Animal Heart(21)

“But you only came from Calgary... It's literally next door!” she pointed out.

“We might as well have been from Timbuktu,” Lucas added. “He's a touch insular in his outlook.”

“Right... So what did he want the ranch for? I can hardly see him out on a horse, riding the trails!” she laughed.

“Not for any particular reason I know of. He buys up any land around here. It's his personal little empire,” Aden informed her.

“So he wants to own Heart?”

“I guess so. But we outbid him. Luckily the owners were out-of-towners too and weren't subject to his persuasion. Money talks...” Aden added pointedly.

“So he's a touch annoyed.”

“Absolutely fucking furious and has been for five whole years,” Lucas said with his usual flair. They all laughed, united for a moment in their dislike of Mayor William Stevens.



* * *



She sat at the table feeling very uncomfortable. She'd chosen to sit next to Aden. Now she wished she hadn't. Lucas had planted himself firmly at her other side, like a possessive sentinel guarding her virtue. Not that his intentions were particularly virtuous either. Across the table, Mia and Charlene scowled at her menacingly. She looked up and tried to smile and start a conversation with Grace, but she was equally unfriendly, albeit not openly hostile like the other two were.

She came to a sudden decision. She was going home tomorrow. She would have her one last big day out and set off after four in the afternoon. Her presence was causing problems here and she had no idea how to diffuse the situation. There was no point dragging it out, it wouldn't be much fun if it carried on like this. She might as well pack it all in now. It sucked, but there it was. She could chalk it up to experience and ensure she never went on horse a riding vacation without Jade ever again.

She had also come to another decision. Tomorrow morning at dawn she would ride Storm. Aden could complain as much as he liked after the event, she didn't care about that. But it was a burning obsession with her, to ride such a wickedly fast horse as his. So what if he was unpredictable? At least she knew that and could allow for it. Just one fast fling in the saddle with him was all she really wanted from this vacation now.

She ate her meal with her eyes downcast, making polite conversation with Jamie, Lucas, and Aden, when they spoke to her. Then she rose and made her excuses, feigning a headache. She crept off to bed with a Blade vampire movie to while away the hours. Once in her room, she opened her bottle of wine and ate her bar of chocolate to cheer herself up. Very soon she found she had put away the whole bottle. She put it down to her stressful day. Lulled into a drink-induced tiredness, she checked the alarm with bleary eyes and sank down, under the warm and welcoming duvet, drifting off quickly into a deep, dreamless sleep.



She stuck out her hand and switched off the beeping alarm. It was still quite dark outside. She was almost tempted to continue laying there and go back to sleep again, but she knew she'd regret the missed opportunity if she did. With great effort she pulled herself out of the warmth of the bed and washed and dressed, finally brushing out her hair.

She opened her window and slipped through and down to the ground below, walking quickly towards the stable yard. As she pushed the gate open, it squeaked noisily, giving her a hot flashover in fear of discovery. Her heart was racing. She knew she shouldn't be doing this and that made it all the more exciting. She approached Storm's stable and unlocked the top part of the split door. He stood and shook himself and came to greet her with a quiet whinny.

“Hello boy,” she said, hugging his broad neck. “Fancy an early morning run?” She giggled as his soft mouth and whiskers tickled her neck. She stroked him for a moment and then left for the tack room, situated at the end of the stable block. She gathered the saddle pad, bridle, bit, and reins and returned to tack Storm up in his stable. Then she led him outside and over to the tack room where she heaved his large saddle out and with some difficulty managed to get it up on his back. Her heart was pounding like mad, desperate to get away and on with her clandestine ride. After strapping him up, and adjusting the high set stirrups to her length, she was done. She led him out of the yard and across to the grass to dull the noise his clattering hooves made. Walking slowly past the ranch house, she looked and listened. There was no sign of anyone up yet. Just a half hour was all she wanted. She could be back in bed before they were. The beautiful pink and blue streaks of dawn lit up the horizon, the first glimpse of the sun appearing in a blaze of light, as she finally mounted Storm and bounded off along the trail towards the woods.

Her whole body lit up with a fire. How smoothly he rode and with such a long even stride. She marvelled at the beauty of Aden's horse, becoming all too aware of why he was so possessive of him. He was like driving a high end sports car, a Porsche or a Lotus, perfectly tuned and responsive. She urged him on hard as he plunged into the tree line ahead. She was fully prepared for his infamous unpredictability as he thundered along the trail in the semi darkness. He leapt the brook beautifully and shortly after that they took the right hand fork in the path, up an incline towards the rocky outcrops of the low hills nearby. Just another five minutes and then she would turn and make her way back at a really fast pace.