Natural Attraction (38 page)

He has a woolen rug thrown over his rump, folded back on itself about halfway along his body to allow him to continue to cool down after his long ride today.

Jax finally decides he has found my tonsils, or whatever it was he was digging in around my mouth looking for and reluctantly lets me go.

“Congratulations baby, we’re qualified.”

And we are!  Jax, Trouble, Maverick and I have just successfully completed our third and final eighty
kilometer endurance ride to become fully qualified endurance riders and horses.

It’s a landmark day for us all and I’m ecstatic.

I still can’t believe that we’ve all made it.  It's been nearly eighteen months since I first met Jax and regained my confidence to ride horses again.  Eighteen months in which I have gone from a person who rides her horse now and then, to a person who rides horses four or five days a week.

I’ve also gone from a person who spent a lot of time by herself and only had a few close friends, to a person who is constantly surrounded by a large family and lots of friends.  All of whom accept me for who I am and all of whom I love
dearly.

It had been hard work convincing Jax to let me try endurance riding.  When I’d first mentioned my plans to try a training ride, they had been met with
an firm
no.
 

Fully understanding why he would be so against me even trying a training ride, I had at first let it go.  That was until the more we rode Maverick and Trouble together, and the further our rides went, the more I became convinced that endurance riding would be a great way to enjoy new scenery while riding.

And so I started hinting at it again.  I started this by regularly talking to him about endurance and finding ways to mention where the rides were being held, how scenic they were and all the reasons I thought Maverick could be ready for a training ride.

Two months later Jax had finally realized he was fighting a losing battle and let me have my way.  This had been partly because of the influence of my sister Evie.

Jax met Evie for the first time when she came to stay with us for a week at Easter last year, bringing her horses with her.  There had been an endurance ride near Jax’s place that she was attending.  Coinciding her visit with the ride, she had arrived a few days before the ride to train on local tracks and then stayed a few days after to spend time with us as well.

Jax and I had joined her on her daily training rides out from his house.  Faced with my constant requests to let me try an endurance ride, along with Evie’s insistence Maverick
and Trouble
would be perfect candidates for the sport, Jax had finally agreed I could give it a go.

This he had done on one major condition.  He rode all the rides with me. 

I was of course ecstatic because this sounded
perfect. 
Not only was I getting to try endurance, but Jax was doing it with me.  This time round he did not plan sitting in camp being a strapper.  This time he planned on being out on the course making sure his woman was
safe.

From the minute I vetted through successfully at my first trainer, I was hooked.  So hooked that within the hour I had signed us both up for a second trainer just a fortnight later. 

Jax seeing the joy the ride had bought me, along with admitting he’d enjoyed it himself, provided little resistance to my announcement we were attending another ride.

The whole thing had snowballed from there.

It had snowballed to the point that Walker Endurance had been formed because there were so many Walkers riding that we could enter team events with just immediate family members.

Christopher (who I was now calling Chris too), Mel, their younger sister
Jasmin and my sister Evie all now rode endurance rides as members of Walker Endurance. 

Walker Endurance was also proudly sponsored by Walker Civil.  We had a standard ride uniform of sapphire blue t-shirts with black jodhpurs that had a matching blue stripe down the sides with the words Walker Endurance on them. 

I loved our colors and I also loved the matching black and sapphire blue checked rugs that Mel had sourced for all our horses.  These all had Walker Endurance labeled on them as well.

“How’d you go?” I hear Jax ask Chris as he is putting Ditch back in his yard.

“All good.” Chris replies with a big grin.

“Hat trick!”
Jax hoots excitedly.  “How are the girls going do you know?”

“Mel was two behind me in my vet line and
Jasmin was a few back in the other line.  They’ve both passed TPR and are just waiting for trot out.  Evie’s due back in off her third leg in about forty minutes.”

This was good news so far.  Passing TPR meant that both had met the successful completion requirements for their temperature, pulse and respiration rates.  They now just needed to survive the body and movement checks by the veterinarians to qualify as endurance riders as well.

“Grandma and Grandpa are sitting at the side of the vet ring looking like they are watching the Grand Final.  I reckon you’ll hear ‘em from here if the girls get the nod.”

Jax grins and I watch as he lets me go and heads back towards Trouble’s yard to pick up the clay bucket again.

“I’ll do Ditch if you like. I haven’t washed my hands from doing Trouble and Maverick yet.   You and Ash can head to the vet ring to watch the girls, I’ll be right behind you.”

“Sounds great.”
  Chris agrees as he nods towards me and starts heading back to the vet ring.

I quickly step into stride beside him, keen to get to the ring as quickly as we can
to see their trot outs.

“Nice face and hair.” Chris mocks as we walk along.

“Ugh.  I’d already forgotten about that.  Damn, how bad is it?” I ask him not even considering turning around to go back to camp to try and wash the clay off.

“Pretty bad,” he grins and starts chuckling.

“I don’t care, I’ve got bigger things to worry about.” I reply as I quicken my pace even more, now wishing we had camped closer to the vet ring.

Unfortunately due to the size of our camp this was never an option.  This was because the Walker Endurance camp was
big.

There was Jax’s gooseneck, a truck and caravan for Ro, David and the girls to sleep in plus two more truck and float combinations for both Chris and Evie.  Add to that enough room for the six mobile yards for all the horses and we covered quite a stretch of ground.

A few minutes later the sight of several horses and their handlers milling around waiting to trot out for the vets looms in front of us.  I quickly scan the lineups before spotting Mel running with her horse back towards a vet.  I watch her as she slows down and looks hopefully toward the vet for his final decision. 

With a quick nod, the vet gives her the all clear and I watch as Mel squeals and fist pumps the air.  She is through and qualified as well.

I hear clapping and whistling from the sidelines as Ro and David go wild with excitement.  This unfortunately attracts a few foul looks from other riders and handlers in the vet ring.  I don’t blame them, their noise could upset a horse having its heart rate checked.  This could then cause the horses heart rate to spike and it would fail the heart rate test.  A person who has just ridden their horse for eighty kilometers would not be happy to fail the heart rate check because someone was clapping.  They would not be happy at all. 

I speed up and beeline straight to Ro to remind her to calm down.  As I approach I see her look towards me and an apologetic look
crosses her face as she quickly quiets and sits back down. 

“Sorry,” she mumbles as I approach.  “I couldn’t help myself.”

“Same,” mutters David.  They both look pitifully at me as I start grinning at them.

I feel Chris step up behind me and watch as Ro jumps up to hug him tightly.  “You made it!” She chirps proudly, squeezing him harder.  “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks Gramma,” Chris mumbles as he bear hugs her tiny body back.  “Fingers crossed for Jasmin.”

Everyone then falls quiet as we turn our focus back to the vet ring to see
Jasmin has now started running her horse out for the vet.

I hold my breath as I watch her little mare called Indi bounce off to an excited start as
Jasmin runs off.  “That’s a good start, she’s still got plenty of pep.” I mumble as we watch keenly.

Indi soon breaks into her long, smooth, ground covering trot, no sign of lameness that I can see and my hopes begin to soar.  As long as the vets didn’t pick anything else up during their examination, she should be okay.

She makes the turn at the cone at the far end of the trot out and turns to run back towards the judge.  I can see the seriousness in her face as she pins her eyes on the vet, hopeful.

The vet takes one look at her and decides not to keep her in suspense.  He knows she is only a junior rider and this is her qualifying ride. 
With a quick nod, he announces, “Your through, well done Jasmin.”

I hear a scream from the far side of the vet ring and see Mel throwing her lead-rope towards Jax as she tears towards
Jasmin to hug her.  Jax has obviously made it over in time to see Jasmin through. 

With more squealing, I watch the girls head back towards Jax where the three of them share a group hug.  I smile softy to myself as I watch him hugging his nieces.

“Well that’s it folks,” I hear David announce.  “Team Walker are all qualified, a very big day.  Time for beers.”

I watch David stand slowly, stretching briefly before throwing out his hand for Ro to grab.  I grin to myself.  I had worked it out many months ago where Jax had inherited his hand grabbing skills from.  Seemingly it was genetic.

I nod my agreement as we start to head back towards camp.  I watch as Chris peels off to chat to a young lady at another camp.  I shake my head as I realize she is his ‘target’ for the night.  Sadly Chris is fully aware of his movie star looks and he doesn’t miss a single opportunity to use them.  I have a feeling he is trying to sleep his way through the entire single female endurance riding population. 

I feel like I should warn the poor girl that she should run for the hills before she becomes the next in his long line of broken hearts. 

I feel a warm slide around my waist and look up to see Jax smiling at me.  I can see he is reading my mind as he shakes his head at Chris as well.  “Poor girl doesn’t stand a chance.”

“I know.  Why can’t he just settle down with one?” I ask.  “I’d like to get the chance to have a decent conversation with one.   It's always awkward watching the poor things do the walk of shame out of his float the next morning.”

“He will.”  Jax announces confidently as he drags me closer to his hip.  “He just hasn’t found the right one yet.”

I grin up at him.  “Enough about Chris, it’s time to do our own celebrating.  And plan our next ride.”

“Yep.”

“You up for a shower in the gooseneck?”
I ask innocently.

“Yep.”

“Then bourbons,” I add.

“Yep.”

“Last one in’s a rotten egg!” I squeal as I rip myself from his arm and race for the gooseneck.  Speeding through our camp I throw a quick wave to David and Ro who are already sitting in chairs out the front of their caravan.   Mel and Jasmin are settling their horses and putting clay on their front legs.

I manage to get my hand on the door to
the gooseneck just as I feel Jax’s hands clamp down around my waist and I am hoisted into the air and thrown over his shoulder.  Squealing, I look across to see Ro grinning broadly.

“
Takin’ a shower.  Gunna be a while.” I hear Jax rumble to his parents as he opens the door and steps us both inside.

“Don’t be too long, I’m making lunch shortly,” I hear Ro saying as the door to the gooseneck door slams behind us.

Carefully putting me down, Jax mumbles, “It’ll only be salad rolls, they can wait.  We’ve got some celebrating to do.”

I smile innocently as he leans in, slams his mouth against mine and starts backing me towards the shower. 

Lunch can definitely wait.

###

Coming soon.

The
second book in the Attraction Series.

Enduring Attraction.

The story of Chris and Taylor.

Read a preview of
Enduring Attraction

V-Man

“Tay, sis, get your ass over here! I want to you… Someone meet.  I mean… You to meet someone,”
Bree slurs drunkenly from somewhere several camps over.

I cringe as I listen carefully to pinpoint her exact location.    If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say she’s in the Walker camp.  In fact, it's likely she is.  This is because Evie,
Bree’s best friend, rides with Walker Endurance.  Knowing the Walker after parties, I suspect that Evie is drunk too.  I quickly decide that Evie and Bree drunk means Evie is the person Bree wants me to meet.