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“Likewise,” she said.
3
CARMELA - ONE YEAR LATER
“Go see if they need help tacking up,” Camden said, nodding toward the barn where a little girl was walking in.
“Doesn’t she come here all the time?” I asked.
“Yes, but she’s real small. Sometimes she has trouble getting stuff off racks,” he said. “Then meet me out by the big corral.”
“All right,” I said.
Strictly speaking, looking after young riders who were taking lessons was not what I was there for. Camden had lots of people coming in these days for lessons and just to be around the horses, but my entire purpose that day was just to be like one of them. I was there for the horses. But, like usual, once Camden saw my face, he put me to work, starting with mild, innocuous things and moving on to full-fledged ‘carry this over there and bring me that thing’ stuff. It was confounding how he always managed to get me to do it too.
It was probably the horses. I loved being around them. I would pay for the privilege of being around the horses, regardless of the price. Considering the price was only ever an hour or so of chores around the ranch, and he never asked me to muck a stall, I figured it was probably a good deal.
Weekends were generally spent at the ranch these days. I loved being there with the horses, especially the two new ones that Camden was training for use at his buddy Ryan’s bed and breakfast.
I liked Ryan, as a person. He was a good man who’d gone to war for his country and came back a shell of himself. The combination of horse therapy and meeting his now wife Allison got him back on his feet and returning to his old self. It was good to see, and Camden was thrilled that he had anything at all to do with his friend being okay again.
Now Ryan and Allison were running a bed and breakfast across town, and apparently, Ryan had long dreamed about having horses living on the expansive grounds so the guests could enjoy them too. Camden had agreed that it would be nice and offered to help train any horses they bought for it, as well as helping them learn everything they would need to know to stable them on the grounds or he could keep them at the ranch if they needed.
A couple of weeks ago, two new horses showed up at the ranch, and Camden had been spending most of his time working with them. This meant that more of the chores were going undone, and Camden, ever the stickler for finances, was resisting hiring someone new to help him. Consequently, I was picking up part of the slack and running over to make sure one of the girls who took lessons was apparently now part of that.
Poking my head into the barn, I saw the girl using a stool to grab a saddle and watched as she tacked the horse expertly. It was honestly impressive for such a tiny girl, but Camden was an excellent teacher. The people who went through lessons with him tended to be very knowledgeable when they were done.
I watched as she led the horse out to the smaller corral where one of the few employees was waiting for her to begin a lesson. As I headed back to the big corral where Camden was waiting on me, my thoughts drifted back to Ryan and Allison. Ryan needed her in his life, someone who could lift him out of his often grumpy state of mind. Not that Ryan ever noticed he was grumpy. It made me wonder if anyone ever thought I was grumpy.
Or if I would ever find someone who would help lift me out of it.
I tried shaking that off and thinking about something else. It was hard because my brain wanted to wallow in the depression and self-doubt that had settled over me in the last few months. But being around the horses and on the ranch helped distract me, helped me work through it.
Camden was leaning against the wooden fence and watching an adult on their lesson. He wasn’t looking at me, but I was sure if he had, he would be giving me the same grimace that he had all morning so far.
As soon as I’d arrived that morning, he told me that he needed to tell me something, and that I probably wasn’t going to like it. I hated how that sounded. Nothing good ever came with that kind of introduction.
But then, rather than just coming out with it, he beat around the bush and started asking me to take care of chores around the place. At first, I thought he was simply referring to the chores themselves and was mentally preparing himself to tell me he needed me to muck out a stall. It was the only thing I had yet to do, and I figured the initiation was coming at some point.
