Page 94 of All Too Well
“You love them.”
“I repeat, you hate horses.”
“I don’t hate them. I’ve learned how to ride since living here.”
“I ... didn’t know that. Wow. Lach, we don’t have to do this. I know you ...”
“I know that I want to take you riding. I know that you loved your horse when we were kids. That every Sunday you woke before the sun came up, dressed in your fancy riding gear. Mom used to say she thought you slept in it.” I chuckle.
“Well, she wasn’t wrong. I did sleep in it. When I was really young, I even slept with the helmet. I didn’t want to forget anything.” She steps closer, taking my hands in hers. “You remember that?”
I nod. “There are a few regrets I have in this world, Ainsley, and one is the day you had to let go of Peaches, that I didn’t come out to the garden.”
“You heard me?”
“Yes, and my mother told me to let you cry it out.” I shake myhead. “I never should’ve let you cry alone. You wouldn’t have done that to me.”
She looks off to the side. “I would’ve soaked your shirt with the amount of tears I cried that day.”
“I wouldn’t have cared.”
Ainsley leans up on her toes, pressing her lips to mine. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” I joke. “For all I know, Killian put us on two crazy horses.”
She giggles. “I’ll protect you.”
I kiss her again, tugging her against my chest. She pulls away, resting her hand over my beating heart. “You stole my line.”
She shrugs and then walks toward the barn, turning before she enters. “You stole my heart, so it’s only fair.”
No, she stole mine, and we’re going to have two hearts broken when this ends.
“That was the best ride ever. It’s been so long and ... it was just like riding a bike.”
I’m glad one of us is happy, because it sure as hell isn’t me. I may have learned how to ride in the last few years, but that wasn’t what I did.
She’s a goddamn maniac on a horse. She was going full speed and not having a care in the world.
It’s going to take me weeks to recover from this.
“It was something.”
She laughs. “You didn’t feel free? Like there was nothing that could touch you as we raced through the fields?”
“I felt like if we hit the ground, the only thing that was going to touch us was God.”
“For someone who literally walks into burning buildings for a living, you’re a chicken.”
“Completely different.”
Which to some might sound ridiculous, butit’s true. That’s my job. I am trained to go into that building and do what I can to save lives and property. This was for fun and was terrifying.
We walk the horses back to Pete, who informs Ainsley she’s welcome anytime to ride.
“Thank you for this, Lach. I didn’t realize how much I missed riding until I got on the horse. It was like a part of me returning.”
I throw my arm over her shoulder, tugging her to my side and kissing her temple. “I’m glad it made you happy.”
