“Oh.” Elise drew back, her long lashes wide to arched brows. “Impressive. I was ten, so, hey. We are practically sisters.” She pressed her hands together. “But not like my brother. I’m surprised he didn’t refuse to let you on the lift.”
Nicole frowned, not following. “Why?”
Elise sighed and leaned in, whispering, “Maybe I’m the only one he suffocates.” She shook her head and mouthed, “We’ll talk later.”
Nicole nodded, remembering Cameron’s comment about the same thing. Instead, she got back on skin care, then the lodge, the ski shed, and, at Cameron’s urging, a little bit about her famous father.
But it was Dad’s return to run the sleigh rides that brought a soft gasp from Elise.
“You have sleigh rides at this lodge?” she asked.
“Oh, yes. They?—”
“Then you have horses.” The longing in her voice was palpable.
“One,” Nicole said. “Copper, who is sweet and gentle and sometimes stubborn and occasionally ridiculous. Addicted to peppermints and…” She stopped talking, stunned by the tears that pooled in Elise’s eyes. “Cameron said you love horses.”
“More than life itself,” she said simply. “I love everything about them. And I miss them.”
Nicole nodded, a sharp pang of empathy in her heart. “I felt that way about skiing,” she said softly. “I didn’t know it until yesterday when Cameron took me out again and we…” She searched the pretty face across from her, seeing the yearning in those beautifully made-up eyes. “Could you ever…”
Elise glanced down at her lap, then up again, expression frank. “Icould,” she said. “But I can’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“I could get on a horse and ride it—not like I did before, obviously, but people in my condition do it at therapeutic riding places all the time.”
“Why don’t you? What do you mean you ‘can’t’ if you…can?”
She made a face. And poked her finger repeatedly in the direction of the kitchen. “My self-appointed knight in ski patrol armor won’t let me,” she said, very soft, so he definitely couldn’t hear over the sound of sizzling from the stove.
Nicole leaned back on the sofa, considering this new twist.
“Maybe you could ride mine,” she said before she let herself think too much about it. Surely Cameron wouldn’t refuse his utterly adorable sister the chance to sit on a gentle horse and slowly walk the paddock? Could he refuse her anything?
Elise stared at her, quiet for the first time since Nicole arrived.
“I’m sure it’s complicated,” Nicole said, thinking out loud. “But we have this contraption at the lodge—my grandpa built a ramp and we had a harness for a guest who came every year. Whistler, our old horse, used to take her around our fenced-in paddock and the lady was just so happy. It took a little strength to get her on the horse, but she rode.”
Elise’s face lit brighter than the lights on the tree behind her. “Therapeutic riding places have the lifts and platforms. I know exactly what you mean. If I could just?—”
“No,” Cameron said, appearing in the living room doorway with a spatula in one hand. His tone wasn’t harsh, just immediate, protective instinct firing. “It’s not safe.”
“Cam—” Nicole started.
“I’m not trying to be a jerk,” he said gently, looking between them. “It’s the falling that scares me. If she falls wrong…no. We can’t take that chance.”
Elise looked skyward, the classic eyeroll of a younger sister. “Oh, please. He thinks if I ride once, I’ll ask to go every weekend.He’s not wrong.” She lifted a shoulder. “I miss it so much, it’s stupid.”
“Falling would be stupid,” Cameron said. “It’s not worth the risk.”
But the look on Elise’s face saidanythingwas worth the risk.
“I understand,” Nicole said slowly, considering each word. “I respect the caution. But this wouldn’t be me slinging her up bareback to dart over hill and snowy dale. We’d be in the paddock. Slow. Safe. I mean, I know I saw that ramp and harness when I pulled out the sleigh last month.”
He looked torn, then sighed and retreated to the stove. “Soup’s ready,” he said, not quite conceding.
While they ate in the sunny kitchen, Elise kept up the chatter, entertaining them and luring Nicole into conversation over delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.
