Safe Landing (20 page)

A short laugh escaped me. “Not technically.” It was the only thing I could think to say.

 “I’ve got to go, Dad. I’ve got a ton of homework.”

“I understand, Zilly.” His voice was suddenly distant and sad sounding. My throat tightened.

“Dad,” I said before he hung up.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Safe landing.”

“Thanks, baby. Talk to you later.”

I flipped the phone shut and sort of wished I hadn’t been such a butthead yesterday.

The carton of milk plopped onto the table. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

I glanced up at Sebastian. “No. It’s just that I had problems of my own to deal with, Mr. The World Revolves Around Me.”

“Actually, it is Two Worlds. And they don’t revolve around me. Rather, I revolve around them.”

I rolled my eyes. “OMG, it was just a little sarcasm. Don’t do a whole factual analysis of it.” 

“I don’t know this OMG term, but you have been spending an unusual amount of time around your family, which I can only assume means you don’t want to see me.” A glass floated from the cupboard and landed gently on the table.

I poured myself some milk. “I told you I was dealing with some stuff.” I took a long swig then sighed. “Besides, you have ruined my chances with the one guy who I really like at school.”

“I ruined it? How so?”

He is the mortal enemy of the Warner guy. Now he thinks I’m a Hank skank.” I smiled at my newly made up term.

“A Hank skank? Please talk in something that resembles the English language.”

“I am. Seth, the cute guy with the harmonica, dreamy singing voice, and dangerous smile despises Hank Warner. Hank Warner is the thick-necked, Neanderthal who I had to flirt with to get invited to the Warner house so I could go skulking through a closet to search for the—” I stopped myself. No need to open old wounds. Besides, Sebastian seemed in a decidedly better mood this afternoon.

“I see. So now Seth thinks you have aligned yourself with the enemy.”

“Precisely.”  I finished off my glass of milk.

“I am very sorry if I ruined your only chance at true love.” His voice was low and serious.

“I never said that. Boy, you are dramatic. Love isn’t quite as intense as it was back in your day. We break up with someone and then move on.”

“Yes, modern generations have done to love what they’ve done to the English language—made it meaningless and crass.”

“I have to agree with you there. I really am bummed about the whole Seth thing.”

Sebastian floated off the table and peered around my back at my butt. “Yes, you are definitely bummed.”

Chapter 18

Seth’s car was already parked along the dirt road that led to the ranch. The muck cart sat in front of the draft horse’s corral as I headed to the tack room.

“Move your big butt, horse.” Seth’s voice drifted out from the stall. I glanced in and saw only the bottom half of his legs beneath the massive Belgian. “Move.”

“Do you need some help?” I asked climbing through the bars of the paddock. Seth’s head peered up over the wide back.

“He sort of has me trapped back here.” There was a hint of embarrassment and humor in Seth’s tone.

I ducked under the horse’s neck and squeezed between the horse and the wood plank wall. Seth stood right next to me and smiled. I wanted to fall over. It was a great smile even in the smelly moist air of the stall. “Now you’re trapped too. I guess I could have crawled under his neck like that.”

I squeezed past Seth and our bodies brushed together for a second. “No wonder they always make those romance books westerns,” he said suggestively as I slid by.

I raised my eyebrow at him. “Watch and learn. First, don’t ever climb under a horse’s neck unless you know the horse is easy going. Draft horses are usually mellow, and this guy didn’t even look up when I walked in, so I figured he was safe. Second, when a horse is this big, try not to get stuck between it and the wall.”

“’Uh, yeah, I learned that one just a few minutes ago.”

“And third, when you want a horse to move, asking them to move usually does not work.” I put my hands on the horse’s hip and pushed with all my weight. The gelding went off balance and sidestepped his back legs away from us. His massive butt moved with the legs and we were free.

We walked out of the stall. Seth picked up the barrel handles to move it out of the paddock. “Well, that was humiliating.”

“Not as humiliating as that kiss.” There was that charming little blurt out any stupid thing habit.

He lowered the wheelbarrow and looked up at me. “Yeah, I can see now what you mean about bad timing. It’s just… it’s just I’d had it with Gina, and I was so pissed at Hank I wanted to plow my fist through his fat face.”

“O.K., if that explanation is supposed to make me feel better, it doesn’t.”

“Never mind. It’s too hard to explain. You’re right. I’m just an asshole like the rest.” He opened the paddock gate and pushed his cart out.

I left without saying anything else.

Dusty was trotting nicely around the arena when I noticed Seth in the shade of some nearby trees watching me ride. My stomach immediately felt jittery, and I wondered how well this was going to work being at the same place as Seth. I had to convince myself to stop liking him, but I wasn’t sure how to make that happen. It was like convincing yourself not to eat raw cookie dough because it had raw eggs. Delicious things were hard to resist, even if they were bad for you. Just seeing him again was making my gut do somersaults. Maybe I could ask Sebastian’s advice. That idea sounded stupid the second it formed in my head. Advice about love from a hopeless romantic, right.

I finished my afternoon at the barn feeling sore from the riding and uptight about seeing Seth. We managed to avoid each other most of the afternoon, which I was thankful for.

****

Sebastian was drifting around my room looking like a spirit who needed an anti-depressant. “You’re late,” he said harshly.

I sat on my bed to unlace my riding boots then glanced up at him. It always amazed me how much emotion he could show though he was merely vapor. His mouth was tight and his eyes looked incredibly sad.

“I have a job now at the local barn.”

“So you’ll be late a lot?” A hint of desperation laced his words.

“It’s just a few hours after school. That boy I like, the one I blew it with when I had to cozy up to his enemy, he works there too. I didn’t know it until after I’d accepted.”

“Interesting.” Was that jealousy I was hearing?

“It’s not all that interesting really. It’s a big place, so we don’t have to see too much of each other.”

“Right.”

I pushed my boots under the bed. “Are you going to amaze me with one word answers all evening because I’m tired and I want to change into sweats.”

He swept his hand in front of him and bowed formally before disappearing.

I dug a pair of sweatpants out of my drawer. “Moody, moody, moody.”

One of my textbooks flew across the room and smacked the opposite wall before dropping to the ground. I shook my head. “And overly sensitive,” I yelled into the air and then prepared to duck if necessary. But nothing else moved in the room, and Sebastian did not reappear for the rest of the night.

Chapter 19

My school days now consisted of angry scowls and grunts from Hank, complete avoidance from Seth, and a constant flow of gossip from Julie. She was a better talker than listener, which was probably why she didn’t have a crew of friends around her. I watched the clock all day waiting for school to end so I could get to the barn.

I was getting used to walking to the barn. Most of the road was shaded by huge trees and since the stables sat on the side of the cove where there were few houses or businesses, there was almost no car traffic. Now that I wasn’t getting a car, I toyed with the idea of getting a bike. I was still contemplating what kind of bike to get when a car drove up behind me and slowed. I turned around with a smile sure that it had to be Seth. It was Hank and two of his fat-headed friends.

Hank drove up along side of me. I stared straight ahead and kept walking thinking this was definitely not the best situation while, at the same time, convincing myself that he was just a fool who was basically harmless. At least that’s what I hoped. The stables were still a mile away so I picked up my pace.

“Where’re you headed, sweetheart?” What normally would have been a term of endearment sounded like nails on a chalkboard coming from his mouth.

“I’m going to work.”

“I heard you were working for that old geezer, Moses. My bros and I have decided to come watch you bounce up and down on the horses.”

“Go home, Hank. You’re not coming to the stables.”

The car sped up and turned toward the side of the road, stopping directly in my walking path. Hank threw the car in park and jumped out. His buddies followed.

My heart sped up. I glanced around for some other sign of life. The road was deserted.  I made a wide berth around the car and broke into a run. Footsteps pounded the dirt road behind me. A big hand grabbed my arm and spun me around. I was face to face with Hank.

“What kind of game are you playing, bitch?”

I looked straight up into his face. “No game. I hate your guts. Simple enough for you?”

His grip tightened on my arm. I glanced down at his hand and sneered back up at him.
“Let go of my arm, or I’ll make sure you get expelled from school.” I used my free hand to fish the phone from my pocket, but his buddy grabbed it from me.

Hank pulled me against his chest. “Just try and get me expelled. My dad is on the board.”

“Is that the same dad who buys kegs of beer for his teenage son and friends?”

“Yep.”

“Then I guess we know where you inherited your tiny, worthless brain.” His grip tightened again and I winced. In the distance, car tires ground over the rough road. They got closer.

Hank looked over my head. “No fucking way, is that Dracula?” He pushed me away from his chest. “What the hell is he doing here? You two together now?”

“Seth works at the barn too.” I couldn’t see Seth’s car, but I heard it slow.

With Hanks’ attention momentarily diverted by the arrival of his mortal enemy, I seized the opportunity and kneed the creep in the groin. He slammed me to the ground and doubled over with pain. By the time he’d caught his breath, I’d scooted out of his reach and Seth had stepped out of his car.

Seth walked up and put out a hand for me. I took it and he wrenched me to my feet. “You O.K?”

I nodded.

Hank’s friends grabbed hold of Seth’s arms. With alarming speed for a guy who had just taken a hit to the family jewels, Hank’s fist flew into Seth’s face. Blood spurted from his lips. I jumped on Hank and scratched whatever I could get my fingernails into. I think it was his chin but I didn’t care. I just wanted to do damage. He threw me off like I was a gnat. He drew back his fist ready to slam Seth again. I threw myself between them. His knuckles caught me in the ribs. This time I doubled over in a pain that made it hard to breathe.

Through my fog of agony, I heard one of Hank’s friends speak. “Dude, someone’s coming. I think it’s the old man on one of his horses. Feet ran past me and car doors slammed. Hank’s car skidded in a circle and raced down the road. 

I straightened slowly. “Ouch, ouch, ouch.”

Seth was blotting the blood from his lip with the hem of his shirt. “Crazy girl, why’d you jump in there like that?”

“I was afraid he was going to smash your face again. That would be a waste of a really great face.”

He smiled and grimaced at the pain in his mouth. “Shit that hurts.” He walked up and put an arm around my shoulder just as Moses reached us.

 Moses peered down the road at the car. “Was that the Warner kid?”

“The one and only,” I said. “I told him I’d get him expelled, but apparently, his father’s on the board so my threat was kind of weak.”

Moses squinted as Hank’s car disappeared from view. “Well, my brother is the president of that board, and he’s no friend of Warner’s. I think I’ll give him a call later.” He stared down at us from Legend’s back. “You two had better get back in that car and come down to the house so Trudy can fix you up with some ice.”

I climbed into Seth’s car like a hundred year old lady. He craned his neck to see his lip in the mirror. “Great, I look like I had my lips injected.”

I laughed then realized it made huge bolts of pain shoot through me. I grabbed my stomach. “Ouch, don’t make me laugh.”

“Sorry.”

“Both of you have a seat on the couch,” Moses said. “Trudy’s in the kitchen. We’ll fix you up a couple of ice packs.”

I sat on one side of the sofa and Seth sat at the opposite end. We both looked around the room in silence as if the décor interested us and talking to each other didn’t.

Seth finally broke the silence. “So are you involved with that jerk or what?” His lip was swollen and there was blood smeared across his chin, but everything about him was still incredibly appealing.