I look around feeling nervous. Wendy told me this morning she would invite Carrots over to learn to ride a horse. I want to see her. For the past few weeks, all I've been doing is catching glimpses of her in the ski lodge. Mainly because I still felt bad about leaving her alone like that at her first lesson and I don't know what I should do about it. I've wanted to talk to her. To apologize for being a jerk that day.

But I'm with my dad doing chores. Well, actually, we finished chores and we're getting ready to ride back to the barn.

"Wanna go and see your sister and her friend?" my dad asks.

This throws me off for a second. But I think I recover quick enough for my dad not to have noticed. Besides, he would want to meet Clara. Wendy never stops talking about her.

"Yeah, sure," I say. I hope I didn't seem too eager about it.

"How's your crush coming along?" my dad asks. Obviously I seemed too eager to go see my sister and Carrots.

"What are you talking about, Dad? I don't have a crush on anyone," I say. That's a lie. I have it bad for Carrots. I try not to blush cause it's odd talking to my dad about who I supposedly like. I'm probably not doing a good job because my dad still has a suspicious smile on his face.

"Oh yeah?" he asks. "Then why are your ears pink?"

"Uhh... Sunburn?" I say. My dad laughs so loudly, I swear anyone within a hundred miles heard it.

"Sure Tuck, whatever you say," my dad says, still chuckling about the sunburned ears. "I've seen how you look when your sister talks about Clara. Never seen that expression on your face before. It looks like you've got it bad for this Ms. Clara. Wendy too."

I make a face when Wendy talks about Carrots? I need to play some more poker...

"Alright, alright. You caught me red-handed, Dad. I have a 'crush' on Clara," I say. "You'll see why. She's perfect."

"I'm sure she is if she knows how to give my son a sunburn on his ears," my dad says. We both start cracking up.

I see her. She looks beautiful. Her hair is whipping behind her like fire in the sunlight and she's sitting in her saddle like she was born to ride. This can't be her first time riding. There are horses in California, right?

Wendy and Clara head toward the barn, toward us. I start getting nervous again. What should I say to her? That's another first, me at lost with words. What is she doing to me?

"Hey there!" my dad calls. "Looking good."

"Thanks. I'm Clara," she says with a friendly smile. I don't think she's ever smiled at me that way. Dang, she has a great smile...

"I know," my dad says. "Wendy's been talking about you nonstop for months now." He grins at her back and I'm glad he didn't add anything about me looking like a lovesick puppy while Wendy talked about her. My dad's the best.

"Dad," Wendy mutters in embarrassment. She comes up to rub Ruby, my dad's horse. I would be embarrassed too if dad said anything about me liking her. I'm still embarrassed that he knows.

I look over at Clara and realize that the reason why she looked so confident was because she was on Sassy.

"Oh lord," I laugh. "She's got you on old Sassy."

She keeps her expression cool. Is she mad at me? She leans forward to stroke Sassy's neck.

"I like her," she says. Yeah, I like Sassy too. She's a sweetheart. Which is why we put her with little kids.

"She's the horse we put little kids on," I tell her. Sorry, can't help it. It's fun to tease her.

"Tucker, shut up," Wendy says.

"But it's true. That horse hasn't moved faster than a snail in about five years, I think. Sitting on her is practically like sitting in a chair," I say. Wendy shoots me an irritated look. I can tell that I get on her nerves, but she could let up just a little. She knows that I'm just teasing, right? And that I really like Clara but I don't want her to know just yet. She probably doesn't know that I like her best friend, but then again you never know...

I see Clara give a I-know-something-you-don't smile and whisper something in Sassy's ear. In less than a second, Sassy perks up as if she was shot with life serum. In another second, they're galloping and a speed I haven't seen Sassy do since I was twelve. I can't keep my eyes off the both of them. Especially Clara. The wind's in her hair, making it dance like sparks. She's has great form and is riding like a pro. She has the same confidence in riding as she does in skiing. This is definitely not her first time riding. That's just impossible. Clara's laughing. I can hear it from the barn and I want nothing more than to laugh with her riding right beside her. I want to make her laugh like she's the happiest person in the world. A laugh like that is earned and I want to be the only one to make her laugh that way.

I hear Wendy take in a breath beside me and I see why. They're going to crash into the fence! Doesn't Carrots know how to stop? And Sassy's not dumb, should she be stopping by now and not charging toward the fence like a knight charging in battle?

The next thing I know, I'm watching time dramatically slow down. I still can't believe what I saw. Sassy jumped the fence! She barely made it, mind you, but it was incredible. I don't think I've seen anything like that from the old girl.

Clara pulls Sassy back and together they trot back to the barn toward us. I know I must look like an idiot, but I really didn't expect that from either of them.

"Whoa," she says to Sassy. The two of them stop right in front of us. Clara looks a little sheepish but her eyes are shining and she can't stop smiling. She was really happy right now.

"Holy smokes!" Wendy gasps. "What was that?" That's what I'd like to know too. I realize that my mouth is still hanging open so I quickly shut it.

"I don't know," she says. She laughs but it seems a little forced... "I think it was mostly the horse's idea."

"That was amazing!" Wendy gushes. Talk about puppy love.

"I guess she still has a bit of sass in her after all," she says to me. Carrots is looking at you. She's looking at you! She wanted to prove you wrong. She cares about what you think about her. Carrots cares about you! My brain is babbling and so I try thinking of peanut butter. Thinking peanut butter helps me focus.

"That sure was something," my dad says. "I didn't know the old girl had it in her." I'm not sure anyone did.

"How long have you been riding?" I ask. I want to know. Probably all her life if she can do that.

"This is her first time, isn't that amazing?" Wendy says. "She's a natural."

Her first time? I know Wendy wouldn't lie and seeing that Carrots is blushing a little, it really must be her first time. But that's not possible. No one could do that their first time riding.

"Right," I say. I look at Carrots and meet her gaze. "A natural."

I have a feeling the both of us know that wasn't natural. Carrots is hiding something about her. Something big. And I'm determined to find out what.

I don't think about that too much because it looked like she had a really good time today. Watching her riding was beautiful. She looked as if she was flying. Everything she does looks like she was flying. Her laugh was like music to my ears. She was my little bird in the sky. I want to hear her laugh again. I want to race her across the grass. I want to be with her every second of the day. She was beautiful and perfect to me and I wanted to be perfect to her. This crush I have on her isn't going away any time soon and I'm perfectly fine with that.