Farraday Country

by Chris Keniston

  “Very good. That’s right.”

  So mesmerized with the delicacy of Hannah’s interaction with this honestly sweet young girl, he missed when she said for them to move across the arena for another obstacle course. “Sorry,” he mumbled softly for only Hannah to hear.

  With a soft smile, she gave him a slight nod. The woman embodied peace and tranquility. She was most definitely made for this job. Now he understood where her reputation had come from.

  For another twenty minutes he stood beside the horse, not too far, not too close, and watched in awe as Melody worked her different skill sets and Hannah coaxed her through what would lose her points and what was more important to remember. Melody did exactly as she was told with as much intensity as any other rider might have displayed. For a moment he thought he might have a sliver of understanding of the sense of accomplishment, the confidence, improved self-esteem, that would come from handling one of these beautiful animals.

  The session over, Hannah and Melody’s mother spoke outside the arena while Dale walked the horse back to her stall.

  Catherine came hurrying in from outside. “Sorry, crazy morning. Is the first student done?”

  “Yes.” Dale undid the straps under the horse and noticed Catherine take a step back. He’d almost forgotten that Hannah had told him Catherine was uneasy around the large animals.

  Catherine glanced over her shoulder and back. “How did it go?”

  “I’m no expert, but it seemed to go really well.” He lifted the saddle off the horse and set it down on a nearby railing. “Such a sweet kid and such a shame she’ll never really grow up.”

  “Don’t write her off,” Catherine came a step closer, “she’s still capable of living a productive life, and probably a lot happier than the rest of us who are cognizant of all the crap in this world.”

  Dale nodded. “And what Hannah did in there with her is going to be a big part of it.”

  “Possibly.” Catherine smiled.

  Slipping the halter off the horse’s head, then hanging it on a nearby hook, Dale turned to face Catherine. “It was amazing to see. I’ve watched lots of people negotiate in my time. Seen them talk someone off the ledge, both literal and mental. But it was fascinating to see her work.”

  “When Connor and I first considered attaching a facility for equine therapy to the new stables, we drove out to one of the best equine therapy places in Dallas. We got a chance to watch Hannah work for hours with several students. We walked away feeling the same way you do right now. We couldn’t have been happier when she agreed to leave her career in the city behind to come live and work out here. We’re more than fortunate to have her. We’re truly blessed. Not only is she an outstanding equine instructor, she is also a licensed therapist which is really important in a small operation like ours.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “The goal of equine therapy, or adaptive riding, as it’s more commonly referred to now, is to strengthen people physically, emotionally, mentally, any one or all three through horseback riding. The instructors who work with special needs are very good at what they do, but not always prepared for what the proper response is if a student has an emotional breakdown. Whether it’s because of a major accomplishment, or because of a sense of failure, or just because that’s where they’re at. The best stables always have a separate licensed therapist on staff.”

  “And you have Hannah.”

  Grinning like a newly engaged bride with a rock the size of Gibraltar on her left hand, Catherine nodded. “And we have Hannah.” She patted Dale on the arm and cocked her head towards the chatter at the end of the hall. “I’d better get to the office and see where we stand now with our new student.”

  Near the main office, Hannah shook Melody and her mother’s hands as Catherine stepped in to escort them to the front of the building.

  He should’ve continued doing what he knew to unsaddle the horse, but he couldn’t stop himself from watching Hannah walk toward him.

  The way her eyes shone, he could tell she was pleased with the session. “Need some help there, cowboy?”

  “Cowboy? I’ve been called a lot of things in my day, but cowboy has never been one of them.”

  She reached into the bucket and grabbed a brush before coming to a stop in front of him. “You keep handling the horses like that, you’re going to earn that title.” Her arm brushed against his as she stepped closer to Patience, and softly praising the horse, began brushing her down.

  Grabbing another brush from the same bucket, he stepped around to the horse’s other side and mimicked her strokes, laughing to himself. Cowboy. Like he could ever fit in to this simple way of life.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Soaring on an adrenaline high, Hannah was surprised her feet were still touching the ground. She adored when she could connect with one of her students, but today was especially sweet, the first official session at Capaill Stables.

  “I don’t know about you, but I am starved.” Dale latched the stall gate behind them. “How much time do we have before Clark gets here?”

  “Not till later this afternoon. I wish I could take you into town. Frank at the café makes homemade biscuits twice a day and right about now I’ve got a hankering for those babies with fresh butter and Mrs. Cheney’s honey.”

  “Not fair, you have my mouthwatering.”

  The two pulled into the drive a car length ahead of Finn, who’d done a run into town for supplies. With Joanna in Dallas doing the final wedding prep with her mom, he’d had a hard time keeping busy. It was funny seeing the change in him since his fiancée came into his life again. The quiet, serious one of the family was now always smiling and rarely quiet. And most definitely happier than a pig in slop.

  “Here.” Aunt Eileen waved from the kitchen. “I thought you’d barely have time to sneak away for lunch today.”

  “Are you kidding? I’m starved.” Hannah went straight to the oven and turned on the light to peek inside.

  “That’s zucchini bread.” Aunt Eileen pointed to the oven. “Miss Cheney dropped off a bag of zucchini with her honey this morning. She accidentally planted twice as much as usual and now she has a bumper crop.”

  Finn came into the kitchen and kissed his aunt on the cheek. “Well, if that puts us on the receiving end of your zucchini bread, I won’t complain.”

  “It’s also going to have you on the receiving end of zucchini tots, zucchini fries, and zucchini hash browns. I’ve also been marinating some sliced zucchini. Thought tonight you and your dad could grill some with the rib-eyes.”

  “Works for me.” Finn poured himself a glass of ice water.

  “Me too.” Hannah loved vegetables that didn’t taste like vegetables. Even though the zucchini fries weren’t the same as French fries, they were still pretty darn good, and the zucchini tots are better than tater tots. Her aunt did the same thing with cauliflower. For the longest time as kids they didn’t even realize they were eating vegetables.

  Finn’s cell phone rang and his face lit up. “I’ll take this in the office.”

  “Judging from that grin plastered on his face, that has to be Joanna.” Aunt Eileen pulled the bread out of the oven, and setting it on a cooling rack, shoved a couple of other trays into the oven. “Which means we won’t see him for a good half hour.”

  “I’ll set the table.” Hannah opened a kitchen drawer to collect silverware.

  “Set extra places for Connor and Catherine. They’re going to join us.” Aunt Eileen turned to face Dale. “Would you mind heading over to the barn and letting Sean know that we’ll be having lunch in about twenty minutes. He’ll want to come in and wash up first.”

  “My pleasure.” Dale flashed a sweet grin, dipped his chin, and turned to do as he was told.

  Aunt Eileen stared after him for a few seconds before turning her attention back to the stove. “He seems like such a nice fellow. But have you noticed he doesn’t talk much about himself?”

  “Some.” What Hannah h
ad noticed was that she didn’t have any idea what he did for a living, where he lived, where he came from, or where he was going. And yet oddly enough she felt as though she knew so much about him.

  “Has he said where he’s from?”

  At least she could sort of answer to this one. “He’s not really from anywhere. He’s an Army brat, and you already know a Marine.”

  “Yes. That explains a few things.”

  Hannah looked up from the table. “Like what?”

  “For one thing, why he and DJ seemed to hit it off as if they were old friends.”

  “DJ hits it off with everybody, no matter what they do.”

  Aunt Eileen shrugged. “I suppose.”

  “Do you have a problem with Dale?”

  “Actually, quite the opposite. There’s something solid about him. Feels like he fits right in.”

  Hannah didn’t have to be hit over the head to know where this was going. “Just remember, once the blood thinners Brooks prescribed have kicked in, our guest will be on his merry way.”

  “I know that.”

  So did Hannah. She just needed to remind herself a few more times a day for the next few days.

  ****

  Halfway to the barn, Dale heard a rustle in a thatch of low shrubs ahead. For a split second he wondered if he was going to come face-to-face with the West Texas snake. Before he could take evasive action, the greenery moved again and a small fluff ball pranced straight for him. Squatting down, Dale extended his hand palm up. The little fur ball yipped, then rolled over on its back for Dale to rub his tummy. “Well, aren’t you a cute little thing.”

  Usually when there was one puppy this small, there were more, but taking a quick glance around him, Dale didn’t see any signs of more puppies. “I guess your brothers and sisters must be with your mom.” Off the side of the barn he could see the empty dog run. He knew enough about cattle ranching to know a good cattle dog was worth two men and often a rancher would want a puppy or two to keep the bloodline going. This pup probably came from great stock. If Dale didn’t know this was one of the Farradays’ dogs, he’d have sworn the pup had some wolf in him.

  Remembering he had been tasked with notifying Sean of lunch time, Dale reluctantly pushed to his feet. “We’ll have to try this again later, little boy.”

  The puppy rolled over onto its feet and nodded as though answering, and made Dale laugh. If they started out this smart when they were young, no wonder a good dog was worth two men. The puppy gave a soft bark and turned to run in the opposite direction when Dale noticed Mama sitting, observing, not too far in the distance.

  “Well, where did you come from?”

  Mama dog stood up and nudged the little dog as it reached her feet. The puppy seemed to nod at his mom and then Mama met Dale’s gaze before turning toward the rear of the barn.

  “Guess your housing is on the backside,” Dale muttered out loud. He was going to have to check Mama and the rest of the puppies out later today. Maybe after supper.

  Sean Farraday appeared on the path. “Were you looking for me?”

  “As a matter of fact, I was. Aunt Eileen sent me to fetch you. Said you’d want to know lunch will be ready in, well by now, probably fifteen minutes.”

  “Oh, she’s running earlier than I expected.” Sean fell into step beside Dale on the return path to the house.

  “That may be our fault. Hannah and I came back to the ranch after her morning session.”

  “So how did her first official session go?”

  “Everyone seemed very happy. And the young girl has a standing appointment now so…”

  “All is good. And how are you feeling?”

  “I feel great. But then again, I felt great before I mimicked a rug on Meg’s kitchen floor.”

  “Too often it takes something drastic, perhaps even life-threatening, to make us see what’s in front of our own noses. The way I hear it, had you collapsed anyplace else in any other time, you might not be here right now.”

  Dale swallowed hard. That was a difficult reality to accept. But it was what it was, and not something he was about to mess with. The whole point of hiding out was to save his life. He wasn’t about to let a rogue blood clot get the better of him. Like it or not he would do exactly as Brooks said. And as fate had it, he liked following orders in West Texas way more than he thought he would.

  Connor and Catherine came in the front door at the same time Sean and Dale entered from the rear and Finn emerged from his office. It was almost as if the smell of food was a siren’s song for everyone. The din of chatter and bodies moving about with dishes handed over and set on the table reminded Dale more of a holiday feast than a weekday lunch. The huge platter of fried chicken was enough to have Dale drooling.

  “Before someone accuses me of trying to clog your arteries, these are baked sweet potato fries.” Aunt Eileen handed Dale a large bowl to place on the table of one of his favorite foods. “Finn, dear, the biscuits should be ready. Would you please pull them out of the oven?”

  “You bet.”

  By the time everyone had taken a seat around the large kitchen table, there was enough food to have supplied his entire platoon back in the day.

  “Since I had a little breakfast sausage left over, I made gravy.” Aunt Eileen pilfered the biggest biscuit and poured a healthy dose of gravy over the top.

  “I’m going to have to do extra time on the treadmill.” Catherine blew out a resigned sigh and smiling, reached for the gravy. “But there is no way I am not having some of your biscuits and gravy.”

  Connor broke open a steaming biscuit and looked to Hannah. “Catherine tells me that you’re considering the Houston horse show and competitions for Melody.”

  “I haven’t had much time to think about it. But it’s something she’s been looking forward to and it would be a shame to disappoint her if we don’t have to.”

  Connor dipped his biscuit in his wife’s gravy, took a small bite, and grinned like a loon at her territorial glare. “I actually think it could be very good for a few reasons, but I have an idea that I’d like to run past you.”

  “Shoot.” Hannah bit into a fry.

  “What if we put together a small pre-Houston barbecue competition of our own on a much smaller scale to give Melody a little exposure?”

  Hannah put the half-eaten French fry back on her plate and stared intently at Connor. Dale could almost see the wheels turning, pieces of some unknown puzzle coming together in her mind.

  The crease in Hannah’s brow lifted and she nodded. “That may be a fantastic idea. Last night I read up on the paperwork that Mrs. Hampton forwarded. According to her son’s file, he’s a senior in high school and until the accident he was the star football player.”

  “Which,” Catherine interjected, “could explain some of that stubborn anger thing going on.”

  “Some of it,” Hannah agreed. “He was also accepted into Annapolis. He has a lot to be angry and frustrated about.”

  Dale set his fork on his plate. “That explains his interest in my Marine Corps history, and why he asked if I knew any SEALs.” Now things made a lot more sense. “How long ago was the accident?”

  “About a year.”

  “Car accident?” Catherine asked softly, some of the color draining from her cheeks.

  Hannah shook her head. “Oil rig. His dad’s an engineer with an oil company in Midland. Clark went with him to one of the rigs. I’m not sure exactly what happened but some piece of equipment crushed his foot. They had to amputate above the ankle.”

  Now Dale really understood. He had more than a few friends who had lost a body part on active duty. Some handled it better than others, but it wasn’t easy for any of them. “I hate to ask this but how is horse riding going to help him?”

  “A few ways. He has to learn to work with the horse, he has to care for the horse, and he’ll have to put something before himself. Before working with his last instructor he’d refused traditional physical therapy. A rider on horse
back uses his legs to talk to a horse, to direct the horse. And as I explained before upper body strength can be built up unconsciously by balancing on a horse. Depending on the horse’s movement, if it’s lateral, anterior, posterior movement, etc, they all work to build different muscles.”

  The more Dale thought about it, he had a few friends who could probably benefit from a program like the one Connor, his wife, Hannah and her cousin Grace were putting together.

  “Anyhow,” Hannah continued, “Clark was an athlete, and supposedly a good one. He has to have a competitive nature.”

  “So he’ll eat up working for a competitive goal?” Dale said.

  “And,” Catherine joined in, “not only could this be great motivation for a difficult student, we can use it to invite the town and locals to come see up close what we’re all about.”

  Everyone at the table nodded. For a few seconds, Dale thought one of them was going to spring up and suggest they put on a show in the barn. He’d definitely watched too many old musicals growing up, but sometimes this family seemed too good to be true. His gaze fell on Hannah, her cheeks pink with excitement. And some people were too good to be true.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Practically bursting at the seams with the thought of an event that would really pique Clark’s interest, Hannah prayed he’d react the way she hoped.

  “You ready?” Dale asked. “You look ready to pop.”

  “It shows?”

  “Your enthusiasm? Hell yes.” His gaze softened. “It’s pretty cool how much you care about these kids, and you barely know them. Actually, you don’t know Clark at all.”

  How could she explain? “It’s the ultimate high. Sharing something I know that somebody else needs and watching them move to a better place because of it. Does that make any sense?”

  “It makes a lot of sense. It’s why your cousin is a cop and the other a doctor and the other a veterinarian, why your brother is a Texas Ranger, and even why your other brother is a bartender. They all help people in one way or another.”