Country Roads(50)

To her surprise, a couple of the stable hands greeted her by name. A third one shook his head as he led a big bay past her. “You’re that plumb crazy artist. Maybe you can get Darth Horse back in the barn.”

Her heartbeat kicked up a notch. Could she really lead Darkside back to his stall? It was a crazy idea. She couldn’t ride even the most placid teaching horse. Why on earth did she think she could handle a high-strung, temperamental stallion that even experienced horse people couldn’t deal with?

Maybe that was why Darkside was her whisper horse: no one would ever expect her to ride him.

“Let’s just see what kind of mood he’s in,” she murmured as she approached the gate. Peering between its rails, she saw the big black horse standing at the opposite side of the paddock, head and tail lifted as he gazed in the direction of the outdoor riding ring. With her eyes she traced the beautiful arch of his neck down to where it met the strong line of his back and along to his muscular hindquarters. His black coat glistened with tints of blue and red in the sun and the breeze swept his tail into a ripple of satin.

For an insane moment, she thought about opening the gate and slipping into the field. Then she thought of how Paul would react, and she climbed up to sit on top of the fence instead. She wanted to photograph Darkside up close, so she had to get his attention.

“Hey, buddy, I’ve got carrots,” she called, keeping her voice low and calm.

He swung his head around and blew out a challenge. Catching sight of her, he laid his ears back and charged across the grass, skidding to a stop just in front of her perch.

She forced herself not to flinch and held out a carrot on her palm. “Want a snack, big guy?”

He stretched his nose toward her, nostrils flaring. Then he jerked back and squealed out a high whinny.

“Tempting, isn’t it? But you have to come closer to get it.”

Horse and woman stared at each other. Darkside took a step forward and lipped the carrot off her hand.

“Want another one?” She reached into her back pocket. The stallion took another step toward her and snuffled at her knees. She offered the carrot to him. This time he didn’t hesitate to take it, his big teeth crunching on the crisp vegetable.

She let out her breath and ran her hand down his glossy neck. He snorted but didn’t shy away. Keeping her eye on the telltale angle of his ears, she smoothed his mane and stroked his downy nose.

After bribing him with another carrot, she eased her point-and-shoot camera out of her back pocket, letting him sniff it before she took a shot. He twitched at the electronic noise but didn’t bolt. She took several close-ups and put the camera away, deciding she’d better get off the fence before Paul finished with Sharon’s contract.

Darkside was standing so calmly she couldn’t resist laying her cheek against his for a few seconds as she murmured what a good horse he was. When she drew back, he whickered, and she could almost believe he regretted the absence of her touch.

“Good-bye, handsome,” she said, swinging one leg around and down, slotting her foot onto the rail below the top one so one leg was on each side of the fence.

Darkside threw his head up and knocked against her knees. She teetered, pinwheeling her arms to regain her balance, but her position was too precarious, and she felt herself pitching over backward. She willed herself to go limp; Papi had once told her that was the best thing to do when falling off a horse. If you tensed up, you were more likely to get hurt.

She heard a shout, and then she hit something that wasn’t the ground. A loud “oof” of expelled air told her she’d landed on a person. When she lifted her head, she found a very angry-looking Paul lying under her, his chest heaving as he sucked in deep breaths.

“Are you all right?” She rolled off of him to make it easier for him to breathe. “I didn’t mean to fall on you.”

“Are you…totally…insane?” he gasped.

Several shadows fell across them, and Julia looked up to see a ring of concerned faces staring down. She felt a little surge of joy that it wasn’t because she’d had a seizure.

“What’s going on here?” Sharon asked, striding up to the group. She knelt down. “What happened?”

“I fell off the fence and landed on Paul,” Julia said. “I’m okay, but I knocked the wind out of him.”

“I’m…fine.” He shoved himself into a sitting position. “You…are…certifiable.”

“Shhh,” Julia said. “Wait until you catch your breath before you yell at me.” His usually silvery eyes had gone dark with fury.

“Doesn’t look like any bones are broken,” Sharon said.