Chapter 102 - 103
ELODIE’S POV~
The thing is, I actually know how to ride.
Most people assume I don’t. They see me being quiet, and reserved, always hovering on the edges of things and assume I’m the type who watches from the sidelines. The kind of woman who holds purses and takes photos while everyone else has fun.
But I learned years ago. Before Dante. Before all of this.
When Liora was younger, I used to bring her here all the time. She was obsessed with horses for a while, the way kids get obsessed with things, completely and all-consumingly. So every weekend, I’d drive her out here and spend hours watching her learn to trot, to canter, to sit up straight in the saddle.
I never rode much myself back then.
My attention was always on her. Making sure she was safe. Making sure she was happy. Making sure her helmet was strapped on right and her instructor was paying attention and she had water when she got thirsty.
That’s what mothers do, right? We disappear into the background so our children can shine.
It’s been three or four years since I’ve ridden seriously.
But the body remembers.
_________
The instructor assigned to me was young. Mid-twenties, maybe. Polite in that slightly nervous way people get when they’re dealing with someone connected to the Bellini name.