“I see you’re shocked that I own a horsey,” he replied with feigned disbelief.
“You said that the rest of your family does the horse-thing.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t own one.”
We stopped in front of a stall and I faced a beast of a horse. He was probably the tallest horse in the barn, and his stall was even larger than the others.
“Holy crap, what do you feed this thing?”
“Nova Reynolds, meet Need For Speed.”
“Hmm, well hello Speed,” I said to him.
“Yeah, you got this nickname thing down,” Austin said, reaching over the stall to pat Speed’s head.
“Is he a race horse?”
“Yep. A pretty good one, too.”
“Wow, I’m afraid to tell my grandfather about this because he’ll want to hit the tracks again.”
Austin laughed. “Well maybe you should take him sometime anyway.”
“He’s sworn off racetracks,” I replied. I tried to pet the horse but he threw his head away from me and it made me jump.
“Sorry, he’s pretty fussy. He’s probably on the top of the high-maintenance list here.” He reached for the horse again and patted the side of his face. “Watch it, buddy. She may give you a tranquilizer one of these days.” He turned to me and said, “You’ll like my other kid; she’s a lot friendlier.”
“You have two?”
“Yep. She’s out back with my dad’s two horses.”
He led me out past the riding arena, and then we headed toward the guesthouse. We walked to Field Four and stood at the fence, and Austin let out a little whistle that carried just right. One of the horses responded right away, and a group of five others trotted behind it.
“This is Down and Dirty,” Austin said, petting the lead horse. She appeared to be just as tall as Speed was.
I smiled and pet the side of her face. “Do they just call you Dirty?” I asked.
“Yep, pretty much. Dirty Girl paid for my first two years of college,” he smiled. “She’s retired now, but does great on the trails with these other guys.” He snapped his fingers and another one came closer. “This is Bad Whiskey, my dad’s horse. She’s a pretty good girl. And this big guy is his other one, Okey Dokey. He’s also a retired racer.”
I was really enthralled with all the horse names. I didn’t think for the life of me I would remember them all, and I told Austin that, but he assured me it wouldn’t take long.
He shrugged and said, “I don’t remember a lot of the ones that aren’t here all the time, but I’m familiar with a name after I’ve seen it in the office.”
“Who are these two?” I asked, patting the other pair that had come to the fence.
“Those are Katie’s horses. That’s Happy Appy and that one is Inky Black.”
“So…Happy and Inky, right?” I tried.
“Yes,” he smiled.
“Does Katie compete, too?”
“Nope, she just likes to ride. These are trail horses. My mom and Sami are the only competitors in the family. My sister used to do a lot of the dressage and jumping competitions, but now she’s been doing more of the rodeo stuff, like barrel racing and pole bending. She’s pretty good in both English and Western, but I think she has more fun at the rodeos. I think she’s entirely converted by now.”
“Wow, I think I’d like to see her compete sometime.”
“Rodeo season is always just around the corner,” he smiled. “She loves an audience, so I suggest you attend one. A lot of the employees around here will go and watch her compete. They’re kind of like our extended family. Some of the people here have been here from the beginning. Heath was my parents’ first hired hand. He’s the stable manager. And his wife, Clara, runs the guesthouse. Have you met either of them?”
I shook my head. “I’ve only met Jack, your mom, and Sam.”
“Oh, you met Sam? I didn’t know she was here today.”
“She said something about going riding later,” I cringed. “I’m not an experienced rider.”
He smiled and said, “Really? You’ve been on a horse, though?”
“Yeah, a few times. But just to sit on it while it walked around, basically.”
He chuckled. “Really? You’re not afraid of riding, are you?”
“No, I don’t think so. I just haven’t really done it enough to know anything.”
“Well Sam will have a hay day with you. She’s a great teacher.”
“And what about you? You’ve got a trail horse now, does that mean you ride her?”
He gave me a mysterious smile at first, but then he nodded and said, “Sometimes we go up to the mountains and do the whole horseback/camping thing. It can be fun, but that’s the only horse sport I put up with. I’ve gone out with my dad to search for animals for other people—other horses that got loose in the mountains, or cattle—but that’s about it for me. I have other interests that I—”
“Hey, Austin!” someone hollered from the guesthouse. “Jack’s looking for you!”
I glanced at my watch and it read eleven-fifty.
Austin smiled at me and said, “Sounds like it’s autopsy time.” We began heading for the arena and he added, “By the way, can you stay for dinner? My mom wanted a head count.”
“Uh… Yeah I think so.”
Austin walked me back to Jack’s office and then left. I took a deep breath and switched gears as I entered the back room. Marlo was in there tending to Goldie and the puppies, and Jack had everything set up to begin on the necropsy. I washed my hands and then put on a pair of sterile gloves as I returned Marlo’s greeting.
“Are you done touring the ranch?” she added.
“Uh, I think I saw quite a lot. The horses are beautiful. I can remember a lot of the names, but I think it might take a while to match them to an equine.”
She smiled and replied, “You’ll figure it out after a while. There are a few other animals around here that you’ll have to get used to as well. Did you meet Tilly and Max?”
“Uh, no I don’t think so.”
“Those are our other dogs. And there’s a housecat in the guesthouse, Rivera, and I have a cat in the main house, Tinker. The two barn cats are Tuffs and Swamp Grass.”
I smiled and said, “The names around here are fascinating.”
“Did you meet Kick in the Ass?” Jack wondered.
I laughed and said, “Uh, no. Is that a horse?”
“That’s my horse,” he replied with a nod. He set a tray of tools on the counter and adjusted the overhead light to rest over our subject. “Well let’s get started, Nova. I’ll let you get to it, and you walk me through what you’re doing.”
I glanced at Marlo, but apparently she was planning to stay. She finished up with the puppies and washed her hands, and then stood next to the counter just in time to watch me make my first cut.
“Everything go okay?” Austin later asked.
I’d finished up with Jack, wrote up my work for the day, and walked over to the house with Marlo. Austin was apparently doing some work in the office and he came out when he heard us enter the house.
“Yeah, everything went as planned,” I replied as Marlo headed for the kitchen.
“And?”
“And the results? He didn’t have any fluids in his lungs, so it’s safe to assume that he was just in the birthing canal for too long. Number five took a while coming out and I think he backed up traffic.”
Austin smiled and asked, “Is that official vet terminology?”
I chuckled and shook my head.
“Nova, can you eat lunch with us?” Marlo asked from the back of the house. She appeared in the living room and waited for my answer.
“Um, sure. I mean I have a sandwich in the car but—”
“Oh, I’d much rather you try my bean soup.”
“Oh. Uh, sure, I’d love to.”
“Good,” she smiled. “It’s ready to eat whenever you two are ready; it’s just in the slow cooker.”
“I’m ready now
,” Austin told me. “That fritter barely made a dent.”
I met Katie for the first time when she appeared for lunch. She was a cute girl, a miniature of her sister, but she didn’t seem too friendly. I just accredited it towards being a teenager and brushed it off. Sam came in a few minutes later and she was a lot easier to talk to. Between his mom and sisters, Austin didn’t say much during lunch, but I got the feeling that he was at least happy. I mean he didn’t seem fazed by eating with a bunch of girls and being excluded from most of the conversation, and I just assumed that was part of his easygoing personality.
Sam took me to the stables after lunch. Austin went back to work in the office, so the separation from him was both good and bad. When I was with Austin I felt like I was his guest, there to meet his family for the first time. When I wasn’t with him I felt like I was at the ranch to get familiar with my new job, which is why I was really there. But spending time with Sam was almost like spending time with Austin. She was his sister, but I still felt like I was getting to know her on a personal level and not a professional one.
“I’ll have you ride Joker,” she said, leading me to the arena. There were already two horses saddled and ready to go in a small “waiting pen,” as Sam called it.
On the walk over I’d already warned her about my lack of riding skills. She didn’t seem bothered by it and promised that we wouldn’t be doing anything too extensive. There were already two girls on the far end of the arena working with horses and it made me feel a little self-conscience. But Sam had me mount Joker as she mounted Ridley, and as soon as Ridley entered the arena, Joker followed right after without my encouragement. That was kind of the routine for a while, and I could see why Sam put me on that particular horse.
But after twenty minutes, Sam just parked her mount at the side of the arena and had me ride Joker on my own. She talked me through the session and Joker responded perfectly to everything I did. I was actually having fun, especially because the horse was so well behaved and easy to manage. I didn’t like trotting on her—it wasn’t very comfortable for me—but when the other two riders exited the arena and we had the whole thing to ourselves, Sam brought Ridley out and we loped around the entire loop together. After I got my riding rhythm down it felt pretty fluid, and I would take loping over trotting any day.
“You look good on a horse!” Sam hollered at me. “We’re going to do this every Saturday, okay?”
I wasn’t going to argue; I loved it. But I’m sure being in an arena riding laps was probably pretty easy.
We continued with the loping, even switching to form a figure eight the length of the arena. After that we cooled the horses down with a walk, and then returned them to the waiting pen. By then a woman and a little girl entered the building, and Sam told me it was her next riding student.
“Well, thank you so much,” I told her as we both dismounted. “What do I owe you?”
She laughed and said, “Nada. We all serve each other; we’re just a big family here. When I need a favor I’ll let you know.”
“Okay, that sounds fair.”
“Sure. Now go humor my brother for a bit,” she said, nodding toward the arena office.
I saw Austin standing there leaning against the wall, and I honestly didn’t even know if he’d been there the entire time or not. Of course I was immediately embarrassed, and when Sam said, “Hey, Daisy!” to the little girl that approached, I made a quick exit. I almost wanted to walk right by Austin, but I think he seemed to sense that and got in step with me right away.
“Hey, what’s the rush?” he smiled as he followed me to the tack room.
I sat on a bench to put my shoes back on, and then returned Sam’s boots where they belonged.
“I think you’ve ridden more than you claim,” he finally said when I didn’t answer. “You looked pretty good out there.”
“And how long were you watching?”
“Just the last ten minutes.”
“Then you didn’t see the bloopers session the twenty minutes before that.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Nah, I doubt it. Not on Joker.”
“You’re right; she’s pretty easy. I’m sure that’s why a five-year-old can ride her, too.”
He laughed again and said, “You’ve taken offense to my compliment.” I eyed him carefully but didn’t respond, and he kind of shrugged. “Sorry, Nova. I thought you did well. I said you looked good riding a horse. How does that offend you?”
“It doesn’t,” I said quietly. “Sorry, it just…”
“It just what?”
“It makes me feel self-conscious.”
“What does? Riding? Compliments?”
“People watching me,” I growled quietly.
He took a moment to think about it and said, “Oh. I’m sorry, I’m just…I’m used to seeing my sisters ride all the time and…I guess I didn’t think about that. I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable.”
I tried to shake it off like it wasn’t a big deal and said, “It’s okay.”
He studied me for a few seconds, but it made me feel even more insecure so I left the tack room. He followed me and said, “I have to head into town for about an hour… You wanna come with me?”
I slowed my pace and said, “Uh, no, probably not. I actually have some things to go over with Jack if he has a chance yet. Lunch and riding kind of set me back a little bit.”
He smiled and said, “Ah, Jack doesn’t stick to a schedule anyway. He’s used to just going with the flow. He won’t mind if I steal you for another hour.”
And there I was again, stuck in the middle of my two new obsessions. I wanted to go with Austin because I liked being with him, but I knew it was distracting me from the other thing that was supposed to be my main focus that weekend.
“Uh, sorry,” I told him. “I really should just stick to the reason why I’m here. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you later,” I waved, leaving him standing there.
I quickly made it to Jack’s office and thanked the heavens above that he was there, ready to go over some of his daily routines with me.
Chapter Seven
“So you didn’t even stay for dinner?” Gramps asked.
With a sigh I replied, “I just…couldn’t.”
“But they invited you.”
“I know but…Jack was done for the day, and there was still two hours until dinner… I just decided to leave.”
My grandpa took a bite of his lunch and didn’t reply. I could tell he had something to say, but he was giving himself some time to soften it up.
It was Wednesday, a workday for me at the diner and Grandpa’s weekly visit. My break was over though, and I decided to cut out while I had the chance, so I gave him a kiss goodbye and returned to my tables. Meryl spent some time with him after that, and then she took him back to Brookside Gardens.
My shift was over two hours later. I went home and worked on some schoolwork, and then I sat at my computer to spend time on my application essay. I’d had the stinking thing for almost two years now and I was always reading it over to see if I could make it better. I did make a couple of minor changes, and then I stretched across my bed to study.
“Quantitative comparison,” I murmured. “Determine a relationship between the two quantities…”
Relationships. Quantity A… Quantity B… A is greater than B… A for Austin… Relationships…
“Ugh! Are you kidding me?”
I slammed the book shut and rolled onto my back. Why couldn’t I get him out of my head? It didn’t matter where I was—school, the diner, with friends, or home—he was always there.
Maybe I just felt a little bad that I’d kind of blown him off that Saturday, but what was I supposed to do? I was there to do a job and that’s what I needed to focus on. And yes, I did skip out on dinner, asking Jack to relay the message that I needed to get home. I guess I left things with Austin a little unfinished, but why did I have to feel that way? I wasn’t there at the ranch for him; I was there to be accepted by
a stupid vet school in the future.
Speaking of schools, I pulled out information on a few universities that I had and laid them out on the bed. Jack suggested applying for several when the time came—I could be rejected by nine but be accepted by one. I looked over those for an hour and then decided I needed a bigger distraction than that, so I called up Autumn. Of course she was shocked that I was calling her to do something on a weekday, but she didn’t say anything further when I told her I just needed some time away from books.
When Friday rolled around I felt as nervous as I would if I were going to take a huge exam. I arrived in Bakersfield at nine and met Jack in his office. With him was another vet that the Gaines’ also used, a woman that was probably in her late fifties. Jack thought it was a good idea for me to get to know her, as well.
Lori was pleasant enough at first, but she didn’t have that sense of humor and fun personality like Jack did. She also seemed more hesitant to let me do anything, whereas Jack would just ask if it was something I was familiar with, have me do it, and if I had a question or a problem, I would ask. Lori also seemed put off that I didn’t know too much about horses in general. I was just fine with the anatomy and biology of a horse, but she seemed to think I was at a disadvantage by not knowing the species well.
I agreed with her, but I also felt reassured by Jack, who told me I’d learn what I needed to soon enough.
I was glad that he was the main vet at Harmony Acres.
Later on Jack passed me off to Clara in the guesthouse. She showed me my room for the weekend and the ins and outs of the home. Rule number one: clean up after yourself. Clara managed the home, but she made it clear that she was not the maid. She did all of the cooking and general cleaning, but she refused to pick up after other people.
There were eight bedrooms in the guesthouse, and four of them were occupied full time by Harmony Acres employees. The other rooms were for guests that came and went (like me for now), and Clara said there would always be a new face or two for me to say hello to.
After dinner I took a walk outside. I purposely walked past the far end of the stables so I could see the garage side of the main house. I knew I was being ridiculous, and I was even more upset with myself for being disappointed that his car wasn’t there.
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