Chapter 5 #3
"That's different. That's my job. I know how to do my job." I gestured at the landscape around us. "This? I don't know anything about this. Franklin might be in the foothills of Appalachia, but I was raised in town."
"You're learning."
We rode in silence for a while. The trail climbed, winding through stands of pine and aspen. A hawk circled overhead. Somewhere in the distance, I heard water running.
"You mentioned an ex," Ripplan said, his voice careful. "Is that part of why you left Franklin?"
My shoulders tensed. "Yeah."
"What happened?"
I didn't want to talk about Arlo. Didn't want to bring him into this place, this moment. But something about Ripplan's steady presence made the words come easier.
"He was controlling." I took a breath. "I tried to break up with him dozens of times. He just never let me go."
Ripplan's arms tightened around me. Just slightly. "Did he hit you?"
"No. I left before it got that far."
"Good." His voice was rough. "That took courage."
"I don't know about that. I think there was far more fear involved than courage."
"That's what courage is. Doing the thing that scares you even when you don't think you can."
I twisted to look at him. His jaw was tight, his eyes fixed on the trail ahead. He looked angry, not at me, but for me.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
He nodded once. Didn't say anything else.
The trail opened up, and suddenly we were riding along a ridge.
Below us, a waterfall cascaded down the mountainside, the water catching the sunlight and throwing rainbows into the mist. Beyond it, the valley spread out in shades of green and gold, and above it all, the sky stretched endless and impossibly blue.
I'd never seen anything so beautiful.
"Oh my God," I breathed.
Ripplan pulled Starlight to a stop. We sat there, looking out over the valley. The only sounds were the waterfall and the wind in the pines and the horse's steady breathing.
"The sky looks different here," I said. "Like it goes on forever."
"It does." His voice was quiet. "In the underground, we never saw the sky. Just rock. Darkness. Some of the tunnels were so deep you could go months without seeing another clan. Years, sometimes."
I turned to look at him again. His expression was distant, remembering.
"When we came to the surface," he continued, "most of our clan went straight to the mountains. They needed the rock around them. Needed to feel the weight of it, the safety."
"But not you?"
"Not me. Not my brothers." He looked up at the sky. "We'd spent our whole lives in the deepest mines. The darkest places. When we finally got out..." He paused. "We fell in love with the sky. With the light. We're never going back underground. Not for anything."
Something in his voice made my throat tight. I understood, suddenly, why he'd been so angry in the pharmacy. Why he'd looked at me like I'd betrayed something important.
He thought I was like Craig. Thought I wanted to send them back to the darkness.
"I'm sorry," I said. "For what I said in the pharmacy. I didn't mean it. I was just—"
"I know." He met my gaze. "I figured that out."
We looked at each other for a long moment. His face was close to mine, close enough that I could see the faint scar above his eyebrow, the way his pupils dilated slightly as he looked at me.
"Your eyes," he said. "They're the same color as the sky."
It wasn't romantic. Wasn't flirtatious. He said it the way someone might comment on the weather or the time of day. A simple observation.
But it did something to my insides anyway. Made them flutter and twist and ache.
"Thank you," I managed.
He held my gaze for another heartbeat, then clicked his tongue. Starlight started moving again, carrying us back down the trail toward the ranch.
The ride back felt shorter. Or maybe I was just more aware of every minute, every moment of his body against mine, his arms around me, his breath stirring my hair. By the time we reached the stable, the sun was high and hot, and I was flushed for reasons that had nothing to do with the temperature.
Ripplan dismounted first, then reached up and lifted me down. His hands lingered on my waist for just a second longer than necessary. Or maybe I imagined it.
My feet hit the ground and I stumbled slightly. He steadied me.
"Lesson's over for today," he said. "We'll do it again tomorrow. And the day after. You'll be ready for the drive."
"Okay."
He started to turn away, then stopped and looked back at me. "You did good today."
"I didn't actually ride if you recall."
"You got on the horse. That's something." The corner of his mouth twitched. Almost a smile. "And you didn't fall off, so that's progress."
I laughed despite myself. "Setting the bar pretty low there."
"Got to start somewhere."
He led Starlight into the stable, leaving me standing in the morning sun. I watched him go, my heart still racing, my skin still warm where his hands had been.
Something had changed between us. I didn't know what, exactly. Didn't know if it was real or just wishful thinking on my part.
But something had definitely changed.