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Eli scratched her own horse’s large snout. “Know how to get on?”
“It can’t be that hard, can it?”
Eli came around to the side of the horse and patted its back before sending Sarah a serious look. “Come along.”
Sarah followed her and gripped the saddle where Eli had put her hands. With Eli’s fingers digging into her waist, she pulled herself up, Eli steadying her as she went. Once she was seated with the massive beast between her legs, Sarah felt a little steadier. Eli pulled the reins from the deck railing and handed them to her.
“Don’t go anywhere.”
“Not planning on it,” Sarah whispered down to Eli, who still had a hand on her thigh.
Eli got up on her own horse. It wasn’t long until they were slowly walking toward the field, the same route they had taken with the truck days before to fix the fence line, but this time at a much slower and smoother pace.
“You said you went to school in Kansas City,” Sarah started. “What’d you go to school for?”
“Biology.”
“Not Ag?”
Eli snorted. “No. I think I know enough about Ag to teach those classes.”
Sarah clenched her jaw nervously. “I never went to school.”
“It’s not for everyone. It wasn’t really for me, but I went to satisfy my parents.”
Sarah’s heart hammered. “Yeah, I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to go my own way. My parents were pretty supportive so long as I was working and making money and could pay my own bills.”
“Sounds like you’ve got good ones.”
“I do.” Sarah smiled. “Your parents didn’t want any of you to take over the clinic?”
“They did, I think, in some form or fashion, but they didn’t expect it of us, which was nice. I do not have a head for school. I barely graduated with my bachelor’s degree. My brother is crazy smart. He’s a lawyer down in the city. My sister couldn’t care less about school. All she wanted was babies. And that’s what she got. She lives about six hours from here.”
“You see her much?” Sarah’s voice carried in the wind as they moved down a small hill.
Eli shook her head. “Not every day or even every week, if that’s what you’re meaning. She’s got four kids.”
“Four? Crap.”
“Yeah.” Eli chuckled. “The oldest just started kinder this year. She’s pretty consumed by them right now.”
“I bet your parents are excited about being grandparents.”
“Sure they are. Who wouldn’t be?” Eli clicked her tongue and turned her horse.
Mercy followed in line. Thus far, everything had been smooth sailing. Eli took them through the fields, walking along the grass and around the cattle. Sarah felt on much more even footing with the cattle who were milling around.
The babies played with each other, chasing one another around the cows, through their legs even. Sarah bit her lip and dared herself to ask Eli the question that was burning in her mind. “Is Buddy around here?”
“Nah, Carmen sticks to the lower field mainly. She likes it there for some reason. We can go down if you want.”
“Can we?” Excitement bubbled in Sarah’s chest. “I haven’t seen him since that morning.”
Eli chuckled. “Sure, we can.”
They moved through the fields, Sarah becoming more comfortable on her horse as time went on. They stopped at some point, and Eli helped Sarah off Mercy. They let the horses graze while Eli checked on the fence line they had fixed. Thus far, according to Eli, Cassie had not found a way through it yet.
As they got on the horses, Sarah noticed for the first time how relaxed she had been the entire time. None of the regular anxiety that plagued her had been there—well, as soon as she’d gotten comfortable on Mercy’s back and used to the rocking motion.
