They stopped at Joey’s house again. This time Ava could see it in the light. It was a huge place, two stories with a wraparound porch on both the top and bottom floors. Behind the house was a barn and several sheds. And he had horses.
Ava climbed off the bike and immediately headed over to the fence to watch the horses that had gathered around the shaded areas. At least there were plenty of trees to shield the horses from the blistering desert heat.
“You like horses?”
She nodded at Rick. “I rode when I was younger. My dad used to take me to this place that would give rides. I even took lessons. I wanted to own a horse ranch.”
“You did?”
She laid her arms on the top post and rested her chin on top of them. “Yes. A child’s dream, of course.”
“Why did it have to be a child’s dream?”
“I don’t know. Just not feasible, I suppose.”
“Anything’s doable, Ava. You just have to want it, then work for it.”
She turned her head to the side. “Other dreams replaced that one.”
“Like becoming a social worker.”
“Yes.”
“When was the last time you saddled up and rode?”
“Oh, I haven’t ridden in years.”
“Let’s fix that.” He walked away and Ava turned around, not sure what he meant by that.
Until he flagged down Joey. The two of them talked and Rick motioned to the horses, then to her. Joey nodded.
Oh, no. He hadn’t.
But when he came toward her with a grin on his face, she was afraid he had.
“Let’s saddle up.”
“Are you serious?”
“Sure. You want to ride, don’t you?”
“Uh, I guess so. But really, you didn’t have to do that.”
“Sure I did. Come on.”
She followed him toward the barn. “Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Joey said the horses need to be ridden. He said we’d be doing him a favor by taking a couple out.”
There were already a couple horses near the barn, and they were very tame, came over willingly when Rick called them. Ava couldn’t resist drawing closer to one, a chestnut mare with a white star-shaped mark above her eyes. She was simply gorgeous. Ava lifted her hand to the mare’s muzzle and let her get a whiff of her scent so she’d get used to her.
“She likes you,” Rick said as he came over with a saddle. “You want to ride that one?”
“Yes.” She went to take the saddle from Rick. “Here, let me do it.”
“Do you know how?”
She rolled her eyes. “Some things you never forget. Do you know how?”
He grinned. “Of course.”
“And how is that? I thought you grew up in Las Vegas. And then spent time in Chicago. Sounds citified to me.”
“You grew up here. How do you know how to saddle and ride?”
“Good point.” And yet again he’d avoided revealing anything about himself. He sure liked being a man of mystery.
After they’d saddled their horses, Ava mounted hers, realizing it had been a very long time since she’d ridden. But oh, it felt great to be seated again, to feel the strength of a horse underneath her. She was so ready to ride.
They took a slow walk out of the barn and down the road, taking it easy while the horses got used to them. Ava slanted an occasional glance over to Rick, who seated his horse like he’d been born on one.
“Where did you ride before?” she asked.
“I had a friend with horses when I was a kid,” he said. “I helped him out as much as I could, mucking out stalls, brushing the horses. His folks liked me so they taught me to ride.”
“That’s nice. But you didn’t have any of your own.”
He snorted. “Uh, no. Barely had a roof over my head.”
“No wonder you enjoyed spending time with your friend who had horses.”
“Anything was better than being at home.”
“That bad, huh?”
“That bad.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He looked at her. “What do you think?”
“I think sometimes it’s good to exorcise the pain of the past by getting it out in the open. Do you ever talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“Then it still festers inside you.”
He laughed. “Yeah, you can tell I hold a ton of anger.”
Okay, so he did look relaxed, and he was almost always calm and in control. She’d never seen him angry, but then again she hadn’t known him all that long. But he didn’t project that kind of chip on his shoulder like some men did. The man was a mix of complexities and incongruity. She couldn’t figure him out.
“I’m not a textbook case, Ava. Don’t look for problems that don’t exist.”
“Everyone has problems, Rick. Some just bury them better than others.”
He pulled up on the reins and slowed. She did, too.
“And some of us might be playing at being a social worker.”
She lifted her chin. “I am not.”
“Good.” He clicked the reins and started his horse on a trot.
Ava kept up with him, giving her horse some leg, which she seemed to enjoy. It was exhilarating to bounce in the saddle, reminding her of what it was like when she was a kid. When Rick passed her, she urged her horse on, and soon they were galloping into the pasture. The horses seemed to love going at full tilt. Ava certainly did.
They finally pulled up under a group of trees near one of the small ponds. They climbed off and tied the horses up to give them some time to breathe and get a drink. Rick sat under one of the trees and Ava joined him.
“I’m not making you an experiment, you know.”
He uncapped a bottle of water and handed it to her, but didn’t say anything. She took a long drink and handed it back to him. “I don’t like talking about my past.”
“It’s easier to put it behind you if you do.”
“I’ve already talked plenty about it. I don’t want to do it again.”
She turned to face him, crossing her legs over each other. “So you had counseling?”
His lips curled. “You could say that.”
“Did it help?”
He shrugged. “It forced me to face some things I didn’t really want to examine again.”