by Taryn Plendl
“Shit,” he mumbled before the cane met my open hand.
“Thank you, Nate.” I tapped my way toward the door. “Oh, and Nate?” I glanced over my shoulder in his direction. “I hope to see you again.” I wiggled my eyebrows and laughed as the screen closed behind me.
N A T E
“That should be it.” Leaning over the rail, I inspected my work. Si had me working on minor adjustments to the exercise paddock used during the equine therapy program.
“Looks good.” Si settled next to me.
Mira was very specific with what she wanted, and we would catch hell if we didn’t do things right. To be honest, I hadn’t really understood the reasoning behind her therapy program until I’d seen it in action. The difference in the kids the second they sat on a horse was striking. I loved watching our little friend Darren come in. He spouted off horse facts and flapped his hands a mile a minute, but the moment he was on top of Molly, his posture straightened and his hands stilled. Other than low mumbling, he was quiet and focused. The change was truly incredible.
Shiloh was expanding the program with sessions for people who couldn’t see.
“How many kids are coming?”
“Right now, it looks like three. It’s a good start. Should keep things manageable until the girls get their bearings.” I couldn’t wait to see Shiloh in action. Before I’d found out she was blind, the vision of her dancing on her horse blew my mind. Now that I knew, I was even more fascinated. The amount of dedication and training it took to get to that skill level was crazy. I had a feeling I would be even more impressed as I got to know her better.
Though we’d worked close to the main ranch all morning, I had yet to catch a glimpse of the woman who had me perpetually hard since the previous night. Our interaction on the porch played on repeat through my mind like a favorite song. Her hands gliding over me as she saw me in her own way might have been the most erotic thing ever done to me. And my clothes hadn’t even come off.
“Fuck,” I groaned, shifting myself in my jeans.
Si gave me a look like I was fucking insane before walking away. “Tell Ryke we need to get some soil samples from the fields. I’ll meet him in thirty minutes.”
Shaking my head, I grabbed my tools and headed to the barn.
The voices became clear as I got closer to the doors. Her laughter sent a thrill through my body as I peeked through the gap to see the source of the beautiful sound. Ryke knelt in front of one of the stalls, screwing some sort of hardware into the wood. Shiloh waited next to him, dragging a long rope back and forth through her hands.
The radiant smile covering her face was something for sure. Her hair was pulled into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck, blonde curls settling down her back. The worn jeans hugged her ass and trim thighs like they’d been made just for her. When she turned toward Ryke, her ponytail shifted enough for me to read her t-shirt. My mind is dirtier than my boots. I almost laughed out loud. This girl was something else.
Opening the doors wide so my presence was known, I walked toward them. Ryke nodded as he attached a large eye screw into the stall. A quick glance revealed a row of them down two sides of the barn.
“Hiya, cowboy.” Shiloh looked straight at me as she spoke, and it had me stumbling.
“How’d you know it was me?” I questioned, stopping in front of them. Without thinking, I lifted my arm and sniffed. “Do I stink?”
“Yes,” Ryke stated without hesitation. I flipped him off and glared before returning my focus to Shiloh. At least she would miss that exchange.
Her soft laughter was like music. The pink tint of her sun-kissed cheeks made my fingers itch to find out if her skin was as soft as it looked.
“No, silly. With the light behind you, I could make out your shape.” She shrugged like it was nothing.
“Wait, you can see shapes?” I thought a blind person couldn’t see anything. To know I was wrong surprised me, and left me curious.
“It’s complicated, but yes, depending on the light.”
With this information, I inched around so the doors weren’t behind me anymore. It was a calculated move, and quite necessary so I could rearrange myself without her noticing. I wanted to ask her more questions, but my twin interrupted me as he stood and told Shiloh he was finished.
“Great! Let me try it out.” Shiloh clipped one end of the cord to the first hook at the end of the stalls and then felt her way to the next one, threading the lead through each eye screw. When she reached the last one, she pulled the rope taut and secured the end.
“What is this for?” I whispered to Ryke.
Her walk back was much faster because her fingers traced the rope, guiding her to the starting point. As she glided along with such confidence, I couldn’t help but wish it was me under those hands. At this rate, I was going to need to sneak away to take care of business.
“It’s to help her students navigate the barn with assurance,” he explained, grabbing his hammer and drill. “Want me to put those away?” He gestured to the tools in my hand.
“Oh, sure. Before I forget, Si said you guys need to get soil samples.”
“Sounds good. Catch you later, Shiloh.” Ryke moved through the barn without a backward glance.
“This is perfect.” When she stopped at the end stall where she had started, happiness glowed on her face.
“That is actually a pretty smart idea.” Seeing the guide rope put to use impressed me, and the simplicity of the design meant it could adapt to more than one circumstance.
“Thanks, I’ve got more tricks up my sleeve.” She smiled at me, and I forced myself not to reach out and touch her.
“What’s your plans for the day?” I asked, not quite ready to go our separate ways.
“I thought I’d take Melody for a ride. Want to join me?”
“Yeah, sure.” This was perfect. “I can show you the ranch. Oh, um. Shit.” I was an idiot. How was I going to show a blind girl the ranch? Smooth one, Nate.
Her laughter brought my gaze to her. “Nate, I would love to see the ranch. Just let me saddle Melody, and I’ll be ready.” She took careful steps toward the tack room.
“Here.” Since her cane wasn’t in sight, I grabbed her arm to help her, but she covered my hand with her own and turned to face me.
“Nate, your first lesson in sighted helper 101 is don’t grab onto a blind person without first asking if they need help. Otherwise, you might land on your ass.” Her face was serious, no trace of a smile, and I realized I’d screwed up again. “Trust me, I can feel your protective streak from a mile away, but doing things for myself is important to me.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.” Would I ever get it right with this girl?
“No problem. I promise I’ll ask for help when I need it. Now, go saddle up your horse, and I’ll meet you when we’re both ready,” she suggested, then turned and counted her paces to the tack room.
After a few seconds of bitching at myself, I followed her to get what I needed, watching as she gathered her gear with ease. Since yesterday, someone had organized things to make navigating the area easier for Shiloh. Her equipment was right inside the door on the left, and Melody was in the stall right outside of the tack room. These changes made complete sense.
I grabbed my saddle and pad and carried them out to Echo. When I was tightening the flank cinch, hooves clopped through the barn.
“Ready?” Shiloh stood outside Echo’s stall, an expertly saddled Melody next to her. This woman was freaking astonishing.
“Yes, ma’am.” Echo and I followed Shiloh and Melody outside, where we mounted our horses. Shiloh pulled sunglasses from a small saddle bag, placing them on and smiling at me.
“Well, Nate, I’m ready for my tour.”
I was seriously in awe of this woman. I hoped like hell I didn’t make an asshole out of myself.
Again.
S H I L O H
The sun bathed my exposed skin in its warmth. The air was clean, and a slight breeze made the day feel like heav
en. Nate was quiet. In the very short time I’d known the man, I’d learned this silence was unusual. He was over thinking every move he made, which, in turn, left him uncomfortable around me.
Based on our previous encounters, he thought I wouldn’t notice how good-looking he was. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There was so much about him I found attractive—aside from the physical person he was—and believe me, I remembered everything about the way he felt under my fingertips. I had no doubt that, if we hadn’t been interrupted on the porch, I would’ve gotten a taste of the man. For some reason, he intrigued me, and I truly wanted to know more about who he was.
“Nate?”
“Yes?” He slowed his horse and fell into step next to me at a slow, rocking pace.
“Tell me what you see.” Sometimes, it helped to let a sighted person explain their surroundings.
“Um, okay. Well, the field we’re in is one of the pastures where we turnout the horses.” His voice was deep and sexy, yet unsure, lacking the confidence he’d shown when we’d first met. “It’s green. Wait, do you know what green looks like?”
“I actually do. I didn’t lose my sight until I was about fifteen.” The scent of freshly mowed grass wafted through the air. “Has this field been cut recently?” I asked, taking another deep sniff. It smelled amazing.
“It has. How’d you know?” Nate asked, surprise filling his voice.
“My eyes don’t work, Nate, but all my other senses are still intact.” I laughed at his whispered, ‘oh yeah’. “When grass is freshly cut, it smells distinctive, easily recognizable, yet almost impossible to characterize. Almost clean, yet musty. Either way, I love it.”
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of it like that.” Nate’s voice carried through the quiet air at different decibels as he looked around. “How did you lose your sight?”
“I have a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa. I was diagnosed when I was five.”
“I thought you said you lost your sight at fifteen.”
“I was fifteen when I went medically totally blind, but I’ve been legally blind for as long as I can remember.” Although I could see when I was younger, my memories weren’t clear pictures. Mira once tried to explain what things looked like to her, and I realized my sighted world never held the clarity of hers.
“What does that mean? Medically totally blind?” Nate asked, and I was thrilled he was finally talking to me.
“It is just the way the doctors categorize the progression of my disease. I have a type of RP that progresses much faster than most—a gift I inherited from my parents. I’ve always been an over-achiever,” I joked, even though the topic was a sore spot in my family. When we’d found out both my parents carried the gene that caused my blindness, their guilt was tremendous, straining our relationship to a point I wasn’t sure we would ever recover.
“But back in the barn, you saw my shadow. How is that possible if you’re blind?”
The horses turned slightly to the right as we rode into a dryer smelling field. Melody’s gate changed and her hooves dragged, telling me the grass was much longer.
“There’s such a large spectrum of vision or lack of vision. Being blind is different for every person, so I can only tell you about my version.” I hoped I was helping him understand better instead of confusing the hell out of him. “I have light perception, and as a result, my eyes are very sensitive to the bright light of the sun.” I tapped on my sunglasses. “When you opened the barn doors completely, the light was behind you, so you looked like a large black blob.” I smirked.
“Great. You’re hell on my self-esteem, woman,” Nate grumbled.
“But seriously, if I’m in my room, and it’s dark, but a lamp’s on, I can tell where the lamp is, but nothing else. If it’s sunny outside, I can tell where a window is. Basically, I can see light and shadows.”
“What about at night?” Nate asked.
“I can’t see shit,” I stated bluntly. “I’ve been night-blind all my life, so that’s nothing new.”
Nate’s low chuckle was like music to my ears.
“So, you’ve seen colors, then?”
“I have, but my visual memory hasn’t stayed too sharp. I still remember green and blue because I have these flashes and floating white lights in my eyes. I know they’re green and blue because that’s what they were when I still had sight, but otherwise I can’t really remember the others,” I explained.
“What do you mean by flashes?” Nate sounded completely captivated.
“Imagine a fireworks display behind your eyelids that never stops.”
“Fuck, I bet that’s annoying as hell,” Nate groaned.
“You have no idea.” I laughed. “Nate?”
“Yeah?”
“You think we could open these horses up? I’d love to feel the wind on my face.” I was hoping he was up for it.
“Seriously?” His voice sounded excited at the prospect.
“Show me what you got,” I challenged.
“Hold on, little girl, you’re about to eat my dust.” With a whoop, he took off.
“Come on, girl.” I gave Melody a soft kick and clicked my tongue, and that was all she needed.
One would think I would be afraid to ride so fast, but I wasn’t. Being on Melody’s back felt like home to me. She was my eyes, and she was completely attuned to me. That wasn’t to say there weren’t times where one or both of us failed to communicate properly; however, more times than not, it all came together. When that happened, it felt like I was flying. Ah, sweet freedom.
The sound of hooves beating the ground with heavy thuds morphed from one set to two as we neared Nate and Echo. A few more strides, and it almost seemed as if the two horses were running as one.
That was until we passed them.
My hands held the soft leather confidently as the wind roared through my ears. Wisps of hair separated from my ponytail, slapping my neck below my helmet. A grin spread across my face as the grumbling curses reached my ears. Nate was struggling to keep up. Laughter bubbled as I transitioned Melody to a walk, her haunches quivering beneath me.
“Damn, girl, that horse is a total package.” Nate settled next to me as we rode. Echo snuffed and blew.
“She is that,” I agreed, reaching down and stroking Melody’s neck.
“Where’d you learn to ride?” Nate’s voice was relaxed, quietly untroubled. This outing seemed to be good for both of us.
“I’ve been riding since I could walk. How about you?” When he didn’t answer, I grew concerned. “Nate?”
“Oh, um, I started riding around eight.” His tone changed from relaxed to gruff with one question.
What caused such a shift in him? Pushing the topic might not have been the best thing to do, but curiosity won.
“Did your parents teach you to ride?” I pressed.
“No.”
The short, clipped answer was enough to make me drop the subject for now, wanting the carefree atmosphere from moments before.
“Close your eyes.”
“What?”
“I want to try something. Close your eyes for me.” I gave him a moment to do as I’d asked. “They closed?”
“Uh, yes.” Apprehension laced his words.
“Okay, what do you hear?” This very basic exercise gave a sighted person a hint of life without sight, and a new way to really think about their surroundings. Most sounds and smells were completely ignored in the place of sight. The world offered so much more for us to enjoy if we gave it a chance.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t over think it, Nate. Just describe what you hear.”
“Okay, well, I hear the horses walking.”
“Good, what does it sound like?” I urged him to go on, dig deeper.
“Soft, yet heavy. You can hear the hooves scratch against the grass. Like a rustle.”
“Good,” I encouraged. My heart warmed at his effort to see the world like I did, even if it was just a small
gesture. “Now, what do you smell?”
“Echo is dropping a load, so, manure.” His chuckle was light. I smelled it, too, along with the soft sound of it hitting the ground. “Other than that, I guess fresh. The grass is longer here, so now that I think about it, it smells different than the first field. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“I get it. Sensory input isn’t always easily processed with words. Sometimes, it’s just a feeling.” I wished I could see his face strained in thought as he concentrated on the world through his senses. “One more. Tell me what you feel. Not emotionally, but physically, with your hands.”
“Well, I’m holding the reins in my right one. Uh, it feels like worked-in leather, warm from the sun. My left hand is resting on my leg. The denim is soft and worn.”
The surrounding noises took a backseat to the smooth, confident sound of his voice, now that he wasn’t over thinking his words. His protective nature emerged when he was around me, and even if I didn’t need it, it was endearing. Imagining he was a true gentleman underneath the awkward playfulness wasn’t difficult. I was attracted to Nate on many levels, which could be a possible complication with my time on the ranch, but hell, I never backed down from anything. Stubborn? Maybe. Determined? Always.
“Now, open your eyes. Everything you just described takes a backseat to what you visually see, doesn’t it?” It was always hard to explain how much we relied on our eyesight. Until it wasn’t there anymore. Digging deep to find my world again was scary and depressing at first, but after giving myself time to mourn and accept my loss, I found the world just as beautiful in a whole different way.
“Yeah.” His voice was low and thoughtful. “That was kinda cool.”
We rode along in silence, the soft breeze floating over us.
“Oh, shit, did I do that?” Nate asked, his voice laced with worry.
“Nate, you’re gonna need to be more specific.” I smiled in his direction. He was making an effort with me, and I didn’t want him to feel like I was making fun of him for every blunder.
“You have a nasty bruise on your forearm where I grabbed you back in the barn.”
