Love and Lies (Sunshine & Shadow Book 4) (5 page)

Movement on the edge of
the arena caught her eye. Lex walked in, saw her and stopped by the rail. The
slight frown on his face shifted and mirrored her wide smile. She lifted her
free hand and waved, laughing as Prime Time picked up the pace, without any leg
cues, simply listening to the subtle transfer of her weight forward.

She turned him in a small
circle and aimed him at the small jump that was set up in the middle of the
arena. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, steeling herself.
She let go of his mane completely and stretched her arms out beside her,
feeling like she was flying as the horse arched over the jump and landed
gracefully on the other side, fully choosing to be a willing partner with her.

It was the greatest
success for April to have a horse’s enthusiasm for communication. Some horses
tolerated humans, like Prime Time had tried to do when Violet rode him, but
when someone was prepared to put in the time, set their ego aside and lay
everything on the table, opening their soul and letting the animal experience
the transparency of the human spirit, the magic could happen. And that was what
April felt as she opened her eyes and slowed the horse to a walk; she felt like
there was magic in the air.

Lex was still beaming as
April guided Prime Time over to him.

“That was incredible,
April! I can’t believe it!” he said.

She returned his smile,
scratching Prime Time’s withers. “I needed to show him that he had choices,
that I wouldn’t force him to do anything.”

“I’ve never seen anything
like that before.”

April shook her head.
“I’ve never done anything like that before. It was just an idea. I’m surprised
it even worked.”

“Of course it worked,”
Lex said, entering the arena and stroking Prime Time’s neck. He put his hand on
April’s leg. “You’re a miracle worker.”

She frowned slightly,
disappointed by the butterflies that began fluttering it her stomach. She
didn't think they would ever go away. “Why are you here? How’s Violet?”

“She’s fine,” Lex said.

April looked at him
expectantly.

“I’m not a carrier.”

“Lex, that’s incredible!”

“So I was wondering...Would
you wanna go on a date with me?”

“Isn’t that a bad idea?”

“Probably. But, I don’t
really care, to be honest. You are single, right?”

April nodded and
chuckled. “I am.”

“Perfect. I’ll pick you
up tonight then.”

A voice over Lex’s
shoulder distracted her and she looked up. Campbell and Damian entered the
arena.

“Well, April,” Campbell
said, “I see you’ve begun without us.”

“Yes, sorry, Elliot.”
April smiled at Lex and he retreated to the other two men.

Damian looked worried,
and April gave him a reassuring nod.

“As you can see,” she
began, “this horse is not dangerous. He just needs a certain type of trainer,
and rider. He’s very dominant and he will not cooperate if he feels like he is
being disrespected. What I’ve done here is show him that whatever he does is
his choice. If he wants to listen, he can.”

“But he could have
refused to listen,” Campbell said.

“He could have, but he
didn’t. He chose to respect me, because I was respecting him.”

Campbell nodded. “Alright,
show us what he can do.”

April cued the horse into
a trot, almost immediately asking him for a gentle lope. She performed figure-8
patterns and asked the horse for sliding stops and quick turns on the haunches.
He complied to each request gracefully. April just hoped that Campbell and
Damian could see the change in the animal like she could.

As she came to a slow
stop in front of them, breathing hard and feeling Prime Time’s body move as he
inhaled and exhaled, Campbell began to slowly clap. April slid to the ground
and put her hand on the horse’s shoulder.

“Very impressive, April.
You’ve convinced me.”

Damian looked at April
and smiled.

Campbell continued. “I
can’t just give you the horse, though. I’m sure you understand that a horse of
this caliber will go to the highest bidder for a lot of money. We need to make
it fair on the rest of the buyers.”

April frowned. “Buyers?
But you were going to put him down, right?”

“We were when he was
being difficult, but seeing what you just did proves that he’s got more
potential than we thought. When my connections, and Damian’s, hear about him, I
think we might have a bidding war on our hands.” He rubbed his hands together,
grinning viciously.

April didn't know what to
say. She moved her fingers over Prime Time’s soft coat, feeling his large head
swing to look at her; he felt her fear. She didn't want to lose him, this horse
that she had just won over. It was like she had given him a part of her soul.

“But...you can’t...You
can’t just...” April stammered.

“On the contrary, April,
I definitely can. Damian, take the horse back to his stall and start making
phone calls. I want a buyer by the end of next week.” He clapped his hands
again, making April jump and turned to leave. Over his shoulder, he said, “Hope
you’re not too upset. This is L.A, sweetheart. Next time, just try not to get
your hopes up.”

April watched as Damian
slipped a halter over Prime Time’s face and led the reluctant horse out of the
arena. She couldn’t believe what had just happened, feeling her legs turn to
jelly. She knew there was nothing she could do, and her heart began to ache.

Lex went to her side,
wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his solid chest. He held the
back of her head, turning so that she couldn’t watch the horse disappear.

“He can’t just...I have
to do something.”

Lex shook his head. “April...He’s
right. This is L.A....and Campbell has a job to do.”

“It’s not right...”
April’s voice shook but she refused to cry.

“I know. But if you
hadn’t been here, he’d be dead. Just think about what you’ve just done for him.
You saved him. That’s what you wanted to do, right?”

April nodded. “I guess
so.”

“You did it,” Lex said.

April smiled back,
stretching out her fingers along his chest, feeling his heartbeat against her
palm. “I did it,” she murmured.

He kissed her forehead, and
then moved lower, trailing kisses down her cheek and jaw, hovering above her
lips.

April inhaled and then
closed the gap, feeling the part of her that had been in chaos without Lex
settle into place in her heart.

April looked up at the
man of her dreams. He lay on his back, his bare chest lightly covered in a soft
layer of dark hair. She entwined her fingers in it, being careful not to wake
him. Watching his face, she saw his pale eyelids flutter once, twice, then open
on the third time.

They regarded her warmly.

“Hey,” she murmured,
trailing her fingers up over his shoulder and down the inside of his arm. She
was still filled with the heavenly glow that she felt after spending time in
Lex’s bed.

“I didn’t mean to fall
asleep,” he said.

“Obviously you needed
it.”

“I guess I did. I haven’t
been sleeping very well lately.”

“Me neither.”

“Damn,” Lex looked at his
watch quickly. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“What?”

“I was worried I slept
all night.”

“Just an hour.”

“We need to leave in
thirty minutes. Can you be ready in time?”

April frowned, nodding.
“Sure. Where are we going?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“How do I know what to
wear?”

“Wear whatever you like.
You’ll look beautiful no matter what.”

April rolled her eyes,
sliding out of bed and grabbing a short-sleeved black top from the closet.

“Does this work?” she
asked.

Lex nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay then.”

April pulled the shirt
on, grabbed her jeans from the floor and headed to the bathroom to run a brush
through her tangled hair.

Thirty minutes later,
April and Lex drove down the strip, casually maneuvering through the traffic,
holding hands. Lex wore a wide smile.

“What are you so happy
about?”

“Do I really need a
reason? I’m driving a nice car, through a beautiful city, on a starry night,
with the girl of my dreams sitting next to me. Life doesn’t seem like it can
get much better.”

April smiled. She admired
the way the bright lights from the buildings and the traffic made the road
glisten like a rainbow. “Where are we going?” she mused.

“You’ll see.”

They weaved through the
cars and found their way to the end of the strip. They were heading in the
direction of April’s house. After a few short minutes, the car turned down the driveway.
As they pulled up in front of the cottage, Lex hurried around to open April’s
door for her. She watched the way his eyes sparkled.

“Lex why are we...?”

“Hush.” Lex pulled her
around the back of the house, through the willow trees and down into the meadow
that the deck overlooked.

“What are we doing here?”

April glanced into the
darkness, wondering what the glinting lights were that peaked through the
trees. Lex opened the gate and led her through, shutting it firmly behind them.

“Lex...this is the neighbors’
property...We shouldn’t be here.”

Lex winked at her and tugged
on her hand.
She followed him down an overgrown path towards the
lights. As they rounded a corner of thick trees, April could make out the
outline of a large building. It was a barn, with high windows. 

The door creaked as Lex slid them open and
April stepped inside.

The barn was complete with four stalls on
one side with a winding staircase beside them, leading to a loft. On the other
side there was a tack room and a feed room, their doors open, opposite a long
hitching rail.

“Lex, this is trespassing,” April
whispered. “We should go.”

Lex shook his head. “It’s not trespassing
if you’re on your own land.”

She frowned. “What?”

“Well, I figured you needed a little more
space. So I bought the 10 acres that bordered Mrs. Avengo’s place. Oh, and I
also bought Mrs. Avengo’s place. As a gift for you.”       

April’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“Well, with the baby coming, Violet’s gonna
be moving in with me...So this way, I can just come here anytime, and no-one
needs to know.”

April smiled. She couldn’t believe that
Lex had done this. He was really doing everything he could to make sure she was
comfortable in L.A. Commotion in the far stall distracted her and she took a
step forward.

Behind her, Lex whistled and a giant
chestnut head leaned out of the stall, swinging to look at them.

“Prime Time!” April exclaimed, rushing
forward to be sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. “How did you...when did you...?”

Lex laughed at her bewildered expression.
“As soon as I saw how torn up you were when Campbell said he was gonna sell
him, I knew I couldn’t let him go to the highest bidder.”

“He must have cost you a fortune!”

Lex nodded. “He did. But it’s totally
worth it to see the look on your face right now.”

April’s mouth was open, staring at him in
awe. How could she be so lucky? She rubbed Prime Time’s forehead and grinned
from ear to ear.

“I can’t believe this,” she said.

“Why not?”

“I can’t believe you did this for me...”

“It’s the least I can do.”

April looked at him, frowning slightly.
“Why?”

Lex shook his head. After a pause he said,
“You do so much for me, just by being here. And now you have everything you
need.”

She smiled. She was the luckiest girl the
world. Wrapping her arms around Lex’s waist she watched Prime Time dip his head
twice, like he was agreeing with her.

The final installment of Sunshine
& Shadow

Blazing the Trail

Now available on Amazon