Page 8 of His Wilde Little
I nodded. “You wanna come in?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said. “My daughter already beat me with her words, so I expect the same from you.”
“With all due respect, sir, you are my boss, and I will do nothing like that,” I said as we walked into the small lounge that had been untouched since I arrived, only for a brief moment where I sat and found it was a little too comfortable.
“Ok,” he said, sitting and sinking slightly into the leather sofa. I stayed stood. I’d gotten so used to thin mattresses and hard chairs that anything softer made me feel like I was going to shit myself and be covered in dookie.
“I would need some assistance,” I said.
“Jace hates horses, and Olivia is more business focused,” he said. “I would help, but I’ve got this sore back. I haven’t been able to ride a horse in years.”
Nodding, I didn’t want to come across as ungrateful for the job, but three horses that I didn’t know what condition they were in; it was going to be a challenge. “Perhaps you could see if Jace is willing to overcome those fears,” I said.
He nodded. “I will see. And the other good news is, I will compensate you further for the extra work,” he said. “So, if it’s about money, know you’ll get what you deserve.”
It definitely wasn’t about the money. “And when do they arrive?”
“Two days,” he said. “The government have them with a veterinarian and checking their medical records before they come over here. Two male and one female. Apparently the two male horses are in bad shape, but I believe you could nurture them back to full health.”
I nodded, a continuous bob. “I can,” I told him. “And I will, but they will need round the clock care.”
“If there’s anything you need, we’ve got a sizeable grant to help,” he said, standing again, and almost struggling to find his footing on both of his feet. “Also, Martha wanted to extend an invite for dinner,” he said. “I know you told Jace you like to keep things separated, but I don’t think a dinner will hurt.”
If I accepted this now, then it would be a slippery slope into more dinners. “It’s not something I think I want to get into,” I said. “I need to get into my own schedule, but I thank you ever so much for even extending the invite.”
“Ok, well, I will talk to Jace about helping with the horses when they arrive,” he said. “And I’m sure he’ll be happy to help. Especially if it’s just to help feed and clean them.”
“That would be great, I can get them exercising, fit and strong on my own, trust me, but with three, I’ll need a hand withthe maintenance.” I also believed Jace had a way with animals, and I hadn’t seen that with anyone else yet.
Once Tom left, I heated up some soup and ate it with some of the bread rolls I’d bought. It was going to be a different pace of living here, I could tell that much. The wind blew in different ways, and it carried a distinct smell with it. Albeit a nice smell.
That night, I prepared my clothes for the following day, and I read a couple chapters of one of the gay romance novels I was reading on my Kindle. I kept it bound in this inconspicuous leather wrap that people assumed was a large wallet. Much like myself, I kept it all hidden. I read my romances to feel the open emotions spread throughout, knowing I was far from those people, but in the same vein, I felt them.
Early mornings meant I was up, showered, and pounding back a cup of bitter black coffee before the sun had chance to break through the surrounding mountains. I think I’d even made it out of the house before Jace, the self-confessed early riser of the family.
My first stop was seeing the mare in the stable. She stood on shaky legs to greet me in her stall. She shook the hay off her body and then bowed her head to me. I gave her a stoke, all the way to ruffle through her hair.
“I think we should get you out on the grass,” I said. “You’re losing a lot of muscle there.”
She let out a small whine and a neigh.
“Ok, ok, I’ll get you a treat,” I told her.
In the stable there was a small box on the side of the wall with peppermint canes and a bag of sunflower seeds. I grabbed one of the candy canes and approached her with it. She was immediately filled with excitement, neighing and wagging her head out of her stall.
“Good girl,” I said, feeding it to her and stroking her face.
It felt like I was talking to her for ages. There was never an explanation as to why I felt horses could talk to me, and they definitely didn’t come with voices, it was a look in their eye, or the way they lit up around me. I just knew what they were trying to say.
“I thought I’d find you here,” Jace said, startling me from the door into the stables. “I usually come by, or my mom and Diane actually come by, feed her, take her on a walk around, let her do her business. You know.”
“After what you told me, I’m surprised you came by here first thing,” I said.
He tipped his Stetson, hiding his face, but beneath it, there was a smile.
“Go on,” I said. “What do you want to tell me?”
“My dad mentioned you wanted my help yesterday.” And there it was. “Olivia is still irate about throwing two extra horses into the mix, but apparently, since we reached some type of threshold for financial aid, vet bills and such aren’t going to weigh on the ranch’s books.”
