“Yes, you did, son,” he said coming toward them. He’d been smiling at them the whole time and bent down to hug the boy.
Joe turned to her. “We’re not done though, right?”
“Nope. Every time you ride, you have to take her back to her barn and brush her coat.”
The three of them walked the horse to her stall.
Again, Scarlet gave instructions. “Take the curry brush and spray the grooming liquid on it…brush the horse gently, from the middle of the back downward…now do the other side. Last brush the mane and tail in a gentle downward motion.”
It took a while, but Seth completed the task.
Scarlet briefly looked at Cinnamon’s left front foot. “I think we can wait to clean the hoofs till tomorrow.”
“All right,” Joe said. “I’m cooking hot dogs for lunch as a treat.”
“Yum,” Scarlet said.
“Yummy.” From Seth.
They all walked back to the house. Joe forgot about Evangelina and the fact that he and Scarlet were supposed to stay away from each other.
* * *
The next day, after Seth would have left for school, Scarlet drove up to Joe’s farmhouse. He opened the front door. “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you this morning.”
“I wanted to check on you.” She gave him a peck on the cheek. He smelled like very male shampoo and soap.
His brow furrowed. “We aren’t staying away from each other very well.”
“I know, but this is important to me.”
“Come on into my office. I was paying bills.”
“Not a pleasant task.”
“I welcome the distraction.” He sat down behind the desk again and Scarlet took a chair across from him. “Can I get you something?”
“No, I’m on my way to work. I didn’t sleep much last night.”
His brow furrowed. “If you’re going to tell me you’re backing away from us, my answer’s still the same.”
“I’m not. But I don’t know much about your history with Evangelina. I need to hear it now.”
“Sure. We both grew up in the Southern Tier and were high school sweethearts. We went to different colleges but stayed together. We were talking about marriage when I went to Vet School. We tied the knot after my second year. Right away she wasn’t happy. She went to work to help pay for my schooling, but she hated her job.”
“What did she do?”
“Teaching first grade.”
How can you not like little kids?But she held her tongue.
“She quit halfway through the school year and I got a second job. I was ready to talk to her about splitting up when she told me she was pregnant.”
“Wow.”
He leaned back in the chair and sighed heavily. “That year was miserable. I was working so much and she hated being pregnant. In case you couldn’t tell, looking good is important to her. After she had Seth, she seemed content for a while. She really loved him. But I think she hated being a mother, if that makes sense.”
“Yes, I guess it can.”
