Николас Спаркс - The Longest Ride

“Not too much. But I can’t order a part until after I check. It’s one of my mom’s rules.”

Beyond the barn stood a small stable, open on one side to a medium-size corral. Three big-chested horses studied them as they approached. Sophia watched as Luke opened the door to the stable and produced three apples from the sack he’d been carrying.

“Horse! Get over here!” he called out, and at his command a chestnut-colored horse ambled in his direction. The two darker horses followed. “Horse is mine,” he explained. “The others are Friendly and Demon.”

She hung back, knitting her brows in concern. “I think I should probably ride Friendly, huh?” she said.

“I wouldn’t,” he said. “He bites and he’ll try to throw you. He’s awful for anyone but my mom. Demon, on the other hand, is a sweetheart.”

She shook her head. “What is it with you and animal names?” By the time she turned toward the pasture again, Horse had sidled up close, dwarfing her. She stepped back quickly, though Horse – focused on Luke and the apples – didn’t appear to notice her.

“Can I pet him?”

“Of course,” he said, holding out the apple. “He likes his nose rubbed. And scratch him behind the ears.”

She wasn’t ready to touch his nose, but she ran her fingers gently behind the ears, watching as they tilted in pleasure, even as the horse continued to chomp on the apple.

Luke led Horse to a stall, and Sophia watched as he readied it for the ride: bridle, pad, and eventually the saddle, every movement practiced and unconscious. As he worked, his jeans pulling tight as he bent over, Sophia felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Luke was just about the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. She quickly turned away, pretending to study the rafters as he finished up and turned to saddle Demon.

“Okay,” he said, adjusting the stirrup lengths. “You ready?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “But I’ll try. You’re sure he’s a sweetheart?”

“He’s like a baby,” Luke assured her. “Just put your hand on the horn and put your left boot in the stirrup. Then just swing your leg over.”

She did as he told her, climbing onto the horse even as her heart began to race. As she tried to get comfortable, it occurred to her that the horse beneath her was like a giant muscle ready to flex.

“Umm… it’s higher than I thought it would be.”

“You’ll be fine,” he said, handing her the reins. Before she had time to protest, he was already on Horse, obviously at ease.

“Demon doesn’t need much,” he said. “Just touch the reins against his neck and he’ll turn for you, like this. And to make him go, just tap his sides with your heels. To make him stop, pull back.” He demonstrated a couple of times, making sure she understood.

“You do remember that this is my first time, right?” she asked.

“You told me.”

“And just so you know, I have no desire to do anything crazy. I don’t want to fall off. One of my sorority sisters broke her arm on one of these animals, and I don’t want to be stuck wearing a cast while I have to write papers.”

He scratched at his cheek, waiting. “Are you finished?” he asked.

“I’m just setting the ground rules.”

He sighed, shaking his head in amusement. “City girls,” he said, and with a flick of his wrist, Horse turned and began walking away. A moment later, Luke had leaned over and lifted the gate latch, allowing it to swing open. He made his way through it, the stall blocking her line of sight. “You’re supposed to follow me,” he called out.

With her heart still beating fast and her mouth dry as sawdust, she took a deep breath. There was no reason she couldn’t do this. She could ride a bike, and this wasn’t all that different, right? People rode horses every day. Little kids rode horses, so how hard could it be? And even if it was hard, so what? She could do hard. English lit with Professor Aldair was hard. Working fourteen hours in the deli on Saturdays when all her friends were going to the city was hard. Letting Brian run her through the wringer – now that had been hard. Steeling herself, she fluttered the reins and tapped Demon on the sides.

Nothing.

She tapped again.

His ear twitched, but otherwise he remained as immobile as a statue.

Okay, not so easy, she thought. Demon obviously wanted to stay home.

Luke and Horse wandered back into view. He lifted the brim of his hat. “Are you coming?” he asked.

“He doesn’t want to move,” she explained.

“Tap him and tell him what you want him to do. Use the reins. He needs to feel that you know what you’re doing.”

Fat chance, she thought. I have no idea what I’m doing. She tapped again, and still nothing.

Luke pointed at the horse like a schoolteacher reprimanding a child. “Quit messing around, Demon,” he finally barked. “You’re scaring her. Get over here.” Miraculously, his words were enough to get the horse moving without Sophia doing anything at all. But because she was caught off guard, she rocked backward in the saddle and then, trying to keep her balance, instinctively lunged forward.

Demon’s ear twitched again, as if he were wondering if the whole thing was some sort of practical joke.

She held the reins with both hands, ready to make him turn, but Demon didn’t need her. He passed through the gate, snorting at Horse as he passed, and then stopped while Luke shut the gate behind her and returned to her side.

He kept Horse at a slow but steady walk, and Demon was content to walk beside him without any work at all on her part. They crossed the drive and veered onto a path that skirted the last row of Christmas trees.

The scent of evergreen was stronger here, reminding her of the holidays. As she gradually grew used to the rhythm of the horse’s gait, she felt small weights lifting from her body and her breathing returning to normal.

The far end of the grove gave way to a thin strand of forest, maybe a football field wide. The horses picked their way through an overgrown trail, almost on autopilot, uphill and then downhill, winding deeper into an untamed world. Behind them, the ranch slowly drifted from view, gradually making her feel as if she were in a distant land.

Luke was content to leave her alone with her thoughts as they made their way deeper into the trees. Dog ran ahead, nose to the ground, vanishing and reappearing as he veered this way and that. She ducked beneath a low-hanging branch and watched from the corner of her eye as Luke leaned to avoid another, the ground becoming rockier and densely carpeted. Thickets of blackberries and holly bushes sprouted in clumps, hugging the moss-covered trunks of oak trees. Squirrels darted along the branches of hickory trees, chattering a warning, while shafts of fractured sunlight cut through the foliage, lending her surroundings a dreamlike quality.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Sophia said, her voice sounding strange to her own ears.

Luke turned in his saddle. “I was hoping you’d like it.”

“Is this your land, too?”

“Some of it. We share it with a neighboring ranch. It acts as a windbreak and property border.”

“Do you ride out here often?”

“I used to. But lately, I’m only out here when one of the fences is broken. Sometimes, the cattle wander out this way.”

“And here I was, thinking this is something you do with all the girls.”

He shook his head. “I’ve never brought a girl out here.”

“Why not?”

“I just never thought of it, I guess.”

He seemed as surprised by the realization as she was. Dog trotted up, checked to make sure they were okay, then wandered off again. “So tell me about this old girlfriend. Angie, was it?”