My head was spinning. I knew he would pick her over me. I knew it.
I looked out to the dance floor and saw Josh and Lynda dancing together. I looked over at Heather and I saw a tear run down her face. Oh hell no. She was not going to fall apart in front of him.
Rushing over, I grabbed Heather’s hand and pulled her up.
“Fuck no, you don’t! You will not cry over that fucker!” I practically shouted at Heather.
Heather took one look at me and sucked in a breath of air. “Oh my god, Ari, you’ve been crying. ”
While I led her toward the barn, Heather kept trying to get me to stop walking. By the time we got there, she yanked her hand from mine and came to a dead stop.
“Ari, what the hell is going on?” I looked at her and lost it. She ran over to me and pulled me into her arms.
“It’s okay, sweets. It’s okay. ” Heather just kept repeating herself it over and over again.
“Heather? Ari? What’s wrong?”
Ellie’s voice just sent me into another fit. Oh my god. I felt Heather moving down with me to the ground.
Ellie ran over and fell to her knees. She grabbed my face to look at her.
“What happened?”
“He left. ”
“Who left?” Heather and Ellie said at the same time.
“Jeff. I was just about to tell him about the baby, and he got a call from Rebecca. When he hung up, he just turned away and started walking out. He wasn’t even going to say good-bye until I yelled out his name. ”
“Wait…I’m confused, Ari. What happened to Rebecca to make Jeff just leave like that?” Ellie said, wiping tears off my face.
“She, um…I don’t know. She was having contractions or something like that. I’m telling you that she is further along than she says, and he won’t believe me!” I shouted.
Then, I stood up. I need to ride.
I walked over and grabbed a saddle and made my way over to Rose’s stall.
“Ari, are you going for a ride now?” Ellie asked as she walked over to help me.
“I think I’ll go also. I need to get away from the Josh-and-Lynda show,” Heather said.
“Oh Jesus, I guess that means I’m going, too. Um, should I go tell Gunner that we’re heading out?” Ellie asked as she watched me saddle up Rose.
Rose is still acting feisty as hell.
“If you want,” I said.
“Just a quick ride, right? It actually looks like a storm is about to come in. Emma is in a panic, and I don’t want to leave her to long. ” Ellie said while she made her way over to saddle up Big Roy.
After we all got our horses saddled up, the three of us headed out.
Ellie noticed right away that Rose was acting up a bit.
“Ari, are you sure you want to ride Rose? She seems to be spooked about something. Maybe the storm coming in?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Ells, I’ve been riding horses long enough to know when I shouldn’t be on one. ”
***