“It’s complicated, Mom. But by the end of my trip out to visit his family, I actually had started to fall for him.”
She laughed. “Well, isn’t that ironic.”
Yup.
“Anyway. I’m really sorry for lying.”
“Well, I think we all fell for him a little bit. Please don’t do something like that again, Riley. Not only because it’s not good to lie, but because there really is no need to. I love you just the way you are, even if I do go a bit overboard with the letter every year. I never realized that it bothered you so much. You know that ever since your father died, I’ve been looking for ways to distract myself, throwing myself into making the Christmas decorations bigger and better every year, trying to make it seem like everything is going so well via those letters. Truth is,” she said, her voice shaky, “I’m really quite sad, deep down. I do the best I can, but being without your father is harder than I ever imagined.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I know.”
“I suppose I’ve convinced myself that if others believe my life is wonderful, then eventually I’ll believe it myself. Not the best example to set for my children, I know. But, Riley, always be honest with me, even if I apparently don’t deserve it sometimes.” She sighed. “Now tell me more about this Kennedy. You didn’t really answer me. Why can’t you two be together?”
“It’s a long story, but the gist is that Kennedy’s ex-girlfriend ended up marrying his brother.”
She gasped. “Well, how terrible! Wait, was that the wedding you attended together?”
“Yes. And so...he’s definitely wary of women and of getting hurt, although I can’t be a hundred percent sure that’s why he hasn’t contacted me. He may just not be that into me.”
Suddenly, I heard something hit my window. Something small. It sounded like a rock against the glass. Sensing potential trouble, Sister Mary Alice started barking and ran to the window.
“Hang on, Mom.”
When I peeked out the window, I saw the last thing I ever expected to: a man sitting atop a beautiful white horse. I leaned in, squinting to try to see who it was. A second later, my eyes flew wide open and I jumped back with a gasp. The phone slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground. I could hear my mother’s muffled voice off in the distance, but I could only focus on so many things at once.
And it wasn’t every day that the man of your dreams showed up on a white horse.
I opened the window, not caring about the cold air I was letting inside my apartment. “Kennedy? What the heck do you think you’re doing?”
He appeared to be struggling to control the animal. The horse lifted up onto its hind legs as Kennedy tried not to fall off. It neighed loudly and continued to prance and shift its feet restlessly.
Kennedy was working hard to hang onto the reins, but managed to call out, “Can you come down for a minute, Riley?”
Still in shock, I bent down and finally picked up the phone I’d dropped.
“Riley? Is everything okay?” Mom asked frantically. “I heard a crash. What is going on? Are you okay?”
In a daze, I ran toward my apartment door, but saw Sister Mary Alice eyeing the open window. I tucked her safely away in my bedroom and closed the door. Then I raced to the door and breathlessly explained as I locked up and ran to the stairwell, “I...uh...dropped my phone, Mom. Listen…actually, Kennedy—speaking of the devil—he’s here...on a horse.”
That got her attention.
“Did you say he’s on a horse?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yup. A white horse.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, Mom. Neither do I.”
“Well, go downstairs and see what he wants. And whatever you do—do NOT hang up. I’ve got to hear this.”
Now standing on the sidewalk outside my building, I faced him, wide-eyed and utterly smitten.
Kennedy was out of breath as the horse pranced restlessly on the street between two parked cars. “Am I too late?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did she email you back?”
“Who?”
“Ida…Soraya...whoever the hell she is.”
Soraya? How did he know I’d written her again?
“No. She never responded to me. How did you—”
“I saw you with that guy, and I just assumed…”
“What guy?”
“You were walking out of your apartment with him the other night.”
“Oh, that? He was no one. Just a platonic date.” I shook my head. “Wait…Kennedy, were you stalking me?”
“No. I was having coffee across the street.” He continued to struggle to keep the horse at bay. “Anyway...am I too late?”
Even though I had no clue how he found out I’d written to Soraya, I didn’t really care. I was just so happy to see him.
As I looked into his eyes, what I saw there brought tears to mine. The frosty air billowed out of my mouth as I shook my head frantically and choked out the words he wanted to hear. “You’re not too late.”
“Riley, I...”
Before he could continue his sentence, Sister Mary Alice’s high-pitched barking cut him off. We both looked up to see her nose pressed up against my bedroom window. Kennedy’s horse was startled and started to go a little berserk, nearly throwing Kennedy off. Instead, it stopped short and proceeded to poop all over the pavement. Then it galloped away down the street—with Kennedy still hanging on.
I watched in shock as he yelled to me in the distance, “Wait for me, Riley! I’ll be right back!”
I’d nearly forgotten I was still holding the phone. My mother’s muffled voice registered through the receiver. “What in God’s name is going on, Riley?”
I put the phone to my ear. “I have no idea, Mom. Kennedy just showed up on a white horse. I didn’t get a chance to ask him much because Sister Mary Alice started yapping at the bedroom window. She spooked the horse, and it pooped all over the street. Then it bolted off—with Kennedy hanging on for dear life!”
“What on Earth?” Mom blurted before losing her composure completely.
I shook my head and grinned as she laughed out loud. “I think it was supposed to be some kind of romantic gesture. But…”
“Well, that certainly went awry. But it’s still pretty romantic, if you ask me. Where is he now?”
The question caught me off guard and my heart thundered in my chest. “I don’t know! What if he gets hurt? Should I call the police?”
I was about to do just that when I spotted Kennedy running toward me. The horse was nowhere in sight.
“Mom, I’ll call you back.” I ended the call and put the phone in my pocket before she could respond.
He was completely out of breath by the time he finally got to me.
“Are you okay?” I asked, still not quite knowing what to make of the situation.
Leaning his hands on his thighs, he caught his breath before he nodded, “Yeah.”
“What happened to the horse?”
“I took him back. The owner was waiting for me in the park in case something went wrong. I just wasn’t expecting that to happen so soon.”