Spring break was three days away, three very long days.

I had one more class and one more quiz before a much needed two-week vacation.

Wallace agreed to let me take a week off of training too, so that I could go see my parents. It had been weeks since I’d seen them. Just talking to them on the phone wasn’t enough. My Dad was getting worse, and from the way my Uncle talked, my Mom wasn’t doing well either. She was letting on like things were fine, but it wasn’t the truth. It was all just a cover up so that I wouldn’t worry. We were still months away from having a finished house. Of course, I was going to worry. I needed them home a long time ago.

In the meantime, I needed a small yet beautiful distraction.

“What are we doing out here?” Paislee asked as I led her into the stables.

“I thought we’d go for a little ride. The horses could use the exercise.”

“Are you sure? Me on a horse could be dangerous.” She was so cute when she was nervous.

I ran my hand along her warm cheek. “You’ll do fine. I’m going to let you ride Echo. She’s such a calm girl, and she loves you already.”

Her facial expression relaxed just like I knew it would. I saw the way she looked at Echo the last time she was in the stables. There is no hiding her love for that horse. My Mom always felt the same way when she rode Echo. Of course that was a couple of years ago. She hasn’t been able to ride much anymore with her health.

I saddled up both of our horses and walked them out of the stables and into the grass. Merlin was my horse. He was younger than Echo and much feistier. Merlin could only be ridden by someone in full control. He was always good for me, but I was the one who broke him. If any Average Joe climbed on his back, he’d knock them off in a New York second.

It took a while for him to get used to me, but now he lets me walk him. He loves it actually. I just hadn’t had much time to do it.

“Ready?” I asked her. Paislee was nervous to ride, but it was normal. Trusting an animal that is five times your size isn’t easy.

She nodded her head and I had her place her left foot in the stirrup. With a little boost, I helped her up and over.

“Hold the reigns. She’s a good girl. She may not be able to hear you, but she can feel you. And she can sense things, she’s gifted that way.”

Once I saw that Paislee was steady and comfortable I climbed up in my saddle atop of Merlin. It took a little longer for me to get steady because Merlin was so finicky.

“You okay over there?” Paislee asked.

“I’m good.” I smiled back at her. I never feared being on the back of a horse. Now standing behind one was a whole other story. If a horse had ever kicked you, you’d never stand behind one again.

It took her a few minutes to get the hang of riding, but soon she looked like a pro. We walked mostly, but I showed her how to trot too. She loved it. It was amazing how easily she conformed to my lifestyle, and it surprised me how much she enjoyed it.

Once we made it to one of my favorite spots, I tied the horses up and the two of us walked up onto the hillside. We were only about a mile or so from the stables. Just far enough that we felt secluded. With over a hundred acres you could easily get lost.

“This is beautiful,” she said as she took a seat next to me on the grass.

If you looked straight ahead there were trees as far as the eye could see. Based on the size of the hill you would’ve never expected the view, but it was breathtaking.

“You should see the sunset from here,” I told her. “You wouldn’t believe it.” She leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder.

“It sounds wonderful.”

The sound of the wind whistling through the trees was cathartic. No wonder I loved that spot so much. If we had a couple of sleeping bags, I’d just keep her curled up in my arms right there, all night.

“So,” Uh oh. The way she said that word, I knew something was up. I waited for her to continue. “We should probably talk about spring break, and my Dad’s birthday party. The party Sunday.”

Well damn, so much for cathartic. “Do you really think I should go? Maybe it would be best if I just stayed home.”

“I’m not going to make you go. I just thought you could meet them while they’re in a good mood.”

“Are they that bad?” I asked her. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to meet them. I just didn’t feel like I should have to dress up to do it.

“On a scale of one to ten, my mother is an eleven or a negative one. Depending on which is worse. My father on the other hand… He’s a bit of a hardass when it comes to business, but he loves me more than anything. He may give you a hard time, but he respects my decisions. For the most part,” she shrugged.

“What the hell is cocktail attire?” My brows furrowed. “You know I barely own anything as it is, much less anything fancy.”

Her lips pulled together to the side of her mouth, and her eyes grew bigger. “Well,” she hesitated. “It requires a tie.”

I growled. “Can’t you just take me home for dinner or something?”

“Jude,” she pouted. “Please. I want you to come with me. I will go with you tomorrow and we will get you something to wear. I’ll buy it, and we can leave it hanging in my closet so you never have to look at it again.”

I couldn’t believe that I was seriously considering it.

But that face of hers made it awfully hard to say no.

“What about my hat?”

“You can wear it in the car on the way there,” she said cheerfully.

“You’re making it awfully hard to say yes.”

“Please,” she pouted.

“Fiiiiine,” I grumbled. “But you promised me that you were going with me to my Aunt and Uncle’s to visit my parents. Are we still on for that? We have to leave Monday morning after I meet with the builder.”

“Of course I want to go. I can’t wait to meet your parents. The way you talk about them makes my decision easy.”

I smiled. “I wish I could say the same about yours.”

Her smile faded. “I do too.”

She laid back into the grass so that she was facing upwards toward the sky.

“I’m sorry, Darlin. Look…” I leaned over her. “We will go to this party, and I will meet your parents. I’ll do everything in my power to charm the high heels off your mother, and become best buds with your dad. You have nothing to worry about. I’m just being a sulky ass. I know what this means to you. So, tomorrow we go buy me a penguin get up, and you whisk me away to the ball.”

She grabbed my cheeks and pulled my face down to meet hers. “I love you,” she professed just before she kissed the hell out of me.

One good thing about secluded land was that you could make love to your girl and no one but the horses would see it.