Page 31 of Revelry
“Morning,” I called.
“Hey Flirty, what are you doing here?” Kat said and slung an arm around my shoulder. I looked up at her, her blue eyes shining with happiness.
“I needed to get out and missed this place already. Although I might struggle today, I’ve hurt my foot,” I sighed, wrapping an arm around her waist and leaning into her side.
“How did you do that?” Jack asked, glancing down at my feet.
“I, uh, climbed a tree drunk.”
Jack’s eyes bugged. “You climbed a tree drunk?”
“You got drunk without me?” Kat whined.
I shrugged. “You were busy having date night. There’ll be more opportunities, I promise.”
She continued to pout. “How come you were drinking and climbing anyway?”
I kicked at a little pile of dirt with my cowgirl boot, wincing as my injury throbbed. “My divorce came through.”
Kat gasped. “Congratulations! You’re free of him!”
I just nodded, eyes fixed on the dirt because if there was someone I couldn’t lie to, it was my Kitty Kat. There was a heavy silence but my eyes stayed down.
“I, ah, I’ll go and do something else. See ya,” Jack said and hurried off.
“Come with me,” Kat said and dragged me over to August. “Can we take the horses?”
“Sure,” August replied. “Just have them back in an hour for the kids.”
“Kat, there’ll be loads to do today and—” I protested.
“And nothing. We need some girl time, and a ride,” she replied. She snagged the reins of Sunshine, the caramel-colored mare, and Chester. She mounted Sunshine, seating herself in the saddle with ease and tossed her head towards Chester.
“Well come on, Gertie. We’ve only got an hour.”
I smiled. She knew exactly what I needed: fun and adrenaline. I placed my good foot in the stirrup and hoisted myself over Chester, using the horn of the saddle to seat myself comfortably and then Kat and Sunshine were sailing past.
“No fair!” I shouted, clicking my tongue at Chester and urging him on, chasing after them.
I raced Kat through the pastures, the cattle lifting their heads as they lazily munched on the grass. Chester loved to go fast so he was up for the challenge of catching them up and soon we were overtaking.
Kat let out a loud whoop of excitement and I did the same, just like when we raced as teenagers. The trees rushed by, the birds scattering, and Sunshine’s hoofbeats pummeled the ground closer behind us.
“Faster boy,” I urged Chester, and he let out an excited whinny, picking up the pace.I eventually spotted the tower of rocks near the lake which was usually our stopping point. I glanced back, seeing Kat not far behind and signaled to the rocks. She nodded and I slowed Chester down, cooing at him for being such a good boy.
I swung out of the saddle and gently lowered myself to my feet, my wounded foot sore from the stirrup. Tate was right, I should really take it easy but that wasn’t in my nature. Kat pulled up next to me and dismounted Sunshine. We tied them off on a nearby tree, the two horses nudging each other and nickering softly.
We made our way to the rocky platform that hovered out over the stream. Despite the chill in the air, we removed our boots, lining them up next to each other and dangled our feet in the stream. I hissed as the cool water hit my foot. I left my injured foot out, not wanting to get it infected.
“So, no more Gary?” Kat said eventually.
“No more Gary,” I sighed, peering up at the swaying trees.
“How do you feel?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m happy I’m not married to him anymore but I’m also sad. It’s bittersweet. Like I’m free but I’m mourning the relationship we had at the start, before he became controlling and abusive. I’m also mourning so much time wasted. I’ve got no career, no partner, no money, nothing to show for myself and I’m in my thirties, starting over.”
“He didn’t give you any money?”
