5
Isla
Merrie packed us a picnic lunch and our groundskeeper, Phay, had the horses saddled and ready to go when we headed out to the stables around noon the following day. I loved to ride, though I didn’t do it nearly as much as I would have liked. My poor Sassenach was a bit neglected and while my mother rode her now and again, she had her own horse. I tried to make up for it during the summer, when I didn’t work full-time, but I still felt a bit guilty.
“Hello, love,” I whispered to the large black mare. “I’ve brought you a treat.” I fed her half a carrot and looked over at Dax. “Come say hello.”
“Hey, there, beautiful.” Dax looked like a natural with horses, gently rubbing the side of Sassy’s head.
I handed him part of a carrot and told him to make his palm flat as he fed it to her. Though I was comfortable enough with her to practically stick my hand in her mouth, it wasn’t prudent for someone not used to the big animals.
“She’s gorgeous,” he said softly. “You must be in love with her.”
“I am.” I smiled at him. “So, are you comfortable going for a ride? The one over there is Aladdin, and he’s a good boy, perfectly happy to laze along. Definitely won’t throw you or anything.”
“I’m good. Let’s go.” He seemed at ease, so I waited for him to mount the chestnut gelding before getting on Sassy.
“Sassy may feel the need to run a bit,” I told him as we headed out. “I can control her, but I don’t spend enough time with her, so if she gets antsy, I may let her go. Don’t try to follow. Aladdin is too old to run like she does, and I don’t want you to risk it since you’re not an experienced rider. So stay on the path and I’ll circle back when we’re done.”
“Okay.”
We took a trail I knew well, that led to the back of our land, which was still largely untouched by people, technology or construction. There were a handful of centuries-old, crumbling structures that we tried to keep intact for historical purposes, and one newer cottage that had once been the home of a caretaker who’d guarded the northernmost part of our land. That wasn’t necessary anymore, so while the cottage had been updated about twenty years ago, no one really used it.
It was a nice ride to get there, though, close to a creek and the perfect place for a picnic. The weather was iffy today, overcast and chilly, so it would also be a good place to get shelter should the skies open up the way they often did here in Scotland.
Sassy was straining against the bridle, anxious for me to let her run, and I glanced over at Dax with a grin. “She’s ready, so I’m going to let her go. Stay on the path, okay? I won’t be far.”
“Go ahead. I’m anxious to see her run.”
I grinned and dug my heels into Sassy’s sides. She took off, gaining speed as we raced across an open field. I’d ridden here hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times and knew it like the back of my hand. There were even several places where I could let Sassy jump, small bridges and gates we’d put up to exercise her. I didn’t come out here that often, so it would be fun to show off a little for Dax.
I didn’t want to leave him for too long, though, so I took fifteen minutes for both Sassy and me to have a little fun and then circled back to where Dax and Aladdin were on the path, still heading toward the creek. We were in a lightly wooded area, so he’d been able to see me and he raised his hand to high-five me as I returned.
“That was awesome,” he said. “You’re much more of an athlete than you let on. You ride like you’re part of her.”
“Thank you.” His praise made me inexplicably happy and I kept glancing at him as we continued our ride. He was so damn gorgeous, it was sometimes hard to think when we were alone together. It didn’t happen much, since we almost always hung out with Ian, my other brothers, and our friends from the Sidewinders, but now there would be multiple opportunities to have him to myself. He was every bit as wonderful as I remembered from the last time we’d been together and I wondered exactly what the plan was going forward.
Did I wait for him to make some kind of first move, something I’d been hoping would happen for a long time, or did I take control?
“I was thinking we’d picnic here,” I told him, pointing to the cottage. “Phay packed halters, so we can tie the horses over there and have our picnic. There are the remains of a thousand-year-old building just inside the trees over there, so afterwards, we can take a walk if the weather holds out.”
“Sure.”
We set out the blanket and food Merrie had packed, sinking down on the ground. I wished the weather was better, but I was used to it and Dax didn’t seem to mind either. I got up again when I realized I’d forgotten about the two bottles of wine Merrie had packed, along with a corkscrew and plastic cups.
“I forgot how much you love wine,” Dax laughed, taking them from me and opening the first bottle.
“Expensive wine is my only true extravagance,” I said with a grin, holding up my cup. “To summer vacation and summer weddings.”
“To summer vacation, summer weddings and summer dating.” He tapped his glass against mine and we drank deeply before digging into lunch.
“Then we should toast our first official date as well,” I said, holding out my glass again.
“Since we’re on a date, tell me something about you I don’t know.”
I met his gaze, chewing my lip thoughtfully. “Well, do you know anything about black holes?”
He grimaced.
