Perchance to Dream Box Set

A Haunted Love-10

At noon Jeremy comes by the stables and watches me saddle up the horses. They have to be ridden every other day to keep them in shape, even though they aren’t the show mounts we use in the re-enactments. One of the steeds is an old mare well past her prime; the other’s a stallion that used to do the Bunker Hill run until he pulled up lame after the battle one day. The third one’s a young colt Marie wants to train for the carriage ride. When I get all three saddled, Jeremy pulls himself up on the stallion and starts to prance around the yard like he doesn’t have anything else he should be doing.

“Are they hiring any new smiths?” I ask as I swing into the mare’s saddle. “You’re always over here—they’re going to fire your ass soon, demote you to stable hand.”

He laughs at that. “Then what will you do?”

“I’ll hang out at the forge, spend all day staring across the street at my boy.”

Jeremy doesn’t respond. Instead he leans low over the stallion’s head, guiding it around inside the fence, pushing it faster until the sound of hooves fills the whole world. I know the mare can’t keep up but I fall in behind him and Jeremy slows down a bit, finding a steady pace so we’re always on opposite sides of the yard.

“What do you think of that?” I call out.

“Of what?” He fusses with the reins, pretending he doesn’t remember what we’re talking about.

I cross the yard, spurring the mare when Jeremy tries to ride away from me. “Jeremy, wait.” When I’m close enough, I lean over and grab the stallion’s bridle so he can’t ride away. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

But he doesn’t look at me and I’ve known him long enough to know he’s lying. I lower my voice so the few tourists hanging around the fence don’t overhear me. “Bullshit. Talk to me.”

“I am talking to you.” He shakes the reins. “Let go.”

But I don’t. I tug on the bridle, forcing the stallion to step closer to my mare. Jeremy’s leg bumps against mine. “Tell me why you’re here.”

“Because I’m your friend.” He still won’t look at me. “Because it’s lunch time. I don’t know, Nick, ‘cause I wanted to ride the damn horse, okay? Let go already.”

“You came to tell me something.” By the way he’s avoiding me, it isn’t anything I want to hear. “Is it about David? What is it?” When he doesn’t answer, I tug on the bridle again, dipping the stallion’s head toward me so hard, the horse tries to shake me loose. “Jeremy?”

With a sigh my friend says, “He’s lying to you, okay? He doesn’t work at the glasshouse. Ralph’s the only apprentice there. Don’t shake your head like that, Nick, I asked. I went over there this morning and asked to talk to the apprentice and Ralph the Malph came out. I said not you, the other one and he said there is no other one. Only him.”

He hits my wrist with the reins, a light slap I don’t even feel because I’m numb but I let go of the bridle anyway, letting it fall from my grasp. “He isn’t lying.” He can’t be lying to me, not after last night. “Jeremy, you’re wrong.”

“I am not!” Anger clouds his face and he glares at me. “I’m not the one lying to you, Nick. Why would I do that? I wanted to meet the guy who’s swept you off your feet. I’m thrilled for you. I know you’ve been lonely. You’re a great guy. You deserve someone who’ll treat you like a king, but he’s lying to you. I don’t know why, I don’t know what all he’s said, but he told you he worked there and he doesn’t, so what else is he lying about?”

He waits for me to answer but I don’t. I can’t.

Finally, Jeremy tells me, “You don’t need someone like that.”

I remember the way I felt last night with David in my arms, in me, loving me, holding me tight. I remember the way I felt this morning, so warm, so alive. I remember my hopes for a relationship with this guy. Jeremy knows none of that. “You don’t know what I need.”

I need to feel this way, like I’m falling and I’ll never hit the ground. I need to feel like this every day of my life and if David Henry is the one who makes me feel it, then I need him. “You’re wrong. He isn’t lying to me.”

“How do you know?”

I hear the desperate challenge in Jeremy’s voice—he wants me to be right. He’s my friend, isn’t he? He wants me happy, that’s all. That’s why he’s trying to talk with David, make sure he’s the right one for me, playing the big brother because he’s a few years older than me and he wants me to be happy.

“Nick, I asked. He doesn’t work there.”

I frown at the reins in my hands, gripped so tightly I can’t feel the leather in my palms. “Maybe he works at one of the other sites. He never said it was this glasshouse. He said he was an apprentice, that’s all. I assumed he meant here.”

Jeremy watches me, the anger fading from his face. “Why’s he here then? Every night? What’s up with that?”

“Maybe he’s part time. Maybe he comes here looking for me. f**k, Jeremy, I don’t know! Maybe it’s none of your damn business.”

He winces, a wounded look in his pale eyes. “I’m only trying to help,” he mutters as he slides out of the saddle. He strokes the horse’s neck and doesn’t meet my gaze. “Sorry for being concerned.”

He starts to walk away. “Jeremy,” I call out, but he doesn’t stop. Instead he keeps going, across the yard and into the shadowy interior of the stable. “Jeremy, wait!” I jump off the mare and follow after him, but by the time I get to the stable, he’s already in the street, disappearing into the crowds. Damn.