“And still no cowboy hat,” he says, snatching his cap back from me and pulling it onto his head.
“I’ll get you one for your birthday.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
I shrug. “Part of being a woman. I’m more stubborn than ever.”
“As if that’s possible.”
I smack him on the arm playfully and he laughs. Gratitude for the intimacy of a true friendship stirs inside me and I’m surprised at the stinging I feel at the corners of my eyes.
Tyler doesn’t seem to notice.
“Want to go for a ride?” he asks. “I was just about to saddle up Rocket.”
I blink a few times and nod. “I thought you’d never ask.”
* * *
“Five years. Geez, Mal.” Tyler draws out the words as he sits atop Rocket, a large American Warmblood—Dad’s horse—who stands two hands above Midnight and me. His coat is a splotched dark brown and white, like chocolate milk, not fully mixed together. The horses saunter side by side through the rows of my dad’s grapevines that spread as far as the eye can see. Dad moved us here seventeen years ago when the Paso Robles wine country was just up, not so much coming. Having been gone for so long, I appreciate its growth anew. Looking out to the east, I see the plot of land that has been prepared for the new vines, the trellises currently standing empty, waiting.
“Has it gotten quieter since I was here last?” I ask.
Tyler laughs. “No. Your tolerance has just lessened.”
“I couldn’t even sleep last night. I swear, I could feel it pressing in on me.”
“You went and turned into a city girl on us, didn’t you?”
I narrow my eyes at him, assaulting him with a long pause. “Never.”
“When was the last time you even rode a horse?”
I hesitate. “Yesterday?”
He laughs.
“Well, how many stables do you think there are in New York City?”
“Fair enough.”
Tyler and I point the horses up the trail that leads to the top of the hill overlooking the vineyard. Tyler lets me lead, and I close my eyes, tilting my head toward the sun. It thaws the northeastern winter from my bones. Midnight rocks back and forth beneath me with every step, and the sensation is so familiar, I could be a teenager again, full of possibilities and confusion...love and a broken heart.
“So, your boss finally let you take a vacation?” he asks.
I come back to the present. “Something like that,” I say.
“What’s it actually like?”
I laugh. Leave it to Tyler to not let me off the hook. He hasn’t changed at all.
“Actually...” I twist my fingers into Midnight’s mane. “I don’t really have a job at the moment.”
I look over my shoulder at him. His brow is furrowed. He urges me on with his eyes.
“My paid internship ended yesterday. I have to decide whether or not I’m going to take a permanent position there. Or, I guess, somewhere else. Or something else.”
“That’s a lot of decisions to make,” he notes.
A humorless laugh escapes my lips. “Yeah, it is.”
We’re quiet as we finish climbing the hill, instead focusing on avoiding the sharp, dry tree limbs overhead. I used to be able to avoid every branch that jutted out, thirsty for blood. Now they’re everywhere, the path less trodden.
We reach the top and Tyler brings Rocket to a trot next to me. We lead the horses to the break in the trees, stopping at the edge where we can see the entire property. I could sit here and memorize the horizon for hours.
“So what’s it going to be?” Tyler asks, not missing a step. It’s the question I’ve asked myself a thousand times over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know. I was kind of hoping coming home would help me decide.”
Tyler looks at me but doesn’t respond right away. His expression is studious as he tries to apply this new information to the Mallory he used to know. That Mallory didn’t think through decisions like this. She made one and let the cards fall where they may.
“What?” I finally ask.
“I don’t know. It’s just...you usually run headlong into any opportunity that presents itself. That’s kind of your thing.”
I find a tear in the leather on Midnight’s saddle and pick at it. “Well, I’m not a teenager anymore. Everyone is a little reckless when they’re teenagers.”
“Some things don’t change.”
“Some things do.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” He winks, taking some of the pressure off the conversation. I grin.
“You talk a lot for a cowboy.”
“I’m not a cowboy.”
Tyler moves Rocket sideways until he can hook his arm around my neck, pulling me into a rough hug.
“It’s good to have you back,” he says.
I slip my arm around his waist. The way his T-shirt sticks to his back hints at the sheen of sweat beneath that reminds me of many summer days spent washing horses and polishing saddles with him.
“It’s good to be here,” I say.
“You see Kelly yet?” he asks.
I purse my lips and let my arm fall away from him.
“No. I haven’t.”
Copyright © 2017 by Jamie Raintree
ISBN-13: 9781488027895
Perfectly Undone
Copyright © 2017 by Jamie Raintree
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