21 
21 Sasha
“I CAN’T BELIEVE THE ADOPT-A-THON is tomorrow!” I said on Friday afternoon.
“It came so fast!” Callie agreed.
Dad had dropped us off at Briar Creek for a trail ride. We were walking up to the barn from the driveway. It was another cloudy, gray day. It was barely in the forties and again, no chance of snow. I still had my fingers crossed for a white Christmas.
“Was that Santa there last time we came here?” Jacob asked, nodding ahead. “If you guys tell me that it was, then I’m really worried about my memory.”
I looked where he gestured. A Santa figurine about half my height had been placed next to the entrance door for people at the stable’s front. Light-up reindeer were on the other side. Windows were covered in decals—snowflakes, snow people, and snowballs.
“Kim decorated for Christmas,” I said. “Yes! She has the best decorations. I always help put them up.”
“You did get to do that at Safe Haven,” Brit said.
I smiled. “That was a fun day.”
A few days ago I’d finished exercising a horse and had gone to the decorating committee with Jacob, Paige, Lauren, and Taylor. Even though Lauren and I weren’t assigned to this area, which fell under the red experience level, we’d both wanted to get creative. We’d had so much fun going through the boxes of Christmas decorations and picking up where the last shift of decorators left off. Lauren had gotten a surprise when her sisters, Becca and Charlotte, had shown up. Both older girls weren’t riders, but they definitely knew how to decorate. When we’d finished, Safe Haven looked like a winter wonderland.
“Wow,” Alison said as we walked down Briar Creek’s aisle. “These decorations are awesome!”
She was right. The entire stable had been decked out in Christmas decorations. A few people were still hanging wreaths on stall doors, out of the reach of a curious muzzle, and putting up colored lights.
Garland stretched from the top of one stall to the next. Clear teensy white lights were embedded in the garland. Glittery red and green ball ornaments hung on fishing line from the rafters and looked as if they floated.
The overhead sound system was tuned into the local holiday tunes radio station, and Christmas music filled the stable at a low volume.
“Tack up and meet out front?” I asked. “I’ll help Jacob.”
“I’ll help you, Paige,” Callie said.
Paige nodded her thanks. I couldn’t have been prouder of my friend—she and Jacob were game to ride, and they had spent most of their days at a stable surrounded by horses. I wouldn’t be surprised if Paige asked me to help cook meals for the homeless or something next Christmas. I smiled to myself—Paige had tasted my cooking. I wouldn’t be making meals for anyone.
Twenty minutes later we were all astride our horses and headed toward the trails.
“Sasha,” Brit said. She walked Apollo next to Charm. “We want to give you a little, tiny thank-you for everything you’ve done for us so far.”
I scrunched my nose. “I don’t need a thank-you. You guys deserve one—you’re all here for me.”
“No,” Eric said, shaking his head. “We’re here to help horses and make a difference this Christmas. That’s because of you.”
We pulled up the horses as we reached the edge of the woods.
Paige and Heather grinned at me. “We want you and Jacob to go on a trail ride,” Heather said. “Just the two of you.”
I grinned. “What? But what about you guys?”
Alison waved a gloved hand. “Puh-lease. I think we can find our way down a trail and back.”
I glanced over at Jacob. He was on the other side of Brit and Apollo.
“Did you have anything to do with this?” I asked him. My tone was high and totally giving away how excited I was.
“Nothing,” Jacob said. “If everyone really, really wants us to go, I think it would be rude for us to say no.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, laughing. “Well, then I guess we better go.”
Callie nodded. “Go. Or we will think you’re rude.”
Brit blew me a kiss and winked. “Have fuuun!”
I shot her a stop it right now look, and she burst into giggles.
“See you guys back here in an hour?” I asked.
Heather checked her watch. “Sounds good.”
I eased Charm forward and Jacob did the same with Bliss, the bay mare he’d ridden last time.
“This might be one of the best ideas those guys have ever had,” I said. I stroked Charm’s gleaming neck with one hand as I guided him closer to Bliss.
“It’s up there for sure,” Jacob said, grinning. “I was hoping for some alone time with you.”
“Me too,” I said.
We entered the thick woods, and I angled Charm down a side path. This one wasn’t used as often as the main trail that I’d taken my friends on during their first visit. The bare trees were full of chirping birds and twittering squirrels. Bleak sunlight peeked through thick gray clouds, and I was glad I’d worn my down-filled vest.
“Sasha, it’s been amazing to spend so much time with you,” Jacob said.
We were close enough that our boots almost brushed against each other’s.
“It’s been great for me, too,” I said. “It’s different to see you outside of campus.”
“Good different, I hope.”
“Very good different,” I said, smiling.
Charm and Bliss walked with ease beside each other. Charm knew this trail by heart. Even though we’d been at Canterwood for a while, he hadn’t forgotten his way around.
“When we played Guilty Party, you kind of stole part of my Christmas present for you,” Jacob said.
“What do you mean?” I asked. I looked into his clover-green eyes.
“I was just as guilty as you. I’ve wanted to say ‘I love you’ for a while, but I was . . . scared.”
“Of what?” I asked.
The horses kept a steady walk, sidestepping a downed tree and continuing along the dirt path.
“Of scaring you off. You not being ready for me to say it. Scared of you not feeling the same way yet.”
I nodded slowly. “I understand. I felt the same way, Jacob. But that night, when I was standing up there feeling like I wanted to pass out because of what I’d written on that card, I looked at you.”
I reached out my hand, neck-reining Charm. Jacob enveloped my hand in his.
“I looked at you,” I said again. “All of my fear disappeared. I knew it was the right time. That you felt the same way. I couldn’t wait another second to say it.”
“I’m glad you didn’t wait,” Jacob said. “I was going to say it to you on Christmas, but you beat me to it.”
“Sorry I stole your idea,” I said, giggling.
“I’m not,” Jacob said. He squeezed my hand. “I have another gift for you, anyway.”
“I know it’s a wonderful present, whatever it is,” I said. “But in this moment, I couldn’t hope for anything more.”
Hand in hand, Jacob and I rode down the trail talking and laughing—it felt like Christmas morning times ten.