Page 57 of When It Burns

“Good! Yes!” I exclaim to one of the girls who has been struggling with the motions as she hits each one this time.

When the music ends, Hannah and I make eye contact, silently ensuring we’re on the same page.

“Great job! Y’all get out of here!” I yell so that they can hear me over the music.

The girls scatter, and I turn back to Hannah, “That wasn’t bad! Ready to get out of here?”

“Hell yeah! Let’s go,” she says, standing from the bleachers and grabbing her bag.

After making sure everything is turned off in the gym, we make our way across campus to the faculty parking lot. “You have plans for tonight?” Hannah asks as we walk.

“Yeah, I think so. Theo asked if I wanted to come ride horses with him,” I say with a small smile while Hannah giggles.

“Damn right, he did. Long live cowgirls, you know?” she says with a laugh.

I roll my eyes at her teasing and wink at her as I open the door to my car, “You know what they say– save a horse…”

Hannah cackles and flips me off as I drive off to change clothes before meeting Theo.

I speed home, anxious to see Theo again. I am halfway up the stairs when I meet Seth leaving his apartment. He stops on the stairs when he sees me before saying, “Hey, Caroline. How was your day?”

“Not bad. I never see you now that your workshop is on the other side of campus. How was yours?” I ask as he runs his hand through his shaggy brown hair.

“Oh, it was good. I’ve gotta go meet Margaret at her new bakery. I promised I would help her figure out how to tackle all the repairs. Can you believe Springside is getting a coffee shop?”

“That’s so sweet of you. I can’t wait. Everything she makes is so damn good,” I say, wishing I had one of her cookies right now.

“Yeah. Anyway, I gotta go. Tell Theo I said hey,” he says, continuing down the stairs.

I look at him in confusion before asking, “How’d you know I’m going to see Theo?”

Seth lets out a laugh, “Come on, Caroline. You know there are no secrets in Springside. Enjoy your date.”

I shake my head and giggle at how fast news travels in this damn town. Making it to my door, I unlock it and hurry to change clothes.

The October evening is still warm, but I know I will want to be covered depending on how long we plan to ride, so I throw on a pair of jeans and a thin flannel before grabbing my cowboy boots and braiding my hair out of my face. When I’m sure I have everything I need, I grab my keys and rush down the stairs while texting Theo that I am on the way.

As I drive, I blast “Strawberry Wine” and sing at the top of my lungs. I pull up to Theo’s farmhouse, looking out toward the pasture, and see him saddling up two of his new American Quarter horses in preparation for our ride. I park my car and call out, “Hey, Cowboy!” causing him to raise his arm and tip his cowboy hat in greeting.

I am about to make my way over to him when I hear a loud bark and look at the house to see an excited Bear barreling toward me, wagging his tail and howling in excitement. When the lab reaches me, he jumps up and places his large paws on my shoulders before giving me a wet kiss on the cheek. “Hey, buddy. Who’s a good boy? You want some tummy rubs?” I ask as I sit on the gravel and scratch the dog’s stomach. After petting the pup until he is almost asleep, I stand and make my way over to Theo.

He looks up at me, and his face breaks into a wide grin. “Damn, Sunshine. You look so damn good.”

I stop in front of him and lean in for a kiss. He slides his large calloused hands into the back pocket of my jeans and drags me closer to him as he sucks on my bottom lip. “God, I missed you baby.”

“I missed you too. Yesterday felt so long even with margarita Monday to look forward to,” I say with a laugh as Theo leans back but keeps his hands on me.

“Agreed. I see Bear and I are apparently going to have to compete for your time, huh? He’s such a little asshole” he asks and I roll my eyes at him.

“No need to be jealous, Chief Johnson.” I tease before leaning back in for another kiss.

“So, you ready to ride? I have something I want to show you after.” Theo states, and I don’t miss the glimmer of mischief in his eyes with that statement.

“Yep, let’s go. Have you decided on names for these babies yet?” I ask, gesturing toward the horses.

“I was going to ask if you had any suggestions?” he says, looking at me expectantly.

“Hmmm…” I say, taking a minute to consider our options. “Since all four horses are females, what if you named each of them after a classic female country music singer? So something like Dolly, Shania, Martina, and Trisha?”

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