it's dressed up in ribbons. Hopefully, it'll work on you too."
"I'm not afraid," I insist, going up to Millie. She turns her nose to me and sniffs, then whinnies. "Does that mean she likes me?"
"Either that or she has gas."
Shaking my head, I run my hand over Millie's mane. She stands there, not moving. "You like me, don't you, Millie?"
Tyler comes up to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I don't know about her, but I definitely do." He leans down for a kiss. "Not sure if it's the fresh air or just being out here with you, but I really want you right now."
I smile. "It takes being around horses to make you feel that way?"
"I want you all the freakin' time but I know I can't have you when I've got your grandma watching our every move."
"She's not watching us now."
"But they are." He tosses his head in the direction of the restaurant. A group of people are out back smoking. "Let's get out of here." He gives me another kiss. "Good luck."
"Good luck? What do you mean by that? You think I'm gonna fall?"
I'm definitely going to fall. I'm not afraid of horses but I've always been afraid to ride one. And now I'm about to get on one by myself, without any training.
I swear, the things I'll do for love. Or more specifically, the things I'll do for Tyler.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tyler goes over to Rusty and hops on without any effort at all. "You won't fall. Go ahead and get on."
Millie looks completely harmless with those ribbons but looks can be deceiving. Hesitantly, I put my foot in the stirrup, then hold on as I lift myself up. Millie whinnies again and adjusts her footing, the movement making me unsteady.
"Whoa," I say, grabbing hold of the reins. Millie takes a few steps and I feel like I'm going to fall off. "I said 'whoa', Millie. That means stop."
"But you were telling her to go with the reins," Tyler says. "She got confused."
"Oh." I smooth her mane. "Sorry, Millie."
Tyler smiles. "She said she forgives you." He rides Rusty over to us. "Let me go through some basics and then we'll take off."
"How far are we going?"
"Depends on how fast you're willing to go." He parks Rusty in front of me and demonstrates how to make Millie go and stop and how to steer her. He makes it sound easy but I'm still afraid I'll fall off and break a leg.
"You good?" he asks.
"No, but we should get going. It'll be dark soon."
He turns Rusty around and begins walking him to the open gate. "Just remember, five-year-olds rode Millie earlier today. If they can do it, you can do it."
"Tyler," a woman calls out.
Looking over, I see a tall skinny blond woman in tight jeans and a red t-shirt running up to us. She's really pretty and around our age.
"Hey, Crystal." Tyler gives her a smile and a twinge of jealousy goes through me, maybe because this woman is how I imagined Tyler's California girlfriend. Tall and beautiful with long blond hair and a picture-perfect face.
"Hey." She looks at me, smiling. "You must be Faith."
"Yeah." I give her a wave. "I'd shake your hand but I'm afraid to lean down. I might fall off."
She laughs. "Don't worry. You won't. Millie is the gentlest horse I've ever met. My two girls ride her all the time and they're not exactly easy on her. Katie's always yanking her mane." She pets the horse. "Poor girl. But you're a good sport, aren't you, Millie?"
Millie whinnies.
"How old are your kids?" I ask.
"Three and five," she says. "I'm Crystal, by the way." She comes around beside me. "I'm Randy's wife. I manage the horses when I'm not waitressing or being a mom."
She looks too young to be a mom, or a wife. She looks younger than me.
"Crystal's the brains behind our first date," Tyler says.
She turns to him, her hands on her hips. "You're not supposed to tell her that!"
He shrugs. "She knows me. She knows I couldn't have done all that myself."
Crystal turns back to me. "It was his idea. I just helped. He really wanted to make it special for you. It was really sweet."
I smile. "It was. I liked it. Although now, being on the horse alone, I'm a little worried."
"Just relax. I'm telling you, Millie is the sweetest horse ever. And she's old. You could try to make her go fast and she wouldn't be able to do it.