The Gift Horse

Chapter VII

Meredith has an appointment book that she usually carries with her at all times. As she sips the last bits of her Starbucks latte through its green straw, she notices the appointment book sitting on the kitchen counter. It's still bookmarked in the week of her birthday—she hasn't touched it since.

She flips past last week's pages, where all of her appointments are uncrossed, and goes to this week: Monday – 9:00 Spin Class. It's twenty-minutes to nine. Feeling a need to be productive, Meredith changes into workout clothes and rushes out the door.

She gets to the spin studio just in time to get a free bike in the back corner next to the large black light. The white speckled on her black tank-top glows like fireflies when the instructor dims the regular lights overhead. The neon color from t-shirts and sports bras and the deep house music thumping through the surround sound speakers make the room feel more like a rave than a spin class.

Meredith's legs want to give out ten minutes in; they're still raw from riding on Saturday. When the instructor orders everyone to up the resistance on his or her bikes, Meredith dials hers down. She feels her heartbeat rattling up her throat and imaginary sparkles start gliding around in her line of vision. She scans the packed room—every bike taken—for the quickest exit route. She'd rather leave right now than half-ass this class.

The instructor then tells everyone to stand up two beats and sit down two beats to the music. It's just like posting. You're fine. You can do this, Meredith tells herself, sitting up, out of the saddle. She feels like she could vomit, but she forces herself to focus on nothing but the beat of the music. Ahead of her, a flick of brown hair catches her eye—she knows that hair. It's Jules, the president of the charity committee.

Meredith swears under her breath. She should've known she'd see Jules here. That woman goes to spin classes at least twice a day. She goes so much that she could lead a class, and she once put the headpiece on and started leading the warm-up when the instructor was running late. Meredith skipped the last two committee meetings and she doesn't want to be cornered by Jules about it.

After class, Meredith tries to slip out of the room unseen as Jules wipes down her bike, but Jules spots her.

"Meredith Smith, I haven't seen you in forever!" she says, dabbing the sweat off her forehead with a towel.

"How are you?" Meredith asks, trying to match Jules's energetic tone.

"I'm good. Let me get some of this sweat off. Meet you outside?"

Meredith reluctantly waits in the lobby as women gossip in twos while gathering their things. Jules comes out and changes out of her spin shoes. "Get a juice with me," she says, hooking her arm through her Prada tote.

They go to the juice bar next door and Jules orders two green juices with cayenne pepper and ginger root. It tastes worse than a shot of vodka.

"How're you doing?" Jules asks. Meredith knows that this is her way of asking why she hasn't been to the latest meetings. "Pam said you got a horse. I'm sure that's kept you busy."

Meredith nods. "Yeah, it has."

"Mere, you're glowing." Jules says, lifting her eyebrows.

"Am I?" Meredith covers her flushed cheeks with her hand.

"Tell me all about it." She leans closer, staring right into Meredith's eyes. Meredith is first caught off-guard but excitement rises in her. She tells Jules everything, from Thor, to the barn, to the grooms, and her riding lessons. She realizes that she's rambling on but Jules keeps nodding and smiling—she's actually paying attention. The more Meredith talks, the more she realizes how badly she wants to vent to someone.

"There's one thing though..." she trails off.

"What?"

"It's stupid."

"Tell me."

"Well, the barn Thor is in now—it's different from the other barns. It's like a valet service." Meredith explains the whole issue of wanting to move Thor to one of the other barns.

She's relieved when Jules shakes her head and says, "So RJ is mad that you want to put the horse in a barn that costs less money?" Jules scoffs. "Just do it. What's he going to do? It's your horse."

"Yeah but—"

"No. It's your horse. Look how happy you are." Jules takes a long sip of her drink. "You're making this a bigger deal than it is."

Meredith nods sternly and her jaw tightens, her back molars grinding together. Jules is right. She can do whatever she wants to do.

After her juice with Jules, Meredith gets in her car and drives straight to the Hunt Club. She finds Kimberly in the viewing room overlooking the indoor riding ring. She's sitting in a plastic chair with an iced coffee in her lap. Meredith knocks on the open door.

"We don't have a lesson today, do we?" Kimberly asks, lifting an eyebrow.

"No." Meredith takes a shallow breath. "I just wanted to talk to you about moving Thor to a different barn." She begins to explain herself, repeating what she rehearsed on the drive over but Kimberly cuts her off.

"Yeah, Dexter told me already. Give me a few days to get the paperwork done."

"Oh, so, I can move him?" Meredith asks, surprised at how easy this is.

"Normally people want to move their horses into Barn 6," Kimberly says. "Which requires a full application and you need to have already been a member here for at least six months. Pam was able to pull some strings to get Thor in there. I'm surprised you want to move."

Meredith swallows the dry lump in her throat. She didn't realize it was that exclusive. She opens her mouth to explain herself but Kimberly continues.

"A lot of the women I give lessons to don't even know how to tighten a girth. They just expect to get on and ride, then they get off and go home. It's nice to have a student who actually wants to learn these things."

Meredith bites her lip to stop the smile from creeping onto her face. "Thank you," she says. "And for allowing me to move Thor."

"No worries."

Meredith returns to her car with her back straight, as if there's a pole along her spine, and her head held high.