Page 272 of The First Taste

I nod and walk into the barn, thinking of how I used to love horses as a girl. I still love them now, but I was seriously horse crazy back then. Olivia and I both come from poor, working class families. All through our childhood, we would volunteer here on the weekends in exchange for a little riding time during the week.

It’s been over a year since I’ve last been inside this barn, with its exposed beams, its hay-strewn floors, and its stalls built to house individual horses.

The old magic that I used to feel whenever I stepped in this building is still very much alive. I won’t lie; I am excited just to be here. Each stall we pass is about fifty by fifty, and inside each one is a gorgeous horse munching on hay.

I stop at one horse in particular, a longtime favorite of mine. She is named Black Beauty, and she is an enormous black horse with not an ounce of fat anywhere on her beautifully muscular body. The smell of the stable and of horse dung is stronger in here. Although the stables have clearly been recently mucked out, my nose still twitches as I inhale the sickly-sweet odor of fermented horse feed, the smell of the dark soil that pervades every inch of the stables, and a hint of horse poop.

Olivia lets go of my arm and beams all around us. "I didn’t know that this place could be such a mood lifter. But, honestly, the second I walk into the barn, I feel a million times better about everything."

"Same," I say.

I lean over a railing and greet Black Beauty, whispering that I missed her. I scratch her on the forelock, and she knickers in greeting.

"Well, if it isn’t my two favorite girls!"

I turn from Black Beauty’s pen and see that the owner of the stables is heading our way, dressed in knee-high leather boots, a pair of tan riding pants, and a spotless white dress shirt. She looks like what I imagine the inspiration for a Ralph Lauren photo spread would be. She is tall, her brown hair just beginning to gray at the temples, and she struts down the length of the barn towards us, looking every bit like a model.

"Gina!" Olivia calls. "I thought you said on the phone that you might not be here."

"What, and miss my two favorite volunteers?" Gina reaches us and gives us each a quick, hard hug. She isn’t wearing any kind of weather appropriate jacket or anything. But come to think of it, I can’t think of a single time when she expressed being the slightest bit chilly.

She beams at us and steps back, smoothing back a tendril of hair that has escaped from her ponytail. "Are you two going to ride today?" She asked.

Olivia looks at me with a frown and shoves her hands back in her pockets. I can tell that she doesn’t want to ride, though I’m not exactly sure why. I shake my head in response to Gina’s question.

"If it’s okay, Gina, I think that we will just groom today. We have a lot to talk about."

Gina arches a brow and looks at both of us suspiciously. "Is everything okay? Do you need me to do anything? You know I will do whatever I can."

Olivia reaches out and grabs my hand. "I think she just means that we have a lot of catching up to do. Right, Talia?"

My cheeks warm. "Yeah, totally. There is nothing to be alarmed about. Thank you for the offer, though."

Gina touches my shoulder and gives me a soft smile. "You got it. I have a private riding lesson coming up that I am going to go prepare for. But if you guys need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. Thank you for grooming the horses. They always appreciated it, and so do I."

I can’t not smile at Gina. "Of course. Anytime, really."

Gina is off then, stopping at one of the horse stalls and taking the Appaloosa out to the ring.

"Okay. Let’s get to work."

Olivia looks around, her brow furrowing. "God, can you imagine if we didn’t have to work here to earn our time in the riding ring? I don’t know who Gina is giving a lesson to, but they are very lucky if they don’t have to worry about how they will pay for their lesson."

I lean against the stall I’m in front of as I give Olivia a knowing look. "So that’s what this is about? Did you bring me here to play groom at the stables because you want to show me that life would be easier if I were rich?"

Olivia walks around the stables, trying to pick a horse to groom. "I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You are a terrible liar, Olivia."

I open Black Beauty's stall and let myself in, closing the gate after me. Olivia shrugs innocently, but she chooses the stall next to mine, a pretty palomino named Hurricane. "I don’t know what I was thinking."

I pick up a long oval brush, its bristles sticking straight out. I then walk over to Black Beauty, letting her smell my hand. After a moment, she nibbles on my palm, and I start to brush her flank. The activity is rhythmic and soothing, not just to me but to Black Beauty as well.

Being at the stables doing an activity that we both wanted so badly to participate in as girls is obviously a gambit to get me to take Dare’s deal.

Olivia turns from Hurricane with a frown. She points at me; her gaze is direct and intense.

"I want you to know that I’m not pressuring you to take this deal that Dare offered. I just wanted to remind you of the lifestyle we had as kids. And in doing so, I want to point out that there is an alternative."