Lainey hadn't quite caught what’d been said beforehand.
But Jake’s voice was as clear as day when he responded. “I'm not sure.”
“Come on,” there was a laugh. “She's your neighbour. You must see who comes and goes.”
“I saw her riding the other day. Got to say, wouldn’t mind her riding me.”
There was more laughter, but none of it was Jake’s.
Lainey sat down, filling up her wine glass before putting the bottle down. She would advise any client to walk away from this, to close the doors and not listen, because whatever was being said wasn’t likely to be pleasant.
She didn’t follow her own advice.
“I think she’s got more taste than to do anything with you.” The voice was Jake’s, and he didn’t sound particularly amused.
A few whoops were made by the others, and someone else laughed.
“Sounds like someone’s got a crush on his neighbour. You been spying on her through your windows?”
“No, that’s for perverts like you to do. Now let’s get the hell on with this so we can have a beer before the sun sets.” Jake sounded impatient.
The chat went onto something else and Lainey tuned out, picking up her phone and seeing a few messages from her cousins and sisters. It was Ava’s wedding in a few weeks and she had an invitation to go, and bring a plus one, which was what Ava was reminding her about. Ava’s slightly elder brother, Seph, had developed a girlfriend and they were teasing him about bringing her and scaring her off, which could be easily done, although if she was easily scared off, then she’d have gone by now.
She lost herself in thoughts about her family, sending a couple of messages to her mother and dad as she hadn’t properly spoken to them for a few days. The night was sultry for the north of England, the heat now quite simmering down.
Putting down her glass, she decided to take an evening ride before it became too dark and she’d drank anymore. She was twitchy and wasn’t in the mood to be still, but neither did she want to seek out any company. Marley was singing tonight at one of the pubs and had been trying to persuade her to go there, but Lainey knew she’d spend the evening feeling angsty.
There was no breeze outside. The air was stagnant, as if the particles were sitting there with their popcorn, waiting for the lightning to crack. Lainey liked a good storm, apart from how it could affect the horses. Any ride would need to be fairly quick, which suited her right now. If there was no breeze, she needed to create her own.
Rex whinnied at her when she got to the stable, nudging her as soon as she was close. She didn’t have favourite animals; they all had their own qualities and uniqueness, but Rex was the horse she loved riding. He was responsive and daring, seeming to instinctively know what mood she was in and reading her. Which was why he was becoming an amazing therapy animal, despite it not being in their earlier plans.
He was anxious to get out himself, stamping his hoof while she saddled him up, impatient to set off. The sunset was just beginning, the sky tinged with reds and yellows, the peaks a dark green against it as the shadows started to set in.
Lainey heard Rex’s hooves start to beat on the dry ground, his happy exhale mingling with the calls of the swifts and the swallows that were diving low, catching their suppers. Her shoulders began to relax, her body remembering the rhythm she and Rex had built over the last few months. Over the first field, they broke into a gallop, the still heat and movement making them both break into a sweat. Hair loose, Lainey started to feel freer than she’d done for days, slowing Rex down to a canter as they approached the river.
Despite the warm weather, the river was still full. There was a reservoir closer to Underwood that had needed emergency maintenance work, and the engineers had emptied some of the water into the River Sever to help. There were sections of the river where it widened, and the flow was slow, perfect for Rex to wade through and cool down.
They dropped down towards the banks, the sound of the water like a magnet. The trees were still, the silence full of promise of rainfall, until the silence was broken by something other than Rex’s hooves.
Rex came to a complete standstill, as if reading Lainey’s mind. Through the trees, beyond the sandy banks of the river, where it pooled deeply, and teenagers would leap from the sides into the water on a hot day, there was a man swimming.
One she recognised.
One she knew well, but she could know better.
Deviating down a narrow track, she and Rex took a quicker route to the water, the canopy of trees overhead creating a myriad of shadow puppets over the water.
He wasn’t aware she was there, swimming through the water, then climbing out, heading back up the bank to the ledge to jump off. She watched him a couple of times, not even avoiding staring at his chest or the way he flexed his biceps as he climbed out.
Lainey knew that compared to her sisters, she wasn’t brave. She could set up a business, she could live alone, but everything was usually risk assessed. That wild streak wasn’t really there.
Except when it was.
Lainey took a deep breath and dismounted Rex. She pulled of her tank top and shorts, leaving them on the bank, away from where the water would hit, and waded in, feeling the stones rough beneath her feet until it became deep enough to swim.
Her skin puckered in the cold of the water until she became used to it, and when she looked up, the first thing she saw was Jake.
The water came up to his chest, droplets cascading down his skin from his hair that was saturated.
