“You lookedhotup there.I’ve already been imagining how you’ll look in the official coat and polished boots.”He smiles.“I’d cheer the loudest.”
“You would not,” I say.“You don’t look like someone who cheers at all.”
“You’ll see,” he says.
“Well, he’s not ready to do a full course,” I say.“And he’s done no dressage at all.”
“Just jump him, then,” he says.“It would be a good start.”
“I’ll think about it,” I say.“But no promises.”
“You look pretty good teaching the kids, too, you know.”He’s smirking.“Even if you don’t like them.”There it is again, the biggest hurdle to us really and truly dating.He thinks I don’t like kids, and I can’t correct him without ending things by telling him I love them and can’t ever have one.
“How long have you been here?”I glare.“You saw me talking to Rían, too?”
“I haven’t been here all that long, and I wasn’t just standing around.”He shakes his head a little sheepishly.“I came in, watched for a bit, walked over to the cottage to see how it was going, and came back.I saw you talking to him at the end, though.What did Rían want?”
“He’s selling Scout to me.”
“About time.”
“I’m getting a steal,” I say.
“Anything you pay him is a rip off,” he says.“He couldn’t even ride that horse, or that’s what I heard.”
“Aodhán has a big mouth.”
“That’s true for sure.”Richard tries to pet Scout, and the dumb horse snaps at him.“But this horse isn’t an easy one to manage, so I maintain my position.He’s not worth a bean.”
I laugh.“Well, I’m not paying much, but it feels like Rían could use the beans I can spare, and he’s a good worker, usually.”
“Usually?”Richard casts his eyes upward.“Good heavens.”
“It’s hard to find reliable people in the horse world,” I say.“You should know that.”
Once I get Scout put away, which Richard can’t help with because Scout keeps trying to bite him, we head for lunch.Foley’s is small, and Richard grumbles a lot about how lacking it is, but it’s growing on me.I love their sandwiches, and I like the outdoor pavilion, even on overcast, blustery days like today.
As we laugh and chat, I can’t help thinking that it’s nice.I may not be destined to be with Richard forever, and we may be star-crossed.But since losing Brent, since being alone, I’ve been lonely.Maybe I’ve been lonely for a while, but when I’m with Richard, I’m not.I wonder how long we’ll be together, and I fret about when I’ll have to tell him the truth, but my time with him is always easy, natural, and comforting.
The whole lunch is perfect, really.
I’m buying a great horse for a good price, even if he is a little ornery.My first actual students are doing amazing.And I’m sitting across from a really smart, cultured, talented, horse-loving man, who always insists on paying.He’s getting the check when he casually says, “Oh, and by the way.It won’t be just me cheering you on at the show this weekend.”
“Oh?”I lift my eyebrows.“Who else?Aodhán?”I can see it now.He’ll be wearing the most flamboyant outfit anyone could imagine, like yellow pants and a purple button-down shirt, and he’ll critique literally every rider in a terribly mean way, other than me of course.Or maybe mostly me, if I’m being realistic.“Well, that’s fine.I’m not scared of him coming.In fact, it might make things more interesting, but if he makes my little baby riders sad, I’ll gut him.”
“No, not him.Well, actually, I’m not sure.Aodhán may tag along as well, but my father’s also in town, and he loves horses as much as I do if not more.When I mentioned my girlfriend had a horse show, he was pretty excited.”He pauses.“Should I not have told him?”
His fathertheduke?
Oh, no.
I have a feeling our nice, natural, easy courtship is about to take an aggressive shove, because from what little Richard has said, his dad has started pushing pretty hard for him to make an heir.
I think my little lie is about to be shoved brutally into the light.
And that will be the end of us, I know it.
12
