Page 37 of Flowers To Give

Clark loses his snide smile, “I don’t get jealous.”

“Could’a fooled me.”

Clark huffs and sits back in his seat. He puts on his sunglasses and looks out the window, silent and tense the rest of the ride.

They make it to Kualoa Ranch, taking a Gator through the thicket down to the beach where Eneki and a couple other horse wranglers along with the stunt coordinator and stills photographer are waiting for them. They already have Haukea tacked up, the horse giddily tapping her hooves in the sand as Clark approaches her.

Eneki walks up to Jeremy, handing him a walkie talkie, “Nice of you to show up.”

“Sorry. Clark wanted to ride together.”

“Mhm, so,” Eneki claps him on the back, “Here’s how today’s gonna go. We need to work Haukea up to sprinting in knee deep water. So, you run it first with Kau and Haukea in tow. Then, you and Clark will run it. Then, Clark runs it solo. Copy?”

Jeremy copies. He goes over to Kau, who’s also been tacked, and saddles up. Trotting over to Haukea, Clark’s already gotten on her back. Jeremy tells him, “Hey, get off for this first go. They want me to run it with Haukea in tow.”

“Eneki, is that right?” Clark calls over Jeremy’s head.

Eneki nods, “Yeah. Come ride on the Gator to the other side with us. If this run goes well then we’ll add you next.”

Clark grumbles to himself but gets off Haukea. He hands the reins to Jeremy and their hands touch. He wouldn’t think much of the brief brush of contact if Clark hadn’t looked over his shoulder and caught Jeremy’s eye from over the rim of his sunglasses when he did it, fingertips lingering.

The interaction shakes Jeremy, watching as the ATV kicks up loose sand and dwindles in the distance. Jeremy reachesbehind him and ties Haukea’s reins to his saddle. Doing such a high speed tow like this is tricky, especially with the addition of water, and Jeremy needs to stay focused so he doesn’t get his leg crushed or have these thoroughbreds tripping over each other.

Eneki calls over the radio that they’re set on their end, additional horse wranglers in place to catch Haukea or Kau if anything goes sideways. Jeremy takes a deep breath, presses the rim of his hat down so it’s cinched on his head, and snaps the reins, “Hi-ya!”

Kau giddies up, Haukea getting the memo. They start at an easy canter before Jeremy is squeezing his thighs and urging Kau to go faster into a good gallop. The water splashes up all around them, soaking Jeremy’s boots and jeans. He doesn’t pay that any mind, keeping an eye on Haukea behind him. She’s keeping up but continues neighing, throwing her head and tugging back on Kau’s saddle. Jeremy reaches behind and grabs the reins, steadying the two sets of the leather straps in both hands and instructing the horses as they gallop at full speed.

“Woah, woah!” Eneki calls out. Jeremy looks ahead and notices the group is closer than he expected. He pulls back on the reins slowly and brings the horses to a trot, turning them around so they don’t run into the group. Eneki claps, “Good riding!”

“Alright, my turn,” Clark calls out, coming up to Jeremy and getting on Haukea.

“Watch her, she was a little skittish,” Jeremy advises.

“Uh-huh,” Clark lines Haukea up with Kau, “Real question is, are you ready to lose?”

“Excuse me?” Jeremy asks as the Gator takes the team back the other way.

“Oh, don’t act like you don’t know what this is,” Clark looks ahead, chewing on his lip, “Yep. Gonna kick your ass.”

Jeremy tilts his hat down, accepting the challenge, “We’ll see about that.”

Eneki calls back over the radio that they’re set. Jeremy and Clark exchange one look, lean forward on their respective saddles, and kick their stirrups at the same time.

The horses go flying across the beach, each of them in their own disadvantage; Jeremy up closer to the loose sand, Clark mostly running through the water. Still, they ride at break neck speeds, each of them standing up in their stirrups and leaning over their saddles to better ride the lightning creatures. Jeremy feels all his frustration toward Clark - past and present - surface and explode in his riding. They stay neck and neck, neither of them letting up as they approach the team.

Eneki is waving his hands in the air, but both Clark and Jeremy blow past them, Jeremy having to veer right to avoid the Gator.

“What the hell!” Eneki yells.

“Who won? Did you see?” Clark asks.

“This isn’t a damn race!” Eneki throws down his hat, “Get serious!”

Clark rides up to Jeremy and tells him, “I was totally first.”

Jeremy rolls his eyes, having absolutely been ahead of Clark at the end.

It’s Jeremy’s turn to ride Kau along with the Gator to the other end. Once there, Eneki says into his walkie, “Okay, ready over here, Radison. Now. Take her easy.”