William frowned slightly. “Shouldn’t I have a carrot or something to give him?”
I laughed. “Trying to get on his good side by bribing him with food?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll bring some sugar cubes with me when I come back.”
William grinned. “Thanks.”
As I started up the hillside to the barn, I couldn’t help grinning when I heard William say, “Sampson, I’m William. How are you doing today?”
After grabbing a saddle and sliding some sugar cubes into the side pocket, I headed back to William and Sampson. Things seemed to be going well as William was scratching Sampson between his ears.
“It looks like you two are making friends,” I mused as I headed inside the fence.
“Yeah. We are. I have the feeling the sugar cubes will help seal the deal.”
I laughed. After placing the saddle on Sampson’s back, I took the cubes out of the bag and handed them to William.
While I tightened the flank cinch, Sampson’s loud crunching rang in my ears. “What kind of horse is he?” William asked.
“He’s a Bay Arabian.” Since William looked like I was speaking Greek, I explained, “Bay just means his reddish-brown body color with a black mane, tail, and lower legs. Arabian is the breed.”
William gave Sampson the last sugar cube. “Interesting.”
Once the saddle was ready, I motioned to William. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, so first you’re going to put your left hand on Sampson’s mane while at the same time holding the front of the saddle.” After William followed my instructions, I added, “Now put your left foot into the stirrup and swing your right leg over.”
As William started to pull himself up, I said, “Careful. Don’t kick him.”
“I’ll try remembering that as I’m trying not to bust my ass.”
I laughed. “You’re doing great.”
Once William was seated in the saddle, he placed both his feet in the stirrups. “How do you feel?” I asked.
He nodded. “Good…and like I’m going to fall off.”
“You’ll get used to the feeling. “Now take the reins in your hand. I’m going to walk you around the ring first to let you get your bearings.”
“Okay.”
I pulled on Sampson’s bridle, urging him to walk. At the sudden lurch forward, William muttered, “Fuck.”
Glancing back at him, I grinned. “You’re not going anywhere, Cowboy.”
“I want to believe you.”
“Trust me. And that’s a command.”
He gave me a small smile. “Okay…Mistress.”
“I can’t believe you just called me that.”
“Well, if you think about it, what you were just doing was a lot like safety checks during a scene, not to mention you’re testing one of my hard limits.”
“Riding a horse is a hard limit?”
His expression became sheepish. “It’s more like this little thing I have with heights.”
I abruptly stopped. “You have a fear of heights?”
William rolled his eyes. “Thanks for making me feel like a pussy.”
I smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s just you don’t seem afraid of anything. Not to mention, the day I after I met you, you were coming down off Kennesaw Mountain.”
“It’s more like the fact I don’t like feeling vulnerable with heights. I might run up to the top of the mountain, but I don’t stand out looking down at everything below me. When you’re on a horse, it’s very evident what is below you.”
“Are you sure that’s it?” I pressed as I started leading Sampson again.
“What do you mean?”
“I just can’t help wondering if deep down, you’re just a little bit scared of horses and not heights.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why would anyone be scared of a horse?”
“I was for a little while.”
“Seriously?”
I nodded. “When I was ten, I fell off my horse, Belle, and broke my arm. After that, it took me a long time to get back into the saddle.”
William appeared to be processing my words. “Okay, okay. It’s true I’m afraid of horses.”
“Ha, I knew it!”
“But like you, it was a fall that caused the fear.”
“How old were you?”
William sighed. “Five. It was my birthday, and my mom had hired this guy to do pony rides. I was so excited because living in the city, we didn’t see many horses. Before all the other kids got there, I had to get to ride first.”
“Brat,” I teased.
With a grin, he said, “A complete and total brat. I’m not sure how my mother stood me.”
“Because underneath all that brattiness, I’m sure you were very sweet.”
“I guess so.”
“So what happened with the horse?”
“Anyway, the man puts me up on the pony, and I make it once around the ring. Then I want to go faster. Even though my mom and the man say no, I squeeze the hell out of the pony’s sides and smack his ass. Needless to say, the pony didn’t appreciate my little tantrum. He decided to do this crazy mixture of breaking into a run and then bucking me off.”
“I would call you a brat again, but I’m thinking you got enough punishment for your defiance.”
“Oh yeah. While all the other kids were enjoying my party, I was in the ER getting a cast on my arm and foot.”
I furrowed my brow in confusion. “You had to have both?”
“After he threw me off, his back leg came back down on my foot. It almost completely crushed the bone.”
I couldn’t help wincing at the thought. “You poor thing. No wonder you have an aversion to riding horses.”
“It’s taken twenty-seven years for me to get back in the saddle.”
“You didn’t have to do it today. We could have lied to my dad and said you rode.”
William shook his head. “I wanted to face my fears, and I trusted you would help me face them.”
“It means a lot you have that much faith in my abilities not to get you hurt.”
“I know you think I don’t know you that well, but I do know that you would do everything within your power to ensure I wouldn’t get hurt.”
I smiled. “That’s true. I would. But you’re doing great.”
“You think so?”
“I really do.”
With a cheeky grin, he said, “It doesn’t take too much skill to do well when you have someone leading you around.”
“Well, I was just about to say that I thought you were doing well enough to try it on your own.”
His smile turned into a frown. “You were?”
“Yeah. Why not?”
He shrugged. “I guess I don’t have a reason not to.”
“I probably don’t need to tell you to gently squeeze Sampson’s sides when you’re ready to go forward.”
William laughed. “Trust me. I’ve got that one down.”
“Good.”
When William continued to look uncertain, I asked, “You want me to ride along with you?”
His brows shot up in surprise. “Really?”
“Sure. Until you can get the hang of things.”
“Do you want to sit in front of me or in back?”
“Front.” With a wicked grin, I added, “I always top.”
“Touche,” William replied, with a laugh.
Grabbing hold of the horn, I hoisted myself up into the saddle. “Okay, wrap your arms around me,” I instructed.”
Just like always, William followed instructions by sliding his arms around me. I put the reins into his hands. “Even though we’re on a Western saddle, I’m going to have you keep both the reins in your hands like you’re riding Eastern.”
“What do you do with the reins when you’re riding Western?”
“You let one hang down, but I thought you would feel more comfortable having the two in your hands.”
“Good call.”
“Now urge Sampson on.”
William gently squeezed his thighs against Sampson’s flank, causing the horse to begin walking. We started making our way around the ring. “This is nice,” William remarked.
“Do you really mean that, or are you just saying that?”
When William chuckled, it rumbled through me considering how closely pressed together we were. “I really mean it.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“I think next time I could even ride by myself.” At his insinuation, I tensed slightly, which he immediately picked up on. “Ah, by your reaction, I think it’s safe to say there won’t be a next time.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
I sighed. “You, me, my life, our jobs…it’s complicated.”
“It’s doesn’t have to be.”
“I think the uncomplicated ship sailed the moment you walked into my classroom and introduced yourself as the new principal.”
“Do you know how many times in the past three weeks I’ve kicked myself for taking this job?”
“But it was a promotion for you. A chance to be a principal, rather than just an assistant.”
His tone was full of regret. “I should have stayed in Roswell.”
“Who knows how long it would have taken you to get a school there. That district is so competitive for the good schools. The best you could have probably hoped for was some Title One school in the inner-city.”