Riding
Julie tossed and turned all night, not really getting much sleep. When the sun rose, she was the first out of bed. She tried reading for a while but couldn't concentrate.When Kate came downstairs an hour later they decided to get started on making breakfast for everyone.
They decided to make pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs.
As they cooked they talked.
"I can't believe you are going home tomorrow." Julie said.
"I know. It's been quite a week hasn't it." Kate replied.
"Yeah. You really think they'll keep in touch?"
"Nick said he would. All I can do is trust him."
"True. And speak of the devil."
Kate turned to see Nick coming downstairs rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Hey Baby, did we wake you?" Kate asked.
"No, I woke up in an empty bed and had to make sure you hadn't run off." He smirked.
"You want some breakfast?" She said walking over to kiss his forehead.
“Any chance of coffee, too?” he asked, as his arms snaked around Kate.
Julie started her Keurig coffee maker. She didn’t drink coffee, mostly tea and cocoa, but she bought a box of Gloria Jean Mocha Coffee for Kate. Nick laughed when he saw the flavor.
“Really? Fru fru coffee? Don’t you have any real coffee?” He teased.
“This is real coffee… just chocolate flavored.” Kate replied.
She helped him get the machine going. He had never seen a Keurig coffee maker before. Within minutes of Nick getting his coffee, a very tired AJ stumped down the steps.
“Had a rough night did we?” Nick teased, as AJ walked with little energy to the table. He plopped down in the open chair next to Nick.
“Maybe,” he said, smiling over at Julie, who was fixing him a cup of joe. Kate brought the food over to the table as Julie got plates.
“So, what is the plan for today?” Nick asked, a little too cheery for AJ’s tastes. He scowled at him.
“Can we just stay here?” He asked.
“If we were at my place, we would be horseback riding.” Kate pointed out.
“That’s a great idea,” Julie chimed in. “There is a really neat place about an hour south of here that does riding. It’s at a reservoir.”
Kate looked over at Nick. He looked genuinely interested.
“I would love to see my little cowgirl show me what she’s made of.”
Kate laughed, "Yeah I'll be the only one not sore tonight.”
She looked over at Julie who was blushing profusely. Julie was thinking of something entirely different. Kate understood and started laughing. Nick caught on and joined in, but AJ was still too much asleep to get the joke and sat there confused.
After breakfast Kate called down to find out about horseback riding. She found out that they could rent the horses for a half a day and take a picnic with them.
Julie packed a picnic lunch in a beautiful basket that even had wine glasses in it.
Kate looked at Julie incredulously.
"What?" Julie asked.
"Wine glasses?"
"I had a bottle sparkling apple cider." She explains.
"Ok... But you know we won't be taking that basket with us right?"
"Why not?"
"Because we can't exactly strap it to the back of a horse. They'll have saddle bags for us."
Julie looked disappointed.
"Why don't we just bring capri suns for lunch and we'll fix a nice dinner tonight and have the apple cider with that?" Kate said trying to make her feel better, "Besides anything carbonated is going to get all shook up on horseback."
"Ok you have a point there."
They headed out all dressed in jeans and good shoes for riding. The guys wore tennis shoes since they didn't have boots.
Kate wore blue jeans with flaps over the back pockets and layered her white sports bra with her melon colored top that brought out the darkness of her skin.
Julie wore dark washed jeans and a bright pink tank top and black lace up cowgirl boots.
"So I haven't been on a horse since I was a kid. What should I do?" Nick asked Kate as they rode in the back seat.
"Well seeing as these are rentable horses I'm thinking they are all bomb proof but just keep your butt in the middle and you'll be fine."
"Don't worry Nick, Kate's a good teacher. She'll make a cowboy out of you in no time." Julie said.
AJ laughed, "If you start spouting y'all on the tour we'll know who to blame."
"Hey I've been saying y'all a lot longer than I've owned horses." Kate said defending herself.
They found the ranch with no problems. The 4 of the walked to the barn to get checked in.
Kate saw a person cleaning a stall in the back and called out to them.
"Good Mornin'"
"Mornin'" He called back, leaning his pitch fork against the wall and coming out. He was tall and broad shouldered with dark brown hair and eyes.
"How can I help you?" He asked his eyes never leaving Kate.
"I called this morning about renting some horses for a couple of hours." Kate explained.
"Oh yes," He said recalling the phone call. "Is this going to be a guided tour, a trail ride or do you want to free reign?"
"What's the difference?" Julie asks.
He looks at her for the first time and turns back to Kate to answer.
"A trail ride is a specific trail lead by a guide. A guided tour you can choose where you want to go but a guide accompanies you in case of problems or to help new riders."
"And a free reign?" Kate asks oblivious to the fact that this cowboy is trying to flirt with her.
"That's where you can take off on your own. But we only recommend that for experienced riders."
"Well I've owned horses for 11 years now so I guess I qualify. I assume your horses are pretty much bomb proof?" She asks.
He's surprised by her boldness. Of course he knew she could ride, one look at her boots told him that but the fact that she was confident enough to take 2 greenhorns on strange horses said she must be a good rider.
"Yes, of course. Well if you'll just come with me I just have some paperwork for ya then we'll get y'all saddled up."
Nick missed none of the exchange. He saw the way this cowboy was looking at Kate and it made his blood boil. He kept his temper in check though because he knew this was something Kate wanted to do.
The cowboy gave them each some paperwork to fill out and went to saddle some horses.
Kate finished her paperwork and went to help with the horses. Nick hurried to finish his paperwork so he could catch up to Kate.
"So how long have you been riding," The cowboy asked her as they brushed down the horses.
"Almost 12 years now." Kate answered.
She saw Nick walk up.
"Hey handsome, you want to learn how to groom a horse."
"Sure." He said.
"He's riding this one, right?" Kate asked the cowboy, pointing to a 16 hand black gelding with a white blaze and socks.
The cowboy nodded to her. Kate picked up a metal curry comb and handed it to Nick.
"So first we comb them with the metal curry, it takes the mud off and looses the shedding hair. Always brush with the grain."
She watched him for a moment before grabbing another brush and working on the horse next to his. When he finished both sides she taught him how to use a rubber curry to work the dirt and loose hair off. Julie and AJ watched as they worked.
"Hey you missed a spot!" AJ teased Nick.
"Hey at least I'm learning not standing around waiting for everything to be done for me." Nick retorts.
Kate has her horse brushed and saddled by the time Nick has his horse brushed. She shows him how to saddle his horse and they are soon ready to go.
"Oh I almost forgot!" Kate said. "Can we use some saddle bags to pack our lunch in?"
The cowboy grabs a couple of saddle bags, strapping them to Kate and Julie's horses. They soon had their lunch packed and swung up into the saddle.
The cowboy gave Kate a map of the trails and suggested a couple of picnic spots.
They rode for an hour. The guys still trying to get comfortable in the saddle.
"Relax." Kate said. "You're too tense. Your horse isn't going to do anything but walk down the trail."
Nick tried to relax but it was hard. He wanted to be good at this for her but he really had no idea what he was doing.
"So Kate," AJ asks, "How did you learn so much about horses?"
"Well I always liked them and wanted one. And after my dad bought Elbe for me I just really had to learn. I bought books and listened to everyone I knew that had horses."
"Do you just ride for fun?" He asked.
"Yeah I have friends that have horses and sometime we haul our horses out to parks to ride or we just ride each other's."
"I thought maybe you rodeoed or something."
"No, I know how to run barrels and pole bend but I was never really fast at it."
Julie suggested they find a place to set up their picnic.
They found a grassy hill overlooking the reservoir with plenty of shade trees to tie the horses to.
"Jewels? Would you tie up the horses? I want to run her a little" Kate asked patting her red appaloosa mare.
"Sure no problem."
Kate turned her horse and walked a ways away from the other horses before kicking her up to a canter. Nick watched as she sped away. When she was out of sight he walked back over to help AJ and Julie get the picnic set up.
"She really loves it doesn't she?" He asked Julie.
"Yeah. Horses are a big part of her life. And they aren't a cheap hobby either. She busts her butt to support and take care of hers."
"How many does she have?" He asked.
"Just 2 right now. But I think she's planning on breeding her mare again."
"She's done it before?"
"Yeah but the baby broke his leg and had to be put down."
"Oh that's sad."
"She took it really hard too. Like it was somehow her fault. It wasn't of course the vet said he probably got kicked by one of the big horses."
Kate came galloping back up. Her hair was swept back from her face and she was out breath.
"Did you have fun?" Nick asked, smiling up at her.
"Yeah, she can move." Kate said dismounting. She tied her horse to the closest tree and joined them for the picnic.
They were done eating and just sitting around talking when Kate's horse started moving restlessly. Kate looked over just as the horse reared up striking the air. She grabbed the pocket knife she always kept clipped in her boot when riding and jumped up running to the horse.
The horse had come down and was rearing up a Kate reached her. She couldn't figure out what was wrong. She was talking calmly to the horse. Nick, Julie and AJ sat transfixed.
When Kate pulled on the rope she realized the horse had pulled the slip knot too tight when she had reared.
When the horse went up for a 3rd time she saw it. There was a snake in the tree. She flipped open her knife and grabbed the reigns. As she cut thru the leather the horse's foot struck out catching Kate across her left wrist. As she sliced thru the reigns, the horse spun and raced away.
Nick jumped o his feet.
"Are you ok?" He asked concerned.
"Yeah I'm fine." Kate lied.
"What was wrong with it?" He said watching the horse disappear across the field.
"There is a snake in the tree." Kate explained.
Julie jumped up, "Well that's my cue to leave. I don't do snakes."
"Should we all walk back since you don't have a horse to ride?" Nick asks.
"No I'll just double up with you." She said.
Julie and AJ packed the picnic into Julie's saddle bags. Kate swung up into the saddle hooking her elbow on the saddle horn. Nick noticed she did something different but he wasn't sure what since he hadn't really paid attention the first time
"Can you come around and mount on this side?" Kate asked Nick.
"Uh... Sure. But only if you tell me how."
Kate smiles instructing him to use the saddle horn and pommel to pull himself up. She put the stirrup behind her foot holding it back so he could use it to step up with. Once he was settled behind her they headed back to the ranch.
Kate tried to ignore the throbbing in her wrist. She glanced down. No blood that was good. She wanted to feel it to see if it was broken but she didn't want to draw attention to it. No she'd cowgirl up and deal with it. She didn't want anything to spoil her last day with Nick. So she just let her hand rest lightly on the saddle horn.
By the time the made it back to the barn Kate was pale and had a sheen of sweat over her face.
Julie explained what had happened to the horse while Nick helped Kate down.
"Honey are you ok? You don't look good." Nick asked concern in his voice.
"Just what every girl wants to hear from her boyfriend." She laughed.
"I just need to go to the ladies room."
Nick watched as she walked away. AJ came over after observing he exchange from a distance.
"She ok?" He asked.
"She says so but she doesn't look like it. You don't think that snake bit her do you?"
"No... Couldn't be. She's have rushed us back." AJ replied.
"Maybe but she looked like she might collapse."
"She was defiantly green." AJ agreed. "Hey Jewels?"
"Yeah." She said walking over.
"We need you to go check on Kate."
Panic started to rise up in Julie.
"Why?! Where is she?"
"Ladies room." Nick replied.
"She just didn't look like she felt well." AJ said trying calm her.
Julie walked into the ladies room. There were 2 stalls in it.
"Kate?"
"What?" Kate said her voice sounding odd.
Julie looked under the stalls. She could see the back of Kate's head.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Going to the bathroom."
"With your head between your legs? How's that working out for ya?" Julie laughed.
"I'm just trying not to pass out."
"Why are you going to pass out?"
"I think I broke my wrist."
"How?!"
"That horse struck me while I was trying to cut it free."
"We better get you to the hospital then." Julie said calmly.
"No it's probably just bruised and I only have a few hours left with Nick."
"Ok well come out of there and let me look at it at least."
It took Kate a couple of minutes to get her pants back up one handed.
When she came out she extended her left arm to Julie. The swelling was obvious. And it was turning purple around the edges.
"Yeah you're going to the hospital." Julie said with a motherly tone.
Kate grimaced. She hated hospital. Especially when it was for her. Julie led her back out to the guys.
She had a little more color now but Nick was still worried. He looked at Julie since Kate wouldn't make eye contact.
"She may have a broken wrist." Julie announced.
"Thanks Jewels." Kate said sarcastically.
"Hey if you weren't gonna tell them someone had to." she said proud of herself.
Kate smiled leave it to her best friend to announce bad news like she'd just won the lottery. She looked up into Nick's gray eyes.
"I'm ok Baby. Some ice and advil and ill be fine." she says trying to put his mind at ease.
"Let me see.". He said holding out a hand.
She extended hers to him. It took everything she's had not to pull away. His gentle touch sending searing pain through her.
"Yeah you're going to the hospital." He said, "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"
She looked at her boots. "I didn't want you to think horses were dangerous and not want to ride anymore."
He wanted to pull her into a hug but since she had laid her wrist across her tummy he held back.
"Come on," He said wrapping an arm around her back. "Let's go get that checked out."
