Little White Lies

Chapter 8

I awake suddenly from a wonderful dream about a summer to trip to the beach house. There as a bonfire and roasted marshmallows. It was a place I knew well. Before the divorce we had a house on the James River where we always went for weekends every summer. Back when Mom trusted employees to take care of the horses; before she decided her kids were the only other people capable of helping her. That house was beautiful and the beach always relaxing. What I loved most about being there was lying on the beach late at night, next to a bonfire, staring up at the stars. It was simple, yet incredible. It always made me feel so connected to the world, small, yet apart of something huge.

However the dream wasn't what woke me up. The rain outside has worked it's way from downpour to full on thunderstorm, and a particularly loud clap of thunder startled me awake from the pleasant place I'd been dreaming of. I can't help but jump again when the thunder rumbles loudly again. Good lord, it sounds as though we are in the center of the storm; as if the lightening is striking right beside us. I can't fathom how anyone else is still asleep. But then again, I'm probably the only one here afraid of thunderstorms. I'm curled up on the couch between Ali and Andy, my head on his shoulder, staring towards the window just praying it would stop.

When the storm lets loose another Earth shaking rumble, I nearly jump out of my skin. I'm actually starting to shake and I'm close to tears. It never seems to matter that I know I'm safe, or that this is ridiculous, I'm simply terrified. I must have startled Andy when I jumped though because just as I'm reaching the point of a having a panic attack I hear his voice.

"Sawyer?" he asks sleepily. But, after a glance at my face he adds, "are you okay?" There is a definite note of worry creeping into his voice as he looks into my eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just..." I pause as the thunder rumbles again and I jump. "I'm just terrified of storms." How embarrassing; I can't even manage to stop my voice from shaking.

"Oh," Andy says, putting his arm around me and hugging me to him. "It's going to be fine. Don't worry." He glaces at the clock, "It shouldn't be too bad for much longer. It's supposed to die back down."

I suppose it's a mark of how bad the storm is, or how much I'm freaking out, I'm not even mentally freaking out about his arm being around me.

"Just breathe," he says, slowly rubbing my arm. When the thunder rumbles a minute later he pulls me a little tighter before I can even jump.

"Hey," he says and I can hear a little smile in his voice, "look on the bright side. Didn't you say mares tend to have foals in bad weather?" he asks.

"Holy shit." Without even a backwards glance, I'm up and off the couch, running to my room for a coat. I practically run into Andy as I fling myself back out onto the landing.

Andy grabs my shoulders and forces me to stop, "Sawyer. Where are you going?"

"You should know, you're the one who just said it. You just told me where to go," I say, pulling free of his grip and jogging down the stairs. Andy is hot on my heels, "Treasure, I have to go check on her. Right now," I say over my shoulder.

"I'm coming with you," Andy says grabbing a jacket off the coat rack in the mudroom. "Especially since you hate storms," he adds picking up the flashlight from the counter.

I slip my Wellington boots on, "Fine. Let's go," I add impatiently as Andy pulls on his boots.

We step outside and are met with pelting rain, we pause of the porch and glance towards the barn. "Here goes nothing," Andy says holding out his hand to me. I take his hand and he says, "Run." We take off, sprinting to the barn.

When we enter through the left side doors Andy stops to close the door behind us, muffling the sound of the rain. I keep running until I hit Treasure's stall door. I'm fumbling with the door latch, which we have to keep a hook on so she doesn't let herself out, when Andy flips the light switch. My eyes roam the stall checking everything.