"What about this kind of coral color?" Ellie slid a magazine towards Lisa on the floor of her room.

"Hmm... I don't think so. It might look weird with the flowers, right?" Lisa slid it back and scooched over to where Ellie was lying.

"What about this like orangey-pink though?" Lisa said, pointing at her own magazine.

"Lisa, that's literally the same color,"

"No, see, that's pink-ish orange, and this is orangey-pink. Totally different! Besides, you're a summer, so pink looks better on you than orange."

"Oh, is that how that works?" Ellie laughed. "Well, bridesmaid dresses can wait, and I know Jessica is going to care a lot more than I do. What about you? Have you thought about your dress?"

"Ugh! Don't even get me started. I think if I see one more sweetheart neckline and mermaid skirt I'm gonna lose it." Lisa rolled dramatically onto her back, flinging her magazine to the side. She rolled back and rested her chin on her hands, looking at Ellie.

"So... when do I get to meet Peter Reid?"

"Whenever you want, no one's stopping you." Ellie acted disinterested, flipping through the magazine again.

"Ask him to come bowling with us tonight. Hank doesn't like being the only guy anyway."

"Wow. You can tell Hank that that hurts my feelings. Also, even if I asked, I don't think he would want to go anyway. I mean we're not, like, close."

"Sure you are! Didn't you say you told him all sorts of stuff about your family? And he even took you to dinner!"

"Okay, that's not fair, I just like word-vomited at him. It doesn't make us friends. And he didn't take me to dinner, we went to dinner."

"He drove you and he paid. If that's not 'taking someone to dinner' then my wedding is just a chill hangout with a guy-friend. You have his number, right? Just text him and ask."

"No." Ellie looked decidedly at the magazine and wouldn't look up.

"Ellie."

"Lisa." Ellie stared her best friend down defiantly. She wouldn't relent.

"Elinor Phillips, you text that boy right now or so help me."

Ellie sat up. "Lisa, why would he want to go bowling anyway? It's not exactly the coolest thing to do. And he's like, from the city. I'm sure there's better things for him to be doing."

"Ellie, there is literally nothing else in this town. There's the movie theater that only shows Frozen, Pat's Bar, and the bowling alley."

"Actually it's Frozen 2..."

"Ellie. Girl."

"Okay, okay! I won't text him, but I am seeing him later today so I'll try to ask him then."

"ELLIE! You had a date lined up this whole time and didn't think to offer up that juicy detail? We could have been talking about this all morning instead of looking at these stupid magazines!"

"Not. A. Date! I'm serious, Lisa, he just wanted me to meet his horses. He's just being nice cause we live next door."

"You know, I know that you're smart, Ellie, but sometimes I just think, man, you are really really dumb."

Ellie swung a pillow at Lisa and reached for another to throw. Lisa hopped up to avoid her shots.

"Did he invite Ben? Or Charlotte? Or your dad?" Lisa kept teasing. "Nope! He asked you because he liiiiikeees you!" Thud. Lisa got hit squarely with a pillow, but it didn't deter her one bit. If anything, it encouraged her.

"Ellie and Peter sitting in a tree—" She was finally interrupted when Lisa's mom came in to see what all the noise was.

Ellie knew Lisa was just having fun. She lived for that sort of girl talk, and now that she was getting married, she needed to seize opportunities when she found them. Ellie didn't take it too seriously, but she would ask Peter to join them bowling if she got the chance. For his sake, of course, so that he could meet some new people. Plus, an invite to Hank and Lisa's wedding would be the best way for him to meet pretty much everyone in town.

_________

When she got to Peter's farm that afternoon, he was waiting for her at the stables. He waved her in enthusiastically.

"This is Fancy," he said, stroking the elegant horse.

"She's beautiful."

"And this is Jenny."

"Can I pet her?"

"Yeah, for sure!"

Ellie reached out tentatively and stroked the side of the brown horse's neck. Of course a lot of people in Wrenview kept horses, but her parents hadn't for a long time, and she wasn't very comfortable with them.

Jenny nuzzled into Ellie playfully. "She's like a puppy!" Ellie laughed, glancing at Peter. He was beaming.

"She's really easy to ride, too. Do you want to just try for a minute?"

A small part of Ellie really didn't want to, but it seemed like it would be a big disappointment to Peter. She looked back and forth between Jenny's big doe eyes and Peter's big puppy-dog eyes. What was a girl to do?

"Well, alright. Just for a bit."

Peter saddled up Jenny and walked her out to a small round fenced area. He held the stirrup for Ellie to step into, but she hesitated.

"You have to hold the reins the whole time."

"Of course," Peter reassured her.

Ellie lifted her foot but put it back down. "She won't throw me, right?"

"Absolutely not. She wouldn't know how if she wanted to. And I'll be right here."

"Okay." Ellie stepped into the stirrup and swung a little clumsily onto Jenny's back. Peter took the reins and walked Jenny slowly around the enclosure. After a couple laps, Ellie felt a little more relaxed.

"This is a little embarrassing, being walked like a kid on a pony ride."

"I used to give tons of riding lessons, most of them were actually for adults. And you're doing way better than most people on their first day. Do you have any experience?"

"Mm, I guess you could say that." Ellie laughed. "I was learning how to ride when I was little and I was really excited about it. One day I snuck out to the barn and tried to ride my mom's horse. I fell off, of course, and after that I was too scared to try again." She smiled, remembering something. "Actually, I don't think I ever told anyone I was scared. I think I was too embarrassed, so I just pretended I didn't like it anymore."

"You don't strike me as someone who gets scared very easily." Peter said, turning to look up at her.

Ellie scrunched up her nose and shook her head. "I don't know what in the world could have given you that impression."

Peter shrugged off her laughter and looked ahead. "You know, you just seem like someone who is really sure of themselves and who you are."

Ellie almost couldn't respond, but also couldn't help but smile. "Well, I'm not sure about that." But she couldn't help but want to rise to his opinion of her. "I think I'm ready to ride on my own."

Peter gave Ellie some instruction on how to hold the reins and direct the horse. She was familiar with most of the concepts and picked it up quickly. He saddled up Fancy and they set out slowly for his trail that had been cleared just the day before.

They rode quietly most of the way, enjoying the breeze that fluttered through the trees and birds high overhead. Ellie was mostly focused on her horse, and Peter wasn't one to fill empty space with conversation. When the trail allowed it, they rode two across, and when it didn't, Ellie followed behind Peter. She tried not to focus on the way his tee-shirt hung on his broad shoulders, but some things just couldn't be helped.

"You haven't been up here yet, this is my favorite part of the trail." Peter turned to say.

They came out of the forested area into a clearing on top of a low hill. Ellie hadn't realized that they had been gaining elevation, but now they could see for at least a few miles.

"Wow," was all that Ellie could say at first. "That's Bill's cattle," she said pointing. And way down there is Lisa's parents' place." Ellie pointed at the distant farmhouse she had just been in that morning.

"That reminds me!" Ellie said, turning to Peter. "We're going bowling tonight, do you want to join us?" She clarified, "By 'we' I mean me, my friend Lisa, her fiancé Hank, who owns the hardware store, and our friend Jessica."

"Sure, I didn't even know we had a bowling alley. Do you want me to drive?" Peter asked.

"Uh, no I've got some stuff to do with Lisa beforehand."

They kept going on the trail until it looped back around towards the stables. Peter hesitated. "Why don't we just ride to your place, then I'll take the horses back?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"No, I'd like to. The horses could always use more exercise."

They rode down the lane, easily riding two across on the dirt road.

"If the kids are around, they can meet the horses if they want." Peter suggested.

"They would love that."

When they got to Ellie's house, Peter quickly dismounted and went to help Ellie down.

"Okay just lean forward and bring your right leg back— perfect."

Peter put his hands on Ellie's waist to help her off. She slid down to the ground and turned around to face him, nearly hitting his chin with her head in the process. He pulled his hands away from her hips and stepped back.

"Um, thank you," Ellie said.

"No problem." Peter futzed with nothing in particular on Jenny's bridle.

"That was a lot of fun actually. Thank you." She turned around but turned back, flustered. "Oh yeah, I'll go see who's around."

A train of little Phillips raced out to meet their exciting guests. There hadn't been any horses on the farm for a few years, so it was a fairly momentous occasion. Peter picked Charlotte up so she could pat Fancy's head. Ellie came out of the house with a few carrots.

"Can they eat these?" she asked.

"The kids or the horses?" Peter smiled and nodded. Ellie handed them out to the kids to feed the horses. Mrs. Phillips watched the scene from the porch. After a few minutes of letting the kids fawn over the gentle horses, Peter got back in the saddle. He waved. "See you tonight."