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“Yes, ma’am.” Theron said with a smile.
***
“Well, partner,” Lucas said when they’d finished cleaning up after breakfast, “are you ready to go tell Buttercup that you’re sticking around for a while?”
Theron nodded. “I just need to get my coat and hat on. It’s very cold from here to the barn.”
“This is a miracle,” Vada whispered.
“No, it’s a horse that likes kids,” Lucas said out of the side of his mouth.
“Thank you for taking so much time with him.” Tears welled up in Vada’s eyes.
“Hey, he’s making me feel like I’m doing something special,” Lucas told her. “See you at noon, or before if he gets tired or hungry. We keep bottled water and snacks in the tack room, so we should be good until then.” He lowered his voice. “And thank you for letting him stay longer. He’s made such good progress that I’d hate to see y’all leave now.”
“And it has nothing to do with my cooking?” she teased.
“I wouldn’t say that.” Lucas winked.
“I am ready,” Theron said when he had changed from pajamas into jeans and a blue sweatshirt. His brown cap was pulled down over his ears, and his gloves were sticking out of his pockets of his coat.
“Do you think you should put those gloves on your hands?” Vada asked.
“I’ll put them on if my hands get cold. I like to feel Buttercup’s hair when I pet her,” Theron replied.
“Okay, then,” Vada said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
“I have decided that if I am going to get better, I need to do some things on my own. That’s what my research says,” Theron answered in his most serious tone and headed outside with a wave over his shoulder. “I have my phone. I will call you if I need to, but Lucas will be there, so I think I’ll be fine.”
“That is amazing,” Vada whispered.
Lucas patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll watch his every movement, and if he gets out that toy, I’ll call you.”
There it was again—Mia called it vibes, but to Lucas it was more like electricity between him and Vada. He wondered if she felt it, too, and if she did, would she even consider a date with him.
He hadn’t made it twenty feet from the bunkhouse when the niggling voice in his head reminded him that he hadn’t been out with a woman whom he could get serious with in years. “No time like the present,” he muttered.
“Are you thinking about presents for you for Christmas?” Theron asked.
“I sure am,” Lucas stammered and tried to cover his tracks without lying to the boy. “I hoping your mama makes some more of those peanut butter cookies and gives them to me for Christmas.”
“I’ll tell her,” Theron said and then ran on ahead of Lucas toward the barn.
This was exactly why he wanted to work with disabled children—no matter what the problems—and help them to attain some level of self-confidence. His success story with Theron might turn out to be the best one he had ever had.
Lucas was feeling pretty good, right up until Theron came running hell bent for leather out of the barn. The way he was going, it looked like he wasn’t going to stop until he reached the bunkhouse.
“So much for feeling good,” he muttered.
If the pathway had been paved and Theron’s shoes had had rubber soles, he would have come to a screeching halt right in front of Lucas. As it was, Lucas reached out a hand to steady the kid when he stopped and bent forward to grab his knees.
“Are you sick, son?” Lucas asked.
“No,” Theron panted. “Out. Of. Breath,” he managed to get out. “Someone in the barn.”
Lucas glanced that way and saw his father’s pickup truck. “That would bemymama and daddy. They said they were bringing alpacas up to the barn today because there’s a possibility of freezing weather tonight. I didn’t think they would be out this early. Are you up to meeting them, or should we go back to the house?”
Theron raised up slowly, whipped his hat off, and scratched his head. “Will you stay right there with me?”
