Page 73 of The Jealous Girl

I nodded again, suddenly feeling small and feeble.

‘Good. I’ll see you later, then.’

I watched as he slipped out of the stable, the door swinging closed behind him.

I turned back to Atlas, watching him as he buried his nose in his feed bucket. I edged closer, peering into his bucket.

‘How come you get special treatment?’ I asked, glancing across at the other feed buckets. Ryan had filled them all but only added something extra to this one.

‘Gotta look after him.’

I jumped and swung round.

Ben stood in the doorway. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.’

I shook my head. ‘That’s okay, I was just⁠—’

‘Making a friend?’ Ben asked, jerking his head towards Atlas.

I smiled. ‘Not sure me and horses are ever destined to be friends.’

Ben studied me for a moment. ‘You look like you’ve had a rough day.’

I let out a rueful laugh. ‘Is it that obvious?’

‘A bit.’ Ben tipped his head to the left. ‘Want to talk about it?’

I hesitated. ‘Charlotte tried to give me a riding lesson this morning.’

His expression shifted into something unreadable. ‘Charlotte?’

‘Yep.’

Ben winced. ‘Let me guess, it didn’t go well?’

I puffed out my cheeks and exhaled slowly. ‘It was a disaster. I completely freaked out. The saddle was moving. Spook was trying to untie himself. The gate was open, and I just had visions of him riding me off goodness knows where⁠—’

‘Wait.’ Ben waved his hands, breaking my rant. ‘The saddle moved?’

I nodded. ‘Side to side.’

‘How much?’

‘A lot.’ I scrunched my nose. ‘At least it felt like a lot to me, but…’ I shrugged. ‘I’ll admit, I might not be the best judge.’

Ben looked lost deep in thought. ‘A saddle shouldn’t slip like that. Not if it’s fitted properly.’

‘Ryan said saddles move.’

‘They do – a bit.’

I frowned. ‘Maybe I exaggerated it. I was nervous.’

His gaze narrowed as he studied me. ‘Maybe.’ But he didn’t sound convinced. ‘And Spook?’

‘Yeah, I know, I’ve probably got his name mixed up.’

‘What did he look like?’