Danica sat in the straw beside Angel, stroking her head gently and whispering gentle, kind words to her.
It’d been a long time since I had seen anything so beautiful.So pure.
“She knows,” Danica whispered, lifting her gaze to mine.“She’s not in any pain though, right?”
“Justine gave her something for the pain.”
She swallowed.“Good.She’s suffered enough.”
I opened up the thermos and poured some of the barley tea into the lid and handed it to her.“Orzo solubile.”
She took the lid, our fingers grazing for just a moment, and brought it to her nose, inhaling deeply.“What is it?”
“Barley coffee.”
She went to hand it back.“Oh, I can’t drink coffee this late at night.”
“It is caffeine-free.”I pushed it back toward her, careful not to jostle the mug so that it spilled.Once again, our fingers touched, and this time, an electric zap shocked us both, making her gasp.
“Oh.”She brought it back under her nose and took a deep breath in.“It … itsmellslike coffee.Only … sweeter.But I also smell, like … toasted bread or something.”
I smiled.“Si.That is the barley.”
She blew on the steam, then took a gingerly sip, her eyes lighting up in surprise.“That’s lovely.Kind of has a Cheerios flavor to it.Not as acidic or bitter as regular coffee.It’s different, but I don’t dislike it.”She went in for another sip.“And it’s definitely warming me up.”
At the mention of being cold, I stepped out to the cot and returned a second later with a big Mexican blanket, which I draped over her shoulders.“There.”
She tugged it tighter around her with one hand while holding the cup with the other.“Thank you.”
Nodding, I slid down to the ground beside her, leaning against the stall.“We might be in for a long night.”
“I’m sure we will be.Midnight will probably want to eat again.So we’ll need to thaw some of that milk.”
I snapped my fingers and made a slow climb back to my feet.“Why didn’t I think of doing that when I was in the house?”
Her hand on my wrist startled me.She also used me to help her pull herself up to stand.“Actually … um.”She nibbled on her bottom lip, and I fought down the groan at the bottom of my chest.“I need to use the washroom.So, if you tell me where the milk is, I can do it.”
“Oh … uh.Si.It is in the fridge freezer.You will see it when you open it.I do not have a microwave.You will need to heat it on the stove in a pot of water.Pots are hanging up over the island.”
Nodding, she handed me theorzo solubile,but kept the blanket tight around her.“I’ll be right back.”
Was I anxious about the fact that Danica—a woman I found myself having feelings for—was heading into my house, my private sanctuary?Of course.The pucker effect going on in the back of my trousers was so tight you’d be lucky to get a straight pin up there with a ten-pound sledgehammer.But I focused on the horses.I stroked my hand along Angel’s forehead and kept my gaze on the sleeping Midnight.This was for him.For both of them.
Some deep, meditative breathing helped too.
She didn’t strike me as the type of woman to snoop.And I kept my house tidy.I didn’t live like a slob, or keep inappropriate things out in plain sight.Even though I lived alone and rarely, if ever, had visitors, I knew better.Besides, I didn’t really have anything inappropriate anyway.My anxiety medication was on the kitchen counter, but that wasn’t anything I was ashamed of.We needed to normalize taking care of our mental health, and not make it this un-talked about thing that over half the population struggled with in one way or another.
I continued to breathe deeply, stroke Angel’s head, and whisper kind words in Italian to her.I have no idea how much time had passed, but the sound of the door opening and her gentle footsteps down the barn soothed me more than I expected.
“Here we are,” she said softly.“I put two more bags on the counter to thaw normally, because we’ll certainly need them.”
Midnight was still asleep, so I took the bottle from her and held it between my thighs where I sat on the ground to keep it warm.
“You have a very nice home,” she said, sitting down beside me.“I’m sure the view is lovely during the day.”
“Si.The water sparkles with endless diamonds in the morning.”
We fell back into silence, and it was almost ten o’clock when Midnight roused again, hungrily.
