They had been a little more than friends for about a month when they decided to go on their first proper, sober date. It would be as simple as he could make it and yet not seem like he didn't care about her.
"Where are we going?" Shelagh said, beginning to get slightly nervous.
"Be patient, all will be revealed soon" Patrick chuckled at the state Shelagh was getting in, she didn't stop asking questions the whole way there! "Right, when I take my hands away from your eyes, keep them closed, I just need to open a gate okay?"
Shelagh nodded and did as she was instructed to, keep her eyes closed, definitely without taking sneak peek at the PADDOCKS?! She tried to resist the urge to smile as she shouldn't have technically seen where they were. But the thought of seeing horses again brought her right back to her childhood, when she had the farm in Scotland with her father and brother.
...
A few hours later they were riding through the woods just on the outskirts of the stables, Patrick loved how the gentle breeze flowed throughout Shelagh's hair, showing her natural beauty. The slight crackle of snow underfoot, or hoof rather- added to the picturesque moment.
"Come on slowcoach!" Patrick could have sworn Shelagh was almost at a cantering pace
"I can't help that I don't know how to do this" Patrick wanted to make that very clear, he had never ridden a horse and only really did this because his friend had offered two horses for the day.
Shelagh was covered in snow by the time the day had come to a close.
"Before we go home, could I just get changed Pat?" She asked, eyeing up an empty bathroom stall.
Patrick nodded, but was rather quick to follow behind her.
"Patrick please get out, I'm cold and just want to change into something more warm"
"Oh please, I'll turn around" as Patrick turned around, he locked the stall door, securing his place in there, as best as possible.
"Out. Now." She was holding absolutely no prisoners, and was not going to let him in there.
"I can't -"
"Patrick, out now please, I've asked nicely"
"I can't Shelagh, the lock is quite literally jammed closed"
Shelagh tried to let the door ajar, but hopelessly failed. Patrick decided the best thing for it was just to wait, wait for someone to come in, then make a load of racket to get their attention.
"I'm freezing Patrick" Shelaghs lips were nearly blue at this point and he could tell just how cold she really was.
"Sit down here then" he patted the floor and laid down a spare jumper he brought with him
Shelagh sat down, at first the floor was a little icy for her liking but after a couple of minutes she began to warm up, safely tucked against Patrick's warm heart.
Within minutes she had fallen upon a perfectly peaceful slumber his arms, much to his delight.
For all she knew it could have been hours before anyone rescued them from their not too bad fate.
