With The Labels

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Not quite sure where to meet Blake, I walk over to their barn. Where my barn was cozy and fit for only a couple of horses, his was huge. High, lofted ceiling with dozens of box stalls lining the aisle and acres of pasture, it was heaven for horses. Actually, heaven for anyone equestrian, too. A couple of horses were in stalls, but the rest were out grazing in the field.

Where was he? Shaking my head, I sit down on a hay bale. He said to come over anytime, and I was here. He better have a good reason as to why he disappeared. I text him and wait for a reply, but it doesn't come.

At least fifteen minutes pass before I hear footsteps and I look up. I was surprised to see it was Miranda, his mom, and not Blake.

"Hi, honey." She smiles at me, leaning a broom against the wall. "You must be looking for Blake."

"Yes, ma'am." I stand up from the hay bale.

"He just came back from doing something and then tacked up two of the horses and led them out behind the barn. Why don't you check back there?"

"Thank you." I give her a small smile and head to the back barn door. Miranda was right, two horses were tacked up and tied to a fence post. But still, I didn't see Blake.

"Nice hat." A deep voice says behind me. When I turn around, Blake is standing there. He is grinning at me. With a new cowboy hat on, this time white, he gestures to the horses.

"Took you long enough." I mutter under my breath, following Blake over to a small white horse.

"This is Jem, my mom's horse. You will be riding her on our ride today." I stick my left foot in the stirrup to mount up. Jem steps sideways, and with my foot stuck in the stirrup, I nearly fall over. Blake balances my by placing his hand on the small of my back. He quickly removes his hand and I swing my leg over, making sure Jem doesn't move this time.

Blake unties the horses and gets on Night. We walk shoulder to shoulder down the gravel road.

"Where are we going, anyways?" I ask him, eyes scanning the miles of cornfields. In the distance there were forests surrounding the fields.

"You'll see. We have a while on this road then there's a trail." I eye him, not convinced that I actually believe him. "Trust me, babe."

Minutes pass and we walk in silence next to each other. I listen to the sounds of the birds and the tractors and the wind rustling through the corn stalks. I think back to the only time I have seen Blake ride. It was when we first pulled down the road to our new house. He was walking in the grass in the direction of the car. "You know, I've never really seen you ride."

He shrugs. "I used to ride a lot. Used to show, too. But now my dad rides and trains most of the horses."

Hm. I didn't see him as the competitive rider type. "You used to show?"

He bites his bottom lip, shaking his head. I could tell he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. "It's been a long time. Forget I said anything."

Now I was curious. "No, seriously, tell me." We make eye contact and I stare at him with a straight face.

"Fine." He looks angry and annoyed that I asked him that question. I have never seen him like this. "I haven't showed in years. I used to have this reining horse. We won the youth reining nationals a couple of times. That's all." Blake speaks quickly. I narrow my eyes at him. I know he wasn't telling the whole story. Something happened to make competing difficult for him to talk about and I was determined to find out what it was. Because somebody who 'won youth nationals a couple of times' wouldn't pass it off as if it was nothing.