Fuzzy Logic (19 page)

“No, because you’d look good in it. Maybe even better than the ruffles.”

Jan gave him a sidelong glance. “You’re just not going to let go of the ruffles, are you?”

“They were memorable. I think I’m starting to understand Bob’s thing for sexy librarians. Plus, this is San Diego. You should try to dress the part.”

Jan fondled the fabric of one of the tie-dyed sarongs between her fingers. “You mean Bob, the drunk guy at the wedding? Ugh. For the record, not everyone wants to dress like a Dead Head, you know.”

“Hey, the light’s all shining on me,” Michael said. “I’m just saying you don’t have to wear so many clothes.” He stroked the small section of her forearm that wasn’t covered with cloth. “Sunlight could touch your body and it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”

Attempting to ignore the involuntary increase in her heart rate when he touched her, Jan said evenly, “Thank you for that small homage to Jerry Garcia, but have you noticed that I have freckles? We fair-skinned people need to watch out for skin cancer. I hope you’re wearing sunscreen.”

“Yes, I am. I’m a responsible sun worshiper.” He raised his right hand. “Like a Boy Scout. Always prepared and all that.”

Jan turned away from the sarongs, toward him. “Why don’t I believe you were a Boy Scout?”

“Okay. I wasn’t. But I like their cookies.”

“That’s the
Girl
Scouts.”

Later, they went to the Indian restaurant as Michael had promised.

“This has been a great day,” Jan said as she ripped a piece of naan into small pieces. “You were right. I never saw much of San Diego when I was here. It’s different to experience it as an adult. And this curry is delicious. You were right about this place, too.”

“Tomorrow will be even better. Now I have a question for you.”

Jan’s eyes widened. Where was this going? “What kind of question? Should I be worried? I don’t have to dance in front of people again or something, do I?”

Michael leaned forward and the flickering candle flame reflected in his eyes. “No. Nothing bad. What is something you have always secretly wanted to do, but were too afraid to do?”

Jan put down her piece of naan and leaned back in the chair. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what you mean. You don’t want me to go bungee jumping or something do you? Because I really don’t like that kind of thing.”

“No. I’m serious.” Michael reached across the table and took her hand. “Is there something that you dreamed about when you were a little kid? What were your favorite things?”

“Books.”

“Okay, that’s not helpful.” He squeezed her hand gently. “What were the books about? When you were little, what did you read? What did you dream about?”

“Lots of things.” The warmth of his hand was disconcerting. Dreams? Mostly she dreamed about having a normal life with a normal mother. But that wasn’t particularly interesting. “Okay, I guess I did go through the typical horse-crazy-girl phase. I probably read
Black Beauty
ten times. And I loved
Misty of Chincoteague
. And of course all the Walter Farley books.”

Michael released her hand and took a drink of water. “You lost me on the last one. Who is Walter Farley?”

“He wrote
The Black Stallion
and a bunch of other horse books. There were dozens of them. The first book is called
The Black Stallion
, and in that one a little boy named Alec ends up stranded on a desert island with a huge, wild, beautiful black Arabian horse. After they are rescued, they end up racing. A lot of the other books involved horse racing too, like
Man o’ War
, which was based on a real horse. I liked that one a lot, too.”

“Hmm. Was there a movie made from the first book?”

Jan leaned forward in her chair and smiled. “Yes! It had Mickey Rooney in it.”

“Did you ever ride horses when you were a kid?” Michael asked. “Or did you just read about them?”

Jan shook her head. “No, we never had the money, and as you know, my mom and I moved around a lot. I’m not sure my mother even knew about my horse-crazy phase. I’ve seen horses from a distance and watched racing on TV. Horses are so beautiful, but I’ve never actually touched one.”

“Okay. Tomorrow we’ll do something about that.”

“What?”

Michael smiled. “You’re going riding.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

Jan waved her naan at him. “How about because I don’t know how to ride?”

“You have to start somewhere. The first step is to actually get on a horse. Wear long, comfortable pants like jeans. And no flip-flops or sandals, either. You need to wear closed-toed shoes.”

“So I guess heels are out.”

“In any of those books, did you ever see a picture of someone riding a horse in high heels?”

“No.”

“That’s your answer.”

After dinner, Jan drove Michael to his house. Although they’d exchanged the steamy kiss the day they were cleaning Bruce’s house, Michael had been a perfect gentleman all day, to the point that Jan was starting to wonder if he’d just been too tired to know what he was doing before.

The awkward end-of-the-night is-he-going-to-kiss-me question was looming large in her mind. She pulled up in front of the house. Was she ever going to see the inside of his place? Did she want to see the inside? Maybe she was just one of his many flirtations. She was leaving to go back to Alpine Grove in two days, anyway. It was stupid to even consider starting something with him. And he was her step-brother, after all. When you got right down to it, that was gross in a sordid daytime-drama kind of way.

Jan was startled from her swirling thoughts when Michael said, “You’re awfully quiet. Are you fretting about getting on a horse tomorrow? I promise it will be fine. People who own horses don’t want people getting hurt. It’s bad for publicity.”

“No. Sorry, I was thinking about something else. I’m purposely avoiding thinking about the fact that the average riding horse weighs around 1,200 pounds.”

Michael put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s good to do things that scare you sometimes.”

Jan looked at him and covered his hand with hers, enjoying the warmth of the contact again. “Is that supposed to be some type of inspirational quote?”

“No. Just my experience,” Michael said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze goodbye. “Okay. Swoosie and I will meet you tomorrow at eight in front of the coffee shop. I’ll be caffeinated and she’ll be tired, so we’ll be ready to head south for your equine adventure.”

As he walked up the sidewalk toward the house, Jan could hear Swoosie yipping furiously inside. Should she have initiated the kiss this time? Was there some type of dating protocol? After so many years with Steve, she wasn’t sure. Plus, even with Steve, that wasn’t the type of thing she ever did. She thought she wasn’t supposed to. Didn’t everyone say nice girls didn’t do that kind of thing?

Initiating a kiss certainly counted as something that scared her. Turning the key in the ignition, she shook her head. Maybe her life would have been more interesting if she weren’t such a nice girl. Being the responsible grown-up all the time definitely had some down sides.

Clad in a t-shirt and some old jeans and tennis shoes she had dredged up at her mom’s house, Jan met Michael and Swoosie in front of the big yellow Victorian coffee house again. Michael loaded the dog into the back seat and got in the front. “Hi there! Are you ready to ride?”

Jan started the car. “I guess so. Where are we going?”

“First to my house to drop off Swoosie in her crate. With two runs in two days, she should be extra tired.” He peered around the headrest at the back of the car. Swoosie had curled up into a tight furry ball on the back seat. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was quietly snoring. “Look at that. She’s already crashed. I wish she were always like this. The dog walker who comes in during the week when I’m at work doesn’t really wear her out.”

Jan glanced away from the road to look at him. “Vacation seems to agree with both you.”

“I talked to some folks from work. Next week is going to be rough. I’m not sure what is going on, but it sounds like the audit isn’t going well. I haven’t taken a vacation in years. Lately, there’s always been too much going on. So it’s great that you’re here to distract me. Keeping busy has helped me avoid thinking about all the work that’s piling up.”

“How nice that I can be a distraction. My mom has been packing, so I think she may finally really move in with your dad. I’m hoping that happens. Then I’ll feel like my mission here was accomplished. It’s been an odd visit for me too, since I thought I’d be tending to her in a state of illness, not cleaning furiously and then visiting San Diego attractions with you.”

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

“Quoting lyrics now are we?”

“You know who it is, right?”

Jan smiled. “I love John Lennon. That song was written for his son Sean.”

“Still batting a thousand. Impressive.”

Michael directed Jan to a riding stable that was south of San Diego, close to the Mexican border. She parked the rental car in the muddy parking area. As they got out of the car, a horse whinnied. The earthy scent of dust, horse, and manure filled the air.

Jan waved her hand toward the barn. “Where is everybody?”

“They’re probably inside saddling up the horses. We’re the only ones riding today. Since it is your first time on a horse, I thought it might be better if we weren’t riding with a big group of people.”

“I appreciate that. If I fall off or freak out, I’d rather not do it in front of a crowd. How did you pull that off?”

Michael smiled. “My agency has worked with these folks in the past. They owe me. Remember that trained horse in the commercial? It was one of theirs. We paid them a fortune to truck Trigger up to Alpine Grove and tend to him.”

“Yes, I remember you were worried about the horse’s time.”

“I think Trigger’s participation in the ad is helping put one of their kids through college.”

They entered the darkened barn, where a short older woman with wild gray hair bursting out from under a cowboy hat was doing something to the saddle on one of the horses. Jan whispered to Michael, “Those horses are really big. You didn’t tell me they’d be so large.”

“Up close they look bigger; it’s a perspective thing,” Michael said as he waved to the woman. “Howdy, Connie. How’s it going?”

Connie patted the horse’s side. “Hiya Mikey. Just cinching up Friday here for ya.”

Jan glanced at Michael and turned back to Connie. “The horse is named Friday?”

“She was born on Good Friday,” Connie said. “And you’ll never find a better horse. Right, Friday?” The horse waved its head up and down.

“What’s the name of the other horse?” Jan asked. “She...or he...is very pretty.”

“That one’s yours darlin’, and her name is Honey,” Connie said. “She’s named that because she is such a sweet ole honey-pot. We put all the little kids and beginners on her. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. Just yesterday, we had a five-year-old little cowboy up there and he did great.”

Jan walked up to Honey and tentatively reached out a hand to pet the horse’s neck. “Hi, Honey. You’re going to be nice, right?” The horse made a snorfle noise. “I hope that’s a yes.”

“Don’t worry darlin’, you’ll be fine. So we’re ready to go here. Let me get the mounting block for you.”

While Connie disappeared into another room, Jan tried to will the butterflies in her stomach to settle down. “What if I fall off? I could break something.”

Michael put his arm around her shoulders. “Allegedly, a five-year old did just great yesterday. You’ll be fine.”

After some patient assistance from Connie, Jan sat atop Honey. “Things look different from up here.”

Michael rode Friday over to stand next to her. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Jan smiled. “We haven’t moved, but so far, so good.”

Connie explained a few basics and instructed them on the rules of the trail. “I’ll be right here. All you have to do is follow me. The horses know what to do and they know where we’re going. Okay, let’s go, folks.”

Jan’s stomach clenched in fear as Honey moved underneath her. But she had listened closely and then attempted a few tentative experiments in equine direction. The horse actually was paying attention to her instructions. She looked back at Michael, who was following her on Friday, “I’m riding!”

Michael grinned. “I knew you could do it. Watch out for that tree branch; we’re heading down that trail over there.”

Jan focused on the trail and Connie’s horse in front of her, who was named Anna. They walked through a swampy woodsy area with branches overhanging the trail. Jan ducked to avoid getting smacked in the face by various shrubs. They exited the trees, which opened out to a wooden bridge that crossed the dunes toward the Pacific Ocean. Jan gasped as the panoramic view of an almost empty beach that seemed to stretch for miles opened up in front of her. “I didn’t realize we were so close to the beach!”

Connie turned around in her saddle. “Yep. This is the good part. You get to ride in the ocean. The horses like to splash around a bit and get their feet wet to cool off. If you have a camera, I’ll take your picture, too.”