I find that so hard to believe. Grandpa dotes on her like she’s the center of the universe.
“How long did it take to convince him?” I’m curious now.
“Oh, a little while.” She readjusts the sleeping infant to turn more towards me. “At first he tried to act like it didn’t bother him. But I made sure he saw me having fun without him, and before I knew it, he was hooked.”
“That’s all it took?” I’m not sure this would work on Val.
It’s not like I see her outside of the bar anyway.
“And a good biscuit recipe,” she giggles quietly. “Fastest way to a man’s heart and all. In fact, I told your mom that trick when her and your father were dating.”
There’s no way I’ll woo Val with pizza. I know she almost gets sick of being around it most weeks.
“Great. Thanks for the advice, Grandma.” I push up off the couch and head to my room.
“Sawyer?” she calls after me, making me stop in the hall. “Be patient. She has a lot on her plate.”
With a reluctant sigh, I nod.
I can’t help but want to be in a hurry.
Val is everything I want, I just need a chance to show her I can be that for her, too.
It doesn’t take long to change clothes. I know Dad has a whole ass list of shit I need to do, he always does.
Oh man. The worst one, cleaning out stalls.
This is gonna take all week and it always makes me stink.
Not like it matters. I won’t see Val again until Friday.
I don’t think I’ll even bother texting. It makes my chest hurt knowing she won’t reply.
When shoveling shit, the only rule is to keep my mouth shut.
At least when it’s this cold, it doesn’t tend to splatter as much. The tractor gets the brunt of it, but I still have to pull everything out of the corners.
It’s hard not to feel a little salty about the fact that I’m cleaning up all of Char and Dixon’s horses too.
But the last time I complained about it to Dad, he madethat faceat me and told me they’re family.
That was it. End of discussion.
I understand, but it doesn’t make it pleasant.
“Sawyer?” Char appears near the main bay door as I’m backing up the John Deere.
Lurching to a stop, some of the straw tumbles from the lip of the bucket.
“I brought you a hot cocoa. I appreciate you doing this.” She hands me up a small thermos.
“Aww, thanks.” I reach over the giant back tire to grab it.
Maybe it’s not so bad doing some of these chores?
“I have some zucchini bread in the oven too, I’ll bring you a loaf later. It’s out of the garden that you helped—” She points to the overflowing load of horse shit. “—to make. I saw you out here all day yesterday, too. You work hard, it’s noticed.” Giving me a broad smile, she turns in the snow and follows her tracks back up to her house.
Her and Lori have bonded over how many veggies that they can grow.
