Sorrel Hill: Dancing In Rome (BK3) |COMPLETED|

Chapter Twenty

"The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live."
- Norman Cousins
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~The Crash Of A Lifetime~

     "Jessie!"  I called from his living room.  He was currently in the kitchen fixing up pancakes, "yes, heavenly dearest?"  I rolled my eyes, a smile toyed at my lip, "what do you think about this?"  Within moments he was leaning over the couch, looking over my shoulder at the laptop laid on my stomach, my legs propped up on the coffee table.  He looked over the screen with a smile, "six-hundred acres, Tyler?  Am I supposed to get Nathan to mow that?"  I laughed, I turned my head and pecked him on the lips.  "I'm sure he would, but I was thinking more on the cow side or deer?"  His eyes lit up, "that's genius, Kils!  We could name one Bambi."  That earned him a flat look.  We were currently house shopping and I was determined for it to be a good one.
     "Jessie, focus.  What do you think?"  He hopped over the couch and plopped down beside me, clicking the slides to see more of the house and the land.  "I like all the land.  We could round up Samergia and her herd and let them run out on the land without having to worry about anything.  It has three barns, a racetrack and jumping arena, two story house, Kiley, this is perfect," He wrapped me in a tight embrace, "let's do it!"  I giggled at the excitement filled room, I pulled away from him and began the buying process.  I couldn't believe it.  Jessie and I were a price tag away from living together in a house that seemed made for us.  The rest of the morning I spent filling out the necessary qualifications to purchase the house and Jessie made breakfast, our purchase was now pending.
     "Kiley, want to ride?"  He asked with a smirk.  I leaped up from the couch and ran outside in my pajama pants and tank top.  He appeared seconds later, "race you."  I sprinted off towards the barn, only to hear the sound of the four-wheeler being turned on.  That little cheat.  He zoomed passed me only glancing back to stick out his tongue.  Very mature, Jessie, very mature.  He easily gained the lead by far, I was barely managing to keep sprinting.  The sound of hooves rang from behind me and I turned my head to see Nathan galloping Crow.  He slowed his black steed beside me and stuck out his hand, I grabbed it and jumped.  He gripped the saddle horn with one hand and pulled me up with the other onto Crow's behind.  "Yes, Nathan!"  I shouted, smiling my butt off.  Crow took off after Jessie, eventually passing him up.  It was my turn to stick my tongue out at him.  He cursed, knowing the four-wheeler wouldn't be able to catch up. 
     Crow rode strong all the way up to the barn, Nathan 'whoaed' him and I nearly fell off due to how much Crow dropped his butt.  I slid off the back of him, "when did he learn a sliding stop?"  Nathan smiled, "since Xavier decided to hang out one day."  I laughed, saying my thanks and turned to leave.  "Oh and Tyler?"  I turned.  "Beat him."  I grinned, taking off inside the barn, fleeing inside QuickSilver's stall.  I haltered him and took him to the tack room.  Jessie just now got here, he groaned at my horse choice, before he briefly scolded Angel for being pregnant and no longer capable of racing, then began to get Cash Out ready to ride. I finished racking up QuickSilver and mounted him, riding him to the racetrack. While Jessie was getting Cash ready, I warmed QuickSilver up. He was a gentleman, as usual, and didn't fight me once. I grinned as Cash Out and Jessie came trotting into view. He began to warm up his big blood bay Thoroughbred while I warmed up his gray one.
"Ready?" I asked after a good fifteen minutes. He smirked, "are you?" We rode our horses up to the closed gates, only for Nathan to appear on Don't Blink, another one of Jessie's outstanding Thoroughbreds. He waited for QuickSilver and Cash Out to settle down before he opened the gates. They leaped into action. QuickSilver's long silvery legs blurred as he charged forward. I could feel the power beneath me as he took control. His muscles rumbled with every stride he took, his mane fluttered in the wind he conjured. I would never get over how incredible he was. I looked to my left to see Jessie riding the fence with Cash Out. The handsome bay was running his heart out, but he was no match for such a stallion like QuickSilver.
I looked to my right to see Don't Blink moving blissfully outside of the track, his black coat shined in the sun's warm glow. "How's the weather over there?" I shouted out at Nathan. He smiled, "kind of cold if I'm being honest!" He turned back at Jessie a few strides behind me, "how is Cash?" He shook his head, "I chose the wrong horse! Blink is effortlessly keeping up with Silver!" Nathan nodded in agreement, looking at me with a playful glint in his eyes. "Wanna race?" I laughed, moving QuickSilver to ride against the outside fence. He was head to head with Don't Blink. We were on the last stretch. Nathan opened Don't Blink up, putting us head to head. The horses ran with all their will, burning energy off of each other. Stride against stride they pulled forward.
Eventually, I noticed Don't Blink slightly falling behind. Nathan looked at me with an amused shrug, everyone knew QuickSilver was the fastest Thoroughbred alive with a possibility of Chain Breaker a steel black Thoroughbred. We turned the curb only for QuickSilver to leave both of Jessie's top Thoroughbreds in the dust. We crossed the finish line and QuickSilver automatically began to slow down for me. He was such an easy horse to ride. It wasn't long before I had slowed him down to a trot while Jessie struggled slightly with Cash Out as Cash was a very high-strung stallion. Don't Blink was nearly there, Nathan simply along for the ride and shooting comments at Jessie for losing. We finished up our race and rinsed off the boys. Nathan had showed up a few minutes after I put the final word in for the house as Jessie had called him to tell him about it and wanted to show him.
We walked back inside after two hours of fiddling around with the Thoroughbreds and trail horses. Nathan rummaged around in the pantry looking for substance while I sat on the counter checking to see where Promise and Jack were. Jessie was upstairs taking a shower. Just as I was about to click the link to see where they were the operator called. I answered it on the first ring. "Hello, is this Kiley Tyler, owner of Jack Of Jumps and Promise?" I nodded, "speaking." "There seems to have been an accident. An hour ago the plane hit bad weather. There's no easy way to say this, but it crashed." My blood ran cold. My air left me as my hand rested on my chest to make sure my heart was still beating. "We could not locate either of your horses bodies. They crashed in Wyoming. I am so sorry, Ms. Tyler, we are doing everything we can to find them." The phone clattered onto the tile floor, I didn't even remember dropping it.
"Kiley?" Nathan called out, setting a loaf of bread by the sink. My body trembled, tears ran down my face as I let out an unruly sob. I hunched over, my stomach aches with the amount of emotion flowing out. Nathan came up to me with worried eyes, "what's wrong? What happened?" I shook my head, pointing to the phone. He picked it up and briskly held it to his ear, asking for what happened. His face paled as he heard the news, he said a weak thank you to the operator before he hung up and sat the phone down. Without much thought, he wrapped his arms around me. I only cried louder. Jessie came rushing from down stairs in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, "what's wrong?" Nathan parted from me as he softly told Jessie what happened.
He hugged me, his minty smell eased my panic slightly. His skin was damp and warm, but it was comforting. I wrapped my arms around his back, sinking deeper and deeper into his embrace. "I'm so sorry, Kiley," Jessie's gentle voice whispered into my ear. Promise had been such a sweet mare, she was always there to make my day brighter. Jack had been my rock, he had been my soul. What was I supposed to do without her without him?

A/N:

The end😞

Thoughts?