Chapter 5 Picnic

*Back in New Jersey* *Heather’s Point of View*

                I woke up that Saturday to the smell of pancakes and scrambled eggs and the sound of Rich setting up a TV table right next to the bed.

                “Good morning sunshine,” he smiled at me when I rolled over.

                “Good morning babe. What’s with breakfast in bed?”

                “What I can’t be spontaneous and spoil my beautiful girlfriend?”

                I smirked as he sat down on the bed next to me, “Did you feed the Pups?”

                “Of course I did. They were hounding me as I was making our breakfast.”

                “Thank you.”

                “You’re welcome. How about after we eat we take them for a walk then we can go to Golden Breeze Ranch and go for a nice trail ride just you and me?”     

                “It sounds like a good idea. I definitely need my horse therapy.”              

                My mom grew up around horses so Stephanie and I did too. The three of us loved riding together. The feeling of riding a horse at full gallop with no restraints was so freeing. And just being around horses made me feel at ease and at home. My mom, sister and I called our time around horses “horse therapy” because if either of us were having a bad day spending time at Golden Breeze Ranch always made us feel better. When my mom passed away, I was at the ranch every day after school. At the time my sister and I shared a horse named Cowpoke. Mom had given him to us as a joint birthday present when I turned 16 and my sister turned 18. She and I had ridden Cowpoke before numerous times and we had fallen in love with him. It took Mom at least two years to save up enough money to buy him for us. Cowpoke was the best gift she had ever given both of us because if it weren’t for him, Steph and I wouldn’t be the same. He really did make us feel better when we were going through the toughest time in our lives. Cowpoke had passed away about 5 years ago at the age of 35. He was the oldest horse at Golden Breeze and he sired many babies. My favorite, who I helped train, was Bullseye and he still lived at Golden Breeze. I hoped that he wasn’t going to be used for a lesson that day or being used to herd the cattle at the neighboring farm. He took his father’s place as my favorite horse at the stables and I hadn’t ridden in a while. I really wanted to ride him.

                After we walked Shep, Lacey and Hunter, we brought them back home and grabbed our riding boots. In about half an hour we pulled into the ranch yard and I practically ran toward the office to see if my good friend Diane, who also owned the barn, was there. Instead I found the barn’s assistant manager Meg.

                “Hi Meg!” I smiled at her as I walked up to the desk.

                “Well fancy seeing you here Heather. Long time no see!” She got up from her chair behind the computer and gave me a hug.

                “I have been busy with school. We got a new superintendent and he is driving all of us teachers crazy.”

                “So you are here for some much needed and overdue horse therapy. Anyone you want to ride in particular?”

                “Do you know me at all Meg?”

                “Bullseye is in his stall waiting for ya,” she answered with a smile.

                “I need a horse for Rich too.”

                “Let me see here,” she looked at the list of horses that weren’t being used that day. “He can take Jazz.”

                “Thanks Meg! Oh and where’s Diane?”

                “I think she’s out on the trails with Samoya. You might see her when you are out there.”

                “Ok thanks Meg. I’ll see you later.”

                “Have a happy trial ride girl!”                                            

                I walked back out to the truck to find Rich just hanging up his cell phone. He looked a little suspicious when he saw me.

                “Who am I riding today?”

                “You have Jazz and I am riding Bullseye.”

                “Awesome! Let’s go hit the trails.”

                As soon as I walked into the second barn where both Jazz and Bullseye were stabled, I called out for Bullseye and he whinnied excitedly recognizing my voice. I went into his stall and groomed him and as usual he stood perfectly still for me.

                Once both horses were tacked up we led them out of the barn and we hit the trails.

                We rode around for at least an hour and a half when we came across Diane and Samoya.

                “Well look who we found Sammie,” Diane smiled in our direction and I nudged Bullseye into a jog and halted him right next to Samyoa so I could hug Diane from my saddle.

                “It’s so good to see you!”

                “It’s good to see you too Heather. Meg called and told me that you two were on the trails so I decided to give you two a picnic. It’s waiting for you right over there at the picnic table. You can just ground tie Jazz and Bullseye and they can graze while you two eat.”

                “Thank you Diane. You are welcome to join us.”

                “Thank you sweetheart but I have to get Samoya back to the barn and hose her down. She can’t take much more of this heat being pregnant.”

                “I didn’t know she’s pregnant!”

                “Yeah she’s not showing her weight yet but she will soon. Enjoy your picnic and I will see you two back at the barn.”

                She walked Samoya up to Jazz and smiled at Rich. She leaned over in her saddle and whispered into his ear.

                Once she and Samoya jogged off I smiled at Rich and raised my eyebrow inquisitively, “What was that about?”

                “Nothing,” he replied as he dismounted and ground tied Jazz.

                I jumped off of Bullseye and he dropped his head to graze.

                Rich spread out the blanket and I brought over the basket. We sat next to each other as we munched on the chicken salad sandwiches that Diane made and the honey mustard pretzels that I loved to snack on. We gazed out at the river that cut in front of us that flowed into the lake at the bottom of the hill. A few deer came out of the woods to take a drink at the lake and pretty birds were flying in between the trees. The wildflowers were in full bloom and the purples, pinks, reds, yellows, and blues were the most vibrant I had seen in a long time. It was so serene and peaceful. The scene in front of us was just perfect.

                “Yay! Diane packed twizzlers! My favorite! Man she does know me too well. This is like the best lunch right here.”

                Diane was a dear and longtime friend of my mom’s. She has known me ever since I was born and when my mom passed she became like a second mother to me and my sister. She loved the two of us like we were her own.

                “That’s because I had asked her to make it perfect.”

                “What do you mean?” I bit into a twizzler.

                “Look in the bottom of the basket under the liner.”

                I stuck the rest of the half eaten twizzler in my mouth with part of it hanging out as I looked where Rich had told me to look.

                As I looked he said, “I brought you here to ask…”

                I pulled out a small velvet box and opened it to find a beautiful diamond ring with a row of amethysts on either side of the diamond.

                My eyes went wide and I looked at my boyfriend.

                He chuckled slightly and continued, “Will you marry me?”

                My mouth dropped open and I blinked as the twizzler in my mouth dropped to the ground.

                Rich chuckled again and said, “Vi?”

                “Of course I will!” I flung my arms around him in a very excited hug then looked at him and crashed my lips onto his. He slipped the ring onto my finger as I rambled, “Holy crap! I was not expecting this at all!”

                “I have to admit that I did have this planned for a while but I was just too chicken to ask until the storm and the accident. I never want to lose you again, until death do us part.”              

                “Holy crap Rich! I just can’t believe it! We’re engaged!”    

                In a few minutes we packed the picnic basket back up and rode happily hand in hand back to the stables. We were greeted by Meg, Diane and my sister, who I was not expecting at all.

                “She said yes!” Rich announced when we got close enough for them to hear.

                They all squealed and Steph ran up to me when I dismounted Bullseye.

                “I am so excited for you!” She flung her arms around me and squeezed me. “Let’s see the ring!”

                I showed off my left hand and Diane and Meg crowded around me too admiring my engagement ring.

                “It’s beautiful! Nice taste Rich,” Diane commented.

                “This was totally unexpected,” I said as Rich stood next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. “And I definitely was not expecting you to be here sis.”

                “Rich asked me for your hand and he told me all about this plan. He had it planned out for weeks.”

                “And Meg and I knew all about it too,” Diane added in.

                “Like I said I did not expect this at all and it was just perfect!”

                My new fiancé kissed my forehead then we took care of the horses we rode.

                When we got back to the house I quickly went on skype and found that all four of my Backstreet Buds were able to talk so I invited them all to a group chat.

                Once we were all connected I said to my friends, “Look what I just got today!”

                I put my hand with the gleaming engagement ring up to the camera.

                “Ooh that’s pretty!” Jess commented.

                “Thank you,” I said with a huge smile on my face.

                “Wait Hermie,” Kelshie said, “Is that an engagement ring?”

                I nodded my head excitedly.     

                My Backstreet Buds screamed and I laughed.

                “Holy crap!” Kelshie commented, “I did not see that coming!”

                “Neither did I!” Jess agreed. “But it’s so exciting.”

                “I’m so happy for you!” Carly replied.

                “Congratulations!” Melina exclaimed.

                “Thank you! I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Rich and I are going out to dinner to celebrate.”

                “Congrats again!” my Backstreet Buds said again before we said our see –you-laters.

                Just as I was about to disconnect from Skype my Uncle David sent me a request to talk.

                I answered with an exuberant, “Uncle David! I was just about to call you over the phone! Perfect timing.”

                “Hello sweetie! You seem excited to speak to me.”

                “I am always excited to talk to you Uncle Dave.”

                “Well you seem very excited hon.”

                “I do have good news for you.”

                “Oh really now? I have good news for you too.”

                “You start.”

                “I was going to surprise you by just showing up at your door one night but I decided against it. But anyway I am coming to visit for at least a month!”

                I let out a squeal and clapped my hands as I always do when I get excited. Uncle David and I are very close and he’s not even my blood uncle. My mom had known him ever since middle school and had been best friends ever since. Stephanie and I had grown up calling him “uncle” and we never grew out of it. He loved and still does love us like his own daughters and has always been there for us, even when he moved out to California. When Mom’s health was starting to fail while in the mental hospital, Uncle Dave basically dropped everything he was doing in California and flew back home to take care of us. When it was time for me to go to college, he helped me pay for it and I moved in with him while I went to school. He was the only father figure Steph and I had known. Some people say that the relationship between Uncle Dav and my mom is what split my parents up in the first place, but that wasn’t true. Yes they did spend a lot of time together but there was no romance between the two of them. Uncle Dave is gay.

                “So what is it you need to tell me?!” Uncle Dave urged.

                “Well, I was wondering if you would like to help me plan a wedding seeing as how you have your own show about wedding planning,” I played coy. And oh yeah my uncle is actually David Tutera. If you don’t know who he is look him up.

                “Whose wedding?” he questioned.

                I held up my hand and couldn’t hold my grin any longer, “Mine.”

                Uncle Dave’s jaw dropped, “Oh my God! Heather! You have to be kidding me! Holy crap! I don’t know what to say! I want to reach through this screen and engulf you in a huge bear hug and jump around with you and scream! Oh my God! Of course I will plan your wedding! Oh honey this is way too exciting! When was the question popped?”

                “This afternoon during a picnic at Golden Breeze Ranch. It was about an hour ago.”

                “It sounds romantic. And who’s the lucky guy?!”

                “Who else do you think Uncle Dav? Rich Lani,” I chuckled.

                “Is he there now?”

                “I’m right here,” Rich came and sat by me.

                “Congratulations young man, but Rich, I must say you are very lucky. And I’m warning you now, you better treat my little Heather right or I’m going to personally beat you up.”

                I chuckled at my uncle who was giving his “serious” face and pointing his finger at my fiancé. I shook my head which made Uncle Dave’s finger point to me, “Oh don’t chuckle at me and shake your head missy I’m serious.” He turned back to Rich, “She may not be my niece by blood but I sure as hell treat her like she is. Hell I treat her like she’s my daughter.”

                Rich put his arm around me, “Trust me sir. I know how special she is.”

                “Good, and keep remembering that. I will admit that from what I have heard about you and the little chats that Heather and I have had about you and from what I can remember of you as a kid, I like you and I give you all the credit in the world for becoming sober again, but don’t do anything to make me not like you anymore and do not hurt my Heather. I promise I will hurt you if you do.”

                Rich looked at me and smiled then looked back at Uncle Dave, “I would never hurt her. I love her too much.”

                I saw Uncle Dave ease up with Rich’s last statement and a grin cracked across his lips, “Good. I might be coming off as a bitch right now but I am so happy for you two. I can see the excitement and love in both of your eyes and I cannot wait to plan this wedding. It’s going to be so much fun!”

                “And I can’t wait to see you Uncle Dave!”

                “I’ll be there next week sweetheart.”

                “And if I might add, I look forward to meeting you sir,” Rich said cordially.

                “Oh you’re a sweet talker aren’t you? But I too look forward to getting to know you better Rich.”

                “I’ll see you in a week Uncle Dave!” I blew him a kiss and he returned the favor.

                “I’ll be counting the minutes my love!”

                We ended our skype call and Rich and I got ready to go out to dinner.

                He made reservations for the fanciest restaurant in town so I slipped on a dress that I loved to wear. It was a simple halter top that starts as a medium blue then gradually darkens to a midnight blue and it hugged my curves in all the right places. To put it plainly I thought I looked smokin’ hot in that dress. And I didn’t feel that way too often. Rich cleaned up nicely in a gray suit and light blue shirt that offset his eyes brilliantly. He smiled widely at me when I walked out of the bathroom when I was finished getting my make up on and said, “You look gorgeous. I love that dress on you.”

                “Thank you honey. You clean up nicely yourself.”

                We held hands as we walked out to the car and Rich drove one handed so we could continue to hold each other’s happy grip. We didn’t say much over dinner except how excited and happy we both were and about how good the other looked in the candle light.           

                I kept thinking about how perfect the day was and how perfect the dinner was and just how perfect Rich was for me. I truly couldn’t wait for our future together.