Chapter Five
~
Aiden had left a text for me to dress comfortably in jeans. This man was controlling right down to his dates. I was okay with wearing jeans; I just wasn’t sure about the being bossed around part. I wore the jeans though and a long-sleeved t-shirt. The late afternoons and evenings were just starting to cool in the first signs of autumn.
I had no idea where I was going and I was quite nervous until I looked out the window of the limousine and saw the outline of a stable coming into view. Aiden had horses! Or he was taking me somewhere where they did. I didn’t know, but I was ecstatic either way.
The limousine parked alongside the stables and the driver opened my door for me. Aiden was waiting with what looked like a picnic basket and a blanket draped over one arm. I felt like a kid on Christmas. It had been years since I’d ridden, and almost as long since anyone had done something so thoughtful for me.
“We’re going riding?” I asked.
“Yes, if you have no objections,” he said with a grin.
“Are you kidding? I’m so excited, this is great!”
Aiden laughed and said, “Your horse is the tan one with the brown mane. Her name is Snowflake and she’s very tame and easy to ride.”
I hadn’t seen the stable boy walk the horses out behind me. I went over to pet her on the nose, “Hi Snowflake. I’m Holly. Thank you for this Aiden, this is amazing.”
He was still smiling as he said, “When you try the skydiving, you’re on your own.”
Once we were saddled up and ready to go and our picnic basket was secured to Aiden’s saddle we took off.
“Are these your stables?” I asked him.
“Yes, this is all my property that we’ll be riding on,” he told her. “I got very lucky to get it.”
Aiden’s property was far enough out of the city that is seemed like we were in the mountains, but a half hour drive and you’d be in the city. It was beautiful and I found myself wondering if his home was also on this property. I followed him for a while along the thin trail that began with a gentle climb with zig zags for about the first two miles. The pasture around us was lush and green and I could spot a few happy looking cows in the distance. I decided that Aiden very likely didn’t live out here. I couldn’t possibly imagine him living amongst cows. He just seemed way too cultured.
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nbsp; Once we’d gotten past the narrow part of the trail, Aiden slowed his pace and dropped back next to me. “Is Snowflake doing okay?” he asked.
“She’s perfect,” I said. He laughed.
“I think she would be happy to hear it. Are you having fun, Holly?”
“This is, amazing. Thank you,”
“Good,” he said. “It’s a great day for a ride, the weather is just right. We’re going to cross a creek in just a few feet. I know you haven’t ridden in a long time, and I don’t know if you did much water crossing in the past. So, try to relax and just let Snowflake take you. The reigns only confuse her when she’s crossing a water bed of any kind.”
“Okay,” I told him. When we got to the little narrow creek I did what Aiden said and the horse crossed smoothly. The water was beautiful, clear all the way to the rocky bottom. The rocks had been smoothed into rounded pebbles from years of the water brushing over them.