Woman in the Mirror by Jackie Calhoun

Author:Jackie Calhoun [Calhoun, Jackie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Lesbian
ISBN: 9781931513784
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2004-04-14T14:00:00+00:00

For a while she sat in the stands at the practice arena and watched as horses and riders raised more clouds of dust. Then she crutched her way through the temporary shops that sold horse paraphernalia, everything from trucks and trailers to saddles and other tack, hats and boots, and jewelry. It fascinated her, this segment of society engaged in the showing of horses. The money spent on the horse industry astounded her. Something as small as a silver encrusted show bit for a horse’s mouth sold for several hundred dollars.

The competition took place indoors, starting with halter. Annie found John before he went into his first class. They stood outside the indoor arena, sipping coffee and eating sugar donuts. He brushed off his clothes before entering the show arena. She dumped the rest of the coffees and crutched her way to a seat to watch.

Monty placed third behind two long-necked, long-legged horses that looked so much like him she wouldn’t have known which should be first, but she jumped up and down a little and clapped her hands. John threw her a grin as he led the stallion out into the sunshine. The two horses in front of Monty were shown by well-known trainers, he told her. He was pleased with third.

The mare placed sixth. It was a point, John said, better than nothing. He had a little time to go through the shops with her, to eat Italian sausages on buns and fries with vinegar. Then he saddled both animals and rode them before the performance classes began.

The riding classes interested her more, and she entertained herself by picking out potential winners. The organ startled her at first. It hadn’t been played during the halter classes. The music picked up the beat of the different gaits—a rollicking one for a canter, a little slower for a trot, sedate when the horses and riders were asked for a walk.

That night they were both tired. They heated up a can of baked beans and fried burgers on the little stove in the trailer, and took the food outside to eat in lawn chairs in the hot dusty night. John checked on the horses before they went to bed.

When Friday morning arrived, she was tired of the dust and heat and endless classes, and excited about going home. Leaving early in the morning, John turned into her driveway around three in the afternoon. There was no vehicle parked in front of the garage, and she felt relief. She’d gotten away with her duplicity.

She stepped out of the truck, stiff after the long drive. Every day she’d put more weight on her injured ankle. When she first stepped on it, it throbbed, forcing her to lean on the crutches until the pulsing stopped. It was like hitting the ground after her legs had been dangling too long.

John carried her bag to the house. “Hope we can do that again. Those shows get lonely.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Want to go to the Fox tonight?” he asked, his face and ears aglow from the Indiana sun.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.