Wild Horses

*Author's Note: This one's been in my Stories Folder even longer than the one I just published. It's a rare Older Man/Younger Woman story.

My own personal experiences with older women when I was a senior in high school make writing these much less interesting for me, because I can personally relate. Now and then I find a topic for the OM/YW scenario that flows easily. This is one of them.

As a side note, anytime I write about a particular city in any detail, I get emails asking me how long I've lived there. I grew up in western Washington state and now live in Virginia. I just do a little research online to learn the names of streets and restaurants or parks to provide a modicum of authenticity.

As always, I hope you find it enjoyable.

*****

Northeast Florida

She heard her father sigh then heard the music in the background and got concerned.

"Dad? Are you drinking?"

It took him a few seconds to answer because he was, but he fessed up and told the truth.

"I am."

She thought about scolding him, but she knew he didn't do this often. She also knew that after the way her mom died he had every right to have a few drinks. But that didn't mean she didn't care about her father even though she no longer lived with him. At least not full time.

"I hear the Rolling Stones," she said instead, trying to remain nonjudgemental.

"Oh. Yeah. I uh, I've been a little melancholy today."

She was all too familiar with the empty, dazed look in his eyes; the same look he had when a detective showed up and told him that his wife had been killed during a bank robbery. You know, the kind of thing that only happened on TV cop shows. She'd been 15 when it happened and home with her dad waiting for her mom so they could have dinner together.

Her mom had worked at the bank for 17 years, starting right out of high school, and the worst thing that had ever happened up until then was a man having a heart attack one day just after the bank opened for business. It was her mom that rushed to help him as someone else called 911. The man spent a night in the hospital and was released, and as far as she knew he was still alive and well.

Bank robberies did happen. They just didn't happen in mid-sized towns in northeastern Florida. And on those very rare occasions when they did no one was taken hostage. And no one ever...died. At least that what Kara Nelson had always believed until she learned that sometimes terrible things happen to good people; people like her mother, Sara Fisher-Nelson, who was the kindest, sweetest, prettiest woman she'd ever known.

The first year was the hardest for both her and her father, Richard Nelson who went by Rick. Born in the late 70s, he was well aware of Ricky Nelson, the singer and actor from the TV show "Ozzie and Harriett" from the 1950s. The handsome young heartthrob was killed in a plane crash, and many teenage girls around the country were heartbroken. But as time went on and his 'kinda' namesake was largely forgotten, the references to him as Ricky Nelson died, too.

The second year was better but still difficult for both of them, but by the time Kara turned 18 and graduated from high school, she'd largely recovered from the loss, but her father was still struggling. Her mother was the only woman he'd ever loved, and that love went all the way back to junior high school when he asked Sara Fisher, the prettiest girl in school, to a the first dance his parents allowed him to take a date to.

It was more than a storybook romance. The two of them had become inseparable, and in spite of many, many people telling either and both of them it would never last, they married when they were just 19 and were as much in love they day she died as they'd ever been.

So when Kara's dad occasionally had one too many she understood why.

"I miss her, too, Dad," she said with sincerity and respect for his feelings.

"Yeah. It uh, it...never goes away, does it?" he replied, unaware that his daughter, who still dearly missed her mother, had moved on. She hadn't forgotten the woman who gave her life and her moral values. She'd just decided not to live in sadness and sorrow another day.

Kara heard the lyrics of the Stones' song and recalled how many times her father had listened to the same old sad tune. For a moment back home in her room as the music made its way in even with the door shut. She wondered if he was also playing "Angie", Jagger's other well known sad song.

"Wild, wild horses. Couldn't drag me away," Mick Jagger sang.

Her mother loved horses--wild horses in particular--and had always dreamed of moving to Montana with enough land where wild horses could still thunder across the open ground and run for miles. She never wanted to catch them and break them. She just found them to be magnificent and beautiful creatures and wanted to live close enough to them to be able to see them in their natural environment.

But her husband was the more practical of two and kept putting off her dream in favor of 'staying put' for a few more years and saving up enough money to get Kara through college and then maybe they'd see.

Now he spent a lot of his time beating himself up for not taking a risk; a risk that meant she'd have never been in the bank that day. She'd still be alive and well, and while it would have almost certainly also meant that Kara would have had to work part time to pay for school, her mother would still be there for her, just a phone call away.

Ironically, when her mother died, all of their financial worries ended along with her life. She'd insisted on term life policies for both her and her husband early on, and they paid double in the event of accidental death, and dying at the hands of a thief high on meth amphetamine and desperate for more, was more than enough to qualify for the larger payout.

Kara was enjoying a 100% free-ride through college with spending money and a new car--things she dearly appreciated and never took for granted. She thought of her mom every time she got in the car or started a new semester without getting a bill. Like her father, she'd trade it all to have her mom back. But unlike her father, she'd given up on that idea well over a year ago. She was doing well in school and had recently met someone whom she liked and who treated her very well.

Rather than respond to his comment about how it 'never goes away', she changed the subject.

"You mentioned that Karen Lessard asked you to a Jaguars game. Did you go?"

Again, her father didn't say anything for several seconds.

"Um...no. It's...it's too early for that, honey."

Kara knew that some people were 'ready' a year later while others needed five, ten, or even more years before they could even think of being with someone else.

"But I...I've been thinking about Montana lately."

Before Kara could ask him a question about it, he said, "A lot."

She chose her words carefully as she replied.

"Dad? Do you even like horses? Or...the wilderness?"

"Your mother did," he told her, his voice hollow and filled with sadness. The sadness was always there, and the drinking always made it worse.

"Dad, you need to find your dream, don't you think?" she offered as kindly as she could.

"I used to love riding horses with your mom when we were...your age," he said, his voice now choked with emotion.

Kara's maternal grandfather had horses, and her future parents often spent hours out riding the trails where her mother grew up. She smiled when she thought about the romantic aspects of those trail rides then thought, "Eeew!" after really thinking about what happened during them.

"Maybe you should, you know, find a place to ride and see if you still enjoy it," Kara told her father.

Her grandfather had passed away when her mother was 18, and her grandmother had had to sell the horses and all their tack to pay for the funeral and the heavy property taxes, so that was no longer an option. His unexpected passing had also been the reason for her insistence on having life insurance as she'd watched her mother struggle ever since.

"Yeah, maybe...maybe someday," he told her, the sadness in his voice ever stronger than it had been.

"Maybe we can go together when I come home over the winter break," Kara offered.

"Um, yeah. Sure. We uh, maybe we can do that."

His mood was affecting hers, and she was sick and tired of crying and feeling lost, so she ended the call by telling her dad she loved him and that she was looking forward to seeing him in a couple of weeks.

"Me, too, honey," he told her as the song "Wild Horses" began playing again from the top.

She said 'goodbye' then hung up and didn't call again until the day before she got ready to drive home. She wasn't angry or upset, she just didn't know what else to say, but she did some searching online when she hung up and hoped she could get her dad to at least go along with her latest idea.

Winter Break, Orange Park, Florida

"Horseback riding? Where?" he asked when she brought the subject up again that night at dinner.

"The Diamond D ranch. Out near Cecil Field. I made reservations for us."

Her father hadn't had a drink since the night she called, so when he raised an eyebrow and gave her the look, it made her laugh.

"Come on! It'll be fun. And maybe it'll help you decide if you really want to go to...."

"Montana?" her sober father said with a laugh of his own.

She'd always thought her daddy was handsome, and when he smiled, the feelings were even stronger. Yes, he was now 42, but he was still a good looking man, and her heart ached for him to find someone he could love. She'd been respectful of his wishes, but that didn't stop her from wanting to play matchmaker every now and then. This wasn't one of those times, but she always held out hope they might run into an attractive, single woman her father might take an interest in. It wasn't out of the question for her to tell a nice looking server in a restaurant her father was single even if it perturbed him, which it always did.

"If we don't go, the money is non-refundable," she told him, knowing that, in spite of the large sum of cash in his bank account, 'throwing away' money was anathema to him no matter how much he had.

"What kind of nonsense is that where you can't get a refund?" he kind of snorted.

"I...I didn't make the rules, Daddy," she said, softening her tone and smiling like she did when she was still his little girl.

He gave her that look again, but she kept hers up until he caved.

"Okay. Fine. We'll go...ride horses."

"Really?" Kara said, the excitement now showing on her face.

It had been years since she'd ridden, and she was really looking forward to it. It was just a one-hour ride around the ranch, but it was still a chance to get back on a horse, and for some reason, that appealed to her.

"Yes. Really," her father said as though it was killing him to tag along.

She put her arms around his neck, kissed his cheek then said, "I love you, Dad."

She felt his arms wrap around her as he said, "I love you, too, K-K," her name for herself before she could pronounce Kara properly.

The next day, they were on the road around 10am in order to get there for their 11am time. The sky was a brilliant blue and there wasn't a cloud in it as they drove north on I-295 before turning west on Highway 134 which was also 103rd Avenue.

The temperature was a pleasant 62 degrees with an expected high of just over 70. In most parts of the country that would be considered downright warm for that time of year, but in northeast Florida, it was considered chilly. Like so many other women, Kara looked forward to the cooler temperatures to finally be able to 'rock a sweater', something that was too warm to wear about nine months out of the year. That morning, she was wearing one along with a pair of blue jeans, and it caught her father's eye.

"You look so much like your mother, honey," he told her when he saw her.

"This was Mom's," she told him as she pulled on the material of the bottom of the garment. "I hope that's okay?"

"What? Of course it is. I uh, I thought it looked familiar."

After a half dozen miles or so, Kara started watching for their turn onto Solomon Road which would take them out to the Diamond D ranch, a place both of them had heard of several times but never been to.

"Dad. Look at those homes!" Kara said as they drove by some gorgeous houses on what looked to be at least 40 acres of land.

"Beautiful. Bet they run close to a million dollars these days," he replied, money being his focus.

Her mother's policy had been for half a million, but the double indemnity clause gave him an even million dollars, all tax free. As far as she knew, at least $950,000 of it was still sitting in a CD making a 'whopping' 3.5%, which, as awful as it was, was still pretty good for any certificate of deposit.

Real estate had gone through the roof after the pandemic, and the cost of wood had skyrocketed. It was back down closer to pre-pandemic levels but still higher than it had ever been. The good news for the Nelsons was that they owned their house outright now, and the last time Kara checked its value on Zillow, it was valued at little over $500,000. Considering how much her parents had bought it for the year they got married, that was a huge amount of appreciation. They'd taken out a 15-year mortgage, also at Sara's insistence, and the day they paid it off, they'd gone out to the Outback restaurant to celebrate.

"Which way, honey?" she heard her dad ask as the paved road ended and two dirt roads appeared as a fork.

"Um...right. Go right."

As he turned they saw the ranch come into view. There were several parking spots along the wooden fence that ran parallel to the road, and her father nosed into the one closest to a covered area with some benches.

"The place looks deserted," he said was they walked up to the place with the benches.

"Over there. That's where we check in," Kara said as she pointed to a sign on a sliding glass window.

The office was off the right of the stables which housed the horses they would be riding. All they needed to do was check in, sign a waiver, and wait for their guide who'd bring out the horses that would already be saddled up and ready to go.

After waiting for a minute or so, Rick tapped on the glass to see if anyone was there. Another 15-20 seconds elapsed before they heard the sound of someone in the room, and suddenly the glass slid open.

An older woman with a gravely voice asked them if they were the Nelsons, and Rick told her they were.

"Okay. So...two riders at 11am. Both over 18. Is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

"I ask because if you're under 18 you have to wear a helmet. You two can wear one if you like, but you're not required to IF you sign that extra waiver."

"Extra?" Rick asked as she handed him a clipboard and a pen.

"Uh-huh. The first one is for everyone. Says that under Florida law, we can't be held liable for any injury or death if you fall off the horse or any such thing."

Like most waivers, almost no one read them, and Rick wasn't going to bother trying. He just signed and dated in the two places she'd marked in red then handed the clipboard to his daughter.

"Okay, folks. Go have a seat over yonder, and we'll have your guide out in a minute or two," she told them.

After what felt more like 15 minutes, Kara finally saw someone step out of the side entrance of the office and into the stalls. She didn't get a good look, but she knew their guide was female and older than her. She also saw the long, blonde hair, but other than what looked like a man's shirt and jeans, she didn't see anything else.

The other woman came out of one of the stalls a minute later leading a light-colored horse out to them.

"Hey, guys!" she called out. "If you'll step up onto the platform, I'll bring Mr. Ed here up for whichever one of you wants to ride him."

When her father laughed, Kara asked why.

"Mr. Ed. The TV show? It was before my time even, so you may not have even heard of it, but it was about a talking horse named...Mr. Ed."

The young woman overhead and started singing the jingle to the show, something else Kara had never heard.

"A horse is a horse of course of course, and no one can talk to a horse of course...."

Her father chimed in and finished with, "Unless it's the famous talking horse...."

Both of them sang, "I...am Mister Ed!" and the other woman laughed.

"Hey, you can sing!" she told him as she asked him if he'd ever ridden before.

"Thanks. And yes. I've ridden. It's been...over 20 years, but I have ridden a horse."

"Okay, just put your left foot in the stirrup, grab the horn, and stick your right foot in."

Kara started singing, "You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out...."

The other woman laughed again then said, "You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself about."

Rick joined them and sang with them, "That's what it's all about!"

"Ha! I like you guys already," the blonde girl said before going back and getting the second horse whose name was Hatfield.

"Is there a McCoy?" Rick asked from his perch on high.

"We get asked that nearly every time we bring him out, but sorry, no, there's no McCoy," she told him with a laugh.

"Say, you don't know the song, "Luckenbach, Texas", do you?" she asked them both.

Kara gave her a 'never heard of it' look, but her dad started singing it.

"Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas, Waylon and Willie and boys."

Kara just shook her head as the other woman sang another line from that particular country song along with her dad.

"This successful life we're livin's got us feudin' like the Hatfields and McCoys."

"Is this your father by any chance?" she asked Kara after they stopped laughing.

"Oh, yes. This is my dad, alright."

"Yeah? Well, he's all right in my book," she said before heading back one more time to get her own horse.

She clip-clopped back to them on horseback then said, "I'm Erin and this guy is Sergeant, and it'll just be the three of us today. If you have cameras and want me to take some pics just lemme know."

Both of her guests handed her their cell phones and she dutifully snapped a few with each before returning them.

"Oh. My name is Rick and this is my daughter, Kara."

"Kara and Dick. Nice to meet you," Erin said, unaware of the error.

"It's RICK," Kara called out, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Her dad gave her 'the look' just as Erin apologized.

"No worries. I've been called worse," Rick said, laughing for the first time Kara could remember since her mom died.

"Sorry about that--Rick! Okay. Just follow me and as we go, I'll give you the nickel tour. I should warn you I love to talk, so if it gets to be too much just tell me to shut the hell up, okay?"

The perky blonde was actually very cute. Not in a stylish, sexy kind of way but definitely cute. There was no reason for Kara not to like her, but for some reason Erin just rubbed her the wrong way. Perhaps it was the way her dad was acting around her, but that was silly because this Erin woman couldn't be too many years older than she was. That meant she couldn't possibly be a romantic interest which helped Kara calm down. She even laughed quietly when she thought about how much she wanted to help her father find someone.

"Just not her," she said to herself as they headed out.

Erin may not have been gorgeous but the scenery was. There were some more beautiful homes on very large plots of land on their right and the main area of the Diamond D ranch on their left.

Just as she'd said Erin was a talker. She began by explaining that the Diamond D was a cattle ranch and the horses were a side business.

"We hold summer camps every year where we teach horse riding skills to younger kids that covers everything from how to ride to what to feed a horse and how to care for them."