“Tonight, once you get the kid settled. I’ll come sit on your porch if you want.”
Ah.I blushed. “Oh?”
He hummed. “I figured you might want to visit our other neighbor.”
I hung my head and groaned. “I wish there didn’t have to be all this meddling to just….”
Russ chuckled quietly. “To figure things out at your own pace?” He snorted. “You’re a parent, Mal. A parent of a sharp as a tack boy who seems to be doing real well here. Now, we just want you to be happy, too.”
What was this? Operation Get Malachi Laid?
I groaned again, and Russ laughed.
“Okay, fine.”
“Twisted your arm, did I?” He touched the rim of his ancient-looking cowboy hat and began his journey to wherever he was going next.
I turned back to the filly who was now sniffing around. “Okay, kiddo. You want to go back to your friends?”
I hadn’t given Crew a heads up, and when I knocked on his door later that evening, his expression told me neither had Russ.
“Oh,” he said, then glanced over my shoulder and shook his head fondly.
As I looked back, I saw Russ lift his hand in greeting as he sat in the rocking chair he’d carried to my porch.
“Yeah. We’ve been set up.” I smiled slightly. “Can I come in?”
Crew stepped back to let me walk through. I left my flipflops by the door and turned to look at him.
“So….” I felt a bit bashful suddenly.
He smiled. “I doubt the old man on your porch will give us enough time for me to do all the things I would like to with youtonight. But how about a beer on the couch and some making out?”
He wasn’t wrong there. I, too, wanted to take our time if we were to do anything more than we already had. Tonight wasn’t the night.
“Sounds good.” I stepped closer to him and kissed him softly. “Sounds really good.”
Hawk had recovered from the kick pretty quickly, but it had made him unable to work full speed for a week or so. That meant he was behind on some training.
“Will you take someone with you, go on a slow ride today and take a couple of the yearlings? Gemma has taught most of them how to pony, so it should be fine,” he assured me one afternoon post-lunch.
“Sure. I’ll ask her which ones to take and Jaina is great with ponying others.”
Ponying, which meant leading one horse while riding another, was a good exercise for horses who couldn’t be ridden for various reasons. With the younglings, it was great for their growth and their brain, because it gave them a safe way to exercise and get away from the barn a little.
Having a horse like Jaina, who was unflappable as anything, as the leader was particularly useful for the younger horses.
“I’ll invite Crew,” I said. I fought back the blush when I added, “Might as well use the time to hang out if he’s not too busy.”
Hawk smiled. “That’s a great idea. I know it’s not easy to date while working as much as we do here.”
I went to find Gemma and then texted Crew.
I would’ve called, but if he was doing something more important, I didn’t want to disturb him too much.
Wanna come pony some yearlings with me?
His response came back in the time it took me to go fetch Jaina from her pasture.
