Bede quietly pulled the bowl of chocolate closer and made sure the popcorn was right there.
A bit mindlessly, Galen tried the combination. His lips tasted of salt and sweet together, and it was amazing and distracting in just the right way, a surge of sugar in his veins, with enough salt to satisfy his tongue.
“Better?” asked Bede, though it was obvious he didn’t really need an answer. Too many people might hear and it would disturb those around them.
The answer was too long and too convoluted for Galen to figure it out anyhow, so he nodded, and crunched away on the popcorn, his hand cupped to his mouth, using pure will to keep his eyes focused on the projection screen.
The Stingwas followed byRocketman, and while the music was raucous rock-n-roll compared to the softness of the ragtime inThe Sting, it was soothing to sink below the sound and the movement and the story, and he was able to collect himself.
When the movie was over, Galen got up to help with putting everything away, and found he was violently thirsty and that his face was tacky with salt. The lights came on, moths dancingabout as if they’d been waiting all night for that moment, the hum of the standing fans mixing with the low chatter as the long tables were returned to their usual places.
“Here,” said Bede.
Galen turned to find Bede there, holding out a cool bottle of water.
“You drink that,” said Bede, pushing the bottle in Galen’s direction.
Bede wasn’t smiling. Those eyes watched him, as if waiting for Galen to take a drink. Which he did, wiping his mouth on the back of his shirt sleeve.
“Thanks,” he said, wondering how it had come to this, Bede helping him, and not for the first time.
Bede was turning out to be vastly different than Galen had expected. And it wasn’t just his dark, good looks, but also how his confidence mixed with vulnerability, and the way he could make Galen laugh at any moment.
When was the last time he’d laughed? And when was the last time he’d felt this way, that if he reached out he would be met with the same from Bede?
It had to be a monstrous joke that life was hurling at him. And yet—Bede’s expression, focused on Galen as he handed him a bottle of water, was kind. And patient. Still. A waiting gentleness that washed over Galen like a blanket.
Well. He needed to get the hell out of the mess tent. Bede was being nice, was all. A repayment of Galen’s kindness to him.
So, with a nod and a general good night, he left the cleaning up to everyone else. Going back to his own tent, he gathered his things for a shower and, along with Gordy, who was the only other person in the structure, took a long hot shower, and imagined the water was washing away all of his troubles.
Chapter 23
Galen
By the time Monday morning rolled around, he was ready for breakfast. Afterward, he gathered his team and took them to the paddock.
There, three horses waited patiently, halters on, chewing on hay nets that had been left for them. They flicked their ears in Galen’s direction as he led his team right up to them.
“Horsemanship starts with this moment,” he said, pausing at the gate in the wooden fence. “Did you know that a horse can hear your heartbeat from four feet away? They can, and if you are calm, and keep your heartbeat steady and slow, they will feel safe. If you’re not calm, if your heart is racing, then they will think something is wrong, that they are in danger. It’s your responsibility to make sure your horse feels safe at all times.”
He looked at his team as they watched him, like they were waiting to see which way he would jump.
They stood in a row, properly dressed for a riding lesson. Cowboy hats. Cowboy boots. Long-sleeved snap button shirts. Blue jeans. Even Bede was keeping his sleeves rolled down, at least for now. Which was good, because it meant that Galen could concentrate on the lesson, rather than anything else.
“We’ll start by grooming the horses, and learn the different parts of the horse,” said Galen, feeling confident about his ability to teach good horsemanship skills from the ground up. “And then we’ll saddle them?—”
“When’re we going to ride?” asked Toby, his voice loud, disrupting the morning. Two of the horses jerked their heads up, their ears going flat.
“It’s a progression,” said Galen, keeping his voice even, reaching out to pat the neck of the nearest horse. “And did you notice the horses’ reaction to the loudness of your voice?” he asked. “You should keep your voice calm and even around horses. Around any livestock. Understand?”
Toby nodded with wide eyes, his shoulders tight as if preparing for a hard smack along with the gentle scolding.
“I didn’t mean to scare ‘em,” he said.
“I know you didn’t,” said Galen. “Let me assign you your horse, and then I’ll show you how to act around them. Toby, you’re on Penny. She’s the one with the long eyelashes. Owen, you’re on Diamond, so named because of that white diamond in the middle of his forehead. And, and Bede, you’re on Ripley. I think he’s named that after the movie,The Talented Mr. Ripley. Maybe because he looks like Matt Damon?”
All three horses were ordinary chestnut horses, Penny being the only mare, the other two, geldings. The horses might not have been purebred, but they looked at Galen with steady brown eyes, as if they knew he was the one in charge, their ears flicking forward and back as Galen explained the various part of the horse, demonstrated how to untie the lead, and how to hold the lead when walking a horse around the paddock.
