t seem to notice because she was too busy trying not to fall off.

Barry, one of the other guys in the group, slowed down until he was next to Jillian. He was a nice guy, a bit quieter than some of the others, but easy to talk to once you got the conversation going. He was also from New York and seemed to have taken a shining to Jillian. Not in a sexual way, but in a paternal sort of way. He looked to be about ten to fifteen years her senior, but I got the impression he saw her like his daughter. His wife was a wonderful woman too, and she was out front talking away with Mike like a pro. She had no problem with Barry talking to Jillian. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had urged him to do so. Perhaps she also saw Jillian as a daughter. There was something about her that made you want to protect her.

“How about I ride with you?” he said to her.

“Thank you, Barry, that’s so nice of you. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m terrified. I don’t want to hold you back though just because I’m scared. I know you’re good at this.”

“You’re scared? Really? You don’t look it. You look way better at me when I first went for a ride.”

“No way,” she said. “I’m sure it’s pretty obvious to everyone that I’m awful at this. I saw you on the horse. You were excellent.”

“Ah, but that wasn’t my first time. I’ve been riding for about a year already. And it took me a long time to feel as confident as I do now. So you really shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. And trust me, nobody is laughing at you. Everyone is too concerned about how they are doing. Anyway, my first time was petrifying, and yes, I also fell off.”

“You did?”

“Yep. And it wasn’t as much of a soft landing as it was for you. It was pretty rough.”

“Oh no, what happened?”

“I landed on my shoulder and had to get rushed to the hospital. It was terrible. It was so sore, and I was trying to be so brave about it, but I felt like such an idiot at the time. Also, I was with a bunch of kids who all burst out laughing when they saw it happen. They were also riding for the first time and had absolutely no problems at all. I was mortified.”

“And yet you’re still riding,” I chimed in.

Barry looked back and grinned at me. “For sure. I couldn’t get beaten by a bunch of kids. The fact that they laughed at me made me want to prove them wrong even more. So as soon as I was better, I went back out there. I was terrible the second time too and probably even more frightened, but I was also even more determined. And honestly, Jillian, I’m not just saying this, but I really started to love it. Once I got over the fear I realized that it’s so much fun. And as Travis says, the more you relax, the more the horse relaxed and the easier this is.”

Harper slowed down so that she was beside me and we let Barry and Jillian talk. He was a good calming influence over her, which was just what she needed. I reminded myself to thank him later. It was nice of him to come and talk to her.

“Having fun?” I said to Harper.

She smiled and looked at Barry talking to Jillian before nodding. “I am now.”

“You’re doing well. You don’t have to ride next to me though. I don’t want to hold you back. Although it is nice to have the company.” I had to quickly at that part in because I didn’t want her to think I didn’t want her there. I wanted nothing more than to ride next to her.

“Nah, I like it here,” she said, and for a brief moment, I wondered if she was flirting with me. It was hard to tell with Harper. I was still confused about her running off the other night after we’d clearly had a good conversation. She hadn’t said anything about it the next time I saw her and things had gone back to normal.

“You’re doing well, Harper. You really are a natural. I know I keep saying that but it’s only because it’s true. You have ridden before, haven’t you? You’re just messing with me, hey?”

She laughed. “I haven’t. I promise you. But keep saying that to me. I like the compliments. And I’m glad I got Thunder again. Maybe he’s the reason why I’m so good.”

“Well, no matter what the reason, you shouldn’t stop. You’re great. It would be a waste for someone with your horse riding talent to give it up. Even if you don’t want to do riding out here, then you should look at it when you’re back home. You can even do equestrian events if that is more your style.”

She chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think I’m high class enough to be an equestrian, although it’s nice that you think I am.”

That made me laugh. I looked at her and shook my head. “You know, not all that long ago you were feeling uneasy being here, telling me that horse riding was too rural and not the sort of thing you normally do. Now you’re out here riding like a pro and complaining that the whole thing is too urbane and sophisticated for you. You’re very contradictory and very confusing. You know that?” And very intriguing, I wanted to add but instead kept that part to myself.

“Well, I am a complex woman full of contradictions. I even confuse myself sometimes.”

I laughed, and the two of us continued to talk easily with one another. After a bit more riding, Mike stopped up at the front and waiting for the rest of the group to stop too. As we did, I turned to look at Harper at the exact same time that she turned to look at me. For a brief moment, we stared into each other’s eyes. If we weren’t on our horses, I probably would’ve reached over and kissed there. That was how strong the pull was. And I was almost certain that she would’ve kissed me back. Then Mike spoke, and our attention quickly changed to him. But the whole time Mike was speaking, I could feel the beating of my heart. With every thump, I realized that I was falling more and more for this very interesting girl beside me. Half city girl, half country girl. She was the sort of girl that kept me on my toes. This was not good news.