‘No, I’m fine,’ I said, as the hands moved from my legs and began travelling down the length of my spine.He’s a medic… kind of, I told myself firmly.There’s nothing at all inappropriate in him running his hands over you.
Fortunately, the examination was soon over and Nick sat back on his haunches. ‘The good news is nothing appears to be broken or sprained,’ he declared with a satisfied nod. It was all very professional and businesslike until he added, ‘How’s your bottom?’
‘Bruised and sitting in several inches of cold mud at the moment,’ I replied.
If he offered to examine it, that was definitely where I’d draw the line, but he didn’t. Instead, he got to his feet and held out his hands. He lifted me up and out of the muddy ground with a huge plopping sound.
‘Do you think you can walk?’ he asked, still holding fast on to both my hands.
‘Sure,’ I replied and then proceeded to take a couple of steps that made Bambi look like an expert figure skater.
‘Perhaps you’d better hang on to me for a bit,’ he said, letting go of my hands and offering me his arm.
I took it and it was only then, as I scanned the clearing, that I realised we were down one horse.
‘Where’s Dotty?’ I cried, doing a full 360-degree turn as though I might possibly have missed the dapple-grey mare.
‘Halfway back to the farm by now, I should imagine,’ Nick said. He seemed strangely unconcerned, but his answer threw me into a total panic.
‘What if she isn’t? What if she’s lost? Oh God, I promised Pippa I’d take good care of her and look what’s happened. I’m a horrible person.AndI’m a shit rider.’ I turned to Nick, who seemed to be doing his best not to laugh. ‘Itoldyou I’d fall off.’
‘You did,’ he agreed solemnly, pulling out his phone. I watched, transfixed, as his fingers rattled off a speedy text. He received a reply almost immediately.
‘Doug’s going to look out for her. He said to tell you not to worry. Dotty knows her way back home.’
My gait was stronger now and although my bottom still felt curiously numb, at least I could walk more easily.
Nick’s borrowed horse had been happily munching on the grass throughout the drama, and luckily hadn’t bolted off after his stablemate. It was only when Nick took hold of its bridle and brought the animal towards me that I realised what was on his mind.
‘Uh-uh,’ I said, shaking my head as he bent to position one hand at my knee and the other by my ankle to give me a leg-up. ‘I’m done with riding for today.’
‘I’ll be right behind you in the saddle,’ Nick said. ‘You’ll be perfectly safe.’
‘You’re going to have to stop saying that,’ I told him, ‘because I don’t believe you anymore. Your superhero skills are about as good as my jockey ones.’
There was a moment of silence and then suddenly we were both laughing. It was the kind of laughter that brought tears to your eyes and made your ribs ache – it was out of proportion to the humour of the situation, and yet neither of us could seem to stop. And then something happened, while we were holding on to each other, incapable of speech. I don’t know how it began, or when, or whose laughter stilled first, but suddenly our eyes connected and everything slowly went quiet and very, very still. It was a moment spun out of delicate glass and I think both of us were too shocked to shatter it.
Who knows how long we might have stood there in the twilight, just looking at each other, unsure of what was happening, if Nick’s horse hadn’t interrupted the moment with a very impatient whinny. The feeling – whatever it had been – disappeared into the dusk as though it had never been.
‘Let’s walk back then,’ Nick said, and there was something in his voice that told me the ‘thing’ – whatever it had been – still hadn’t entirely left him either.
17
Doug was waiting for us in the yard. Pippa was over by the stables, nose to nose with her beloved Dotty, who, as predicted, had made her way safely back to the farm. The two men exchanged a few words as Nick passed the black horse back to Doug, who gave a cheery wave in my direction and then headed towards the stables.
I waved back and then turned towards Amelia’s car.
‘Well. This was… fun,’ I said, pulling a comical expression so he didn’t think I was blaming him for how our faux date had ended.
I unlocked the car and paused as my eyes ran over the vehicle’s pale beige upholstery. I glanced back over my shoulder at my mud-caked jeans, which were stuck to my legs like a second skin. Even the bottom of my jacket was covered in a thick sticky residue.
‘Do you think Doug might have an old towel I could borrow to sit on?’ I asked Nick, staring after the retreating farmer, who was now out of earshot.
‘Probably,’ Nick said, ‘but I’ve got a better idea. My place is only ten minutes from here. If you like, you could get cleaned up there and then I’ll drop you back here to collect your car.’
His suggestion was practical and sensible and yet still I hesitated. ‘But then I’ll just dirty upyourcar,’ I said.
‘Lexi, I’m a vet who works in a rural area. Trust me, my car’s seen much worse than a bit of mud.’