by Linda West
Elle didn’t know what had happened.
She called after him. “Okay well maybe next time. You can come whenever you want.
Elle sighed.
Weirdo guy.
Chapter 11
The next morning, Elle went down to the stables to get a ride in before her breakfast shift at the Inn.
She was surprised to see the weird guy from the day before back at the stable again so early.
She smiled, remembering how she had been when she first fell in love with the horses. Everyday she’d suffer through her classes with thoughts of galloping in her mind. While all the other girls had begun to fuss with their hair and nails to attract the boys, Elle had been just fine with the horses. She was a natural tomboy at heart and jeans and a flannel suited her more than Chanel.
That had always been a bone of contention with Todd, she found herself thinking, fighting back the bad memories. He had always wanted her to dress up, to be more feminine, more refined.
And she had become that for him.
Changed for him.
Not that any of that had mattered.
She made a mental note to burn anything that had a designer label in her closet.
Elle pulled out the bucket of brushes and tools to clean the horses. The strange man watched her every move carefully all the while saying nothing.
“Would you like to try brushing one?” she offered.
He shook his head.
“You like animals?” she asked.
There was such a long pause that she thought he wasn’t going to respond at all, but then he quietly said, “I have a dog. He’s around her somewhere. War Hero, his name is.”
As if on cue, War Hero came out of the brush looking crazy with his burnt fur and crooked tail. Elle backed up.
War Hero growled at her.
The man reached out and grabbed his collar. “Don’t pay him no mind. He hates everyone.”
The dog eyed her up with his one eye and continued to growl.
Elle pulled out a snack from her pocket and reached out a hand through the pen gate to offer it to the dog. She was great with animals.
War Hero showed his teeth. She pulled her hand back.
“Wow, you weren’t fooling,” she said. “That’s one ornery animal!”
The man tied up War Hero by the stable and wandered back over to the ring.
She followed him a little way. “So what’s your name?”
“Dayton,” he said. “Yours?”
“Elle.”
They talked no further, but instead leant against the ring and watched the horses. Elle gazed lovingly as they ran around the ring. So simple and beautiful. This had been her meditation for so long. Watching the horses move and run and toss their manes and tails. Happy.
Dayton noticed the love in her eyes. “You’re good with them,” he said.
She smiled at him. She was happy to know he wasn’t a mute as she had suspected. “They helped me when I lost everyone. They allowed me to find peace. I guess you can say I healed being with them.”
She looked at him as he nodded, and found her eyes lingering. He was a shell of a man that could barely converse, hiding behind a bushel of hair, with a hateful angry dog.
Her heart went out to him.
Those eyes.
The hiding.
It reminded her of herself.
The one she had fought hard to leave behind. Maybe that’s why he was drawn to the horses just as she was.
Chapter 12
Elle was waiting on tables on a busy Sunday morning. Sunday brunch at the Inn was always a popular event in Kissing Bridge and there was always a line to get in.
Elle noticed the hostess seat a single guy in her section. The hostess shrugged and whispered, “Sorry, he wanted your section.”
Elle sighed and went over to the take the weird guy’s order.
He was staying at the lodge so he had been coming in daily for meals all week besides hanging around the stables.
She was getting used to his weirdness at least.
He had been kind of scary at first. Manson-ish looking. But he had been so sweet and loving with the horses that Elle knew he had to have a good heart. How people treated an animal said a lot about them.
Still, he was an odd one, so sullen and somber with that odd beard.
Today he looked, well, better. His normal long scraggly hair was under a baseball cap that said Yankees on it. Suddenly his large luminous brown eyes were apparent. He also had a clean white t-shirt on and she could see that he was quite muscular, with long lean muscles. She realized he was much younger than she had first thought.
She caught herself staring at his tanned, muscled arms. And when she looked up, he was staring at her in that weirdo way he always did.
She avoided his eyes and hurriedly reached over to pick up his plate and utensils, but suddenly accidentally hit a fork. The pressure boomeranged the fork and sent it suddenly sailing straight toward Dayton’s chest at high speed.
Dayton instinctively grabbed the fork midair between both hands, just a mega bit from impaling him right in the heart.
Elle sucked in her breath.
Oh my goodness! I almost just killed the weird guy with a fork!
They stood, eyes locked. He still held the fork weapon between his hands, as if in shock.
He looked intensely at her as if she had meant to hurt him.
What could she say?
“Nice catch?”
With that, he broke out laughing. A warm deep-dish filled apple pie kind of laugh. The kind that makes you want to laugh as well.
Elle cracked a smile.
Well, who would of thought? Weirdo guy actually did have a sense of humor.
They both laughed and Elle thought maybe weirdo guy was okay after all. Though he did seem to stare at her a lot.
“What’s this?” Jason Anderson approached the table with a big smile on his face to see his friend laughing. “Having a good time without me.” He leaned into the table and gave his pal a hug. “How’s it going, Dayton? I see you’ve met our girl, Elle. Lucky you.”
Dayton blushed under his beard and croaked out a short, “Yeah.”
“Hey Jason,” Elle said, surprised. “So how do you guys no each other?’
“We were…” Jason began, but then his eyes flickered over to Dayton, who looked uncomfortable. “Well, more importantly, he’s going to be my Best Man at the wedding.”
Elle quirked a brow at this news. Weirdo guy was friends with Jason Anderson? Go figure.
She couldn’t quite see how the two of them were buddies but here they were. Well, at least now it made sense how he fit in at Kissing Bridge.
She smiled. “That’s wonderful news, Jason. I’m so happy for you and Dodi.”
Jason smiled. “Yeah! I’m a blessed guy and I know it.” He turned to Dayton. “How about that flying lesson I promised you, bro?”
Dayton nodded and they both got up from the table.
On the way out, Jason stopped Elle and spoke with her sincerely. ‘Thanks for being nice to my friend. He’s had a tough time. I haven’t seen him laugh like that since I met him.”
Elle blushed now. “Wait a sec.” She dashed into the kitchen and returned a couple of seconds later with a little doggie bag. She handed it to him. “That’s for his evil dog. Filet mignon. I never met an animal I couldn’t win over.”
Jason cocked a brow and smiled on the way out the door.
CHAPTER 13
It was early morning. Elle had time before her shift at the restaurant to get a ride in. She walked down to the stables, breathing in the fresh new day and wondering what Todd was doing. Probably not thinking of her, she guessed. It had been a tough night of continuous nightmares featuring Todd leaving her.
She had to shake lose from these feelings.
The best way she knew to leave feelings behind was to run as fast as you could in the other direction.
Today she would ride Lightning, the wild black stal
lion.
She knew she shouldn’t. Her grandpa Earl had pleaded with her to not ride him. They had rescued him from the racetrack circuit when he had broken his leg and been left to die. Elle had nursed him back to health, and some would say he was better than ever. But he was a wild card, not used to trail riding and the critters of the forest. In all honesty she knew he was skitterish and unfit to ride.
Perfect for her mood that day, though, she decided.
She may not get what she wanted in her love life, but no one could stop her from sailing away on her favorite horse.
At least while Grandpa was sleeping!
When Elle approached the stables she saw that someone was up even earlier then her. She hoped Grandpa hadn’t figured out what she was up to. She moved closer. She heard the sounds of hay being bailed and a soft voice talking to the horses inside. Must be Sal the groundskeeper, but it was too early for him to be here.
When she entered the stable Elle was surprised to see not Sal, but the weirdo guy! Dayton.
He had his long hair pulled back and he looked a little less scary than normal.
She was surprised to see anyone up earlier than her. “Wow, you’re up early. If you want more to do you could clean the stalls too!”
She laughed, looking around at all the work he had done.
He looked shy and answered apologetically. “I have a lot of energy. Thought I’d help out.” He mumbled under his breath.
Elle felt a surge of compassion for him. She watched as he tentatively reached out and patted one of the horse’s necks. She recognized that look on his face because the horses had done the same thing for her. Drawn her in.
Offered to love her when no one else would.
Accepted her just the way she was.
Simple.
She had learned that you could count on animals where you couldn’t count on people.
Elle really didn’t want to interact with anyone. She just wanted to gallop the thoughts out of her head. But she saw something of herself in this strange unkempt man and she felt her heart tug.
She pushed back her urge to leap on Lightning and run away and instead reached out one more time to the strange young man.
“Would you like to help me brush them today?”
Today Dayton nodded.
Elle led out the four horses in the stables and tethered them outside in the morning sun. She pulled out the brushes and hoof cleaning tools.
Dayton watched her intensely. She picked up a brush and handed it to him. She lifted his hand to show him the technique.
“Strong and forceful. We need to stimulate the coat and they really like the extra massage.”
Together they brushed each of the horses.
Elle loved to see how the horses reacted to him. He had a natural way with them. His gentle speech and mannerism were calming and Elle found herself liking him in spite of his weirdness. She knew he must have a story.
She decided to share hers. “When my parents died when I was a child the only thing that would get me out of the house was coming to see these guys.”
Dayton looked at her deeply. She could see her pain echoed in his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She looked away.
“Yeah, well it was a long time ago. These guys became my family. Spent more time with them then people for a lot of years.” She grinned and shook it off. “Anyway. They are very special creatures and you can always count on them to be there.”
Dayton nodded as if he understood. “I was always a city kid,” he said. “Horses scared the heck out of me.”
“Well, they certainly seem to like you.”
Dayton almost smiled.
She watched him as he carefully yet skillfully worked with the horses. Seemed to sense when they needed to move or wait. Patient. Smart. Weirdo guy.
Those dark eyes seemed to have seen too much.
She gathered her thoughts together.
She wasn’t in the place to save someone else.
She was barely making it through each day with her heartbreak. She was like a drowning victim trying to save someone else. The ocean would take them both down if she let it.
She needed to take care of her own broken heart.
With that, she swung herself up on the back of the black steed Lightning and gave him a little kick with her boot and off they shot.
She laughed in her lovely free spirited way as she bolted off on the horse with her wild red hair billowing out behind her leaving the world, weirdo guy, and her feelings behind.
CHAPTER 14
Elle and Dayton began a routine of meeting at sunrise and cleaning the stalls in the early morning.
They never talked about it.
Each morning she had come down to find Dayton waiting for her at the stables.
At first she wasn’t sure about this stranger and his intrusion on her private time.
Her meditation was being with the horses.
Now she had a weirdo guy here every morning.
Still, she had grown to like and respect him, even if he was a bit strange. He was a smart and quick learner and she had already taught him how to bridle a horse, feed it, saddle it and unsaddle it and even clean its hooves.
Elle watched Dayton as he silently brushed the horse next to her. He had trimmed his beard and had on a fresh flannel shirt and jeans.
She was happy to have him here that morning. It had been another difficult night of nightmares about Todd and Buffy and her left out in the cold crying.
She had come to find solace in the horses and realized that despite the fact she would never get over Todd, at least she could be friends with someone.
She realized that she was happy to have company after the ghosts of last night’s agony.
She needed a ride bad. She pulled Lightning out of his stall and leapt on him bareback like a wild Indian Princess. She was in a rare mood. “I’m going for a ride, Dayton.”
He looked up at her. She saw his look. “What? I’ll be fine.”
Without a word he went over to the saddle rack and grabbed a blanket and saddle.
He picked out the quietest of the horses, Sunshine, a palomino, and slowly put the saddle on. “I’m going with you.”
A big smile spread over Elle’s face at his bravery. She knew he was afraid of the horses though he never admitted it. “Okay then, cowboy, let’s ride!”
Chapter 15
That was the beginning of Dayton’s love affair with horses and Elle.
As the sun rose each morning they silently met for a ride to greet the day.
Each day had seen Dayton open up and talk more as he learned the paces of the horse.
Soon Elle found herself looking forward to seeing him each morning. If felt good to have a friend.
Being around Dayton somehow made the loss of Todd less difficult. At least if she couldn’t stop the nightmares she could awake to chase them away with a friend by her side.
Little by little Dayton had become a better rider and his confidence increased as his horsemanship improved. He had gradually opened up to Elle about his own troubled childhood and they realized they shared many of the same hopes and dreams.
Neither of them had had the family life they had hoped for. Elle knew she would get that family life one day. That Todd would have to realize he loved her. It would only be a matter of time now.
She worried about Dayton though. Who could love this odd young man that looked like a homeless person and stared at one so intensely? Although Elle had to admit, it seemed like he only stared at her that way.
Probably never had a date, she guessed.
It never occurred to her that he might be falling in love with her.
Chapter 16
Elle’s favorite horse Lightning seemed extra high spirited that day. It matched Elle’s mood exactly. She had had a horrible run in with Mrs. Vanderling and when she had asked her about her shunning she had learned that Todd had asked them not to talk to her anymore! He thought they
should have a clean break to avoid entanglements!
Elle had been heartbroken.
Mrs. Vanderling had been lovely about it, but supportive of her son. “I’m so sorry, darling. You know we love you. It’s not about you.”
But it was about her.
She should have tried harder to look like a future Senator’s wife. Not been so headstrong and tomboyish.
The loss of her longtime boyfriend was one thing, but now to lose her pseudo adoptive family was too much.
Dayton watched Elle as she yanked the brush through the horses’ hair and remained silent. He of all people knew what it was like to have pain and sadness.
He could tell she was sad now. If she didn’t want to speak he would be with her in her pain in the silence.
He brushed the horse he had taken to named Sunshine, and watched quietly under his lids as Elle finished cleaning the horse and threw the brush with a whack into the bucket.
Within moments she was on the horse and flying out the door.
Dayton looked after her with admiration. She was an amazing woman. Her natural power and connectedness made her so unique. Like a light in the darkness of shallow people.
He could see her. He could see her pain.
He never worried about her riding. He knew she could handle any thing that came her way. Her spirit was strong.
Still today, when she had insisted on riding Lightning, Dayton had a bad feeling. He had survived with those instincts and learned not to ask why, but to just act.
He tossed a saddle on Tomico, Elle’s usual choice for a ride. Tomico was a white Arabian that would be considered too much horse for a newbie like him.
He jumped up on the horse anyway and prayed he wouldn’t be thrown off. He petted Tomico who was snorting and throwing her head.
Tomico could tell that Dayton didn’t have the experience. The horse whinnied and lifted up in the air, testing him. Dayton leaned his weight, bearing down on her and forcing her to settle.
Still, he would take the risk.
Tomico was the only horse that could keep Lightning in its sight on a full run. He knew Elle didn’t want company that day, but he would follow at a distance at least. Just in case.
