2. Julius
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Julius
I wait at the end of Ramona’s driveway with Duke shifting beneath me and Pepper’s reins getting damp in my other hand.
Pepper is saddled. I check the strap again even though I checked it before leaving the ranch. Then I straighten the reins so they won’t catch when Ramona takes them.
She hasn’t agreed to get on yet. You might want to remember that.
The screen door bangs open before I can find another strap to check.
Ramona comes down the steps in jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled above her elbows. Her braid is coming loose, and she has dust on her cheek. She wipes it with her shoulder as she walks, then stops when she sees Pepper.
“What the hell, Julius?” She looks between the horses before settling on me.
“You told me on the phone you didn’t want to go to the rodeo.” I lift Pepper’s reins a little. “I came up with another plan.”
“So you brought me a horse.” She comes closer, although she keeps her eyes on my face. “Did you think that would stop me asking where we’re going?”
“I hoped you’d say hello first.” I shift in the saddle as Duke reaches toward her sleeve.
“Hello, Julius. Where are we going?” She moves her arm out of his reach without looking down.
I laugh, and she finally smiles.
“There’s a creek we can ride to.” I gesture toward Pepper. “Then we can get burgers. You won’t have to sit through any bull riding.”
“Were you really going to make me watch you on our first date?” She stops beside my boot and tilts her face up.
“I thought you might enjoy it.” I run my thumb over the reins. “I had good seats picked out.”
“I see you at rodeos all the time.” She folds her arms.
“So you’ve watched me ride.” I lean forward in the saddle.
“I’ve watched plenty of people ride.” She holds my gaze. “I wanted to see if you’re interesting without a bull around.”
You walked straight into that.
“I’m trying to give you the chance.” I glance toward Pepper. “He’s been very patient about it.”
Ramona reaches for Pepper, letting him sniff her hand before touching his forehead. I watch her fingers disappear beneath the forelock.
“You could’ve asked whether I wanted to ride.” She turns back to me, still rubbing Pepper’s head.
“You’re right.” I sit back in the saddle. “Do you?”
She takes her time answering. Pepper nudges closer, and Ramona scratches behind his ear while I wait.
“Burgers afterward?” She lifts an eyebrow at me.
“Whatever you want on them.” I loosen my grip on the reins.
“You don’t have to buy me everything.” She steps toward Pepper’s saddle. “You just have to keep your promise about the rodeo.”
“I can manage that.” I rest my hand on the saddle horn. “I’m not even riding tonight.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be?” She looks at the scrape above my wrist, mostly healed now.
“I told Dad it was still bothering me.” I flex my fingers for her. “He didn’t say much.”
“You lied to your father.” She raises an eyebrow.
“I took a weekend off.” I dismount to hold Pepper steady. “I’ll hear about it later. Will you give me a chance with the interesting part?”
Ramona takes the reins from my hand. Her fingers brush mine, and she looks down before checking the stirrup.
“I’m coming, aren’t I?” She puts her boot in place.
I keep Pepper still while Ramona climbs into the saddle, smiling where she can’t see me. Then I swing back up onto Duke and follow her toward the back fence.
The trail cuts through her back fence and into a stretch of oak trees along the line between her place and ours. We’ve been going for a while and she hasn’t said much.
“You’re quiet over there.” I bring Duke alongside Pepper where the trail widens.
“I’m enjoying the ride.” Ramona glances at me before looking ahead again. “Am I supposed to keep you entertained?”
“I thought you’d have told me what I was doing wrong by now.” I ease Duke’s pace to match hers.
“You’ve managed to stay out of my way.” She smooths a section of Pepper’s mane. “I’m giving you credit for that.”
“I knew you’d find a nice thing to say eventually.” I duck beneath a low branch, then look over to see whether she’s smiling.
“Don’t get excited. We haven’t been out here long.” She turns toward me, her mouth lifting. “You’ve still got time to ruin it.”
“Then you’d better tell me what I’m doing right.” I keep Duke beside her. “I’d hate to stop by accident.”
She looks down at Pepper’s neck, rubbing her thumb along the reins.
“You brought me somewhere I can hear you talk.” She lifts her eyes to mine. “I’m still deciding whether that was a good idea.”
I grin, and she turns back toward the trail before I can answer. Her smile stays.
“You ride a lot?” I let Duke drift a little closer to her.
“Every day if I can manage it.” She shifts in the saddle, settling deeper into the seat. “June’s not ready for trails yet, but she’s getting there.”
“The horse you bottle-fed.” I watch her profile as I say it.
She looks over, her eyebrows going up. “You remember that?”
“I remember everything you told me.” I hold her gaze until she turns toward the trail, her cheeks pink.
“That’s either sweet or creepy. I haven’t decided yet.” She adjusts the reins without looking back.
“Let me know when you figure it out.” I keep watching her until Duke wanders toward the grass and I have to straighten him out.
“You’ll be the first to know.” She kicks Pepper into a faster walk, putting distance between us. “How far to this creek?”
“Not far now.” I urge Duke to catch up, pulling alongside her again.
She glances over at me, holds it a beat too long, then looks away and bites the inside of her cheek.
“Race you there.” She’s gone before I can answer.
She leans low over Pepper’s neck, her braid flying out behind her. I’m so surprised I just sit there before I kick Duke after her.
“Are you shitting me right now?” I’m yelling at her back, but she’s already pulling ahead, and Pepper is giving her everything he’s got.
She doesn’t waste a movement. The horse listens. She barely has to ask. I push Duke harder, but she picks lines through the trees I don’t see until I’m past them and jumps a fallen log that I have to go around.
The creek comes into view and she’s already there, pulled up at the bank, grinning at me as I come in second.
“You cheated.” I pull Duke to a stop, my chest heaving.
“I got a head start.” She slides off Pepper and lands soft in the grass. “Not my fault you weren’t paying attention.”
“You could’ve told me we were racing.” I swing down from Duke and pull the reins over his head.
“You figured it out.” Ramona leads Pepper toward the creek, her boots sinking into the mud. “You were just a little slow about it.”
“I’d like another try with a fair start.” I secure Duke’s reins to a low branch while she crouches beside the water.
“You can ask Pepper. He did most of the work.” Ramona wets her hands in the creek, then looks back at me. “Are you coming over, or do you need a minute?”
“I’m coming.” I pick my way around the slippery rocks. “You could at least pretend it was close.”
“Would that help?” She squints up at me, grinning.
“I’d know you were lying.” I stop beside her, blocking the sun from her eyes. “You had a pretty good head start.”
“You can keep mentioning that.” She rises with water dripping from her fingers. “I still won.”
She’s closer when she stands than I expect. I have room to move, but I stay where I am while she tips her face up toward mine.
You can let her win an argument, too. It won’t kill you.
“All right, you won.” I nudge her shoulder with mine and leave it there. “You’re enjoying this a little too much.”
“I’m having a good date.” She looks up at me without moving away. “You can take some credit if you want.”
“I’ll take a little.” I look down at her, her shoulder still warm against mine.
She stops smiling, but she keeps looking at me. The creek rushes past. A bird calls in the trees, and neither of us says a word.
Then she laughs and shoves me hard enough that I stumble.
“Don’t get weird about it.” She turns toward Pepper, her mouth twitching as she reaches for the reins.
The burger place is up the county road, this little roadside spot with plastic chairs, a menu painted on a board, and a hitching rail out back that half the county uses on Saturdays.
Ramona orders a double cheeseburger with everything, cheese fries, a chocolate milkshake. She eats and doesn’t apologize for it.
“What are you looking at?” She catches me watching and keeps chewing.
“Nothing.” I take a bite of my burger. “Just you.”
There’s ketchup on her chin, so I pass her a napkin. She takes it without looking embarrassed.
“Can I ask you a question?” I set my burger down and turn toward her.
“That depends.” She looks up, still holding the napkin. “What do you want to know?”
“The other night you said you don’t care what anybody would pay for June.” I turn my cup in a circle. “So what happens to horses like that? The ones nobody would pay for.”
She stops chewing. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because you lit up when you talked about her.” I shrug. “I want to know what else does that.”
She’s quiet for a second. Then she puts down her burger and wipes her hands on her napkin.
“A lot of people won’t keep an animal once it can’t do what they want.” She drags a fry through the ketchup on her plate. “A horse gets hurt, or a hunting dog gets old, and they don’t want to feed it anymore. Some get sold or put down. Some just get left somewhere.”
“That’s bullshit.” I sit back.
“That’s how it is.” She sets the fry down. “But it doesn’t have to be. I want to build a place where those animals can go. Like a sanctuary, I guess. Somewhere they can just live without someone deciding they’re not worth keeping around anymore.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.” I watch her face as I say it.
“Sounds impossible, right?” She looks up, and her chin is already set for a fight. “That’s what everyone says.”
“I didn’t say impossible.” I shake my head.
“You were thinking it.” She jabs her fry at me.
“I wasn’t thinking it at all, actually.” I lean forward until the table edge digs into my ribs. “I was thinking it sounds exactly like you.”