Page 21 of Unbroken (Poplar Springs #2)

NINETEEN

FIONA

“ I don’t want to cancel. I don’t care if there’s rain in the forecast,” the sturdy gray-haired man said, stomping his foot in the dirt for emphasis. The nearby horses made worried noises. “I waited thirty years for this Colorado trip, and I’m not about to miss any part of it!”

I shot a triumphant look at Eli as he scrolled through the weather app on his phone.

“Well, Mr. Loman—” Eli started.

“Call me David,” he interrupted.

“David,” Eli continued, “I’m concerned about your safety. You and your friends are all first-time riders and getting caught out in inclement weather could be very risky.”

“Eli, there’s only a twenty percent chance of rain,” I said, trying not to sound annoyed in front of the guests. “A storm is definitely going to hit somewhere, but everyone’s predicting for it to end up west of us.”

I could feel my blood pressure rising as Eli hemmed and hawed about the weather while the group shot hopeful looks at the horses.

Josh had mentioned that we were on track to have our best month ever and canceling the trail ride with the group of energetic seniors would make us miss the milestone.

This was Eli playing it safe and being hyper-cautious as always, and I needed to convince him otherwise.

Eli looked at the group of six riders, and I could see him assessing the fitness of each one. It was a group of three couples, all newly retired and ready to party. Sure, they were all beginners, but they seemed spry and enthusiastic. They’d be fine.

“I don’t know.” He sighed, looking at his phone again.

“Listen,” David said. “We all signed that twenty-page release form, so if anything happens to us old codgers, you won’t be held responsible.”

“Yeah, honey ,” I said in a saccharine tone. “They really want to go.”

“But sweetheart ,” Eli responded, staring into my eyes in a way that made it clear the argument was pissing him off, “the law might not care, but I do.”

“Ooh.” David’s wife, Paula, laughed, clapping her hands. “Lover’s spat! This is going to be fun.”

“Let’s vote,” David said, and the other members of his group moved closer.

I pegged him as a former manager, used to getting what he wanted.

“Excellent idea,” I said. “All in favor of going for the ride, raise your hands.”

Every member of the group raised their hands, and I put mine up slowly, barely holding back a shit-eating grin.

I could see Eli biting the inside of his cheek, something he always used to do when he was trying to stay even-keeled .

“Fine.” He sighed. “Y’all win. We’ll go. But we’re turning back at the first raindrop!”

A cheer rose up from the group and they all moved to their assigned horses, ready for their pre-ride lesson.

“Thanks, honey,” I said, gently kicking Eli in the rear as he walked away.

“Humph,” he growled at me over his shoulder. “I hope you don’t make me regret this.” He clapped his hands twice. “All right, let’s mount up.”

A couple of the guests patted Eli on the back while he shook his head. We both made sure everyone was able to get up in their saddles. He took one side while I took the other, and we rechecked to make sure everything was okay and the riders were comfortable.

Once Eli mounted Gatsby, who also seemed eager to get out on the trail, he went over all the pre-ride instructions.

Rather than participate with my own inclusions to his boring speech, the way I usually did, I kept my mouth shut.

Mostly because I knew my silence would bug him too.

Sure enough, he kept shooting glances my way, waiting for me to chime in.

Each time, I mimed that my lips were sealed, which only seemed to agitate him more. A win for me.

I rode Red today. The chestnut had been on restricted activity until his hoof healed, but he hadn’t limped since the morning after the incident, and we were both more than ready to get out in the wide open.

We headed out toward what I called “the bunny trail.” It was the easiest trail of all the rides we were currently offering and would take approximately two to three hours—long enough for us to get out to the lookout point and picnic area before turning around and returning around two pm.

It was the perfect route for Red and our newbie riders.

It also happened to be Zoe and Josh’s favorite trail to take together, which I didn’t understand.

Sure, the seasonal wildflowers were always spectacular to look at and enjoy.

But there were more exciting trails and other trails that were far more picturesque.

And yet, anytime there was reference to this particular one, they would both get all swoony-eyed.

Our riders were ecstatic on the ride, chatting and asking questions.

One of them was wearing some sort of GoPro camera clipped to their backpack shoulder strap, though they didn’t seem very adept at using it.

While I hoped the audio was good, I doubted they’d have much usable video given that they kept blocking the lens.

“Everything is just so beautiful and open out here,” one of the other women said.

I nodded my head. “Isn’t it, Cathy? It never gets old and I was raised here.”

“Doug and I spent our entire lives in and around Dallas. We had to come all the way to Colorado to enjoy the great outdoors,” Cathy said as Paula nodded her head.

“Us too, which is why Dave was insistent that we come out here at least once before we’re too old to ride a horse,” was Paula’s reply.

“Oh please, you two can’t be older than forty-five,” I told them and both women snorted in amusement.

“You’re twenty years off, my dear. I just turned sixty-five and Paula is?—”

“Perfectly happy pretending to be forty-five, so don’t you dare spoil it for me, Cathy.”

Everyone laughed except for Eli who kept staring at the sky and frowning. I could see the clouds coming in but they were moving slowly and they weren’t particularly dark. If the storm was headed our way, we still had time before we’d need to seek cover .

As we rode, we found out that the riders had all been friends since elementary school and were celebrating almost sixty years of friendship. Other than Eli, I didn’t think there was anyone from school that I wanted to keep in touch with even now, let alone for the next few decades.

Everything was peaceful and serene and perfect … right up until about thirty minutes before we would have reached the lookout point. That was when the sky darkened drastically and fat raindrops began to fall.