Page 41 of Always

Aunt Molly turned Domino and let her canter back across the grounds at a leisurely pace. Anika turned Goliath in the opposite direction, at last letting him have his head. Goliath knew that she wanted to run as much as he did, and he gladly took off across the turf.

The rain wasn’t falling yet, but the air smelled delicious, the wind was just starting to blow in their faces. Goliath knew every inch of the grounds as well as Anika did. With one mind, they easily leapt the small streams in their path, avoiding any hollows in the grass, and ran hard across the flat, open stretches that they knew to be safe of any obstacle.

Anika’s hair whirled around behind her. She knew she would be completely wild and sweaty when she came back for lunch, but at the moment she didn’t care.

Why had she not wanted to tell her aunt that Marco had taken her to Aruba this week? When Aunt Molly was telling her about the sea caves by Lagos, that would have been the perfect time to tell her about the waterfall they’d seen, or the snorkeling they’d done. But for some reason she hadn’t wanted her to know.

It had been a perfect trip—Marco had been kind, attentive, charming, utterly devoted to her. In the moment, she had been quite swept up by him. That’s why she had slept with him, not once, but twice. She had done that in the full knowledge that it would solidify their relationship. That was clearly what Marco wanted, and wasn’t it what she wanted as well?

So why had she been so happy to see James today? Why did the sight of him make her feel the way she used to when they were together? Because they weren’t together anymore, and then weren’t going to be.

As Anika was thinking, the rain began to fall in earnest. She was sorry to feel it. She would have liked to keep riding much longer. Goliath seemed to feel the same. He only reluctantly turned back toward the stables.

She slowed him down slightly. The rain was coming down hard, and the grass would be slippery. There was a clap of thunder off beyond the house, and Goliath shied just a little. Anika leaned forward to pat his neck reassuringly.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s a long way off.

Tom came out of the stable to take the horse. As he took the bridle from her hand, the thunder rumbled again, and the rain seemed to redouble in intensity. Looking out at the paddock, Anika could see some of the other horses were still outside, including Copper and her new foal.

“We’d better bring them all in,” Anika said. “It’s getting windier.”

“I’ll get them,” Tom said, grabbing his hat.

“No, don’t worry, I can do it!” Anika said. “I’m wet already—you take care of Goliath, and I’ll grab them.”

Tom didn’t like to agree, but Anika was already heading outside again. In moments she was completely soaked. The rain fell as hard as a showerhead turned up to full blast. She clipped leads onto Jinx and Biscuit—she would bring them to the stable, and then come back for Copper and the foal. They were huddled up against the fence and might take more coaxing.

As she turned toward the stable again, she saw a tall male figure coming toward her—she thought it must be Tom.

“It’s alright—“ she started, but then she realized it was James come out to help her. He was already soaked to the skin, his hair hanging down in his face.

“I can bring them back!” she said over the noise of the wind. “No need to get wet!”

“I think I already am a bit,” James said as the thunder cracked again. He took the lead for Jinx while Anika pulled Biscuit toward the stable. When they had handed the two horses off to Tom, they headed out to the paddock once more.

The wind was blowing hard in their faces.

“Good thing you came back,” James said. “You wouldn’t want to be riding in this.”

“You should have stayed inside!” Anika said.

But she was glad he hadn’t—the little foal was becoming more nervous by the minute, pacing back and forth against the fence, and her mother didn’t want to let them near. She obviously wanted to go back to the stable, but not without Penny. Anika calmed Copper as best she could, then James helped Anika block the foal into the corner so they could slip on her lead. As soon as they had done so, Copper became much calmer and allowed them to do the same to her.

As they came close to the stable, the lightning cracked, and Penny tried to bolt off across the field. Anika kept hold of the lead, and James rushed to help her keep her grip. Even in the frigid rain, his hand was completely warm as it closed over hers. James looked down at her. Her shirt had become totally transparent in the rain, clinging to her chest. Her nipples stood out hard against the thin material. Water streamed down her face, her throat, her arms.

She caught him staring, and he tore his eyes away, embarrassed. They stood rooted in the yard, the rain pouring down on them, the wind blowing, the electric potential of the storm making every hair on their arms stand up, making their hearts beat as if they’d been sprinting, making their every muscle tremble as if they were as full of nerves as the horses.

Then Copper pulled toward the shelter of the stable again, and the moment broke. They took the horses inside, helping Tom to towel them dry, to make them comfortable in their stalls with fresh food and straw and everything they could want.

Anika and James went back inside the house, not speaking.

Liam brought them warm robes to wear while their clothing dried, and Aunt Molly made them drink hot tea while they all ate sandwiches in the study.

“I never actually use the dining room,” Liam said apologetically. “The table is so long, I feel like Louis the sixteenth.”

“These chairs are much more comfortable anyway,” Anika said. She had her feet curled up under her in a tobacco brown leather armchair, eating her sandwich off the plate balanced on her knee.

James was amusing them all with stories of the some of the worst business decisions he had made when setting up his company.

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