Page 10 of Spur of the Moment
He had his back to me as he worked. “They do the rescues, not the personal horses.”
I opened the stall door a few inches more, squeezing past the wheelbarrow. Red let out a snort when he saw me, his ears perking up. “Hey, old man. I missed you.” I closed the distance, rubbing my hand up his muzzle to itch between his ears. He lowered his head slightly to give me a better angle.
Bailey turned with his pitchfork, tossing a load into the wheelbarrow. He stabbed it into the growing pile and set his hands on his hips as he turned to look at me. I ignored him and came up on Red’s shoulder to reach below his neck, scratching him where he loved it most. His top lip lifted as he arched his neck, enjoying the attention.
“I’ve kept him exercised while you’ve been gone.”
I looked at Bailey, patting Red’s neck after I stopped scratching him. “Thank you.”
He gave me a single nod but made no move to continue cleaning.
I bit the inside of my cheek before turning away from Bailey, running my hands across Red’s flank, my fingers combing through his roan coat with my back to Bailey. “I’ll go to Montana.”
“I can go on my own if you don’t want to.”
Taking a deep breath, I faced him. “I want to go with you.”
His eyes bored into me like he was trying to read my thoughts. “That’s not what it sounded like ten minutes ago.”
“Well, I had a change of heart.”
He turned around, grabbing the handles of the wheelbarrow to push it out of the stall. “Don’t go getting soft on me now, Huckleberry.”
I’d always been soft for Bailey, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. Between the four year age difference and him being friends with all of my brothers, he was off-limits growing up.
I pushed any and all feelings away when it came to Bailey, but it was nearly impossible to do that once I turned eighteen. I’d been planning to go to college anyway, but it ended up serving as my getaway without having to be upfront about running from him.
I didn’t want anything coming between us that could ruin our friendship, and I was scared that if we gave into those feelings, there were too many possibilities for things to go south. I couldn’t handle the rejection if it came to that.
“Looks to me like you’re the one getting soft. Taking care of my horse all these years?”
I patted Red on the neck before making my way out of his stall. Bailey closed the sliding door behind me.
“Took care of your dog, too.”
Turning around, I came face to chest with him again. “You didn’t have to do that.”
His eyes held mine for ten seconds too long before he grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow and walked down the aisle with it. The only sounds were the squeak of the wheel and our boots on the rubber mats as I walked a few steps behind him.
Following him outside the barn, the afternoon sun blazed down on us. He walked over to the manure pile, dumping the contents of the wheelbarrow on top. When he set it back down, he turned to me, taking his cowboy hat off to rub the sweat off his brow. His brunette hair curled around his ears and at the nape of his neck, stray strands plastered to his forehead.
“You going to be ready to go in three days?” he asked as he put the hat back on.
“Most of my clothes are still packed, so yeah.”
“And the barn?”
I glanced over at the red building, the paint peeling off in more places than not. “My dad said the wood should be here by the time we get back. I’ll just need your help on the roof, if you’re okay with that.”
He licked his lips, contemplating. He took his time before replying, gazing down at his boots, kicking a rock in the dirt,angling his hat down further so the brim covered more of his eyes. I wished he’d wear it higher and not cover his eyes so much.
His gaze landed back on me before he spoke. “Couldn’t think of a better way to spend my time.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“What’s a summer without some trouble? Just like the good ol' days, huh?” He grabbed the wheelbarrow and walked past me with it, leaving me standing there.
“No trouble, Bailey Cooper!” I called after him.
