“Hey, you two!”Cameron called out.
I gave him a wave, and Sam and I—along with Portia—ate up the distance between us and Cameron.
Tom was in the stall as well, and as soon as I saw him, my face caught fire and my belly did a not so unpleasant little flip-flop.
Francesca sidled up to Sam.“Hi, Sam.That’s so cool that you got to name Midnight.I like that name.”
“Thanks,” Sam murmured, her eyes fixed on the foal, who was nursing like a good thing from the jet-black mare with soft brown eyes.Tom was brushing her as she munched on hay.
“So, this is Raven?”I asked rhetorically, stepping around Cameron to meet the mare from the side.I gently ran my hand over her shiny neck.“Hello, sweet girl.”
“She’s so patient and gentle,” Tom said.“The perfect nurse mare for little Midnight.He has had no issues getting milk.She showed him how, and he caught on right away.”
I swallowed hard as I met his eyes over the top of Raven’s back.“Wh-where is … where is Angel?”
He pressed his lips together.“The men helped me dig a hole at the back of the property near the other animals that have left us.Midnight will be able to visit her when he is a little older.”
I nodded, my neck muscles tight.“Have the other horses met her yet?”
“No.I put them out in the field so she wouldn’t be distracted when she arrived and could focus on bonding with Midnight.”
“She’s beautiful.”I wasn’t sure what else to say at this point.It was weird having Cameron and Francesca there too.Tom and I shared a lot with each other last night.We bonded as we sat with a dying horse and her infant son, and in this very stall.Now, with all of us in it, it felt strange.It felt almost invasive.
This wasourspace.
Snap out of that bullshit, Danica.It’s a horse stall, not a quiet, private booth at a hole-in-the-wall Italian bistro with the scent of garlic bread in the air.
Noise in the barn pulled Tom’s attention, and he handed Francesca the brush from his hand, then grabbed another and gave it to Sam before stepping out to see what was going on.
The girls were on the same side of Raven and giggling together as they brushed her.
“What is it?”Cameron asked, following Tom out into the rest of the barn.“Tom?”Cameron spun around to face me with a curious look on his face.
I frowned.“What’s wrong?”
“He’s walking back toward the door.”
I couldn’t explain the reason I stepped around Cameron and out into the barn, but I did.“Watch the girls.I’ll be right back.”Then I started to jog down the center of the barn toward the door Tom had just gone through.
I wouldn’t say I was out of breath, but I was warmer than I had been a moment ago when I flung open the door and found Tom standing on his porch yelling at a man.
“This is myson’sproperty.You have no right.No right!”
“Mr.Barone, your son is notusingthe property.My client is also a descendant of Mr.McIsaac and believes he and his mother are entitled to the land.My associate issued you the petition for land acquisition and said you were less than receptive.I’ve come here to sweeten the deal on behalf of my clients.”
Tom looked ready to explode.“You take yoursweetnessand get off my land.I don’t want to hear it.”
Slowly, I crept around my RAV and Cameron’s truck toward the two men on the porch steps.Tom noticed me out of the corner of his eye, but only for a second before facing the intruder again, his fists bunched at his sides.
“My clients are prepared to offer your son one hundredthousanddollars—cash—to relinquish the land to them.Given that this land has cost your son—and you nothing—that is a more than fair offer.And given that you’re financially comfortable from your soccer car—”
“Football.It’s football, you … you …stronzo!”
The guy with the impeccable black suit, shiny loafers, and greasy slicked-back blond hair cleared his throat.“Given that you’re financially comfortable from yourfootballcareer, the fact that my client and his mother are offering your son anything is extremely generous on their part.”
Quietly, I climbed the steps and stood next to Tom in support.He was wound tighter than a top, and the whites of his knuckles glowed as he continued to squeeze them at his sides.“And what do your client and his mother plan todowith the land?”The angrier Tom got, the thicker his accent became.
“That’s none of your concern, Mr.Barone.My clients simply want what they believe is rightfully theirs.”
