PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE AND COMMENT!!!
Behind our ranch the hill continued up for about a quarter of a mile of tree covered property, then flattened out for half a mile, then started to descend on the other side. I had been exploring the woods back there with my parents ever since I was a little girl. Back when I was in grade school, the hardly ever let me go alone, concerned I might stumble across a black bear or get lost on one of the many winding paths. But as I got older I started taking Lola on longer and longer rides, discovering corners of the property that I had never even seen before. Together Lola and I have found an old cave that is peppered with graffiti dating back to the 1920s, some carved into the wall some spray-painted. We had found a broken down shack that had been there for no one knew how long.
We had also discovered a shortcut to the lush and unused property surrounding the Kent estate. Who knew the lowly local Grace's lived next to greatness? I had only realized it because of all of the no trespassing signs tacked on various trees. For people who were never around, the Kents were certainly paranoid. Unfortunately, the warning didn't work on me. In, fact they kind of spurred me along. Who did these people think they were, forbidding people to step foot on the property that they barley even knew was there? As far as I was concerned, someone should be able to appreciate the beauty of that estate. And that someone was going to be me.
The day after our gummy bear castle night, I got up extra early and took Lola for our regular morning ride. We walked up the winding pathway, past the old oak that had been felled by a lightning strike two years before, and then out onto the meadow at the top of a hill. As always, I ignored the large orange and black signs bolted onto the trees and loosened up on the reins. Lola was so used to this routine that she knew it was coming, and sped up a bit before I even nudged her with my heals. I sat forward in the saddle as we raced along, enjoying the cool morning hair as it whipped my hair back.
At the far end of the meadow, the trees rose u again and I slowed Lola as we approached. She instantly dropped to a canter and I urged her to the left. I planned to ride along the tree line in the shade, then take her through the woods and down towards the Kent house. When it came down to it, I was more curious about the improvements the staff made to the empty mansion than I was about the Kent family. It seemed insane to me that these people spent all their money every year to keep the house up and never set foot in it. What kind of people had cash to burn like that?
Lola and I were about to turn down our regular path when I heard a sudden roar of an engine, it sounded like a chainsaw revving or a boat coming to life. Lola whined and I whipped my head around, looking for the source of the noise. Suddenly a blur of red and black shot right out of the woods in front of us, into the meadow.
Clouds of dust kicked up, temporarily blinding meas Lola reared back and raised her front hooves. I coughed and Blinked my stinging eyes. gripping her reins with one hand, while patting her neck with the other one. It was an automatic reaction, trying to calm her down while my heart was pounding from shock. If Lola got spooked and took off, it wouldn't be good for either one of us.
Finally I felt all of Lola's feet hit the ground. She steadied and I was able to wipe my hand across my eyes. Through the watery blur, I saw a bobbing, helmeted head atop an ATV, circling around the center of the meadow, and headed back in our direction. I leaned down on Lola's neck and patted her, whispering a soothing tone in her ear. The ATV skidded to a stop a few feet away.
"What are you doing, you psycho?" I shouted. "You almost killed us!"
Normally I'm not the yelling kind, but my adrenaline was up and my pulse was pounding in my ears. Two seconds later Lola and I would have been maimed.
The driver ripped off his helmet and my breath caught in my throat. As angry as I was, I knew I had never seen someone this beautiful before in my life- at least not on the outside of a magazine. The driver was about my age with sharp blue eyes and brown hair, most of which were plastered against his head due to sweat. He had a square jaw line and a tiny bit of gruff on his chin and cheekbones. Usually I would have been intimidated by the way he was glaring at me, but anger was a good look for him. He wore blue jeans and a light blue T-shirt, and a black and red racing jacket that looked as if it had been through a hurricane.
"ME?!" He shouted, standing up and tossing his helmet aside. He got off his ATV and stormed towards us. "You shouldn't even be here! You're trespassing on MY property!"
I laughed automatically, but then my heart sank and my throat went dry. "Your property?" I asked. "You're not-"
"Jared Kent," he said pulling his riding gloves off.
Jared Kent. An actual Kent. The Kent's were actually here. Donna was going to flip when she heard about-
"And yeah, this heap of dirt is my property," he added.
Ugh! My awe and excitement was cut short in an instant. Clearly the Kent's were actually as obnoxious as I had always imagined. Gorgeous, I'll admit, at least this guy was, but obnoxious.
"Heap of dirt?" I replied regaining my composure. "This is the most beautiful piece of land in upstate New York!"
"Ooooh! Trees and grass! I'm so impressed," Jared said, waggling his fingers. "I can get that in Central Park, thanks."
"I knew it," I said with a laugh. "I knew you people didn't deserve to have this place."
"Excuse me?" he replied, raising his eye brows.
"You heard me. This plot has sat here being ignored for YEARS and then you come here and accuse me of trespassing!" I said, I was surprised at myself. Apparently adrenaline brought out the sarcasm in me.
"Well you are, aren't you?" Jared shot back.
"At least I appreciate this place!" I replied, patting Lola as she side stepped. She wasn't much for yelling.
"Well it belongs to me. So I think my rights trump yours," Jared replied.
"Typical," I said sarcastically. "It's all about who owns what. It's not like Lola and I are hurting anything by riding through here. You and your ATV, however, probably just ripped up tons of grass and scared away a couple dozen animals with your little joyride." He snorted a laugh, but didn't have a comeback. I was kind of on a high and mighty roll.
"Who the heck are you anyway?" he asked.
"Who the heck are you?" I shot back without thinking.
"I already told you that," Jared said.
I flushed. "Oh. . . right." So much for my roll.
Jared glanced at me and then started cracking up laughing. My heart pitter-pattered in my chest, and suddenly I found myself grinning uncontrollably. Our indignation had started to sound kind of absurd, apparently to the both of us. And if anger was a good look for him, laughter was ten times better.
He's a Kent Cassie, I told myself. An invader. Ge a grip
I sighed and dismounted, dropping to the ground in front of him. He had a couple of inches on me, and had the best posture I had ever seen on a guy, holding his shoulders back and his chin up. There was a small brown birth mark next to his left eye. I cleared my throat and looked at the ground. If I didn't watch out, I was going to be in huge trouble here. We all know what happened the last time a local girl found a Kent boy attractive. She became the central character of gossip for the next twenty years.
"I'm Cassandra Grace. This is Lola," I said finally.
"Lola. A pleasure," he said with a quick nod at my horse. She snorted and grunted.
"May as well tell you I ride through here every morning." I admit. "You can call the police, but they're both good friends of my family's, so I'm not sure you'll get very far."
"Both of them?" Jared said, pulling his chin back. "Big precinct you got up here."
"It's just a room in town hall, but it gets the job done," I said, aware that he was teasing the town already, but chose to ignore it. It was, after all, typical invader behavior. Besides, what did I care what he thought? After this conversation I was sure I would never speak to him again. Invaders didn't talk to invaders unless they had to. Not that any of us were interested in forging a deeper relationship with these people who paid more money for their shoes than we did for our cars.
Jared laughed and kicked up at the dirt. "You have no idea how good it is to meet you, Cassandra Grace."
"Cassie," I said, my heart racing when he said my name. Dammit. "And why?
"I thought this town was going to be full of old fogies and bores. But you are clearly none of those," he said.
"We have tons of people who don't fall into either of those categories. Tons," I replied.
Jared shoved his riding gloves in the back pocket of his jeans. "Care to prove it," he challenged.
I glanced at my watch and smirked. Okay, so maybe this conversation was going to go a little further. But only because I wanted to wipe that stupid little smirk off of his face.
"Love too," I said.
* * *
Hello everyone!!!
What do we think of Jared?? I have the perfect picture of him that I want to show y'all of him, but I don't want to ruin the imagine that y'all have of him in your head. Lmk, if I should drop it or not.
Quote of the day: "At the end of the day, whether or not those people are comfortable with how you are living your life doesn't matter. What matters is if you're comfortable with it."- Dr. Phil
VOTE AND COMMENT