Childhood Crushes

Chapter Twentyone - Juliet

Hazel kept watching me for any sign of 'happiness' or any kind of emotion, really. Whenever I said something to Dad, she'd glance over with a 'Oh, that was good. Keep going!' look on her face. I swear, if she keeps this up, I'm going to leave her stranded in the middle of nowhere for the rest of the summer.

"I remember a phone call, not too long ago, from my rambuctious daughter saying she'd be riding a horse within hours of being here." Dad said one day at lunch. "You've now been here for three days and I am yet to see you on a horse." He smirked.

The boys all looked up at me with amusment, while Hazel just looked at me like 'Are you crazy!?'. I thought about it for a moment. I did promise I'd be riding a horse... I haven't really thought of them. Man, I haven't touched a horse in years. They're dangerous when you have no clue what you're doing, and I obviously will have no idea what to do...

What if I lost control of the horse? What if it just bolts off into nowhere and it takes me halfway across town before someone finally stops it? I'll never hear the end of it if that happens... Neither from Hazel or my brothers.

I nodded, "Yeah, about that..."

"You don't have to, Annabelle." Dad smiled. "I'm just happy you're here, punkin."

'Punkin'. Wow, I haven't heard that in so long. I may have been a little mad that he hasn't talked to me in all these years, but there's something about old memories and the way they never faded, they were just put into a mental closet. Saved for this moment when I would come back.

These last couple days have been good, I had to admit. Maybe a little awkward, but still good. We all talked about school and what I've been up to lately. Apparently Joel is opening a hardware store downtown, while Jimmy already owns his own mechanic place. Billy is going steady with someone and is thinking about marrying her soon.

God, things have really changed. I remember these three being goofball kids, but they're not anymore. Hey, I'm not anymore. Somehow I imagined they all froze when I left. Then when I came back, they'd all be the same as I left them. But no; everyone had to go and change! ...Even me.

"Baby..." Joel whispered next to me, nudging me in the ribs. No one but me heard it.

There we go again; someone calling me a baby! I'm very competitive and Joel knows that. Calling me a baby is the sure fire way to get me all worked up about something. Even riding a horse and probably getting killed.

I glared at him for a moment. Then said, "I am not."

"Then why don't you ride ol' Juliet, you know, for old times sake." He shrugged.

Oh my God, Juliet is still here?

Juliet was my horse as a kid. She's a chocolate brown quarter horse with a white locket on her chest. I named her Juliet because we were reading Romeo and Juliet in school, and she was so beautiful and graceful as her, I just had to. I didn't know they kept her; in fact, I thought they probably sold her the day I left.

I smiled, "You still have her?"

He nodded, "Sure we do. We couldn't get rid of her! Mind you, she's old now, but she's still got a hell of a lot of kick in her." He winked before taking a bite of his sandwich.

I smiled to myself. That's my Juliet; old, but young at heart.

Hazel leaned over, "Who's Juliet?"

"My horse. She's beautiful..." I thought about her, and how we used to do jumps and everything together. We'd run for hours. Sometimes I'd just sit on her and tan like that. Then before bed I'd groom her until her coat shined like glass and I could run my fingers through her mane.

"I'll do it, I'll ride Juliet." I smiled.

Juliet is a lot taller than I remember...

"Um, Dad, why do I have to wear the bullet proof vest?" I asked, trying my hardest to breathe right. It was so tight... What am I gonna get shot by the neighbors!?

Dad laughed, "Honey, it's not a bullet proof vest. Though, it'd probably work just as good. No, this is a horseback riding vest. You haven't been on a horse in a while so I thought you should wear it. It protects yoru ribs incase you fall and she kicks you." He shrugged. Like this isn't such a big deal!!!

"Alright, Annabelle, do you remember how to make her start?" Dad asked, standing back a bit.

"Um, squeeze my legs, right?"

"Right. Just don't squeeze twice, then she'll start running." He warned before walking out to the fence where the boys and Hazel were all watching. I gulped and squeezed my legs together as gently as I could.

She didn't do anything.

Come on, Juliet, I know you're old but ----

She bolted.

Okay, she's a bit delayed then!!!

Juliet ran as fast as she could, reaching the other side of the ranch in no time. I forgot to ask Dad how to make her stop! I found myself praying to God she would get sidetracked by a squirrel or something and stop to look at it. Hey, that's what I would do, and they say pets are just like their owners.

She doesn't have A.D.D though, instead of stopping and looking at something, she just kept running. I could hear Hazel screaming that I'm gonna die ---- thanks buddy! ---- while they boys and Dad all laughed. That's when Juliet jumped our fence and went running down a dirt path into town. Oh yeah, this is real funny!!

I remembered from when I first started riding horses Dad showing me the 'One Rein Stop' where you pull on one side of the reins and pull it to your hip. This stops the horse and you don't die. When I reached down and pulled hard on the rein to my left, Juliet just started running in circles.

What the hell, Juliet?!

The boys ---- who started running after me to help ---- were simply roaring with laughter. God it made me so mad. This is a serious problem! I could fall off any second and Juliet could break my legs! God I hope not.

I started screaming, Juliet was now just going all over the place. She may be old, but she could have fooled me!

Suddenly a pair of dirty, strong hands reached for Juliet's reins and yanked hard, making her stop right away. I jolted to the right and before I could catch myself fell down onto my back.

I got the wind knocked out of me and I couldn't breathe. I sucked in short breaths while the boys all laughed. Joel even joined me on the ground, gasping for air, but only because he was laughing too hard. Dad soon ran up, worried and then followed by a frantic Hazel.

The hands reached up to my face and unbuckled my riding helmet. "You alright, Miss?" A southern voice rang in my ears. I still couldn't breathe, so I didn't really have time to look at whome it belonged to.

Dad ran up to me and dropped to his knees, "You alright, Annabelle?" He panicked. The hands yanked away and were replaced by Dad helping me sit up. "I told you not to squeeze twice."

"I ---- ack ---- didn't! She just took off!" I gasped. I then ripped off the helmet and looked at him, "What the hell have you been feeding her!?"

Dad laughed and started undoing the velcro on my sides, taking off the vest. This probably wasn't helping my breathing issue.

I pulled it over my head and sat there with my legs sprawled, trying to breathe right once again. Hazel was asking me hundreds of questions, freaking out, but I couldn't hear her. A bunch of slurred voices filled my head.

That's when I heard Billy say, "Thanks for helping her out, Bale."

My head popped up to look at the man who helped stop my crazy horse. His tan skin, brown hair and blue eyes. He wasn't the most handsome man I've ever seen, but he wasn't bad looking. He looked like he spent hours, working in the sun. I was probably right.

The 'smile lines' around his eyes were charming, in a way. He looked to be about my age, maybe a bit older.

He looked down at me and smiled. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes though. "Not a problem. Anything for an old friend."