by C L Green
This was good news so far. Passing TPR meant that both had met the successful completion requirements for their temperature, pulse and respiration rates. They now just needed to survive the body and movement checks by the veterinarians to qualify as endurance riders as well.
“Grandma and Grandpa are sitting at the side of the vet ring looking like they are watching the Grand Final. I reckon you’ll hear ‘em from here if the girls get the nod.”
Jax grins and I watch as he lets me go and heads back towards Trouble’s yard to pick up the clay bucket again.
“I’ll do Ditch if you like. I haven’t washed my hands from doing Trouble and Maverick yet. You and Ash can head to the vet ring to watch the girls, I’ll be right behind you.”
“Sounds great.” Chris agrees as he nods towards me and starts heading back to the vet ring.
I quickly step into stride beside him, keen to get to the ring as quickly as we can to see their trot outs.
“Nice face and hair.” Chris mocks as we walk along.
“Ugh. I’d already forgotten about that. Damn, how bad is it?” I ask him not even considering turning around to go back to camp to try and wash the clay off.
“Pretty bad,” he grins and starts chuckling.
“I don’t care, I’ve got bigger things to worry about.” I reply as I quicken my pace even more, now wishing we had camped closer to the vet ring.
Unfortunately due to the size of our camp this was never an option. This was because the Walker Endurance camp was big.
There was Jax’s gooseneck, a truck and caravan for Ro, David and the girls to sleep in plus two more truck and float combinations for both Chris and Evie. Add to that enough room for the six mobile yards for all the horses and we covered quite a stretch of ground.
A few minutes later the sight of several horses and their handlers milling around waiting to trot out for the vets looms in front of us. I quickly scan the lineups before spotting Mel running with her horse back towards a vet. I watch her as she slows down and looks hopefully toward the vet for his final decision.
With a quick nod, the vet gives her the all clear and I watch as Mel squeals and fist pumps the air. She is through and qualified as well.
I hear clapping and whistling from the sidelines as Ro and David go wild with excitement. This unfortunately attracts a few foul looks from other riders and handlers in the vet ring. I don’t blame them, their noise could upset a horse having its heart rate checked. This could then cause the horses heart rate to spike and it would fail the heart rate test. A person who has just ridden their horse for eighty kilometers would not be happy to fail the heart rate check because someone was clapping. They would not be happy at all.
I speed up and beeline straight to Ro to remind her to calm down. As I approach I see her look towards me and an apologetic look crosses her face as she quickly quiets and sits back down.
“Sorry,” she mumbles as I approach. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“Same,” mutters David. They both look pitifully at me as I start grinning at them.
I feel Chris step up behind me and watch as Ro jumps up to hug him tightly. “You made it!” She chirps proudly, squeezing him harder. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks Gramma,” Chris mumbles as he bear hugs her tiny body back. “Fingers crossed for Jasmin.”
Everyone then falls quiet as we turn our focus back to the vet ring to see Jasmin has now started running her horse out for the vet.
I hold my breath as I watch her little mare called Indi bounce off to an excited start as Jasmin runs off. “That’s a good start, she’s still got plenty of pep.” I mumble as we watch keenly.
Indi soon breaks into her long, smooth, ground covering trot, no sign of lameness that I can see and my hopes begin to soar. As long as the vets didn’t pick anything else up during their examination, she should be okay.
She makes the turn at the cone at the far end of the trot out and turns to run back towards the judge. I can see the seriousness in her face as she pins her eyes on the vet, hopeful.
The vet takes one look at her and decides not to keep her in suspense. He knows she is only a junior rider and this is her qualifying ride. With a quick nod, he announces, “Your through, well done Jasmin.”
I hear a scream from the far side of the vet ring and see Mel throwing her lead-rope towards Jax as she tears towards Jasmin to hug her. Jax has obviously made it over in time to see Jasmin through.
With more squealing, I watch the girls head back towards Jax where the three of them share a group hug. I smile softy to myself as I watch him hugging his nieces.
“Well that’s it folks,” I hear David announce. “Team Walker are all qualified, a very big day. Time for beers.”
I watch David stand slowly, stretching briefly before throwing out his hand for Ro to grab. I grin to myself. I had worked it out many months ago where Jax had inherited his hand grabbing skills from. Seemingly it was genetic.
I nod my agreement as we start to head back towards camp. I watch as Chris peels off to chat to a young lady at another camp. I shake my head as I realize she is his ‘target’ for the night. Sadly Chris is fully aware of his movie star looks and he doesn’t miss a single opportunity to use them. I have a feeling he is trying to sleep his way through the entire single female endurance riding population.
I feel like I should warn the poor girl that she should run for the hills before she becomes the next in his long line of broken hearts.
I feel a warm slide around my waist and look up to see Jax smiling at me. I can see he is reading my mind as he shakes his head at Chris as well. “Poor girl doesn’t stand a chance.”
“I know. Why can’t he just settle down with one?” I ask. “I’d like to get the chance to have a decent conversation with one. It's always awkward watching the poor things do the walk of shame out of his float the next morning.”
“He will.” Jax announces confidently as he drags me closer to his hip. “He just hasn’t found the right one yet.”
I grin up at him. “Enough about Chris, it’s time to do our own celebrating. And plan our next ride.”
“Yep.”
“You up for a shower in the gooseneck?” I ask innocently.
“Yep.”
“Then bourbons,” I add.
“Yep.”
“Last one in’s a rotten egg!” I squeal as I rip myself from his arm and race for the gooseneck. Speeding through our camp I throw a quick wave to David and Ro who are already sitting in chairs out the front of their caravan. Mel and Jasmin are settling their horses and putting clay on their front legs.
I manage to get my hand on the door to the gooseneck just as I feel Jax’s hands clamp down around my waist and I am hoisted into the air and thrown over his shoulder. Squealing, I look across to see Ro grinning broadly.
“Takin’ a shower. Gunna be a while.” I hear Jax rumble to his parents as he opens the door and steps us both inside.
“Don’t be too long, I’m making lunch shortly,” I hear Ro saying as the door to the gooseneck door slams behind us.
Carefully putting me down, Jax mumbles, “It’ll only be salad rolls, they can wait. We’ve got some celebrating to do.”
I smile innocently as he leans in, slams his mouth against mine and starts backing me towards the shower.
Lunch can definitely wait.
###
Coming soon.
The second book in the Attraction Series.
Enduring Attraction.
The story of Chris and Taylor.
Read a preview of Enduring Attraction
Enduring Attraction
V-Man
“Tay, sis, get your ass over here! I want to you… Someone meet. I mean… You to meet someone,” Bree slurs drunkenly from somewhere several camps over.
I cringe as I listen carefully to pinpoint her exact location. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say she’s in the Walker camp. In fact, it's likely she is. This is because Evie, Bree’s b
est friend, rides with Walker Endurance. Knowing the Walker after parties, I suspect that Evie is drunk too. I quickly decide that Evie and Bree drunk means Evie is the person Bree wants me to meet.
This is of course funny because I’ve known Evie just about as long as Bree has. Knowing this, I am going to assume that Bree’s drunk, drunk.
Just like me.
Why are we drunk? We’re drunk because earlier today, we finished a grueling one-hundred and sixty kilometer endurance ride. Having finished with varying levels of success, we are now celebrating.
Evie is celebrating because, as usual, she took line honors. This also means that she won the middleweight division. Evie’s sister’s husband and his nephew Chris are no doubt celebrating too. That would be because they came in equal first heavyweight. The two other family members riding for Walker Endurance also won Lightweight and Junior. This means that it was once again a clean sweep for Walker Endurance. Something that happens a lot. It also means their entire camp is celebrating, hard.
Bree and I are celebrating because we completed our ride successfully. We were middle runners in the middleweight section. Not as experienced as the members of Walker Endurance, we didn’t ride to win. We rode to complete. In a sport with the motto, ‘To complete is to win’, my sister Bree and I are happy to complete. For us, completing is just as good as winning.
For us, completing means we have worked hard to ensure our horses are fit. It also means we have ridden our horses carefully through the ride. This is something that any rider would be proud of and it makes us feel like winners too. Because we feel like winners as well, we are celebrating, hard.
Not that I had meant to celebrate this hard. I usually don’t. Usually I am a lot quieter than this. Usually, I have two beers, a giggle with Bree and then I go to bed. I do this so I can be up early the next day to tend to my horse. I don’t like being lazy and I don’t like sleeping in.
I also don’t normally socialize after rides. I like to have my two beers in the privacy of our float. This means I only usually drink them with Bree, or by myself. Bree is accustomed to this and she will often sit with me while I have my two beers. She will then bid me good night and head off to spend the rest of the night celebrating with Evie and various other camps.
So not only is it funny to hear Bree wants to introduce me to somebody I already know, it is funny that she thinks I will even want to. She has worked out that I am drunker than is normal for me and clearly she plans to take advantage of it.
I hold my breath as I try to listen harder and confirm her location. It doesn’t take long before I hear her calling again.
“Tay, sissy, sissy, wissy. Are you a little pissy? ‘Cause if you are, come to the Walker camp, I’ve got someone I want you to meet!”
Am I a little pissy?
Hell yes I am! I am drunk enough to take her bait and head over to the Walker camp for an introduction to somebody I already know.
Which is funny too.
Well perhaps not that funny. Not funny because the reason I am so drunk is that my first two beers hit rock bottom. Rock bottom meaning they landed on an empty stomach. An empty stomach caused by the gastro I had for the three days leading up to this ride. The gastro that made me do the entire ride nibbling on tiny dry crackers for fear of a relapse. A relapse that would have put me out of the ride.
So now I was on my fourth beer and things were getting messy. Worrying that she will start calling out more ridiculous things to me, I quickly grab a fifth beer and decide to join her.
Why not? Sounds fun. I think.
Checking the horses one final time, I decide that all is well and I can safely abandon camp. Setting out towards the Walker camp, I make it a full two steps before I freeze solid. I freeze solid because I realize that I should not go empty-handed. No one goes to a party empty-handed.
Conducting a quick mental inventory, I decide that I don’t have much to take. Turning back to our float, I head to our food stash and start loading up. The pickings are slim. Two apples, half a muesli bar (Bree must have eaten the first half), a packet of barbeque shapes and a tomato.
Balancing all the booty on one arm, I then dig around in the esky and find the remaining single beer from my six pack of Heineken and decide I should take that too.
Now equipped with offerings, I feel much better about attending the party and cheerfully stride off towards the Walker camp.
Navigating my way through various camps and mobile yards, I make my way to the noisiest camp at the ride. I can hear loud music thumping and plenty of conversation as I approach. On unsteady feet, I soon find myself staggering into the Walker camp. Clutching my booty close to my body, I hear Bree squeal with delight. Launching from a deck chair, she starts swaying towards me squealing, “You came!”
Delighted with myself for navigating the entire trip without falling over or dropping any of my booty, I grin stupidly at her.
“I did.” I announce happily.
My happiness lasts a full two seconds before I realize that something is not right. Dragging my eyes from my sister as she sways toward me, I look around the camp. I do this because suddenly I realize the camp is dead silent, except for the music. All conversations have stopped.
Scanning the large group of people, I notice everyone is staring at me.
“Um… why’s everybody staring at me?” I ask Bree as she wobbles to a standstill in front of me.
“’Cause it’s rare for you to come out at night,” she slurs. “Everyone knows you are a recluse. They all want to see what the rare and beautiful Taylor Jackson looks like after dark.”
I quickly roll what she has said through my addled mind and decide the only word I heard was beautiful so all is well. Splitting my face into a massive grin, I proudly announce, “I brought snacks!”
Bree sways towards me slightly and then backwards again. I see confusion cross her face as she pins her gaze on the booty I have clutched to my chest.
“You brought a tomato?” She asks confused.
“Sure did,” I announce cheerfully. “We can have it sliced on barbeque shapes.”
“Okay…” She slowly rolls her eyes at me. “You put your tomato over there,” she points to a table, “then come sit with me and Evie.”
I then hear a snort of laughter come from my left. I swing to see a pretty, brown haired woman break into a huge smile and start laughing, loud. She looks vaguely familiar but my beer addled brain has trouble registering who she is.
“She brought a tomato! That’s almost better than my efforts at catering. I like her!”
This laughing soon sets off peals of laughter all around the camp and then a few conversations resume.
Seemingly I am no longer the center of attention, thank God.
Bree reaches out and grabs me by the elbow. Guiding me to a large outdoor setting type table, she signals I should offload my booty. Carefully placing it all on the table, I notice that my booty looks a bit out of place. This would be because the table is covered in a veritable feast of leftovers resembling a traditional backyard party. There are trays of meat, vegetables and salads. There is also a bowl of trifle, a half-eaten pavlova and a chocolate ripple cake.
Crikey, these guys know how to cater!
I quickly decide my tomato looks lonely so I pick it up again and drop it on top of a bowl containing a garden salad. Deciding it looks happier there, I grab my half drunk beer and turn back to Bree.
Putting it to my mouth, I take a large swig as Bree starts introductions. First she introduces me to the brown haired woman, who is Ashleigh Walker. I of course realize this as soon as she tells me (she is Evie’s older sister), but being rather drunk, I obviously have beer goggles on and didn’t recognize her.
She then introduces me to a whole swag of Walkers sitting around the outdoor setting including Ro, David, Mel, Bec, Ryan, Jasmin, Jax and a couple of other riders visiting their camp. She then grabs me by the elbow and guides me to another smaller table sitting near an extended float where
Evie is sitting with three men. One of these men I already know.
Chris Walker.
Every single female in the endurance association knows who Chris Walker is. That’s because he is gorgeous. He is flat-out swoon worthy. The guy with the movie star looks who’s known for his womanizing ways. The guy that most women don’t care if he is a womanizer, especially if he is paying them attention. The guy that I suspect has slept his way through most of the single female endurance association as well as some of the not so singles as well.
He is also the guy that’s known for his inability to uphold any continuing relationship with any females other than those in his family. All women are one-night stands and he never travels the same road twice. Funnily, not many of the women care. Most take it on the chin that they get one-shot at him and take what he is offering, if he offers it.
Not that any of this matters to me. Yes, I have to admit the guy is drop-dead gorgeous. I also know there is no way a guy like him is ever going to take any interest in me. I know this because not only am I pathologically shy when it comes to men and relationships, I am also the woman who admires men from afar but never approaches. This would not be the sort of woman who would attract Chris’s attention. Not when he has hordes of woman always swooning over him, competing for his attention.
I turn my attention back to Bree who is now conducting introductions. The two other men sitting with Evie and Chris are introduced as Rob and Steve, riders from another camp. Watching the way Bree plonks herself down on Steve’s lap to leave a chair vacant for me, I have a fair idea why they are visiting the Walker camp.
Pointing to the chair between Evie and Chris that she recently abandoned, Bree urges me to sit down.
I look to see Evie smiling broadly at me before I briefly cast a glance at Chris. I only do this long enough to discover whether he cares that I will be sitting next to him or not. By the drunken, relaxed, friendly look on his face, I decide to guess not.