Setting the Pace
Page 8
But suddenly, she just couldn’t stand the thought of spending another long afternoon alone. “Hey,” she blurted out. “I was just thinking of going on a trail ride. Want to come?”
Scott looked surprised, but he nodded immediately. “I’m in.”
For a second, as she saw the spark of pleasure and interest in Scott’s blue eyes, Lisa regretted the impulsive invitation. It’s no big deal, she told herself uncertainly. He knows things are still up in the air with me and Alex. He understands. And at least he’s always a distraction.
She realized she was rationalizing, but she didn’t care. At that point she would have ridden with just about anyone for the company.
Of course, I’d much rather ride with Scott…
She cut off that thought quickly. “Okay, then,” she said, doing her best to cover her seesawing emotions. “Let’s go find out which horses are free.”
A few minutes later she was leading out Checkers, a roan quarter horse gelding that loved the trails. Scott was waiting by the mounting block with a school horse named Windsor, leaning against a fence post as the burly bay gelding grazed on the few meager blades of grass left after December’s frosts. The familiar activity of grooming and tacking had helped Lisa relax, and she had almost managed to convince herself that what they were doing wasn’t such a big deal after all.
It’s a nice day, she thought, glancing at the clear sky. And Scott’s a nice guy—a good friend. That’s all there is to it.
As she approached Scott, Lisa suddenly realized that he wasn’t alone with his horse after all. Maureen was lounging against the fence nearby, nearly hidden from Lisa’s view by Windsor’s body.
Lisa grimaced slightly. She wasn’t sure why, but Maureen rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was the way her eyes seemed to glide right past most girls and women and zoom straight in on just about every guy she encountered. Just like they were zooming in at that very moment, for instance.
“Hi,” Lisa said a little too loudly, interrupting something Maureen was saying about her apartment. “Ready to go, Scott?”
Scott immediately glanced at her with a nod and a smile. “Let’s do it.”
“Have a good time, you two,” Maureen said lazily. “But not too good.” She winked at Scott and grinned.
Lisa gritted her teeth as Scott chuckled politely. Turning her back on Maureen, she led Checkers toward the mounting block and quickly settled herself in the saddle. Moving her horse ahead a few paces, she bent and busily checked her girth and stirrups just to avoid having to make any further conversation with her.
“Need some help there, Scott?” Maureen said, stepping forward as Scott swung into Windsor’s saddle. “Your stirrups look a little uneven. Let me help you with that.”
Lisa glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Maureen put her hand on Scott’s thigh, pushing gently to move his leg out of the way so that she could adjust his stirrup. Lisa rolled her eyes. Gross! she thought. Does she have to flirt with every guy she meets? I mean, Scott is at least four or five years younger than she is. What’s next—is she going to start trolling for dates at Pony Club meetings?
Lisa also noticed that Scott didn’t really seem to mind Maureen’s behavior. He was smiling and joking with her even then, as she patted his leg again to move it back into place, seeming unperturbed by the close contact.
I guess that’s the way he is, Lisa reminded herself. Friendly. Maybe a tad too friendly sometimes.
She thought about how Alex might have reacted in the same situation. First of all, he wouldn’t have let Lisa out of his sight long enough to fall into conversation with Maureen. And if there was a problem with his stirrups, he would have fixed it himself—he hadn’t been riding for long, but he knew the basics. Or he would have asked Lisa for help.
“Ready?” Scott’s voice interrupted her thoughts as he walked Windsor up beside her.
Lisa blinked, realizing that Maureen was already walking away toward the stable building. “Oh!” she said, feeling a bit guilty for her previous thoughts. She had promised herself she wouldn’t compare Scott and Alex, and she wanted to stick to it. “Sure. Um, did you touch the lucky horseshoe?”
“Sure did.” Scott winked at her as they started across the stable yard at a walk. “You were so firm about that rule the last time we rode together, I’ll never be able to forget.”
Lisa blushed slightly. She guessed that to someone like Scott, the Pine Hollow tradition of touching the battered old horseshoe nailed to the wall near the doorway might seem a little bit silly. But to every rider who had learned to ride there, it was almost unthinkable to ride out without at least brushing the worn metal with a fingertip. The tradition went that no rider had ever been seriously hurt out on the trails or in the ring after doing so, and Lisa figured there was no sense in taking any chances. Besides, she liked Pine Hollow’s traditions. They were part of what made the stable so homey and familiar. And they were part of what she would miss when she left.
“Come on,” she said, veering off that topic before she started feeling depressed again. “I was thinking we could try the creek trail today.”
“Sounds good,” Scott replied amiably. “Lead the way.”
They rode in silence for a few minutes. The farther they got from the stable building, the more Lisa felt herself relaxing. It was amazing to her sometimes, even after so many years, how riding could improve her mood, her self-confidence, her whole outlook on life. For the first time in days, she managed to push all her worries about the future to the very back of her mind and focus on the here and now.
“Wow. Nice day, huh?” Scott commented.
Lisa nodded, realizing it was true. Sometime that afternoon the weather had reversed itself. The cold wind had completely died down, and with the sun shining brightly in the cloudless sky, it felt more like October than late December. It was so warm that Lisa realized she had never bothered to zip her jacket after leading Checkers out.
“We got lucky,” she said. “There aren’t too many good riding days like this around this time of year.”
“I hope Windsor is enjoying himself.” Scott leaned forward to give his mount a pat on the neck. “He’s blowing a little already.”
Lisa glanced at the big gelding. Unlike the horses at the stable that would be competing in shows over the winter and were kept at least partially clipped, Windsor had been allowed to grow a full, shaggy winter coat. Sure enough, he was starting to look a little warm, even though they’d only been riding for a short time. “He should be okay,” Lisa said. “He always heats up faster than most of the horses—Max is trying to take some weight off him to help with that. But I guess we ought to keep them at a walk or a slow trot most of the way.”
Scott nodded agreeably. “That’s fine with me,” he said. “You know I don’t ride much, and I’d hate to have this guy gallop off with me and dump me in a ditch somewhere.”
Lisa smiled at the image of sedate, proper, well-mannered Windsor taking off over hill and dale, bucking like a bronco. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Windsor canters slower than most horses trot. And I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him gallop, even when he’s out in the field with the other horses.”
“What’s the difference between a canter and a gallop, really?” Scott asked. “I mean, I know a gallop is faster—”
“Right,” Lisa said. “Also, a canter is a three-beat gait and a gallop is a four-beat gait.” She glanced at him with a smile. “Do you mean to tell me you don’t know all this already, after living with Callie all your lives?”
Scott grinned and shrugged. “I usually just tune her out when she starts talking horses,” he said. “It’s easy to do that when it’s your sister, you know? But somehow it’s all a lot more interesting when it’s coming from … someone else.”
Lisa blushed. “Anyway,” she said quickly, “you would know it if your horse started to gallop. It’s a lot harder to ride than a canter—that’s why you see jockeys up in two-point when they ride.”
“Two-point?” Scott repeated blankly.
“Like this.” Lisa adjusted herself into two-point position as Checkers ambled along. “It means there are two points of contact between yourself and the horse, your legs and your hands. You can also call it a half seat. When you’re riding like this”—she lowered herself back into her normal position—“there’s a third point of contact, the seat.”
“I see.” Scott raised one eyebrow. “Personally, I like having plenty of contact with the seat.”
“Right,” Lisa said, wondering if they were still talking about riding. “Anyway, we really don’t gallop the horses out here. It’s too risky—they could stumble or step in a fox hole or something. The only time they get to gallop is when we do a hand gallop in the ring.”
Scott glanced down at his hands. “Okay, and that is…?”
“It’s more like a fast canter than a real gallop. You know, not exactly racehorse stuff—they can ask for it in some hunter competitions. But people who aren’t into showing don’t really ever need to gallop at all.”
“Uh-huh.” Scott pursed his lips and shot her an amused look. “So I guess you’re saying it’s only for people who don’t mind going fast. What about you, Lisa? Do you like going fast?”
Something about the way he asked it made Lisa think he definitely wasn’t talking about riding. “Look, there’s the path into the woods,” she said, feeling flustered. “We can ride this down the hill and across the creek. It’s pretty over there, even in the winter.”
“Okay,” Scott said. “My seat and I are right behind you.”
Lisa smiled weakly, trying not to think about Scott’s seat or the comments he was making. She knew he was just joking around, but it still made her uncomfortable. It certainly wasn’t making it easy to stick to her idea that this was just a casual trail ride for a couple of casual friends.
“The trail is single file here,” she said. “I’ll go first for a while if that’s okay—Checkers is pretty forward on the trails, and Windsor likes to take his time. Especially if he’s hot.”
“Sounds like a true gentleman,” Scott commented. “Just be careful not to leave me too far behind. I’d hate to be stuck out here all alone.”
“I won’t,” Lisa promised, thinking back to her beginner days when she had worried quite a bit about such possibilities. She turned slightly in the saddle so that she could smile reassuringly at Scott. “But don’t worry. If you ever did find yourself out here alone, your horse could take you home. They all know the way.”
Scott smiled. “That’s good to know. But if you don’t mind, I’d kind of like to stick with you for today.”
“I don’t mind,” Lisa replied, quickly turning around to face front again. She didn’t want Scott to see that she was blushing again.
“Good,” Scott said. “I mean, no offense to old Windsor here or anything.” Lisa could hear Scott patting his horse on the neck. “But he’s not really the one I’d want to be lost out in the woods with.”
“Oh, he might be a little slow, but he would be able to—oh!” Lisa said, cutting herself off as she belatedly realized what Scott was saying. “Um, look, there’s the creek up ahead. Since it’s not too cold today, let’s just go ahead and cross here instead of following it downstream to the narrow crossing. Is that okay with you?”
“Absolutely,” Scott said. “You’re in charge here; Windsor and I are in your hands.”
“Really?” Lisa couldn’t resist the opening. “Hmmm. I know I can control Windsor. I’m not so sure about you.”
When she glanced over her shoulder, Scott was grinning. “All it takes is plenty of positive reinforcement,” he said.
Lisa had to return her attention to her horse as the trail leading down to the water grew steeper. The creek was very wide and shallow at that point, and Lisa had crossed it many times on horseback and a few times on foot. “Windsor should be okay with the water,” she called back to Scott, trying to remember if the big gelding had ever balked at that particular crossing before. “Anyway, Checkers will be fine, so if you stick close to us going down, Windsor will probably just follow along with no problem.”
“Don’t worry, I plan to stick close,” Scott replied.
Lisa decided to assume that he was talking about riding—or at least to pretend she did. Letting the comment pass, she clucked to Checkers, leaning back as he negotiated the last few feet of steep bank and then splashed into the creek without hesitation. Soon the roan gelding had crossed and was climbing the opposite bank. Lisa halted him at the top. Taking a few deep breaths and wetting her lips, she sat there and waited for Scott to join her, keeping her back to him so that he wouldn’t see her expression.
Okay, this is getting a little out of hand, she thought. Scott and I both know we’re not supposed to be doing this. Acting like this. Flirting. What was I thinking, coming out here alone with him? What did I expect to happen?
“Hey, is it okay to let him drink?” Scott called.
Lisa glanced over her shoulder briefly. Windsor had stopped in midstream and was stretching his neck toward the water, pulling Scott slightly forward in the saddle.
“It’s okay. You can just wait and move him on when he’s finished,” she called back, turning to face forward once again.
“Okeydoke,” Scott said.
Lisa leaned forward to pat Checkers, who was standing calmly on a loose rein. She could hear splashing behind her and knew she probably only had a moment or two until Windsor had slaked his thirst and Scott joined her on the bank.
And then I have to figure out how to deal with him, she thought.
“Uh, Lisa?” Scott called. “Lisa!”
She turned and glanced over her shoulder again, wondering why he sounded so frantic. Windsor was splashing at the water with one forefoot.
“Oops,” she said, suddenly realizing what the horse was up to. “Move him!” she called to Scott. “Give a kick and—”
She cut herself off, seeing that she was too late. Windsor splashed himself on the belly once more, then buckled his knees and lowered himself laboriously into the rushing stream. Scott clung helplessly to the horse’s mane for a few seconds, but as the icy water of the creek hit his legs, he yelped and hopped off to one side.
“Give him room!” Lisa called, already kicking her feet out of the stirrups and sliding out of the saddle, remembering that Checkers was reliably trained to ground tie. Then she hurried down the slope toward the water. “Get out of his way—he’s probably going to roll!”
Scott jumped aside, looking alarmed. Unfortunately he was so focused on Windsor’s feet that he wasn’t watching his own. He stepped on something that gave way beneath him, sending him flying to one side. Lisa winced as he landed on one elbow in the icy water.
“Scott!” she yelled, even as she raced the edge of the water. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live.” Scott smiled weakly as he climbed to his feet and splashed his way toward the bank.
Lisa held out a hand to help him clamber out of the water. “Sorry about that,” she said, feeling guilty. “I should have warned you that horses sometimes do that. If they finish drinking and start splashing around, they may be thinking of taking a nice little bath. I just never thought Windsor would do something like that in the middle of winter.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Scott didn’t release her hand as he smiled down at her. “You’re still my favorite trail guide ever.”
“Thanks.” Lisa knew she should pull her hand away, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. She looked up at Scott, smiling tentatively in sheer relief that he was okay. He smiled back, then squeezed her hand gently and began tracing a pattern on the back of it with his thumb.
Lisa gulped, realizing how badly she wanted him to lean down and kiss her. How much she wanted to kiss him. She knew it wouldn’t be a wise move, but just at that moment, she couldn’t remember why. From the look in Scott’s eyes as he took a half step closer, she guessed he was thinking the same thing.
“I’d better grab him before he decides to head home without you,” she said, already moving toward the water. The gelding had finished his dip and was on all four feet again in the middle of the creek, glancing from one side to the other as if deciding which direction to go.
“Wait, I’ll go.” Scott grabbed her gently by the shoulder, stopping her just before she stepped into the water. “No sense both of us getting soaked.”
Before Lisa could protest, he stepped into the creek and splashed over to Windsor, talking soothingly to the horse. Lisa watched him. Her hand was still tingling, as well as her shoulder where he had just touched it.
Okay, I guess it’s time to admit it. There’s definitely something going on between Scott and me. No two ways about it. She bit her lip as Scott took hold of Windsor’s reins, blushing as she thought about how close she’d come to kissing him, right then and there, with two horses waiting for them and Scott’s feet probably going numb inside his wet shoes. If I’m not careful, things could get out of control really fast. And that can’t happen. Not until I decide what to do about Alex.
Alex. How long had it been since she’d actually spoken to him? She wasn’t sure, but she knew it was much longer than at any time since they’d first fallen in love. It was a strange thought. Just weeks ago, Alex had been a big part of her daily life. And now? Now she was so occupied with the idea that she might be moving soon that she hardly thought about him, let alone figured out what to say to him when they did talk next.