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“They’re all there, waiting to be ridden. I’ll help you. Climb on.” He took his foot out of the stirrup and gave her a hand to get up behind him. She nestled in, purposely squirming around a little, and he smiled as his body reacted, probably the way she expected it to, and headed to the barn.
Inside, she chose a horse she was familiar with and saddled him up. She’d spend extra time after the ride that afternoon waxing saddles and mucking out the stalls in payment for the ride. It was the way it worked.
She led her mount out of the barn.
“Bennie is my favorite here,” Phil said. “Good choice.”
“He knows me, so it’s a no-brainer. He was all feisty when I said hello. Kinda like you.”
“Ha! Am I that transparent?”
“No, but I am,” Amber said, looking up at him. “I don’t want to be alone. I’m attracted to you, I think you’re smart and funny, and if you want to give it a shot, I’m available.”
“Well, that was about the easiest conquest I’ve ever made. Let’s start with a race.”
“You got it. Where to?”
“The high range,” he said, pointing west, the only direction they could go.
Amber angled her horse up next to his.
“On your mark, get set, go!”
They took off in a cloud of dust just as Grace Breaux, Gus’s wife, walked out of the lodge with two other members. “Oh god, there goes trouble.”
“Poor Phil. I hope he took his Viagra.”
At Bayou Cottage, Maggie and Justin worked at tiling the floors in the barn clinic. Maggie measured and Justin cut; then the mortar went down to lay the tiles on. Working together, they discovered what a great working team they were. Within a couple of hours, they had the entire exam room finished. There was a small waiting area with a counter and to house charts, but Maggie wanted that floor to be wood. When Justin and Dave had done the exterior siding the day before, she chose pieces that were similar in color for the floors.
“Are you getting tired yet?” he asked.
“Not yet. Seeing the work finished is energizing me.”
“Me too, but we can’t do anything until the mortar sets. The grout is next.”
“I’d like it to be done by Easter.”
“It’s two weeks away. Palm Sunday is next week.”
“I’ll go to church next Sunday.”
“You will?”
“Yeah, I’m not as hostile as I was.”
“Aw, Maggie.” Justin gave her a hand to get up off her knees. “You don’t need to go for me.”
“I know. I’m not exactly. I’m doing it foryou know who.”
“That’ll be nice.”
“He’ll go to Saint Anthony Padua like his daddy and uncle and his little friend’s father.”
“Annie’s baby?”
“Yep.”
“There’s more, isn’t there? I can tell!” Justin said.
