Page 13 of Brim Over Boot
I freeze, my gut nosediving in a way that has me wanting to grunt. I manage to keep the sound to myself. “Uh. Yeah?”
“Mhm. It was real good, your demonstration. You’re a natural with those kids.”
“Oh, uh…thanks,” I reply.
Noah was watching me? Why?
Probably sizing up the competition.
I scowl.
“Here you are,” Louise says, handing me my wrapped and bagged panini. “Enjoy your lunch.”
“I will. Thanks.”
I eat my sandwich on the drive back to the ranch, only managing to drip sauce once. I don’t bother stopping inside the main house after I park. I just lug my things over to the horse barn. Remi, unsurprisingly, is inside, mucking stalls.
I flick the lights to announce my presence, and his sandy-brown head pops up. He looks in the opposite direction before locating me and pressing the button to turn his processor on.
“Hey,” he says, glancing down at the bag in my hand as I head toward Clementine’s stall. “You here to work?”
“Sure am,” I tell him. “It’s time to shoe my most favorite girl in the entire world.”
Remi rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile on his face as he goes back to raking horse shit and damp hay.
“Hey, girl,” I coo to Clementine, opening her stall door. My horse greets me with an enthusiastic headbutt to my chest, nearly knocking me right out of the stall again. I snort, giving her plenty of good scratches as her nose comes up to huff against my face. She nips the brim of my hat between her teeth, tugging it off my head. “Hey, now. That’s new.”
Clementine doesn’t protest as I take the hat back, setting it outside the stall. I give her a little wave forward, and she follows me out the door and into the hallway, where there’s more space to work.
“Ready for some new shoes?” I ask her.
She doesn’t answer with words, of course, but I see her eyeing the mini-fridge in the corner of the barn. I head that way, retrieving a carrot that I bring back for her. She snaps it up and crunches happily.
“Hey, Remi?” I ask loudly.
He makes an “mm” sound.
“Does, uh…Noah King have a wife?”
Remi is quiet for a moment, but then he steps into the hall. “A wife? I don’t think so. Why?”
“Nothing. Just something he said that got me curious.”
I can feel my brother’s eyes on me as I pick up Clementine’s front left hoof, tucking it between my knees and grabbing my tools. I take off the crimped nail ends before loosening the shoe itself and pulling it free with a few precision tugs. Clementine stands patiently, the most perfect horse there ever was.
“Far as I know,” Remi says, “he dates some but hasn’t had a real serious relationship. Just lives with his uncle.”
My head shoots up. “Wait, what?”
“His uncle,” my brother says again, peering at me. “You didn’t know that?”
“No,” I say, going back to Clementine’s hoof. I use the hook on my knife to scrape the dirt away from her sole. “Why would I know that?”
“I dunno,” Remi mumbles, almost too quietly for me to hear. “Maybe because you’re obsessed with the guy?”
I sputter, nearly dropping Clementine’s leg. “Am not.”
Remi flashes me a quick letter R and the number two with his hand.Are, too.Cheeky little shit.
