By the time we made it to bed that night, we were exhausted, but we had a new home, our bellies were full, and for once, Tony wanted to cuddle with me instead of sleeping in his bed. It wasfirst night jitters, so I was pretty sure he’d go to his own little room tomorrow night, but I’d enjoy the company while I had it.
The next day, we continued to get settled and then went for a walk to look at our immediate surroundings. On a ranch this big, there was too much to even consider showing Tony, but he needed to know landmarks such as they were on this mostly flat area just in case of an emergency of any kind.
We wandered to the closest horse barn because for once, Tony wasn’t in a rush to go back inside. The barn was attached to an indoor arena, and a guy around my age was doing some groundwork with what looked like a quarter horse.
“What’s he doing, Daddy?” Tony asked quietly, somehow more curious than I’d expected.
We stood at a wide gate, leaning into it side by side.
“He’s teaching the horse how to move to the side when he asks.” I explained the basics of pressure and how to use it in horse training to Tony who nodded seriously every now and then.
After a few more minutes, the man patted the horse, gave it a treat, and then unclipped the lead rope to let the horse free.
“Go roll,” he told it, then turned to look at us, smiling.
He looked enough like Crew to be one of his siblings. He wasn’t very tall, maybe 5’7’’ if that, and his build was that sort of slim, sinewy type that spoke of strength without bulky muscles.
“Hey,” I said quietly as he walked closer.
“You must be Malachi and Tony.” He held out a hand over the fence. “I’m Hawk.”
His voice was deeper than you’d expect with how he looked, and his shake was firm.
“Nice to meet you.”
Tony held his hand through the gate. “Nice to meet you,” he parroted.
Hawk smiled. “You too, Tony.”
To my surprise, he asked, “What’s the horse’s name?”
Hawk turned his head to look at the roan filly roll in the sand. “She’s called Scarlett. I’m training her for a friend.”
“Daddy explained about pressure. Like how you made her… yield?” His brows scrunched in concentration.
Chuckling, Hawk glanced at me approvingly. “Yes. It’s really important to use the gestures horses understand.”
Tony nodded quickly. “And not hurt them like some bad people do.”
“Exactly.”
My phone rang, and as I got it out, I saw it was my mom. “Tony? It’s your grandma.”
“Oh yay!” I handed the phone over, and he answered it. “Hi, Nana!”
Hawk and I watched as he took a few steps away as if he was a businessman taking a sudden call.
“He’s just as awesome as Mom told us.” Hawk looked amused.
“I don’t know what she said, but I tend to agree he’s great.”
That evening, we made our way to the main house on foot. It wasn’t a long walk and there was enough lighting, so I knew we’d make it back okay, too. Not that we couldn’t ask for a ride from someone.
We could hear the scattered conversations and kid sounds well before we got close enough to see into the side yard of the farmhouse.
“Are there going to be many kids here?” Tony asked me, squeezing my hand.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll see. I’ll be there the whole time, though.” He didn’t do so well with other kids sometimes.
