Every Second Counts Read Online Free Page B

wind.
    Bridgette flipped to a clean page and began to draw, glancing up between strokes of her pencil to capture the scene as it unfolded.
    The stallion was a testament to his Arabian ancestry, the oldest and purest blood stock in the world and the tap root of so many other equine breeds. Strong withers led to an elegant neck, and his broad forehead tapered down to a delicate muzzle with large nostrils. His sleek body shimmered as the clouds broke and the sun touched his snowy coat.
    Then, as suddenly as he began his charge, the stallion halted several feet from the boy, scenting and blowing to confirm the identity of the interloper. He cautiously sniffed the offered hand. His ears worked back and forth, and then he rumbled a low greeting and stepped forward to gently bump his head against the boy’s chest.
    The breeze carried low, indistinguishable words. The boy stroked and then wrapped his arms around the stallion’s arched neck. After a moment, the boy stepped back and wiped his hands over his cheeks. Grabbing a handful of mane, he leapt onto the stallion’s back.
    The horse wheeled and ran so fast, Bridgette half expected him to unfurl wings and take off into the sky. But he stayed aground, his rider hunched low against his neck, urging him faster until they were suddenly gone.
    It was so magical, Bridgette marveled at how easy it would be to believe that they, indeed, had disappeared into a cloud rather than over the pasture’s ridge.
    “That must be Skyler’s and Tory’s friend.”
    Absorbed in her drawing, Bridgette jumped at the voice but smiled when she turned to its source.
    “Sorry, I thought you heard me drive up.” Jessica propped her hip against the warm metal of the car. She gestured toward one of the golf-cart-sized utility vehicles they used to travel among the five barns at the nationally ranked training facilities of the Cherokee Falls Equestrian Center. She and Skyler were partners in life and in business. Jessica managed the training center, and Skyler devoted her time to their program for troubled kids.
    “I was too absorbed in what I was drawing.” Bridgette rested her sketchpad in her lap. “What did you say?”
    “I was wondering if that was the friend Skyler and Tory went to pick up in Richmond. Did you talk to her?” Jessica’s pale-blue eyes scanned the ridge for the rider.
    “That was a woman on the stallion?” Hmmm. “I don’t think she saw me. You haven’t met her?”
    “No. I was taking a nap when they got back from the airport. I guess Sky didn’t want to wake me.” Jessica sighed and absently rubbed her belly, eight-months swollen with the daughter she and Skyler anxiously awaited. “This little one takes all my energy.”
    Although Bridgette had never contemplated pregnancy herself, Jessica truly glowed with it. “I’m surprised Skyler went all the way to Richmond. Leah said she hardly lets you out of her sight these days.”
    Jessica laughed. “She really wanted to go, so I promised I would rest while they were gone, and Leah swore she would be only a phone call away.”
    “So you haven’t met their friend before?” The boyish physique intrigued Bridgette.
    “No. Sky said the three of them were running buddies when they were kids, but she hasn’t been back to Cherokee Falls for more than ten years.”
    “That horse seemed to know her.”
    “That’s her stallion that’s been boarding here the whole time. Sky said she raised him from a baby, but I’m surprised he remembered her since she’s been out of town so long.”
    Bridgette shaded her eyes and looked out across the pasture. “What brings her back here now? The horse?”
    “An injury. She’s a professional rider.” Jessica looked down at the knee Bridgette knew held the titanium joint that had ended her riding career. “I know what that’s like. I don’t think she has any family or a partner, so I told Sky to call her up and insist she come here to rehab.”
    Bridgette frowned. She hadn’t