I found myself feeling nervous as I took the path up to the horse barn. I remembered how excited she had been when I first told her about our horses, and since then I couldn’t wait until I showed her in person. As we neared the barn I heard her small gasp from behind me and I broke out into a smile. It had been amazing to see her enthusiasm over the Main Building, the place I’d always pictured getting married, but her excitement over my absolute favorite place in the ranch might be too much for my heart to take.
I shut the bike off a yard from the stables, so as to not disturb the animals. A few of them in particular weren’t too fond of loud noises and I didn’t want to agitate them right before Sophie met them.
She got off the bike and took off her helmet, shaking her hair out. All she needed now was slow motion and a rock song as a soundtrack to make her appearance of being a sexy badass complete. I dismounted, watching her run her hands through her perfectly mussed up hair.
“Is this what I think it is?” she asked, her voice almost an excited whisper. As if answering her question, a horse neighed in the distance. “Oh my gosh!” she squealed, jumping into my arms and I laughed in surprise as I lifted her up. The moment I had her back on her feet, she took my hand and was pulling me towards the stables.
“Hey, I don’t remember signing a waiver that allowed my arm to get pulled out of my socket,” I joked. I was completely kidding; I loved how eager she was. She slowed down a little and looked back at me sheepishly.
“Okay, fine, you lead the way,” she said in surrender, “this is your domain anyhow.” She moved to remove her hand from mine but I held it tightly. Just because we were walking at the same pace now didn’t mean I was ready to let go.
Slowly, we walked down the outdoor cabin as I introduced her to the different horses that didn’t happen to be out in the fields. The ones we boarded at the front were the most visitor friendly, and she got a kick out of it every time one of them poked their head over their short wooden door to say hello. My chest filled with unimaginable warmth as I watched her interact with them. She was so happy to see each one, and I could tell the horses instantly connected to her positive energy.
We reached the end of the line and I led her into our tack room. With a specific horse in mind, I picked up the proper halter and lead rope, as well as a basket of brushes. Of all the horses, I was most excited for her to bond with my horse, the one I had gotten for my birthday years ago. Unable to wait any longer, I pulled her into the barn and led her directly to where he was stationed.
He was facing the back of the stall, his black tail swishing, but at the sound of my voice he turned around and approached us.
“Sophia Rose,” I said softly, “This is my horse, Liath Macha.”
“That name is quite a mouthful,” she murmured, commenting on my Irish pronunciation. Liath Macha moved his head over the latched door, allowing me to run my hand along his crest. “He’s named after the horse of my favorite hero from Celtic mythology, Cú Chulainn,” I explained.
“He does give off a very heroic vibe,” she agreed. I watched as she gently laid a hand upon the white star marking he had just below his forelock. I stood back with pride as the two of them became acquainted. Liath Macha usually wasn’t the most friendly, but as if he instantly perceived her importance to me, he opened himself up to her. She slowly ran her hand along his dark chocolate coat, a small smile on her face.
“I think he might be my favorite,” she confessed with a whisper. My heart swelled at this admission.
“Would you like to groom him?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager. She looked at me with wide excited eyes and nodded. Slowly, I took her hands in mine and wrapped them around the leather halter. Moving her arms, together we guided Liath Macha into the noseband and slipped the crown piece over his ears. Once the halter was in place, I reached below and secured the snap on the throatlatch.
“He helped!” she exclaimed, observing how he had dipped and lifted his head to assist with our movements. I laughed at her childlike amusement.
“He’s a good boy that way.” I attached the lead rope to the tie ring and handed it to her, showing her where to place her hands and how to properly hold it at the correct length. “Okay,” I said, my hand running along his neck as I spoke, “You’re going to lead him right over there where you see those two hanging ropes. Are you ready?” She nodded a little too quickly and I moved to place my hands on her shoulders, “Relax. If you act too nervous it’ll put him on edge.”
“I’m good,” she said, narrowing her eyes in determination. I unlatched the door and slowly she stepped forward, guiding him out of the stable. She moved like a bride, one slow step at a time and he moved slowly besides her, allowing her to lead the way. When they stopped at the ropes I attached them to the halter’s rings on either side of his nose.
“See?” I said, unclipping the lead rope and setting it aside, “That wasn’t so hard was it?”
“I didn’t think it would be hard,” she protested, “I was worried that he wouldn’t like me and he’d try to run away.”
“I don’t think he’d run,” I disagreed, “In fact, I get the feeling that he’s very quickly becoming fond of you. Do you want to learn how to clean his hooves?” She smiled and nodded again and I walked her through the different usages of the hoof pick and the stiff brush. Then I taught her how to indicate to him to lift his hoof and observed how she successfully did so the first try for all four legs. Next I walked her through the different grooming tools and watched her as she ran the currycomb and brushes over him with such tenderness. She was adoring and attentive with every one of her actions, there was no doubt in my mind that Liath Macha was becoming just as smitten as I was.
When she was finished, we gave him a treat and then I had her lead him back into his stable. We watched him for a few more moments before deciding it was time to head back to the house. As we stepped out of the barn into the cool summer evening air, she shivered and wrapped her hands around her elbows.
“Thank you,” she said softly as we walked back to the bike, “That was…magical.”
“The night’s not over yet,” I said with a smile.
Chapter Seven
Sophia
Noah and I were taking an after-dinner walk down the path from the house. It was a welcome quiet after the loud chaos that meal had just been. I had never before experienced a dinner like that, with so many friends and family of all ages sitting at one big table and talking all at once. It was loud and difficult to get accustomed to, but underneath all the jokes at each other’s expense and little arguments I could feel an overwhelming sense of love and support flowing between them.
Noah was sweet and did his best to keep me involved in the conversation, filling me in on inside jokes and cutting off childhood stories that were clearly initiated to embarrass him. I even got a couple witticisms of my own in the conversation, which everyone thankfully laughed at and encouraged. I hoped that meant they liked me.
I particularly enjoyed observing Noah’s friends. Even though they weren’t related at all, they were so in sync that Milo came off more like his twin. Benji was like Noah’s annoying but cute little brother, and he seemed to irritate everyone but his sister Frankie. Their sibling dynamic was so interesting to witness because though she seemed to be almost the toughest out of the group, she expressed nothing but tender support for her little brother. She even encouraged his undesirable behavior and got a kick out of the others’ reactions to it. The fifth one of the group, Connall, was large and silent, like a statue. He was pale and muscular like a statue, too, with light red hair the only burst of color on his body. He had a powerful stoic presence that added some balance to the foolishness of the group’s energy. Right from the start, I could see he was a no-nonsense kind of guy, which made his choice of friends interesting. It was clear it was a favorite practice of the group to try and get a reaction from Connall. They did their best to shock him or make him laugh, but despite their best attempts throughout th
e entire dinner I think I only saw him crack a smile once.
Out of everyone I met I hoped the most that Noah’s mother liked me, because I really liked her. She emitted the same love and protectiveness my own mother used to make me feel. Having her by my side during the dinner was a welcomed calming presence. I was also impressed with the way she commanded the room. It was an attest to how amazing a woman she was that she had such influence over so many people.
I was pulled from my thoughts by the sight of Noah swinging both his arms back and forth awkwardly, like he didn’t know what to do with his hands at the moment. He looked a little bit liked a monkey and I tried my best not to laugh at the sight.
“Is everything okay?” I asked him. He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.
“Everything’s perfect. Did you like your dinner?”
“It was delicious. And very loud.” I smiled teasingly.
“Yeah, I tried to warn you about that.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“I loved it,” I insisted, “I had a great time.
“It’s not always that crazy. Oftentimes it’s a lot quieter, and smaller.” I shook my head in disbelief. He was trying to apologize for something there was no need to be sorry for.
We veered off the path and I excitedly stood up on the fence to watch four of their horses move around the field. Noah stood beside me, his feet planted on the ground. With the added height from the fence, we were almost eye-level. I looked out at the field and accompanied by the beautiful sunset over the mountains behind them, and the visual was almost too much to take.
“You have something really special here, Noah,” I said, vehemently, “I’ve never experienced something like that before. I couldn’t tell who was a cousin or who was a friend; everyone just seemed to genuinely care for one another. I’ve never known a family like that before.” I shrugged. “I’m jealous.”
“You could be a part of it,” he said quickly, “I mean- my friends are here all the time. You are welcome to come over for dinner whenever you want. They really liked you.” His friends only “came over” all the time because they were neighbors, but I appreciated the open invitation.
“Yeah?” I side-eyed him sheepishly. I was too insecure to face him head on, but he pulled me to look at him with a laugh.
“Absolutely. In fact, I want you to promise you’ll come back to do this again soon.”
“Wow, where’s this sudden enthusiasm coming from? If you recall, I had to rudely invite myself over just to come here.”
"I don't know, I guess I was just worried tonight was going to be a total disaster. But it went great, and now my family is one last thing I've kept from you." He snapped his mouth shut like he had just said something he shouldn’t and the meaning behind his words coursed through me slowly.
Ouch.
“I’m also happy to have crossed something of that list…but why is there a list at all?” I asked. He looked away and focused his attention on the mountains ahead of us.
“It’s…” he began to say after a pause, but the words faded and we fell into silence again. I felt the usual anger flare up, but fought the frustration and tried to remain calm.
“You know that you can trust me, right?” I asked. He finally looked back at me and I could tell he was still struggling to find the words. I pressed on. “In the little time I’ve known you, Noah, I’ve told you so much about myself. Practically everything. I’ve opened up to you about things I haven’t spoken to anyone else about- which, you know, automatically gives you the title of being my best friend.”
He blew out a breath of air and looked at me with mixed emotions. “Best friend,” he repeated. He sounded disappointed.
I blushed and looked away. I wasn’t dumb- I knew I wasn’t his best friend. He had people like Milo who were clearly closer to him. For me, however, Noah was the closest person I had in my life.
This was evidently proving itself to be a mistake, given the fact he purposefully hid things from me.
We were silent as I mentally battled with the emotions boiling inside me. We had been having such a great night; I didn’t want to ruin it by lashing out because my pride was hurt. Maybe the guy just had trust issues, and one day I would finally earn the right to be privy to those parts of him. In the meantime, he would just have to be one tall, sexy mystery. Oops- did I say sexy?
The sound of a motor coming up behind us was an appreciated distraction and we turned to see Milo driving a black UTV up to us.
“We figured we’d ride up to the hill so that we could make it in time to see the sunset from the peak before we light the fire. Want to hop on?”
“Absolutely!” I jumped off the fence and climbed in the second row of seats. I had also never before ridden in a UTV and found it hard to hide my excitement. I was getting to test out all the fun toys this evening. This one was like a heavy-duty golf cart. Noah climbed in the back to sit next to me and eyed me sheepishly, still feeling guilty from our conversation. I shook my head quickly to let him know that I wasn’t going to let it bother me for the rest of the night.
➹➹➹
Noah
We were all surrounding the fire pit on Killian’s Peak and my great uncle was telling Sophie about the end of the wolves in Ireland. She probably it took to be a simple campfire tale, but it was actually the origin story of our clan.
“As it turns out,” he was saying, his Irish accent a perfect flourish to the tale, “The three daughters were turning into wolves at night, and it was them that were eating the shepherd’s flock. They were forced into exile in a cave, only coming out once a year as wolves to feed. However, the legend of the she-wolves spread. Many attempted to slay them but failed. The one who succeeded was Caílte mac Rónáin, for he knew the daughters loved music. He employed a harpist named Cas Corach to play outside the cave, which persuaded them to change into their human form and come outside. Once they did, Caílte mac Rónáin struck a spear through each of their hearts.”
She gasped softly, her hand moving to rest upon her cheek. I couldn’t help but smile at how invested she was in the story. I wondered how she’d feel if she knew it was true.
For the third time that evening, I felt the pang of guilt of being secretive. I could tell from our conversation at the fence that my lack of honesty was hurting her, and it killed me even more when she declared that I was her best friend. The idea filled me with such great joy and dissatisfaction at the same time.
It was entirely possible that all I would ever be was her best friend. I doubted with all the secrecy I was hanging over her head that she’d let me get any closer. I just couldn’t imagine a good time to tell someone a secret like mine, especially when I needed her in my life so badly. If she were to think I was crazy, or be in any way terrified of me, I didn’t think I would handle it well.
Sophie shivered beside me, and it brought me back to the present. I worried that maybe it was getting too cold for her, but it turned out to be just a physical response to my Uncle’s story.
“The last wolf in Ireland was killed in 1786. The creatures already had been declared extinct in England and Scotland. With the death of the wolves came the death of the legends of creatures that were both human and wolf. They were either dead, or had gone into hiding. Either way, they were never to be seen in Ireland again.”
A soft hush fell over the group at the end of my uncle’s story. Everyone was looking into the fire, no doubt lost in thoughts surrounding our history.
“Wow.” Sophie breathed out slowly, hugging herself. “That was great.” My uncle smiled and nodded to her appreciatively. It was his role in the clan to keep records of our existence, and he took his job with pride. I never knew someone who loved telling a story more, or someone who took as much time in telling one.
She shivered again and this time it was due to the cold coming in from the dying fire.
“Well,” I said, standing up and dusting off my jeans, “It’s getting pretty late and Sophie should probably be getting home
soon.” Everyone nodded and went about gathering their blankets and putting out the fire.
“Thank you so much for this,” she said as she stood up, “I had so much fun. Mrs. Mactire, thank you for a delicious meal.”
“Oh please, dear.” Ma stood and pulled her into a hug. “Call me Adeline.”
“Okay,” Sophie said with a shy smile, eyeing me from over my mother’s shoulder. It was hard to keep my heart beating steadily at the image.
“It’s too bad our campfire stories weren’t embarrassing ones about Noah,” Benji lamented as my mother and Sophie separated. I rolled my eyes and she laughed.
“I guess we’ll just have to do that another time,” she said with a shrug.
“How soon can you come back?” he asked excitedly. She looked up at me and smiled.
“As soon as Noah wants me to, I guess.”
“So you’ll be here tomorrow then,” Milo blurted. Benji snorted and Milo looked at me with wide apologetic eyes. It was apparent he had only meant to think that comment and not say it out loud. Sophie bit her bottom lip to hold back a smile and I shifted uncomfortably.
“Okay, we better get a move on trekking down the hill,” I said, more than ready to go before anything else embarrassing could happen. She waved and a chorus of various forms goodbyes followed us as we started to make our way down.
She was having some difficulty maintaining balance over the steep rocky trail and I held on to her elbow to give her some support.
“Next time,” she said, “Let’s take the UTV back down the cliff.” I laughed,
“Why? I like walking around the property at night. The moon is so bright right now.”
“It’s not that I don’t love the ambience, it’s the falling-“ as if on clue she slipped and instinctively I caught her, pulling her up to my chest. “That I don’t like,” she finished with a murmur.
I was hyperaware of the lack of distance between us, and as a result my heart was practically pounding its way out of my chest. I was sure she could hear it.
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