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She held out her hand, and he brought her the plate, then set the Coke on the bedside table.
“Can we talk while you eat?”
“I don’t need any more lectures from you.”
He went to a chair and perched on the edge of it. “I’m not here to lecture you. I just want you to know where I’m coming from.”
“I know, Scott. You’re afraid he has a wife.”
“It’s not an irrational fear, Em.” He held up his hand. “But you’re a grown woman. I know you didn’t enter into this lightly. Though I’m pretty sure you fell for him the minute he opened those blue eyes of his in the hospital and smiled at you.”
She gave him a small smile. “You have to admit, he has incredible eyes.”
Scott shook his head. “Just be careful. And don’t run off and get married or start a family with him until he gets his memory back.”
“Scott. We’ve been together for about thirty-six hours. We’ll wait at least a few more weeks before we run off to the Justice of the Peace.”
He pointed at her. “That’s not funny.”
She picked up half of the sandwich. “Thank you for lunch.”
“You’re welcome.” He stood and stuck his hands in his pockets. “You can tell John he’s welcome to come back. But he needs to sleep on the couch while Aaron’s here.”
“Thank you. But let’s let him stay at Everett’s and you, me and Aaron can get some family time in.”
“I’d like that.”
“And maybe tomorrow, before I go to work on Wednesday, we can go let Aaron ride a horse.”
“I imagine your cowboy would be more than willing to show him how it’s done.”
“Aaron would love it.”
“I know. And so would you.”
Chapter sixteen
"Let's roll some more balls in front of this horse."
John led Sugar into the circular pen Everett used to exercise his horses. It had a diameter of about thirty feet, with a layer of sawdust in over the dirt to keep down the dust in the summer and the mud in the winter. The four-foot fence was made of posts and rails and was painted white.
John had spent a few hours with Sugar yesterday, just letting her get used to him and forming a connection. Today he was going to start desensitizing Sugar to the things that seemed to upset her. Which was basically anything moving in front of her. Everett was there to help and learn the process so he could work with her, too.
John looked at Everett. “Most of the problem is that she’s skittish by nature. But part of it is she’s been allowed to get away with it.”
Everett nodded. “Yeah. I know what you mean. I never quite knew how to handle it. I’ve always let her have her way and learned to livewith it.”
John got into the saddle and patted Sugar’s neck. “Don’t go dumping me in the dirt now.” Sugar bobbed her head up and down as if she knew what he said.
John walked Sugar around the pen a couple of times, then spoke to Everett. “On my next pass, roll that ball about ten feet in front of her.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I think I can control her.” He smiled. “I guess we’ll find out.”
John circled the pen again, then approached Everett. As they got near, Everett rolled the ten-inch rubber ball across their path. Sugar saw it and tried to rear up in preparation of bolting, but John stayed in control and in the saddle as she hopped and pranced and tried to fight the bit. Then John surprised himself and Everett when he spoke calmly to the nervous horse in something that wasn’t English. The words came naturally to him. And after a few moments, Sugar calmed down, and he circled the pen again. When they reached Everett, he looked up at them.
“What were you saying to her? And in what language?”
