Rain Shadow (19 page)

“Duchess was a dog we got from the pound. A real beauty. But she was food aggressive. Dad got tired of it after awhile and tied her to a tree in the back yard, said she wouldn’t get any food until she learned to be polite at meal times.”

“Did it work?”

“Duchess had a history of starvation and neglect so withholding food only made her more anxious and aggressive. She was my dog—never growled at me—but Dad was determined she should respect him as the man of the house. When he finally offered her food and took it away she bit him pretty good. I watched him kick her repeatedly in the throat. She died a day later.”

Jacob’s jaw clenched slightly at the memory. “Dad said, ‘A dog should know better than to bite the hand that feeds her. You’re better off without her son; quit the
cryin.’ Guess I never got over the fact that I stood there and watched him kill an innocent creature.”

Atonement. Maybe Melissa was right. Maybe people lived a lot of life trying to atone for the things they did. Or didn’t do.

“Your dad wouldn’t have appreciated Minnie, huh?”

Jacob laughed loudly as he shook off the memory. “Not even a little. Now, I’ve gotta get on the road. I’ll just say hello to my girl on the way out. That is, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.”

Taylor followed Jacob out of the house and waited on the porch. She watched him walk to the fence line where Rain was waiting, as if she knew he would come to her. He stroked the horse’s neck and face, his
deep voice rising and falling with words Taylor couldn’t make out. After
a moment he returned to the truck and opened the door.

“Oh,” Taylor raised her voice to catch his attention, “I’ve been thinking about doing that Ride and Tie thing you mentioned a couple months ago … ”

Jacob paused. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Would you show Rain and me what to do? Maybe be practice
partners?”

“Sure would,” Jacob grinned. “I’ll call you with a trail date—soon.”

At that he got in the truck, closed the door, and raised a hand in farewell. Taylor returned to Minnie and pondered her sudden, intense interest in physical exercise. 



Chapter 25

“R

ide and Tie is called ‘the thinking athletes sport.’”

Taylor watched Jacob clip a cantle bag on the back of his saddle and mount a tall black gelding he called Titan. Though its face was freckled with the white hairs of advancing age, the horse fidgeted with anticipation.

“So I have to thin
k
an
d
be athletic?”

Jacob chuckled. “Yeah. You ready to go?”

Taylor nodded. She’d discreetly smoked half a cigarette under the guise of needing to find the “facilities” while Jacob saddled up. The nicotine should hold for the duration of the ride. She didn’t want to smoke in front of him again.

“We’ll only ride a few miles today so you can get an idea of terrain and how to condition and prepare for an actual Ride and Tie race. There’s a training ride in a couple of months that we can do together if you feel up to it—only fifteen miles.”

Only fifteen miles
.
Taylor shook her head, remembering how she hurt after the last “only ten miles” logged with Liz. Out of the corner of her eye she gaped at Jacob’s muscular thighs flexing under form fitting riding tights. She ha
d
a lo
t
of conditioning to do.

“So you sort of need to be a marathon runner AND distance rider?”

Jacob positioned Titan beside Rain. “I wouldn’t sa
y
maratho
n
runner but, yes, you need to be able to run. Ride and Tie is like a relay race with the horse as a baton. In the Old West it was a way to cover ground when there were two riders but only one horse. One rides ahead, ties the horse to a tree, and continues ahead on foot. The first runner gets to the horse, rides ahead of the second runner, ties the horse again and runs on. You get to rest—sort of—when it’s your turn to ride, but you’ll need to get in condition.”

“And why would people willingly sign up for this sort of torture?”

Relieved she’d worn baggy clothing that hid her flab, Taylor squeezed Rain into a trot without waiting for his answer. As ridiculous as it was, she felt an urge to prove her ability to at leas
t
rid
e
at some sort of speed.

Jacob’s horse easily paced Rain. He grinned at Taylor as they trotted, side by side, down an old logging road.

“For the competition, the mental and physical challenge, and, especially
, the team aspect of it. Horses are herd animals. They naturally gravitate toward joining up. You, Rain, and I would become a herd working together for a common goal.”

Taylor felt her face warm in the chilly March air. She briefly considered the fact that Jacob simply mentioning her in close familiarity made her self-conscious.

“And you think Rain can do this?”

Jacob slowed his horse to a walk and ran his hand down the crest of the gelding’s neck. “Titan has arthritis; I need to get him thoroughly warmed up at the walk before doing too much trotting. Do I think
Rain’s up for this? Absolutely. Arabians are built for distance racing and
she’s intelligent and personable. I think she’d love the team aspect. Every member of the team has weaknesses to consider, like Rain’s limited vision, but it can be worked with.”

“Is my smoking a weakness?” Taylor brushed a damp lock of hair from her face and looked at Jacob, waiting for the lecture to commence. Everyone knew smokers were lower class citizens who knowingly, and stupidly, ruined their health. Worse than a diet of Twinkies or snacking on pure lard. Why
did he want to do this with her anyway? It made no sense. He needed
some super healthy and cute tri-athlete girl, preferably blonde with shapely legs.

“That’s for you to decide.” Jacob reached behind the saddle and withdrew a water bottle. He tilted his head back, took a long swig, and smiled at her. “Ready for a bit of trotting now?”

They jogged slowly at first, keeping the horses side-by-side. After a few minutes Jacob seemed to think Titan was sufficiently warmed up. He gestured to a single-track dirt trail on Taylor’s side of the road. She turned Rain onto it and pushed the mare into a long trot that was intended to keep them well ahead of Jacob.

The air was thick and chilly; weak sunlight struggled to penetrate the foggy layer. The appearance of sun was cheery, if not exactly warming. It beamed thin golden shafts through the air resembling the filmy illumination of light through deep water.

Rain soon found a pace she liked and Taylor alternated between posting the fast trot and simply standing in her stirrups, the mare’s hooves thudding a rhythm in the dirt. Like slalom skiers they wove, faster and faster, around slender trees hung with moss, pushing aside huge branches and maple leaves dripping with water at face level. When a downed tree appeared ahead Taylor did not slow the horse. Instead she kissed to her. Without missing a beat, Rain gathered her energy and neatly jumped the obstacle. She tossed her head and snorted, pleased with the opportunity to express herself in such a way.

As they cleared the jump and trotted on, an almost forgotten joy swelled within Taylor, the wonder at losing the limitations of an earthly body and being carried along with the majesty and power of something much grander than herself. She felt the heavy fog condense on her face and trickle like tears down her cheeks as they pressed through it. Without thinking she laughed out loud. Riding this way reminded her of surfing off Mission Beach: the incredible rush of standing atop a ridiculously small piece of fiberglass as the awesome power of the ocean heaved beneath her. 

“Whoa, hold up there cowgirl!”

At a bend in the trail Taylor pulled Rain up. Titan approached and stopped beside them. The horses were breathing hard, small clouds of warm air rising above their heads like a smoky fire. Still exhilarated, Taylor began talking before her brain could catch up.

“That felt so good! Reminds me of surfing, just that power under you.”

Jacob studied her curiously. “Aren’t you full of surprises? Here I thought you weren’t athletic and needed to take it easy. Yet you leave me in the dust, Miss Surfer Girl with the awesome balance.”

At Jacob’s observation Taylor’s enthusiasm evaporated
.
Surfer girl with the awesome balance
.
In a moment she was transported back to a certain day that felt a lifetime away from a misty trail in the Pacific Northwest.

She’d been unaware Ian was watching her ride the waves at her favorite spot.
He stopped her as she carried the board up the beach after an especially sweet ride, hair whipped into soggy ropes, the sun kissing her bikini-clad body
.
You have amazing balance
.
Hotter than the sunburn blooming on her skin, his hand had brushed at the sand clinging to her shoulders, bicep flexing under a barbwire tattoo that encircled it.

All her friends had discovered the opposite sex naturally, effortlessly. Taylor remained a late bloomer, afraid of venturing into a domain that her mother seemed both wary of and resistant to. But she felt pleasure at being watched and admired that day, her 18-year-old body suddenly alive in a disconcerting way.  And so it had begun. Even after two years the memory was painful, sharp and immediate like a punch to the gut.

“It was a long time ago. I’m not athletic anymore.” Taylor looked away, her fingers finding Rain’s mane and twining around a segment of coarse grey hair.

Jacob furrowed his brow. “Well, you could have fooled me. How about we start looping back? I’ve gotta work today.”

Taylor simply nodded. She waited for Titan to take the lead and maneuvered Rain behind him. As they rode she pushed her own memories aside and considered the man riding ahead of her. He was handsome, no doubt about that. And kind. Also a bit mysterious. Taylor noticed he wore no wedding band yet he seemed somehow attached. Gay? No. That didn’t seem possible. And what was up with his interest in her? It didn’t seem physical, yet Taylor caught him studying her more than once.

Liz also seemed confused by the friendship. Before Taylor could retrieve
any useful information about Jacob Wilson and his attachments she’d insulted the woman, yet again, while working at the shelter one Sunday. 

“So, you’re going riding with Dr. Wilson?”

“Yeah. We might do a Ride and Tie race together after Rain and I get in shape.”

“Lucky you.” Liz handed her a broom as they cleaned outside the dog kennels.

“I guess.”

“You guess?” Liz’s mouth began to twitch. “Wilson’s only one of the most eligible bachelors in the horse community. He’s a
hottie, that’s for sure.” She whistled then.

Taylor stared back in surprise
.
Hotti
e
didn’t seem like it should be a word in Liz’s vocabulary.

Instantly reading her mind, Liz scowled. “I’m handicapped, Taylor, not blind. Just because men don’t look at me doesn’t mean I don’t look at them.” Liz’s voice was sharp and sad. She shoved the broom in the corner and hobbled back to her desk leaving Taylor alone to ponder unasked questions and an extra dirty kennel.



Chapter 26

I

t was Rain who made her quit. No special nicotine gum, hypnotist, or twelve step program needed. Taylor had to laugh as she considered the television commercial that could be made of the event: Young woman and horse arrive home after an especially fun and exhausting training ride. Cameras are in wide angle, taking in the glory and abundant life of a sunny spring day in Washington State.

Woman dismounts, reaches in her pocket and retrieves a slender cigarette. Music builds. As she prepares to light the pale cylinder, the camera zeros in on her lips, then pans to a solemn grey horse face. Rain fixes her with both the dead eye and her amazingly wise, alive eye. Cameras further close in on the cigarette and the hollow deadness of an empty socket. Text flashes on the screen
:
Don’t be blind, smoking kills.

Sure, she’d cheated a few times since Rain gave her “the look,” but knowing the mare was working hard to get in shape and overcome her blindness—her weakness—stirred something deep in Taylor. Maybe it sounded weird, but the horse made her want to be a better person. Or at least a healthier person. And so she’d slowly, surely, cut out the cigarettes. First she quit smoking while riding, then during any and all activities related to horses—including mucking out, then to smoking while on the phone or in the car. Finally Taylor cut out the hardest time of all—smoking while drinking. Her confidence grew along with the muscle in her thighs.

~  ~~