“Yes.”
“I’ll see you there.” Hillary had a tremendously difficult time going to the sales. She had to be careful to not take on the horses’ pain and emotion; otherwise she would be unable to help them. Once she dropped her guard at the sight of a blind pony getting kicked in a pen by other horses and collapsed right there on the spot. When she came to, she didn’t know her own name, kept insisting she was “Sadie,” and that she was scared and wanted her mother.
Shifting Gears bought the blind pony that night. He lives at Meg’s Meadows and her every move is watched over by the two retired racetrack ponies that also live there, Poncho and Biscuit. They are a family. They are a herd. Every time Hillary visits them, she remembers just how frightened that little pony was that day and the heartbreak of being taken from her mother so young and not being able to see, not knowing if there was anyone out there who would love her and take care of her. Not knowing that her forever home was just around the bend and that she would be loved forever.
~ * ~
Mindy swallowed her pride and at four-forty-five that afternoon, phoned GP Industries. Oh lucky me, she thought, when the same woman from the other day answered. “Excuse me,” Mindy said. “But I’m wondering if I might leave a message for Shane Thornton.”
“Shane?” The woman hesitated for a moment. “Sure. I uh, think he might be gone for the weekend, but I’ll make sure he gets it on Monday.”
“Monday?”
“Would you like to give me your name and phone number?”
“Yes, this is Mindy Morrison. My cellphone’s not working, so if you would just tell him I called, I would appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
“Thank you.” Mindy hung up the phone and sighed. “I’m never going to see him again. I just know it.” She’d just had a beautiful ride on Malaki but felt the urge to ride some more and decided to go tack Rex. He walked eagerly down the aisleway of the barn with her to the crossties, his mere presence an annoyance to Malaki.
Every time the mare squealed at him he tormented her even more with a kind stare. Mindy laughed. “She wants you to scream back at her you know.”
To that, the same response: a kind stare. “All right, Rex, let’s go.” She led him down to the lower arena. There were two riders schooling their horses over jumps in the upper arena. Mindy yelled to them in passing. “Don’t overdo it. You’ve been at it over a half hour now.”
“Yes, Mom!”
Mindy laughed. “Mom? Yeah, right. I’m never having kids. I’m going to raise sheep like Sassie Susie.” She closed the gate behind her and walked Rex to the mounting block and edged him up close. He looked at it out of the corner of his eye as if it were the cookie monster about to eat him alive. “You’re fine. You’re fine. You can do this. We have the technology.”
Mindy climbed onto the first step of the mounting block while rubbing his shoulder, waited until his eyes softened some, then climbed onto the next step and just stood there next to him for a moment. When it seemed as if he was going to stay put, she lowered her stirrups and gathered up the reins. It was then he jumped sideways. “Rex! Rex!” she said. “Cut it out, you big wuss!”
She climbed down off the mounting block and led him back around, went through the process of getting him close again, climbed the first step, talking to him, rubbing his shoulder, talking some more. And again, just as she was about to put her foot in the stirrup, he jumped sideways. “Enough,” she said. “Get back over here.” Climbing to the top of the mounting block, she urged him to come toward her - moved him back, then forward – back, then forward some more - each time getting him to come a little closer. He seemed agreeable enough, drew up nice and close, and stood perfectly still for a moment.
Mindy hesitated, stopped talking to him and stopped rubbing his shoulder. She just stood there, poised and ready. The horse didn’t know what to do. When he turned his head to look at her, his body at just the right angle, she took a leap of faith and jumped into the saddle.
The horse dropped low to the ground, eyes pivoting all around, legs splayed. “See,” Mindy said. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Rex pricked his ears at the sound of her voice, relaxed, and Mindy urged him forward. His first couple of steps centered on what looked to be an effort to pull himself together, first one front leg, then the other, both back legs in a little bunny hop, and then he was fine. “I have no idea what that was all about, Rex, but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“Cows,” Hillary said, standing on the other side of the gate having just arrived. “He’s afraid of cows.”
“Cows?” Mindy laughed. “Cows?” She patted Rex on the neck. “Why are you afraid of cows?”
“He fell and got trampled,” Hillary said.
Mindy looked at her.
“That’s what he’s remembering. Something about a platform. I’m guessing it was a chute that looked like the mounting block.”
Mindy talked softly to him, patting his shoulder and neck as they walked along. “Is that why he keeps jumping fences and breaking out of his stall?”
Hillary shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s not talking anymore. He’s just enjoying himself.”
“Do you think he was in a...?” Mindy didn’t want to say “kill pen.” She was afraid to even think it, but then reminded herself Rex wasn’t the one that was the communicator. Hillary was.
Hillary knew what Mindy was thinking, she was thinking the exact same thing. “That would be so sad.” If he’d been in a kill pen before and to almost go back - this after having panicked so the first time…was heartbreaking.
“That probably explains the scars on his back legs.”
Hillary nodded, watching Rex, listening for a response. None. “He’s just happy at the moment.” Mindy reversed direction on the diagonal and walked him around the outside perimeter of the arena going the other way. Rex meandered along merrily, head and neck relaxed on a loose rein, his back relaxed.
“I’ve found that horses don’t always think,” Hillary said, “particularly when they are happy or have full bellies. That’s when they’re most fun to be around.”
“Like people,” Mindy said.
“Yes, like people.” Hillary laughed. “So can you please get your phone fixed?”
“I’m going to go right after this. What did Karen and Veronica say?”
“They said okay.”
“Good. Now if we can just keep him in the barn,” Mindy said, quickly adding for Rex’s sake. “And not getting out of your stall and jumping fences. Wow. Imagine if every horse on earth understood everything we said.”
“Scary,” Hillary said, widening her eyes and imitating a horse listening. “What did you say?”
Mindy chuckled. “See you later. Thanks for stopping by.”
Hillary hesitated leaving. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Why not?”
“Did you hear from what’s his name?”
“Shane? No. He’s gone for the weekend.”
Hillary hesitated still. “I wish I could be as sure as you that the thefts aren’t related to us.”
“Me too,” Mindy said.
Hillary waved and when she’d gone, Mindy worked Rex at a trot, same process as yesterday. She encouraged him to raise his head, praised him when he did, was patient with him when he didn’t, and gave him plenty of in-between rest-time to just stretch and mosey along. “You’re going to be fine,” she kept saying. “You’re going to be just fine.” Like clockwork, when she’d just about finished schooling him, Julia appeared.
“Can I cool him out for you?”
“Sure. Thank you.” Mindy dismounted, ran up her stirrups, undid the girth and took her saddle with her. “Walk him as long as you want. Minimum half hour,” she added.
Rex walked along next to Julia, just like yesterday, head high and leading the way. Mindy glanced back from the breezeway and smiled. Julia had her arm slung over his shoulder; the two walked along as if neither had a c
are in the world.
Mindy put her saddle away, covered it with the saddle pad, damp side up then turned to walk out of the tack room and there stood Shane. She could barely contain her excitement and rushed toward him. “Did you get my message?”
“Yes. I was in the office when you called. I’d stopped in to get my paycheck. So what can I do for you now, Mindy?”
“For one, you can forgive me,” she said, wasting no time and not wanting him to leave until he heard her out. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t trying to put you on the spot. I wasn’t trying to throw you under the bus. I just, I don’t know, you were there, and I thought. No, that’s not right. Actually I didn’t think. I just reacted. It’s what I do. I was just trying to make a point.”
“Is that it? Is that all? Are you done?”
“Yes,” she said. “No. I’m not.” She stood on her tiptoes and placed both hands on the side of his face and kissed him. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
Shane just looked at her for a second or two and then slowly, ever so slowly, a smile crept across his lips. When she put her arms around his neck he lifted her up. “Okay,” he said. “So why don’t we try that again.”
Cherise and Devon led their horses into the barn, made whistle sounds, and Shane put Mindy down and took hold of her hand.
“Shane, this is Cherise and Devon,” Mindy said, introducing them and blushing. “Devon, Cherise…this is Shane.”
“Hello,” the two women said, smiling.
“Um, Shane’s going to help me straighten Rex’s stall gate. Aren’t you, Shane? Follow me.”
Shane laughed and did just that. He followed her. But he also stopped along the way to say hello to Malaki.
“Wow,” Cherise and Devon said, amazed when Malaki actually seemed pleased to see him. She gave him one of those trademark air bites of hers when he walked away, but still…. They were impressed. This was a side of Malaki they hadn’t seen before. And a different side of Mindy as well.
Chapter Twenty-One
Shane assessed the mangled stall gate and deemed it toast. Mindy’s thoughts exactly.
“What did he do?” Cherise asked, from up at the crossties.
“He must have gotten cast,” Mindy said, though she knew differently. “Would you haul it to the back for me?”
“Sure.” Shane tucked it under his arm and walked to the back of the barn with her.
“Can it be recycled?”
“I guess.” Shane laughed. This was the oddest conversation, the oddest encounter, especially since he’d told himself he wasn’t ever going to talk to this woman again.
“Just set it right there. I’ll check with Bill to see what he wants to do with it.”
Shane braced the stall gate against the barn siding. “Bill?”
“Bill Forbes. You met him. He takes care of everything for us.”
“What about your dad?”
“My dad’s a lawyer. If it doesn’t involve testimony and briefs, he’s out of his realm.”
Shane smiled. “He seems like a nice guy. Bill too.”
“What can I say? I’m blessed. When something like this happens, I think, how did this happen?”
“Something like what?”
“Well, for one, something like you.”
Shane smiled.
“Do you have a minute? Actually, do you have an hour?”
“Yeah, I have all night. I was going to drive down to see my parents, but I can always leave early tomorrow.”
“I have a lesson in about an hour and you can’t be here, but after that….”
“Why not? Why can’t I be here?”
“It’s Julia’s lesson. She doesn’t like being watched.”
“Because…?”
“Because of her weight.”
“Oh,” Shane said. “All right, I’ll come back.”
“No…. Don’t leave yet. You just got here and I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Are you trying to sweep me off my feet?” Shane asked, smiling. “I don’t think I want to end up down the road like your friend Gordon.”
Mindy looked into his deep blue eyes. “I’ve had several boyfriends. Do you want to know all their names?”
Shane laughed. “No.”
“Good. Then can we just forget about Gordon? I have.”
Shane told himself he should find comfort in that, but then again….
Mindy and he walked back into the barn as Cherise and Devon were leading their horses to their stalls. When Don Pablo stopped to sniff Shane’s arm, Mindy observed. He said he wasn’t a cowboy, but he didn’t have any fear of horses whatsoever. He patted Don Pablo on the neck and stepped back for the horse to pass. Gordon didn’t like horses. He didn’t trust them. Oh wow, Mindy thought, now he’s got me thinking about Gordon.
Mindy told him a little bit about each of the horses as they walked along. When they stopped in front of Malaki’s stall, she pinned her ears at first, but then warmed right up. It surprised her. When they walked on, Malaki squealed and gnashed her teeth against the wall.
The two of them walked out to the bench and sat down, close but not touching. Her mother’s insistence she and Bethann never make spectacles of themselves ran through her mind. She linked her arm in his in a friendly, inconspicuous way. Like old friends.
“So, how was your day?” she asked.
Shane laughed. “Pretty shitty till a little while ago.”
“Same here,” Mindy said. “I really never intended to….”
“I know. At least I know now.”
Mindy squeezed his arm. “Thank you.”
Cherise and Devon walked outside.
“How were your rides?”
“Good,” Cherise said. “For the most part.”
Mindy nodded slowly. “When did it all fall apart?”
“At the end.” Cherise looked at her. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I need to learn when to quit.”
Mindy nodded again, smiling. “Someday. I’m holding out hope for you. What about you?” she asked Devon. “How’d he go?”
“He didn’t want to bend to the right. More than usual.”
“Some days you’ll have that,” Mindy said. “How much time did you give him between each attempt?”
Devon covered her eyes, pretending to try and hide. “Probably not long enough.”
Shane watched these exchanges and marveled. Both women were clearly twice Mindy’s age and yet took the apparent reprimand of sorts in stride. Amazing, he thought.
“See you Monday,” the women said. “Nice meeting you, Shane.”
“You too,” he said, and smiled.
No sooner had they gotten into their cars and left, Julia started up the hill with Rex. “You’re going to have to get going,” Mindy said. “You’re going to come back though, right?”
“Yes.”
Mrs. Butchling drove down the hill and got out of her SUV dressed in “office” clothes. She reached into her back seat for her riding breeches and boots. “Hello!” She hailed her boots in passing.
“Wow,” Mindy said softly, waving back. “Wonder why she’s in such a good mood. Why are you in such a good mood?” she shouted.
“I’m high on life,” the old woman said.
Julia appeared at Mindy and Shane’s side with Rex. The horse nudged Shane.
“Hey, big guy,” he said, petting the horse’s head. “Hey,” he said to Julia.
She blushed and looked away.”Hi.”
“Shane, Julia. Julia, Shane.”
The young girl ventured a glance in Shane’s general direction and led Rex into the barn.
“She’s not that heavy,” Shane said softly when she was out of hearing distance.
“Tell that to her mom,” Mindy said. “She’s practically starving her. It’s for her own good she says.”
“That’s mean,” Shane stood and reached into his pocket for his truck keys. “I’m gonna go. I’ll see you later.”
“Do you want to pick me up or do you want me to mee
t you somewhere?”
“I’ll come back,” he said. “An hour okay?”
“Yeah. Perfect.”
Julia was in a particularly good mood too. She talked the whole time she warmed up her horse Ichabod. She talked about school. She talked about a movie she watched last night. She talked about Rex. He’s so sweet. Can I ride him when I lose a little more weight?”
“Of course,” Mindy said, pleasantly surprised by that request. She’d fit him perfectly.
“So is Shane your boyfriend?”
“I don’t know,” Mindy said. “We’ll see.”
Mrs. Butchling was riding Dew Drop in the upper arena and singing. Mindy had to laugh. With Maple Dale being just too happy tonight, she could hear her mother’s ardent warnings over the years. “Don’t gloat. You never know when something bad will happen.”
“Not tonight, Mom,” she said to herself. “Not tonight.”
~ * ~
By the time Shane returned, Mindy had washed up, brushed her hair, and put on some lip gloss. After checking her reflection in the mirror twice before leaving the ladies room, she checked once more just before she opened the door. She didn’t see Shane, but saw his truck, and went searching for him. He was standing on the hill overlooking the main road with one arm cocked, the other pointed, and staring into an imaginary rifle lens.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“A big eight-point buck just went by,” he said, lowering his arms. “Right there.”
“And if you had a gun, you’d shoot him?”
“If it was hunting season? Yes.”
“I see.”
Shane looked at her. The vegetarian thing. He forgot. “Is this a deal breaker? If so, I’d rather know now. I can only take so much of you breaking my heart.”
“Um….” Mindy turned, not knowing what to do, what to say. “I just….”
“I don’t hunt for sport. I don’t have any deer heads hanging on my wall. I’m from the hills in West Virginia. I grew up hunting. It’s what we do.”
Mindy shook her head. Just when things were going so well between them.
“Call me a conscientious deer hunter,” Shane said, referring to the comment she’s made about her father.
Maple Dale ~ My Forever Home (Maple Dale Series) Page 15
