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“Ijust unloaded theseventh load of hay in your barn.” Matt Landry handed Davis the invoice he’d filled out before he left his farm.
“I appreciate it. Sorry I wasn’t there to give you a hand.”
“No problem,” Matt said, and meant it. Sure, unloading it himself was a bit of a pain, and he was tired. “I totally get that you have a daughter in the NICU, and that’s where your focus needs to be. I’m just glad I can give you a hand and that I’m still young enough to unload it myself.”
“If you look at yourself and consider yourself young, good for you,” Davis said, smacking him on the back, as he took the invoice and picked up his checkbook.
Matt had told him he didn’t need to pay right away, but Davis was the kind of man who liked to keep short accounts. That was the kind of man that Matt wanted to deal with. It was the kind of man he wanted to be. After all, wasn’t a person supposed to be the kind of man they wanted to do business with?
They stood in the small office of the stable which was just down from the barn while Davis leaned over the small desk and wrote out a check.
“Wasn’t there a little girl helping you the last time I was here? Somehow I got the idea she was your daughter, but they said around town that she wasn’t.”
“The joys of small town life. Everybody knows everything.” Davis grinned, not the slightest bit upset that Matt had found out information about him in town. “She and her brother came and asked for a job, just right when I needed it. In fact, I think it might’ve been the day of or the day after Kathleen was born. I took them up on it right away and, I’ll just be honest and say I’ve barely seen them. I pay her, and when I get home at night, I check to make sure the horses have feed and water, and they always do. The stalls always look great, cleaned out and with plenty of shavings, but nothing wasted. As far as I’m concerned, she does a great job, and I probably will pay her more when I get a chance to increase it. Although, I don’t know how much she’s doing and how much her brother’s doing. She was pretty small.”
“That’s why I thought she was your daughter. She just looked a little young to be having a job. But, if she’s doing that great, then she deserves it.”
“Sometimes when people are small in stature, we have a tendency to base age on size.”
“That’s true. Although, I’ve not been around kids enough to be able to estimate their size and age with any accuracy anyway,” Matt said, taking the check Davis handed him and thanking him. “You still want as much hay as I can bring you?”
“Until the barn is full. That’ll save us from having to do it this winter. Although, I’ll have to keep a road plowed from here to the barn, since we’ll be hauling it down.”
“Better hauling it from the barn than hauling it the whole way from my stable when there’s two feet of snow on the beach.”
“Do you get that much here?”
“Depends on the way the wind blows. If we get lake effect, we can get a ton, but if the wind is blowing a different direction, someone else gets it, which is just fine with me. If we get it for Christmas, and then it melts until the next year, I’m perfectly happy.”
“Sounds to me like you’re living in the wrong place if you don’t want snow.”
Matt laughed. “True. When you live on the shores of Lake Michigan, you need to expect that there is going to be cold weather and snow. I love it. I just don’t really love working in it.”
Davis nodded, and they walked toward the end of the stable together. A couple horses nickering as they walked by.
“Did you get your website uploaded?” Matt asked as they walked.
“I did. We even have some bookings. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle all of that, with taking Kim back and forth to the hospital, and spending a little time with Kathleen myself.”
“If you need me to cover for you, I don’t have a problem helping out.”
“I don’t want to take you from your family.”
“It’s just me. Well, my daughter will be coming and spending the summer with me like she always does. But beyond that, it’s just me on the farm, so it’s not a big deal.”
“Your family runs a bed-and-breakfast, right?” Davis said, and Matt had to admit he was a little impressed. Since Davis hadn’t been around for long, and hadn’t been in town enough to hear all the gossip, it was pretty impressive that he remembered even that much.
“That’s right. I help Mom some with that. We often get riders from our guests, and vice versa. All of the family helps with the farm in some way, but I really meant wife and kids aren't an issue, since I don’t have any.”
Davis nodded, and said, “If I get into a pickle, I’ll give you a call. I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
Matt didn’t reply because just then a figure came to the end of the stable.
“Davis?” the woman asked, as though her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dim interior and she couldn’t see where they were.
“Right here.” The man beside him hurried forward, a new note in his voice, caring, concerned, and a tenderness that made Matt blink. He wasn’t used to hearing men speak like that, but there could be no doubt that Davis adored Kim.
“Thanks for doing the laundry,” she said, sounding a little out of breath like she just got more exercise that she was used to.
