“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Eighty-three years,” he added, his face flickering with pride. “My great-grandfather was the one who purchased the land and built the original house. It operated as a farm for thirty years, beef cattle mostly, then my grandfather inherited it and set up the riding arena and converted the barn to stables, and then it was passed down to my father. The rest is history, as they say.”

“And these trail rides are what you do? They’re your full-time job?”

“That, and anything else that needs doing around the place.”

“I think I read in your flyer that you also do riding lessons?”

“Used to, a long time ago. Really should get those flyers updated. These days I try to keep the focus on getting people out on the trails.”

“How come?”

“Just the economics of it. Don’t get me wrong, though, I enjoy the lessons. Had a young girl come by this morning, and her enthusiasm reminded me of how rewarding it can be. But the math doesn’t add up—there’s little sense in me spending an hour with someone one-on-one, not when I can take a whole group out and charge five times the price.”

“I guess that makes me pretty bad for business then, huh?”

“How so?”

“Well, here I am, monopolizing your afternoon, and I haven’t paid a dime.”

Ryan twisted in the saddle and glimpsed Amy’s shrewd grin. “It’s not quite like that,” he said, smiling back. “There’s always exceptions to the rule. Besides, don’t forget, you’re doing me a favor.”

“Oh yeah,” she said with a wink. “A favor, that’s right, I forgot.”

•••

The scenery was ever changing; one minute they were riding through dense forest, traversing narrow trails choked over by rhododendrons, and the next they were crossing sunlit glades. At the bank of a stream, they diverged from the trail and started heading west, a direction that took them into a disorientating maze of red alders. As Amy surveyed the myriad columns of stilt-like trunks surrounding them in every direction, she wondered if Ryan actually knew where they were.

“You do know where you’re going, right?”

“Good point. Didn’t we just come through here?”

She laughed. “Honestly, even if we were going in circles, I don’t think I would know.”

He laughed as well. “You can relax. We’re nearly there.”

“We’re heading back already?” Amy shot back a startled look, surprised by how much disappointment this news stirred up. She wasn’t ready for the ride to end, not so soon.

“Not quite,” he said. “I’ve taken us on a small detour. Hope you don’t mind. There’s something I want to show you. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

He was notably coy on detail, but Amy needed little persuading. “You’re the guide,” she said happily. “You lead, I’ll follow.”