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“It’s nice to be around him, you know? Comfortable and safe. And he’s a really good kisser, and—”
“I’m all done Audrey. Can I go?” Quinn stood at the stall entrance.
Kylie cringed. How much had he heard?
“That’s fine, Quinn. See you next week.” Audrey set her attention back on Kylie. “No. I mean why are you going to leave again?”
“I told you, Brad’s offered me the job.”
Audrey took the curry comb from her and put it back in the bucket. Retrieving two brushes, she handed Kylie the hard brush. “No offense, but you’re not really the tech company type.”
Kylie used the hard brush to go back over Sedona’s side to brush the dust out of the horse’s coat. “I know, but it’s a start. It would get me back in Toronto, and I could maybe find something else once I’m there.”
“Why do you need to be back in Toronto?” Audrey asked, using the soft brush on Sedona’s sweet face. “Seems like the big city wasn’t all it was cracked up to be last time.”
“Well, it could be a steppingstone to somewhere else,” Kylie said.
“Somewhere else? Sounds like you don’t really know where you want to be.” Audrey crossed her arms.
“I guess not,” she said. “Everything’s a mess. I have no plan anymore, and I feel untethered.”
Audrey stepped toward Kylie and raised her arms. For a second Kylie thought her friend was going to give her a hug, but instead Audrey placed her hands firmly on Kylie’s shoulders and met her gaze. Which was saying something as Audrey was a fair few inches shorter than her.
“Kylie,” she said. “You could stay here.”
Kylie opened her mouth to reply, but the intensity in her friend’s eyes made her close it again. An unsettling feeling creeped into Kylie’s stomach as though every decision she made was a mistake, whether it was staying or leaving.
She stood there, hands hanging at her sides in defeat as Audrey filled Sedona’s hay rack.
“Hey, it’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen your brother around. Is he still hot?”
“Ew!” Kylie yelled as she picked up a handful of straw and threw it at her friend.
“Come on,” Audrey said. “You can help me muck out the chicken coop while you tell me all about Brad’s dreamy green eyes.”
“You’re the worst, you know that right?” Kylie threw more straw at Audrey then followed her out to the chickens.
On the way home from Audrey’s, Kylie’s cellphone rang in her purse. She drove onto the shoulder as much as she could without landing in the ditch and answered. “Hello?”
An unfamiliar man’s voice spoke. “Hi. Is this Kylie Martin?”
“Yes.”
“Hi Kylie,” the man said. “I’m Dean Trueheart from Kids Can Support Services, and I’m calling about the resume you sent in for our Public Relations job posting.”
Kylie sat up straight. “Oh right! Thanks for calling Mr. Trueheart.”
“I was wondering if you’d be able to come in for an interview in the next couple of days. I know it’s short notice, but we really need to get this position filled by the long weekend.”
“Oh!” Her jaw dropped.
She’d found the job posting in the newspaper she’d taken from the movie theatre. It was a local organization dedicated to providing support services to kids with learning disabilities so they could pursue their dreams and goals.
The work would only be part-time, but she would be doing a lot of the same stuff she had done at the children’s hospital. “Yes, I could come in tomorrow. I’m free all morning, but if afternoon is better, I can try to work something out with my boss.”
“No need,” he said. “Ten in the morning would be perfect.”
They exchanged a few more details and hung up. Her chest filled with a mixture of hope and excitement. She might have a new plan.
