Leaping Hearts(71)
Author: J.R. Ward

It was hard not to feel frustrated in spite of their progress. Considering they had yet to try him over the jump again, they weren’t where they needed to be.

A.J. sneezed.

She was, however, a hell of a lot closer to catching pneumonia.

As she walked Sabbath out of the pool, she gave in to his hopeful look and decided to take him back to the barn. She was leading him out of the ring when Devlin drove up in the truck, back from getting its bed fixed. He waved to her and went to open the gate. As she approached him, she thought the sound of the sloppy waders and her sneezes were like a bad marching band accompanying her. Even so, his eyes were warm as she looked up into them.

“How’d it go today?” he asked.

“’Bout the same as usual. Plenty of time in the jump, no time in the air above it. On the brighter side, he’s going to try out for the Olympic Swim Team. With the kind of water he can displace, he’s a shoo-in for the hundred-meter butterfly.”

They walked to the stable together.

“I have this vision of us at the Qualifier,” A.J. was saying. “In the middle of the round, Sabbath comes to a full stop and wades into the pool because that’s what we’ve trained him to do.”

Chester popped his head out of the tack room.

“If it ain’t Esther Williams and Fernando Lamas,” he said.

“Try the Marx Brothers,” she muttered, while putting the stallion into his stall. She began unfastening his soaking wet blanket.

“I think it’s time to take him over the jump,” she said to Devlin.

“I agree. The panic’s down enough so he can probably keep his wits about him.”

“Then tomorrow it is.”

Devlin handed her a dry blanket that she threw over the stallion’s back and secured under his belly. With Sabbath taken care of, she went out into the aisle and released the dreaded suspenders, relieved to be free of them. Feeling the waders rush to the floor, she thought they seemed equally anxious to see the last of her. She couldn’t resist shooting them a glare.

Devlin helped her step free and looked down at her wet socks.

“They never seem to leak when I wear them.”

“Maybe they like you better.” She went to hang the waders up in the tack room, hoping she’d worn them for the last time.

When she came back, Devlin and Chester were talking about the condition of the rails around the ring, some of which needed to be repainted.

“I’ll be takin’ care a’ that in the next week,” Chester said. “’Afore it gets too cold.”

“Good idea.” Devlin checked his watch. “So’s everyone ready for some dinner?”

“Not me,” came a happy reply.

Devlin shot the groom a suspicious eye.

“Why ya lookin’ at me like that, boy?”

“You’re far too cheerful for someone who just turned down dinner.”

“Goin’ to bingo tonight.”

“You’ve been going to bingo for close to ten years now and you’ve always eaten at my place.”

“So?”

“You’ve also never looked so jolly before you went.”

“Don’t know what ya mean. Can’t a man look forward to a little gamblin’ in peace?”

Devlin turned to A.J. “Can you believe he’s turning down dinner and being so happy about it?”

Her eyes turned fond and indulgent as they focused on the groom.

“Wait a minute,” Devlin said. “What the hell’s going on here? Have you got a date or something?”

“An’ what if I do?”

“You’re actually going out somewhere? With someone else?”

“Ya don’t have to make it sound like such a miracle. It’s not so ridiculous that a lady could find m’ unique charm an’ fashion sense appealin’.”

Devlin laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Congratulations! Who’s the lucky gal?”

“Only the most beautiful girl in the world.”

“You two-timing me?” Devlin tossed at A.J.

“Well, he does have a certain flair for living. His food is color-coordinated and he’s handy with a wheelbarrow.”

“M’ girl’s name is Margaret Mead,” Chester pronounced, savoring the sound of the words.

“Margaret from the auction house?”

“Yup.”

“So when’s she coming over here for dinner?”

“Ya want to screen her like she’s on the block or something?”

“Got to check her teeth.”

A.J. sneezed again. “While you two talk this over, I’m heading for the hot water. I hope you have a terrific evening, Chester.”

“I’m plannin’ on it.”

“So how’d you meet her?” Devlin was asking as she left.

As soon as A.J. was back at the farmhouse, she went upstairs to the bathroom. Before she did anything else, she stripped off her socks because she couldn’t stand the way they felt a moment longer. Then she cranked up the heat, turned on the water and started to strip. With her teeth knocking together and the beds of her fingernails an alarming gray color, she wondered if she’d ever be warm again.

When she started to peel her turtleneck off, she winced as she brought her arm up, and it took several tries until she was finally able to wrench it from her head. Groaning, she tried to loosen the arm up while assessing its range of motion. After all the time that had passed since she’d fallen, it was still no better. Maybe even a little worse, if she was brutally honest.

Going into her toiletries bag, she took out a bottle of the pills she’d come to rely on with disheartening regularity. The phial was light in her hands and, after she popped off the lid, she was surprised to find it nearly empty. She poured the remaining white capsules into her palm, swallowed them and then threw it in the trash. It was the second bottle she’d gone through in the past week and she made a mental note to buy two or three when she went to the store.

As A.J. waited for the bath to fill up, she went to the window and looked out to the ring.

We better get over that water tomorrow, she thought.

The next day, after a thorough workout over fences, A.J. wheeled Sabbath around and squared him off against the water jump. Her arm was throbbing and she questioned her wisdom of saving the attempt for last. He was always more calm toward the end of the workouts but her pain was always more intense.

She turned the reins over to her good hand and stretched the arm surreptitiously, trying to loosen it up. Under her, the stallion jogged in place, his hooves shuffling in the dirt. He threw his head up and blew out a burst of air. Gritting her teeth, she settled into position and gave him some leg.