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“I can work around your schedule. I do all my work remotely, at just about any hour of the day I’m awake.”
Pete shook his head. “I’m an early riser, and I tend to go to bed pretty early. So, how about two or so in the afternoon on Tuesday and Saturday?”
“Great.” Wiz pulled out her phone and added an appointment to her calendar. “There. It’s on my calendar. I’ll meet you at the arena?”
“At first, yes. Eventually, you’ll have to come over and get your horse yourself, but for right now, I’ll bring the right one over to you. Don’t worry, I’ve taught lots of kids to ride.”
Wiz huffed. “I’m not much of a kid anymore.”
Pete just looked at her for a minute, brows raised. “You are to me, but I’m guessing twenty-nine.”
She smiled. “You’re closer than most. Thirty-four.”
“I got almost forty on you, so to me you are a kid.” He smirked.
“You don’t look like a guy in his seventies.” He didn’t; not even close.
“Thanks, but I think I do. Well, my face does. Ranching keeps me in pretty good shape, and I didn’t come home with any real injuries. I got lucky.”
“Yeah? Just ‘cause you don’t have any physical injuries, it doesn’t mean you weren’t injured in other ways. They just didn’t know about post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury back then. They’re even looking at upgrading discharges from that era if it looks like the person acted out due to PTS.”
“You mean if someone got a dishonorable discharge because they mouthed off or acted badly, they could get upgraded to honorable?” Pete sounded a little shocked.
“Depends on the circumstances, but yes, if it looks like it was due to an injury, they can.”
He nodded, his lips pursed. “Huh. I’ll have to tell a few of my buddies about that.”
“You can apply online.” She lifted her phone.
He snorted. “Not that popular with my set.”
“You can get the paper form from other places too. Probably the vet center in Marcus. Or the Veteran’s Administration medical centers.”
“Good to know. Thanks, Wiz.” He smiled.
“Sure. And thank you. I’m looking forward to Tuesday.”
Pete nodded and got up, carrying his empty beer bottle. Ryan walked over, sitting at the far end of the couch. “Wiz, are you okay?”
“Didn’t Erin tell you I was?” They all meant well, but the attention was getting a bit much.
“Yes, but I want to hear it from you.” He scowled fiercely. “You left in an awfully big hurry.”
She waved her hand, trying to brush both her annoyance and Ryan away. “I’m fine. I’m trying to move ahead, and it’s making me a little emotional.”
He stared at her for a minute, then a big grin broke out. “You? Emotional? That’s...awesome!”
Wiz had to chuckle. Her voice sounded a little rough. “It’s really that surprising?”
“Yeah. It’s been years. I was kind of giving up hope. Especially when you moved here, I thought it was to get even further away from people. But you haven’t. I’m proud of you.”
“Back at ya.”
Ryan huffed. “Okay, come on. Let’s do a couple more runs. Then we’ll go eat?”
“Sure. Let’s go.” She was finally moving on, into the future. The ride might be rougher than her sledding hill, but forward was good.
Chapter 9
