Mo' horsin' around...

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Viewing Note: This story should be viewed with the Edwardian Script ITC font installed on your Windows platform in the c:/Windows/Fonts directory. Microsoft Word installs this font automatically.

Photo Credit: Permission to use the photo of Lake Louise and the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, has been granted by the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts .

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Chapter 9
 

“Sit down … coffee’s ready and we’re taking orders for breakfast!” Maddy playfully commented as Jessica and Rob walked into the kitchen.

“You girls didn’t have to do this,” Jessica insisted.

“We wanted to. Now sit down ... so whaddya want?” Maddy cheerfully replied.

“Uh … coffee … two eggs … sunny-side up … and some toast?” Robert cautiously rambled off his order while his wife looked on.

“Sehr gut! … An’ you madam?” Gaby cheerfully inquired.

“Just coffee and toast, please.”

While Maddy took care of the toast and coffee, Gaby occupied herself with the eggs – throwing in a couple more for them, in the process. When the girls had served up breakfast, they grabbed their tea, and joined their hosts at the table.

“Sorry I wasn’t up when you came in the other night, but I was exhausted.”

“That’s okay. Rob let us in,” Gaby replied.

“I meant to ask you two, yesterday ... but I thought it better to wait until mom and dad left. Everything now quiet on the ‘Walters Front’?” Jessica asked as she took another sip of coffee.

“Think so…” Maddy offered.

“After we called you … we all drove out to pick up Brit. Later, Mr. W insisted he take us all out to dinner and get re-acquainted...” Gaby explained. “...then we all went back to Deb’s hotel where she an’ Brit checked out. Now the family’s back under one roof.”

“Once we all got back to the house, we had a surprisingly nice visit with Deb’s parents … considering the prevailing mood earlier in the day,” Maddy remarked.

“That mean Britney and Deb get to spend Christmas with their folks?” Robert asked.

“That’s the plan,” Gaby replied. “Deb says she and Ken are doing Christmas here … then New Year with his family…”

“Yeah … but the real news is that Brit’s bringing Janet!” Maddy revealed.

“Janet?” Jessica and Robert chorused.

“Her girlfriend,” Gaby said matter-of-factly.

“Really?” Jessica asked without a hint of surprise.

“Uh huh. Brit told us they’ve been living together since last June,” Maddy added.

“Brit’s parents okay with this?” Jessica wondered.

“Bringing Janet for Christmas or the living arrangements?”

“Both?” Jessica asked.

“They don’t know about them living together an’ I don’t think Brit’s ready to ‘tell all’ yet,” Gaby playfully replied.

“I think her ‘rents will be okay with Christmas, though. They weren’t bothered by Gabs and I cuddling on the couch all evening … and Deb says that if they can put up with us...” Maddy offered. “In fact … they became quite comfortable with us being ‘us’ as the evening wore on.”

“I think seeing us earlier in the afternoon is what made them re-think things. Obviously Mrs. W decided she felt comfortable enough to later ask Brit if she had a friend … an’ when she told them she did… both parents suggested that they meet her,” Gaby offered.

“Don’t know how serious it is between those two … but Brit got on her phone awfully fast!” Maddy put in.

“So … anything particular you two want to do today?” Jessica asked.

“I was hoping to go for a ride before Mad had second thoughts. If you have some boots we can borrow.”

“Boots I’ve got!” Jessica smugly replied. “So … are you going to try again, Maddy?” She wondered between sips of her coffee.

“Gabs thinks she can teach me.”

“Good luck!” Robert joked as he turned to Gaby and raised his coffee mug in salute.

“Humph … men!” Maddy replied with mock indignation.

“I know, dear … but they do have their uses,” Jessica sweetly replied as she put her hand on Maddy’s arm and giggled, causing Robert to almost choke on his coffee. As he was wiping up his mess, Jessica thankfully changed the subject.

When the girls had finished relating their reunion with the Walters, Jessica went upstairs and returned with two pairs of her Western Boots. “Hope they’re okay, Maddy.”

“If they fit Gabs … they’ll be okay for me,” Maddy replied.

“You probably remember how to saddle Paint, but let Rob do it...” Jessica smugly whispered to Gaby. “...makes him feel needed.”

“What are you going to do while we’re out?” Gaby coyly asked.

“We’ll think of something…” Jessica demurely replied with a wink.

“It’s such a nice day … we could be out for an hour or two,” Gaby quietly replied with a mischievous smile.

“Oooo … you’re bad, Gaby Bond! You two better get ready … Rob’s already out there.”

“One would be nice …. two would be even better...” Jessica whispered as she hugged Gaby. In the meantime, Maddy returned with their ski jackets.

“What are you two planning?” Maddy suspiciously asked.

“Not me … her!” Gaby defensively answered while pointing to Jessica.

As the girls went out the back door, Gaby glanced back at Jessica and raised two fingers in a ‘V’ salute. When their eyes met, Jessica silently mouthed a ‘thank you’.

“Here you go, ladies.” Robert met the girl’s part way to the shed with both horses, already saddled. Once he gave them the reins, he continued into the house. “Have fun!”

“You too!” Gaby called back, with a knowing smile. She gave him a quick-but-mischievous finger-wave as he turned around to throw her a questioning glance before he entered the house.

“Gaaab-eee!” Maddy jokingly cautioned.

“Can’t ‘elp it, luv … it’s in me blood,” Gaby answered in her best Liverpudlian accent as she steadied Paint. Maddy quickly stuck out her tongue as Gaby mounted her horse in one movement and glanced down at her bride.

“So you going to just sit up there grinning like a bloody Cheshire cat … or what?” Before Gaby could think of a response, Maddy hoisted herself up and was getting comfortable in the saddle.

“You seriously didn’t think you had to teach me how to ride … did you, sweetheart?” Maddy playfully remarked as she started to move Tonto away from the house. She enjoyed seeing the look of surprise on her wife’s face.

It only took Gaby a second to recover before she drew up alongside of Maddy and the two followed Jessica’s driveway around the side and out to the road.

“Despite what Jess may have said … I was listening the one time she got me up,” Maddy smugly revealed. Her mood quickly became very sombre.

“Some time after you moved and I began to face reality ... I started to go to those riding stables out by Worksop … to think … when I began to think … anyway.”

“About what? … Us?”

“Uh huh.”

“Why the stables?”

“They were peaceful … and in a way, reminded me of here … an’ how I was hurting Jessica ... she tried to make me see what I was doing to us … only, I was too dumb to listen…”

“Mad…” Gaby softly reminded her wife as she sided up close along side of Tonto. “I thought we agreed to put that all behind us.”

“We did … but being here ... sorry.” When both girls halted their horses along side of the house, Gaby leaned over a planted a soft kiss on Maddy’s lips.

“Now … cheer up! You heard Rob. We’re supposed to be having fun!”

“You’re re right …” Maddy quietly remarked with a faint smile and a nervous chuckle. “Only happy thoughts for now on.”

“Speaking of fun … I told Jess I’d give her two hours … so which way, Kemo-saw-bee?” Gaby playfully stated as they reached the road.

“This way … two hours, huh? What’re we gonna do for two hours?”

As they turned out onto the shoulder of the road at a walking pace, Gaby gently nudged Paint into a trot, making Maddy do the same. Once they were again along side of each other, Gaby turned to face her, with a devilish smile on her face.

“I’m sure we’ll think of something!”

After riding a short distance, they came over a rise in the road and saw a house that could have easily been transported through time from the American Civil War, about a quarter of a mile ahead of them. It was a large, asymmetrical, two-story frame and brick house, with a chimney at each corner and a central front porch adorned with two vertical columns supporting a small pinnacle roof. Set in behind the main house was a large court-yard, now paved over and a smaller building, which appeared to be stables with additional living quarters above them, opposite the main house. Along the road, a waist-high stone fence ran in front of the property.

“Mary’s place ahead, luv. Any suggestions if we’re spotted … like … maybe make a run for it?” Gaby joked.

“I’m afraid that you’ll just have to stop and pretend to be civilized, sweetheart…” Maddy playfully replied. “I know it’ll be hard … but do try … for me?”

“Okay … for you,” Gaby smugly replied.

While nearing the house, the girls saw an older woman in a winter coat come outside and walk up the driveway to the single mailbox located by the side of the road. After she retrieved the mail and started to return to the house, she paused after taking several steps only to turn back to look up the road. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, she took a long look at the two approaching riders. Gaby thought they were going to pass by unrecognized after almost making it to the mailbox.

“Don’t recognize us …Pul-ease!”

“Gaby? … Gaby Bond?” Now caught, both girls pulled back on the reins and halted the horses.

"Shee-it!" The word virtually screamed through Gaby’s brain.

“Hello, Mary!” both girls chorused.

“My Lord … I thought it was you! ... And Maddy! What’re you two doing back in this part of the world?” Mary excitedly asked.

“Visiting Jessica…” Gaby replied. “…but we’re going home tomorrow.”

“England?”

“Germany, actually...” Maddy answered.

“Germany?”

“Uh huh. My family moved there soon after our exchange visit … an’ then Maddy’s family joined us a few years later,” Gaby explained.

“Erm ... what are you girls doing now?”

“I’m currently a research assistant at the University of Bonn … an’ Gaby’s a professional cyclist with Team Apollinaris. She’s the current Women’s Road Race World Champion.”

“Congratulations, the both of you! It’s always nice to hear how one’s former students are making out in life.”

“Thank you,” both girls chorused.

It wasn’t long before Gaby noticed that Mary wasn’t looking directly at them, but instead seemed to be staring at their saddles or more specifically, their hands. Finally, she couldn’t hold her curiosity back any longer.

“Both married I see.”

“…And why not? We’re gone tomorrow,” Gaby impishly thought, then spoke up.

“Since last May.”

“To each other?” Mary was flabbergasted.

“Uh huh ... I even decided to take Gabs’ last name. Now I’m legally Madeline Bond!” Maddy innocently added.

Both girls could just envision the wheels in Mary’s mind churning to try to process this information. “…They were right about Gaby after all! … But Maddy? I never would’ve guessed.”

“Next time you’re talking to Jessica … you should ask her to show you the pictures she took at the church. They’re really quite good,” Gaby suggested.

“You were ... married in a church?” Mary questioned with some disbelief. Gaby her nodded her head.

“...And you say Jessica was there?”

“She an’ Rob … as well as a few others from Grottoes, flew over...” Gaby admitted.

“Where’d you ... ummm ... get married?”

“Bad Neuenahr ... it’s a city in the southern part of Germany,” Maddy put in.

(ahem) “What brings you girls back to this area? A bit cold for a vacation isn’t it?” Mary quickly gathered herself following the initial shock.

“A belated honeymoon, actually! We had to wait until the racing season was over before I could get away. I’m only off for a few more weeks, then I’m off to Australia in February with the team to start the 2014 season.”

“Oooo … look at that face … heheeee.” Gaby was enjoying every minute of this.

Mary quietly cleared her throat again, before continuing. Maddy was trying very hard keep a straight face once she saw what Gaby was up to.

“Ah … Em was one of your friends, as I recall … have you … ummm …heard from her recently? Sandy tells me that she hasn’t heard a thing the past few weeks,” Mary asked, abruptly trying to change the subject.

“She looked really good when we last saw her … she was one of my bridesmaids,” Gaby revealed while again, deliberately mentioning the wedding.

“…but we’d talked to her just before we left to come over here. Do you happen to remember Ally... umm ... Alison Rose?” Mrs. Jones nodded her head. The name was familiar as one of Gaby’s friends but she couldn’t quite recall the face.

Gaby continued with a straight face, “I think she and Ally are finally engaged…"

“Oh Lord! What next? Has the world run out of men?” Mary wondered. Gaby thought the look on her face was priceless.

“How are you and Sandy doing?” Gaby politely asked.

“Very well, thanks. I think I’ll stick it out at the school another two or three more years and then retire. Sandy’s sharing an apartment in Richmond with a couple of her friend’s from college. They recently decided to go into business for themselves and opened a flower shop in one of the malls, there. Doing very well, I understand.”

“When you next see her, tell her that we said ‘hello’ ... and we’ll remind Em to email her, once we get back ‘ome...” Gaby mentioned with some sincerity.

Using the excuse she was getting cold, Mary said her good-byes and then quickly returned to the warmth of her house while the girls continued with their ride.

“Gaby Bond! You deliberately wound that poor woman up … didn’t you?” Gaby turned and looked at Maddy with an exaggerated pout.

“Moi?” Gaby innocently responded. “I was just being civil like you asked…”

“Well … at least you tried, sweetheart … you tried,” Maddy added with a giggle. Changing the subject, she asked, “You really think Em an’ Ally might be engaged by now?”

“I dunno … but I wouldn’t be surprised if we called them once we get back and found out they were,” Gaby thoughtfully replied. “Feel like giving these guys some exercise, luv?”

“Ge’yap!” Maddy sharply barked, much to Gaby’s surprise.

“You get the feeling that this has ‘appened before, Paint ol’ boy? … Hee-yah!” Gaby wondered aloud before chasing after her wife.

~~~

“Think I’ll ask Jess if we can thaw out our jeans in the dryer…” Gaby shivered as she slipped her bare legs into her floor-length denim skirt while Maddy stood beside her wrapped up in Jessica’s warm fleece housecoat.

“Way ahead of you, sweetheart … I asked her if we can do a washing … sooo … bundle up your dirties, m’dear…”

“Maybe I’ll just climb in the drier with the clothes!”

“Serves ya right for throwing me in that snowdrift,” Maddy cooed as she flirted with her love.

“Oh, God! … Yer hand’s are cold!” Maddy shrieked as Gaby momentarily slipped a hand inside the borrowed housecoat before quickly pulling it back.

“It’s yer fault! You were supposed to let go!” Gaby quietly pouted.

“Ya know … they say a good way to warm a cold body … is to cuddle…” Maddy softly suggested just before she pulled Gaby into a loving embrace. As their lips met in a long, lingering kiss, a wandering hand had a mind of its own.

“Mmmmm … don’t stop,” Gaby purred.

“You feel the blood circulating yet?” Maddy seductively murmured.

“I’m not s-s-sure ... but whatever ... yer ahhh-hhh ... doing…” Gaby softly breathed as she tried to return Maddy’s kiss. When they heard Jessica’s footsteps coming up the stair, they suddenly parted like two teenagers about to be caught by her parents.

“You didn’t close the door!” Maddy hissed.

“Guess we better get the laundry together,” Gaby quickly adlibbed for Jessica’s benefit.

Their host smiled knowingly as a beet-red young woman hurried out of the room and passed her with an armful of laundry. When Maddy followed, Jessica stopped her in the hall.

“Thank Gaby for the two hours, for me … will you?”

“Time well spent?”

“Yes.” Now it was Jessica’s turn to blush. “Listen, I…”

Later, after the washing was going, Maddy cornered her wife alone in the living room. When she came and sat beside her bride, she had Gaby show her the cover of the book she was looking at.

“Where’d you find that?”

“Over there…” Gaby replied, indicating the large wall-unit that dominated one wall of the living room.

“Figures … your dad has his castles an’ you have...”

“You!” Gaby lovingly enthused as she leaned over and gave Maddy a gentle kiss on the lips.

“Now you made me forget what I was going to say,” Maddy pouted. “Oh, yeah … Jess says thanks for the two hours.”

“Thought she had this ‘glow’ about her after we got back,” Gaby quipped with an understanding grin.

“Gabs,” Maddy thoughtfully began. “While you were putting a load in the drier I was flipping through an’ looking at the pictures on the kitchen calendar … guess wot I saw?”

“I dunno.”

“Next month is Rob and Jessica’s fourth.”

“Yer kidding! … Doesn’t seem that long ago she emailed me that she was getting married … did ya note the date somewhere? … We’ll have to send them a little something.”

“Already did, sweetheart … oh! … What time did Rob make the dinner reservations for?”

“Seven-thirty.”

“Where?”

“Not sure … Olive Garden … or something like that,” Gaby replied after a thought-filled pause.

“I think he said it was in Waynesboro … anyway … he mentioned that we passed it the other night when they picked us up at the airport.”

“I take it this is not a night for jeans?”

“I seem to remember that there was a time when you lived in skirts,” Gaby softly pointed out.

“Do you like me in a skirt?” Maddy seductively asked.

“Wot’s not to like?” Gaby breathed as she slowly ran her fingers through her wife’s hair.

“Funny … I was thinking the same thing about you at dinner the other night,” Maddy mischievously whispered.

“Changing the subject ... what time do we have to be at the airport, tomorrow?” she then asked in a normal speaking voice after a brief pause.

“Six in the evening … but don’t forget we’re leaving directly from Frank’s after we’ve had our visit.”

“So … I finally get to meet him?”

“Uh huh.”

“We’re flying at night?”

“Sunrise ala Atlantique…”

“Well … there’s another night, shot!” Maddy sarcastically exclaimed.”No sleep ... and no fun!”

“But I’m all yours the next…” Gaby seductively whispered.

“Why do I always have to wait?” Maddy pouted as she wrapped her arms around Gaby and pulled her close.

“You did it before … good news is … there’s still tonight,” Gaby softly hinted as their lips met.

(sigh) “Just remember to close the door this time … okay?”

“Promise.”

(Bzzzzzzzzz) The buzzer on the drier sounded telling the girls their laundry was done and totally interrupting the moment. As Maddy went to take the clothes out of the drier and start to fold them, she looked around for a laundry basket of some kind.

“Didn’t you use a basket to bring this down?”

“I was in a hurry,” Gaby sheepishly replied.

“I guess we’ll just have to be careful taking this stuff back upstairs,” Maddy commented as she neatly laid the folded clothes on a nearby table. “Here … take this bunch up!”
Later, while the girls were putting away their laundry, Jessica poked her head into their room.

“Guys … Rob’s running me to the school for a bit. I almost forgot to get these grades in before the end of the week. We’ll be back before we have to leave for dinner,” she announced with a quick wink to Maddy.

“We’ll be okay … see you when you get back!” Maddy called out to an empty hallway.

When Jessica reached the bottom of the stairs, she glanced back over her shoulder and smiled to herself.

“Payback doesn’t always have to be a bitch...”

“So we got everything put away … now what? Any ideas?” Gaby mumbled as she hung up Maddy’s indigo silk blouse.

“You thinking of travelling in a skirt tomorrow, sweetheart?”

“I guess so. Considering how long we’ll be travelling, it seems to be the more comfortable option. I was thinking of wearing my black one with the sweater I got in Calgary. You?”

“I guess my plaid skirt with the off-white sweater. Gotta dress for comfort and the weather, ya know...” Maddy sweetly answered. “I take it we’ll both be wearing our dress boots.”

“I think so. They may not have much snow here, but I bet they got tons back ‘ome.”

“Okay ... now I know what not to pack. C’mon … let’s go back downstairs...”

“Better add our ski jackets to that. Somehow, I can’t see them with our skirts,” Gaby playfully advised.

“Okay ... now, feel like seeing what’s on the telly?”

“Not really,” Maddy dismissively replied, as they got to the bottom of the stairs.

“Maybe curl up with a good book ... in front of the...? Who started the fire?” Gaby asked as she glanced at the fireplace.

“I dunno, sweetheart...” Maddy innocently called out from the dining room.

“Guess we should stay here and keep an eye on this thing, huh?” Gaby added as she turned and scrutinized the mysterious fire that was left burning in the fireplace.

“Would that be so bad?” Maddy softly asked as she brought out an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne and two glasses buried in the crushed ice.

“Where’d you get that?”

“Kitchen table…” Maddy mischievously replied. She set the bucket on the nearby coffee table and pressed ‘power’ on the CD player. Soon, a soft Celtic ballad filed the air.

“…’ere … ‘ow’d you know that CD was already in there?”

“Lucky guess.”

Maddy knelt down on the plush throw rug in front of the fireplace and gently taking Gaby by the hand, pulled her down to join her.

“Are you trying to seduce me, Frau Bond? … ‘cuz if you are … I must tell you that I’m a happily married woman…” Gaby softly stated as she knelt on both knees in front of her wife and stared into her eyes while gently holding both of her hands.

“I’m not … ‘trying’ … to do anything … Mrs. Bond,” Maddy innocently whispered as she reclined on the rug, slowly pulling her bride down into a long and very deep kiss. After a few minutes, their lips parted while Gaby closed her eyes and Maddy tenderly traced her wife’s growing smile with her finger.

“Whaddya thinking about, sweetheart?” Maddy whispered.

“Mmmm … just enjoying the moment,” Gaby softly replied before pulling Maddy into another kiss.

“What do we say if Jess an’ Rob walk in an’ we’re makin’ out on their rug like a couple of teenagers in heat?”

“Nothing … they know we’re on our honeymoon. We’re only just doing what newlyweds do,” Maddy softly explained. “Now … come here … we’re not finished

 
 
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To Be Continued...