“We, my lovely Tate, are going horseback riding.” He turned and saw my grin. “God I love it when you smile like that. You light up the whole room.”
“Smile like what?” I asked, covering my mouth since I suddenly felt bashful.
“Like I’ve given you everything you could possibly want,” he whispered, staring at me fiercely.
I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I loved that he was a good six inches taller than me. I felt so small and dainty when he held me.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me close so that there was no space between us.
His nose rubbed against mine. “What are you doing to me?” His voice was almost pained sounding.
I laid my head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. I had no answer, because I had the same question for him.
We stood like that a few minutes longer before breaking apart.
“Come on,” he entwined our hands together and led me over to one of the stalls. “This is Seraphina,” he introduced me to the white horse. “Have you ever ridden a horse before?”
I shook my head no.
“You can pet her,” he assured me. “She won’t hurt you.”
I hesitantly reached out to the large horse. She was absolutely stunning. I wasn’t afraid of her, not at all. I was in awe.
I placed my hand against the center of her head, above her nose. She snorted and I giggled in response. She came closer, nuzzling her head against my outstretched palm.
“I think she likes you,” Jude grinned widely.
“I like her too,” I smiled at the horse.
I knew it sounded crazy, but I instantly felt a connection with the creature. Maybe I should’ve been afraid that I was going to be riding this ginormous horse, but I wasn’t. Not at all. I felt comfortable, peaceful almost. I didn’t feel afraid or like she’d hurt me.
“Move back,” Jude told me, and I hated to stop petting the horse.
He opened the gate to her stall and guided her out. He grabbed an apple from a nearby bag and tossed it to me. “Feed her this while I get Gimpy.”
“Gimpy?” I giggled.
“Hey,” he started laughing, “don’t diss the name. I was five and thought it was super cool.”
“Why didn’t you name him something like, Michelangelo or Batman?”
“Because,” he walked backwards, further into the barn, “Michelangelo is a turtle and Batman, well that one speaks for itself.”
“But Gimpy? Seriously, where’d that come from?” I asked, truly curious now.
He shrugged, opening a stall a few down from Seraphina’s. “I made it up. I was a weird child.”
I let the subject drop before we started talking about messed up childhoods again. I wanted to enjoy our day and not make it an emotion filled mess. After last night, I needed to do something fun.
While Jude got Gimpy—I snickered at the name again—I fed Seraphina the apple. Her breath blew against my hand that held the apple. With my free hand I rubbed her gently and whispered how pretty she was. I’d always had a connection with animals, but we’d never been allowed to have pets.
“Seraphina was my grandma’s horse,” Jude explained, walking Gimpy over to where I stood. Gimpy was even larger than Seraphina and while she was all white, he was jet black. The name definitely didn’t suit him, but I guessed he was stuck with it now. Poor horse. “She got her three years before she died…breast cancer,” he shrugged, looking down at his shoes. “It was bad. Took her quickly, so I guess there’s that. She didn’t have to suffer for long.” Brightening, he reached out and rubbed Seraphina’s body. “If she was alive today she’d still be trying to ride this beauty. She was a stubborn woman like that. She reminds me of someone I know now,” he winked at me.
“She sounds wonderful,” I smiled. “I wish I could’ve met her.”
“You would’ve loved her,” Jude smiled proudly. “She and Pap…they’re the best people in the world. She would’ve loved you too, you know.” He shook his head and scratched his stubbled jaw as he chuckled under his breath. “She would’ve thought it was hilarious how you don’t take any shit from me. She was feisty.” He reached over and played with a strand of my hair. My heart swelled in my chest. “Sometimes I think Pap got Alzheimer’s just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of losing her. I’m not saying he got it on purpose, not that that’s even possible,” he stammered, “I just wonder sometimes if God knew I needed Pap to stick around a little while longer, and the man couldn’t do that if he remembered she was gone.”
“Crazier things have happened.” I reached up, smoothing my fingers through his brown hair. It was unfair that a guy’s hair was that soft. He even had ridiculously long eyelashes too. He was beautiful, inside and out, and he was mine. I needed to appreciate that fact more and not take it for granted. A part of me was still scared that we’d go back to school tomorrow and this would all be a dream. I was strong enough now to accept that I didn’t want to lose Jude.