Heart and Soul by Erica Penrod

Author:Erica Penrod
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

Landon

I liked Gracie. She was fun and bubbly and made me smile. I liked the way I felt around her, like if she knew I wasn’t as together as I pretended to be, she’d like me anyway. We’d hung out a few times already and she seemed cool. Most girls I dated liked the idea of me, but I never really let anyone get to know me, but maybe with Gracie I would. Sometimes, not letting anyone in got to be exhausting. And I was tired, but even then, I didn’t want to let my defenses down around Halle. There were too many unanswered questions.

Whatever upset her last weekend at my house, which I think had to do with seeing Laney’s picture, she seemed to be over. Her expressions towards me weren’t quite as disapproving as they’d been last week, like she’d resigned to the fact that I existed, and that bothered me. At least before, when she looked at me like I’d just stolen her puppy, I knew I affected her in some way. She still made me uneasy and jittery and I didn’t like to be on the losing end.

Halle’s truck came into view as I pulled into the drive of her grandparents’ house. This was my third lesson and I probably didn’t need an instructor as much as I needed a lot of time in the saddle. But I wouldn’t let Halle know that. I pulled up beside her, parked the truck, and checked my reflection in the mirror. I needed a haircut but hadn’t bothered, and so I lifted my ball cap and brushed my bangs beneath the brim.

I got out and waved to her grandpa sitting on the porch swing. Now that I’d seen Halle’s dad a couple times and her grandpa even more when I came for lessons, I saw the family resemblance. Caleb looked a lot like his father and Halle looked a lot like hers: the same shade of hair, the same tawny skin. But Halle’s eyes were bluer than both her dad’s and her grandpa’s. The kind of blue eyes you couldn’t forget.

“Hey, Landon.” Halle came riding up on Fancy. “Go ahead and get Tiny saddled, then meet me in the arena.”

“Okay.” I grinned like I was an eight-year-old boy who just won first-place ribbon at the county fair. Halle had to be impressed with me, considering this was my third lesson and she wanted me to saddle the horse myself.

“Easy, cowboy.” She laughed, then turned the palomino horse in the other direction. “Don’t get too big for your britches.”

My face burned, and I set my mouth in a hard line. “I’m not.” I walked off towards the tack shed to grab the halter. Embarrassed she’d read my mind, I reverted to my old tricks and got angry, and then I felt in control again. That was the problem: with Halle, I wasn’t in control, and I didn’t know if the reason was her or she was just collateral damage from the dream.

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