“Like, right this second?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you take it to law school with you?”
“Well, that’s the problem.”
“We have several horses on our family property, actually.”
“See? You’re lucky. A Shetland pony would blend right in.”
“Pretty sure I take them all for granted.” Leo nuzzled my neck. “What is it about the Shetland that you like?”
“Have you ever seen one?”
“Can’t say that I have.” He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone. “Let me look it up.” He scrolled for a while. “Ah. They’re from Scotland. It says here that they were originally used as pack horses in the eighteen-hundreds, taken to work in the coal mines in England.” He turned to me. “They’re basically English. That’s why you like them.”
I cackled. “That’s got to be it.”
“Although, I thought you preferred us hung like horses. Not the horses themselves.” He slapped himself. “Christ, I sound like my cousin. Sorry.” He looked back at the image on his phone. “Gosh, they’re tiny, aren’t they?”
“Yeah. They’re so cute.”
He tossed the phone and wrapped his arms around me, kissing the top of my head. “You’re so cute.”
I wanted to make the most of the rest of the night, but somehow lying in Leo’s arms was the last thing I remembered before drifting off.
A somber air cast a shadow over Monday morning. Our staycation was officially over, and that bummed me out. As expected, I’d awakened with a terrible hangover. Leo drove to Dunkin’ Donuts to get bagels, and ended up coming back with not only those, but donuts and other pastries, as well as a giant box of coffee.
“I didn’t realize we were sponsoring breakfast for the entire town,” I teased.
“Well, I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I thought I’d get a variety. And I figured you’d need a lot of coffee this morning.”
“That’s definitely enough.”
He seemed a bit on edge, as he kept checking his phone.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. “Is that Sig? He must be on his way back from Boston soon.”
He placed his phone in his pocket. “No, no one texted. I was just checking the time.”
“You’ve been looking at your phone a lot. I assumed someone was messaging you.”
He hesitated. “I’m expecting a…visitor.”
Before he could elaborate, the doorbell rang.
“There he is now. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Rather than wait, I followed him to the foyer.
When he opened the door, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My jaw dropped.
A man stood on the porch next to the most beautiful, gray Shetland pony I’d ever seen.
“Leo, what the—what did you do?”
He didn’t answer, and instead took a huge wad of cash from his wallet and paid the man. They exchanged some information, and before I knew it, the guy was gone, but the pony stayed. With my mouth still ajar, I walked over and began rubbing its soft mane.
“Are you crazy?” I yelled at Leo.
“Okay, hear me out. I—”
“What are we supposed to do with him?”
“Last night after you finally passed out, I went online to see if there were any Shetland ponies for sale in the area. As luck would have it, this chap is moving to Florida and needed to unload this little guy ASAP. I figured we’d enjoy him for a few weeks and then find him a permanent home before we both leave town.”
“Okay…but where are you going to put him?”
“I’ll keep him here.”
I looked around. “Here?”
“Yes. Sigmund won’t mind.”
“What happens if we can’t find a home for him?”
“Worse comes to worst, I’ll take him back to England. He can join the other horses on our property.”
“I can’t imagine how expensive it must be to ship a horse to England.”
“He’s not that much bigger than a large dog. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“How are you going to explain bringing a horse back home with you? Your family will think you’ve gone insane.” I pulled out my phone and did a quick Google search. “Oh my God, Leo. Ten-thousand dollars on average. That’s how much it costs to ship a horse overseas!”
“It doesn’t matter.” He walked over to me. “Let me ask you this. Are you happy he’s here?”
“Yes. Very, but—”
“Then it’s worth every penny.” He petted the pony. “I can’t offer you the world. I can’t even fucking give you myself. Let me give you him until the end of the summer. Then I promise I’ll make sure he goes to a good home—even if it’s mine.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. Too much about what he’d just said made me emotional. And this was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me.
“Is it wrong that I’m a bit jealous because he might get to live with you?” A tear fell from my eye.
Leo bent to meet me where I knelt. He wiped my eyes and kissed me long and passionately until the horse neighed, interrupting our moment.
“Does he have a name?” I asked.
“I never inquired.” He turned to the animal. “Identify yourself.”
The horse neighed again.
I shook my head in laughter. “This is ludicrous.”
“Indeed.” Leo eyed the animal. “Hmm… That would be a fitting name for him, don’t you think?”
“What?”
“Ludicrous.”
“You know what?” I wrapped my arms around the pony’s neck and hugged him. “Oddly, I can’t think of a better name.”
Here he was, our new, temporary love child.
We spent the rest of the day buying supplies for him. Ludicrous was just the distraction I needed from my ever-growing attachment to Leo. Although, did I really want to fall in love with both a horse and a man I wouldn’t be able to keep?
I froze as I realized what I’d just admitted to myself—I was falling in love with Leo.
* * *
Leo
Track 15: “Never Say Goodbye” by Bon Jovi
After a full day of horsing around—quite literally—Felicity returned to her house Monday evening. When Sigmund returned from his trip later that night, he was less than amused to discover our new roommate.
“Why in the bloody hell is there a horse in our living room?”
I closed the magazine I’d been looking at. “Oh, you’re back.”
“Yes. Apparently, I should have stayed in Boston. What the fuck is going on?”
“This is Ludicrous.”
“You’re telling me.”
“No. That’s his name. Ludicrous. I bought him for Felicity.”
“I would ask why, but there is no answer that could ever make sense.”
We’d set up a safety gate to cordon off an area of the living room.
“She told me she’d always wanted a Shetland pony, so I decided to buy one and keep it here for the rest of the summer.”