“It’s been a very long time since I’ve been on a horse,” Lake reminded, his voice trembling only a little. “So bear that in mind.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ll only start galloping once we get across the road.”
His wide eyes met my gaze, and it took him a couple of seconds to flip me off. “Jerk.”
I laughed and nudged Ursula with my heels. We had western saddles on the horses, and she knew what that meant, a trail ride.
As competitive as she was and especially liking jumping, she was inquisitive and loved to be in the woods at the reserve we were lucky to live across from.
Not everyone liked that horses were allowed on some of the trails, but it wasn’t something I had ever had energy to care about. I made sure everyone from the rescue stayed on the horse-friendly paths and that was it.
Salem was a bit more hesitant on trail rides, but he was also solid in that I could trust Lake with him. He didn’t spook easily, and always seemed to think of the person on his back.
“You know, as much as the fields remind me of where I grew up, it’s not that painful anymore,” Lake said as we entered the wooded area.
I glanced back at him. “Oh?”
“Yeah, I guess it’s the whole making my own way thing. It’s easier to separate all that from my current…me, I suppose. I’m not a helpless kid anymore.”
I thought about that for a while. “It took me a long time to understand that Ruth had become family,” I started. “I’d been here for a year by that point. You had visited, and I could see how much it hurt her to see you packed up in that car as they drove off with you. She made a comment that made something click for me, right then.”
When I didn’t immediately continue, Lake asked, “What was it?”
“She said that family has nothing to do with blood, but who your heart chooses and those who feel like home.” Pain lanced my soul at the thought of her repeating those words years later to others who needed to hear them. Now it was up to us to uphold her legacy.
We rode in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the sights and sounds of the woods.
“If I finish it, I’m going to put the money I get from it back into the rescue.” Lake’s voice was determined now, not hesitant like it had been before when he talked about the book.
Knowing he would want my opinion, I mulled it all over for a while.
“Well, it’s your money.”
“Yeah, but also, if I can feel like I actually did something to deserve this place, all that money, I really would prefer that.” His tone was somewhat sharp. I could almost sense him deflating before he added, “People think something like this is easy, you know. They talk about wanting to inherit from a distant relative and all that. It’s…it’s not easy.”
I made a sound of agreement, even though I didn’t have the right words.
He was right, after all. This whole thing was fucked up, wasn’t it? The fact that he’d been thrust into this situation with no warning. I understood Ruth’s motives, I’d known her well enough to see her reasoning. I just wish she’d had more time to maybe write him a letter or something. Explain better.
When I asked Lake if he wanted to trot for a bit, he agreed to try it out.
“Hey, this is easier in a western saddle!” he called out happily. “Can we try canter?”
“Once we hit the next straight bit of path, sure!”
As we rounded a bend and I could be sure there was nobody in our way, I glanced over my shoulder.
“You ready?”
“Yeah!”
I didn’t have to ask Ursula, I gave her more rein and she started to canter lightly, her ears pointing forward as obvious joy filled her body.
I laughed out loud, and it echoed back from Lake, who let out a little whooping sound, then laughed more as if he’d whooped accidentally.
Salem, as much of a good boy as he was, decided he wanted to race Ursula, and suddenly Salem and Lake were next to us and Lake let out a delighted giggle as he tried to rein in his horse.
“All right, I think that’s enough,” I said, slowing down until both horses went back to walking.
