Paul helped me up, asking if I was okay.
“Okay? I just got thrown from an apparent Lilith of horses, and you’re asking if I’m okay?” I brushed the dirt from my jeans, trying to ignore the throbbing throughout my body. “I actually hurt all over if you must know.”
His lips tweaked up into a victorious smirk. “So what are you going to do?”
The penny dropped and I realised what the whole point of this was. A mixture of anger and irritation began bubbling as I stared at the handsome, intelligent man before me.
“I’m sure you could have taught me this lesson in a much nicer way.”
“But this was more literal. And from where I’m standing, more entertaining.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as Rebecca offered me a short whip. “I don’t like using them.”
She pushed it into my hand. “You will need it. Don’t be afraid to use it.”
I chewed my lip and remounted the awkward mare. Thinking over my options as I walked her around the edge of the arena, she strolled along like butter wouldn’t melt. Curving her round onto a wide circle, I pushed her forwards into a trot, more than ready for her little trick. When the gate appeared in view, she tensed, resulting in a tap on the shoulder from me. She squealed, shaking her head from side to side as she tried to break the circle.
I sat deep in the saddle, preparing myself for whatever she may throw at me. We fought for nearly twenty minutes as she snatched at the bit, crabbed all over, and tried dropping her shoulder several times. Every time she misbehaved, she received a tap on the shoulder and was made to work on a smaller, tighter circle. When she did as I asked, the circle became wider and easier for her.
She gave in with a massive sigh, dropping her head and working into a beautiful outline like a pro. For the next half hour I had the ride of my life as I played with her, seeing what she could do. I rode back over to Rebecca and Paul, grinning like a Cheshire cat—I couldn’t have been happier.
“Wow.” I slid down from the saddle, my legs shaking. “What a horse.”
Rebecca smiled, taking the reins from me. “She’s a tricky little mare. She broke her owner’s back.”
I glared at Paul. “And you knew that?”
Rebecca stepped in, explaining the mare’s history to me. It sounded mostly her owner’s fault, and with her eventing career on hold whilst he recovered, she needed exercising but she always threw people off.
“She needs to be ridden and competed. She lives for it. She wants it, needs it. Now you’ve cracked her, she’ll be like putty in your hands.”
I smiled, blushing.
“She’s here whenever you want to ride. I mean that.”
I gave her my thanks before Paul drove me home. He explained to me how his sister, who was two years younger than me, had left home at sixteen, disgusted by her parents’ lifestyle and business venture. So desperate to leave them, she’d gone to live at a local riding school, living in a dirty, rotten caravan. Outraged by this, his parents tried to bring her home, only for her refusals to continue. Eventually, they reached a compromise where she agreed to a distanced relationship with them and in return, they bought her that amazing yard complete with a house.
She had changed her surname to disassociate from them but as she knew the truth behind Paul’s feelings, she’d kept a close relationship with him. A strange feeling of closeness washed over me as I revelled in the fact he’d introduced me to a “secret” member of his family. A small sliver of hope started to climb inside me.
We pulled up onto my driveway for Ash to inform me Scott had been round, asking for my forgiveness. He’d apparently gifted him a black eye to match his broken nose before telling him where to go. I smiled, walking inside my bare house. Then the reality hit home of what I’d done.
Paul chuckled next to me. “Did a proper job, didn’t you?”
I nodded, sighing. How could a couple of hours change me from a desperate woman in the middle of a meltdown to one feeling empowered and in charge of her own life?
“Here.” He pulled a card from his wallet. “Go to this place tomorrow. Tell them I sent you and to put it on my tab. Furnish your house and get yourself back on track.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can and you will. Don’t make me come down there with you. This whole mess is my fault. This is my way of trying to make up for it.”
“How is this your fault?”
He hesitated for a second, softness seeping through his eyes. “Well, maybe if I’d been honest with you from the start, then perhaps things may have turned out differently.”
My heart warmed at his words. I looked at him, expectation rolling off me.
“No, Ky. It’s far too complicated.”
And there it was again. Those hated words that buried deep into my soul. I sighed, nodding my understanding to him. He pressed his lips to my forehead, my heart crying for him to complete me. I closed my eyes, thinking of new furniture when Ash came running in, his face pale as his hands shook with his phone in them.
He glanced at me, tears streaming from his dark eyes. “Mum’s been killed.”