Page 66 of Doing Life

He wasn’t sure New Mexico had the infrastructure to deal with somebody like him.

“Well, I know the VA has stuff,” Boone went on as if Lance had answered him. “And I know that there’s a bunch of stuff in Albuquerque. My father-in-law lives out there. He’s retired from the Air Force and he’s got that AMD stuff. So there’s a bunch of help and Albuquerque and Santa Fe are not all that far from one another. You just gotta find you the right resources and go with it.”

“That’s scary as fuck to think about,” he admitted. “I don’t know.”

“It is. No question. I can’t even imagine,” Boone admitted. “But I also can’t see that staying in one place becauseyou’re scared to go to another’s going to work. You got to do you, though. I’m sort of stubborn.”

Lance shrugged, and his cheeks heated. “Yeah, me too.”

“Well, there you go. Start with the VA and the state commission for the blind. There’s always one, and they have amazing resources. Okay, time for the bridle. Now. I’ll be walking you around on a lead, but I still want you to get a feel for reins and such.”

“Okay. Cool. What kind of bridle does Sarge take?”

“Nice. Good question. He uses a bitless because of his soft mouth, so it doesn’t take much to tell him where to go. We’ll work on that later on in your lessons, but today we’ll just do a basic walk-through.”

“Is it weird that it doesn’t feel like a basic walk-around?”

Boone snorted softly. “I think that nothing feels basic right now until you get used to it. Just think, soon you’ll be wandering around like a wandering around thing.”

“Right on. That’s me. The thing of wandering around.”

They both started laughing, and he’d be damned if that horse didn’t start bobbing his head and pulling on the reins, laughing with them.

“Okay, so do I let him go, and are you going to come get me?”

“Yes and yes. If you’re out here by yourself—which I can’t think of a situation wherein you would be out here by yourself, to be honest—but if you are, you can tie the reins to the fence in an emergency. As it is, this is the closed paddock. He’s not going anywhere. Worse thing is going to happen is he’s going to walk the six feet over to where the gate is, but I’m coming to get you.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” He felt bare butt naked without Abby here. He was so used to having her around now, that he just didn’t know what to do without her by his leg.

He wasn’t sure if that was wonderful or pitiful, but he was voting wonderful. Abby was his best friend, his constant companion, and she loved him, no matter what.

He was a lucky bastard to have her.

He heard the fence rattle, and then the sound of boots hitting the dirt. “I just climbed over. Nice job not flinching, you’re going to be great at this. I see you keep reaching for your dog’s harness. I can tell you that lots of times, horses and dogs are not the best of friends. It’s not a given, but you’d have to be real careful. So there also won’t be a time when you come out here with the dog. She can go out in the run, and she can be a dog. She’s fine. You won’t be left alone, I swear to you a bomb could hit this place, and I would still?—”

Lance held one hand out. “I swear to God, a bomb hits this place, and I’m not living through another one. Clear?”

“Oh, shit. Oh, man. I’m so sorry I didn’t… That was incredibly classless of me.”

“Hey, it was an accident. Just, it’s too soon. My man and I, we were in it together, and it’s too fucking soon to joke.”

But he’d been able to say that, hadn’t he? That it was too soon, and he didn’t want anyone to joke about it, and he didn’t panic and he didn’t short out.

He’d done it.

That was good.

It felt really good.

“Wow. That’s nuts, man. How’s your dude?”

“Solid as a rock. I did him not so great and he came after me, and I’m going to make it work.”

“That’s the spirit.” Boone took him around through a gate, then paused to shut it behind them. “Okay, we always let Sarge know we’re coming. And never from directly behind. So we’re coming up on his left side. Once we get close, I’ll put your hand on him, and then you can walk up toward his head, always keeping a hand on him.”

“I can totally do that.” He listened closely to Sarge, trying to get a feel for his body language. He seemed… bored. Not impatient or unhappy.

At least to Lance’s untutored ears.

---