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“Me, too. I’m going to go. You can come along.”

They did the bug spray routine, even spraying the dog, and got their snake boots and hoodies on.

“It’s cold,” Maggie said, leashing up Brulee. She walked out on the porch and saw a dozen eyes shining in the dark. She hesitated, pleased that the horses had returned. “We have company. They look like the original band.”

Justin looked to the right when he came out on the porch. “Yes, we do.”

They quietly descended the stairs and turned left off the porch toward the rescue. Justin took Maggie’s hand, aiming the flashlight in front of them. “Does this count as a night out?”

“Justin, you don’t have to entertain me every Saturday night. The past month has been one party after another. We’re in recovery mode.”

“I don’t want you to think now that I’m living here, I’m going to take you for granted.”

“I don’t think that at all,” Maggie replied. “I’m relieved.”

“How’s that?” he asked.

“I hated being away from you today, which is a contradiction, isn’t it? I was afraid we’d get sick of each other, and it’s just the opposite. The more we’re together, the more I want you.”

He slipped his arm around her shoulders as they walked. “I feel the same way. Maggie, I really love you.”

“And I really love you.”

“No, I mean Ireallylove you.”

“I know it, Justin. And I’m so happy. The day you rode Spooky here bareback was the luckiest day of my life.”

He pulled her closer, feeling unexplainably emotional. The dogs at the rescue heard them approaching and barked, the motion-detector lights switching on, lighting up the yard around the building. Justin got the dogs out into the fenced yard for a little exercise while Maggie went inside to let the mother dogs out for their night pee pee. She made sure everyone’s water bowls were full. For half an hour they sat on the deck and talked while the dogs relieved themselves.

After they tucked everyone in, they made their way back to the cottage and to a surprise. The pregnant mare had returned and was waiting for Maggie at Brulee’s low fenced yard.

“I’ll slip onto the porch with Brulee,” Justin said. “She’s not here to see me.”

Maggie nodded her head, approaching the horse slowly. She reached the fence and waited.

“I’m going to call you Raven,” she told the horse. “How original.”

She could hear Justin snickering up on the porch, which made her smile. Raven seemed to sense she’d amused Maggie and came closer to the fence.

“Wow, you are a beautiful horse,” Maggie whispered.

The horse sniffed Maggie like she had before, getting closer, stretching her head over the fence and lowering her snout to be scratched. Slowly lifting her hand, she scratched Raven’s head and the horse leaned into it, her tail swishing just once as Maggie whispered to her about her foal, that she couldn’t wait to see what it was going to be.

Then, amazingly, the horse slowly turned so that her side was facing Maggie. “Can I touch her?” she asked Justin.

“I think she’s inviting it,” he said, watching closely. “This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. See if you can feel any movement in the lower part of her abdomen, in front of her hind leg.”

Raising her hand, Maggie smoothed her palm over the horse’s flank while Justin observed. The scene was breathtaking: beautiful Maggie and the black mare. He videoed it, the light from his phone not bothering the mare. No one would believe it.

After a few moments, the horse tired of it and moved away from Maggie, leaving her.

“She’s like a cat,” Maggie said. “Only going to give you attention on her terms.”

“Whatever it is, it’s the absolute most amazing thing I have ever seen.”

He waited at the top step for Maggie to come up. “How did it feel?”

“She’s definitely more comfortable with me. The other two times, she was quivering a little. This time, there was none of that.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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