Broken Strings

Fifteen

Jay

There's so much craziness that comes along with being a movie star that you can get so confused. Unless you've spent your whole life waiting to be the centre of attention, it's pretty terrifying – Ali MacGraw

It was official. Horses scared the ever-loving shit out of Jay.

Perhaps it was because the biggest animal he'd ever spent time around was his dog, Scout, who had been a mutt and wasn't particularly large. Maybe if Jay had had a Great Dane or a Deerhound or an Irish Wolfhound he'd feel more comfortable around horses but as it were, Jay could hardly keep himself steady atop the horse.

He kept looking at the drop to the ground and though he'd done action movies before and was comfortable doing stunts, somehow the distance seemed worse without a safety harness and no stunt double to step in for him if things got out of control.

Not that things were even remotely close to out of control. In fact, Ginger seemed to be operating under the impression that things were going quite well. She was standing in the middle of the round pen, her face a concentrated mask as she watched him atop Gypsy the horse who everyone said was calm but had taken one look at Jay and seemed to roll her eyes as if she knew that he had no clue what he was doing.

"That's it," Ginger said. "It's looking better. Just don't clench the reins so hard. You're pulling on her mouth."

Jay tried to relax his grip but his heart lurched into his chest as Gypsy gave a little snort. He cursed lowly, eyes flaring wide, but Ginger only smiled.

"Stop looking so scared," she told him. "Gypsy isn't going to do anything you don't tell her to do. So just stay calm and try not to bounce as much."

"Calm," Jay muttered, more to himself than to her. "Right. I can stay calm."

"I thought action stars were supposed to be tough?" Ginger said. It looked as if she were holding back a laugh. There was a tightness to her lips that implied she was pressing them together in an attempt to keep it from bubbling out.

He couldn't help but glare at her just slightly. "Look – the world thinks we're tough but the truth is, I'm just an actor. There are guys way more qualified than me to get thrown out of buildings and jump on top of moving vehicles."

"But not guys more qualified than you to ride a horse?"

She was definitely teasing him now. It was in the tone. Dry with an edge of sarcasm. Coupled with the raised brow and quirk to the side of her lip, it was clear.

Jay said, "Of course, there are guys more qualified than me that can ride a horse and for all of the intense stuff, it'll likely be some other guy. But there will be close-up shots of me on a horse so I need to learn how to look comfortable on this animal."

"Well, you can start by relaxing. You're so stiff. Sit deep and relaxed in the saddle – that's it," Ginger said as Jay tried to follow her instruction. Make sure you've got a good grip on the reins but don't clench—yes, like that. Now, you're going to start walking."

A pause in which Jay didn't move. Gypsy didn't either.

"Walk," he said to the horse, pointing ahead. "Forward." When the animal still didn't move, he glanced at Ginger. "Um, how?"

Her brown eyes lit with mirth. "Gently squeeze with your lower legs."

I can do that, Jay thought and as he squeezed his legs against Gypsy's body, the most miraculous thing happened.