Page 61 of Storm Warning
She smiles. “Either way, I can confidently assume he likes you foryou.And if it shapes into something bigger, there’s really no avoiding that conversation. So don’t let your dad take everything, he’s already taken enough.” Her eyebrows raise as she nods away from us. A definite sign the boys are no longer occupied with their own conversation.
“What are y’all whisperin’ about over here?” Rhett butts into our conversation and we both rise from the steps.
“Nothing,” we both say in sync. I turn toward her and smile, nudging her with an elbow as if to thank her in a non-obvious way.
He smirks. “Right. Well, Angel, ya wanna go for a ride?”
Walking toward Sawyer, Daisy wraps her arms around his waist and starts talking about grabbing his guitar, and I take Rhett’s hand as he leads me toward the barn.
“Wait? On the horses?” I feel myself tense, gripping his hand tighter once I realize what I agreed to. Though getting in a car was obviously not the plan.
“Don’t tell me Miss Independent is nervous.” Tilting his head, he raises his eyebrows, and I laugh.
“Scared shitless, actually,” I answer honestly. “Not of her, just of falling off or her getting spooked. It’s been years since I’ve been by a horse, but I’ve never ridden.” I leave out my mother’s comments about how riding a horse only put me two steps closer to spreading my legs for cowboy scum.
I wonder what she’d think now, given it didn’t take me riding a horse to ride a cowboy, and even more so that this isn’t the first time I have.
“Earth to Angel,” Rhett says, trying to regain my attention.
“Sorry,” I shake my head, shifting my focus back to him. “A little out of my element, as you know.”
“That’s alright. Ya can ride with me. And I’ll go slow.”
I wait quietly as he gets his horse ready, watching the care he takes with every step. As he speaks to her, thecadence in his voice is gentle and kind. Whispers filled with love.
After putting her bridle on, he leads her toward me by the reins. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” I blow out, unsure if I’m actually ready or if I’m just convincing myself to be.
“Okay, we’ll get ya up there first.”
“Wait, do you have any jelly beans?” Angelica whickers, turning toward Rhett and nudging him as if to repeat my question. I laugh.
“Looks like I now have two bossy girls in my life. I don’t, but I can get some. Wait here.” He jogs out of the barn, leaving me with her, and, oddly enough, I don’t feel nervous at all. Reaching up, I slide my hand down her forehead, admiring not only how clean she is, but also the velvet softness of her nose.
I think about how at one point such a beautiful, calm creature was once scared beyond repair, pacing a corral. Trapped in more ways than one. Not only the gates she was surrounded by, but the fear that someone else had seeped into her. How unfair it was that she wound up with someone who incited pain, and how anyone could even want to. Something I guess I can empathize with more than I ever openly admit. A mirror reflection of cruelty at the hand of your holder.
She leans into my pets and I glide my hand up her neck into the soft waves of her mane. I never really found myself fond of animals, mostly because I never had one of my own. But behind her deep brown eyes I find a heart that was once shattered, fully repaired.
“I’m glad he found you,” I whisper. “And I’m glad he found me too.”
37
RHETT - JULY 24, 2004
Not moneynor fame can buy moments like these.
Marching back into the barn with a pocket full of jelly beans, I didn’t expect to see Kaylee so comfortable with my horse, at least not this fast. My footsteps come to a halt as I watch them. It really is the simple things sometimes, honestly most of the time, because unlike people, an animal’s trust can’t be bought. It’s genuine and it’s unwavering once you’ve got it.
Jelly Bean perks up as she notices me, and Kaylee follows her stare. I pace toward them, pulling out a palmful of the candy and dropping it into Kaylee’s hand.
“Didn’t grow out of the grape-only phase, did we?” She smiles, looking through the pile of purple-less rainbow beans.
“Never will,” I chuckle.
Angelica closes the little space between the two of them, nudging Kaylee once, and again almost immediately after.
“Okay okay,” she says, happily extending out her hand. The jelly beans are gone within seconds.
