Page 17 of Scrape the Barrel
The corner of Callan’s mouth ticked up. “That’s what I like to hear.”
He headed inside the barn, Avery skipping beside him as I followed. After setting the pastries down on a table by the tack room, he turned to her with his hands on his hips. “You remember everything from our last lesson?”
“I listened super close so I would,” Avery confirmed.
“Do you remember what the first step is?” he asked her, raising a brow.
She nodded. “Halter!”
He flashed a smile and nodded his head in the direction of the hooks. “Why don’t you go grab one and meet me by Red’s stall?”
“Can I pick the color?”
He dropped his hands to his sides. “Of course you can. Any color you want.”
She hurried to the hooks as Callan faced me.
“Do you want me to bring one of these over to thevolunteers?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Bailey will take care of it.”
“I’ll take care of what?” Bailey questioned from down the aisle, his head poking out from a stall that was propped open with a wheelbarrow in the entrance. “Hey, Sage!”
I waved. “Hey, Bailey.”
Callan looked over his shoulder at him. “When you’re done, can you bring one of these containers over to the rescue barn?” Each of the three barns served its purpose here on the ranch, as I’d come to learn during our last visit. The green barn was for rescues, the white barn for personal horses, and the red barn for quarantine intakes. Whenever they brought home new horses, they separated them for a period of time before mixing them with the others to be sure they weren’t sick. I knew that part because Avery liked to talk everyone’s ears off in the cafe, especially about horses. She was always asking questions about the rescue.
“Sure can,” Bailey said before ducking back into the stall to continue his chores.
Callan’s gaze moved back to where Avery was standing moments ago, but now she’d disappeared. “Guess she beat us over there.”
He began walking down the aisle and I fell in step beside him as we headed for Red’s stall. Avery was already there, patting Red’s nose where he had his muzzle stuck out of the little window.
“You don’t have to bring them again if it’s too much trouble,” Callan said as we walked, his spurs clanking with each step.
“It’s okay. I like baking.”
“If it’s ever too much work, don’t feel bad skipping a day, okay?”
My eyes fell to the matts under our feet. “You think I have too much on my plate.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
He stopped, his hand slightly closing around my elbow to get me to pause before he dropped it. “I don’t know you very well, Sage, but I think you’re doing great. Hell, I could never raise a child on my own.”
I crossed my arms. “How do you know I’m alone?”
“Well, I just—I thought—” he stuttered.
I let out a sigh, dropping my arms. “I’m sorry. I’m not meaning to be rude.” My hand came up to my necklace on instinct. “I’m really appreciative of what you’re doing for Avery.”
“It’s not just for her.”
My brows furrowed as my fingers paused on the charm. “What?”
His hand grabbed at the back of his neck as he gave me a sympathetic look. “It just seems like you could use a break.”
