I smile at her. "Well, I do work here, Lennie. And I ride the horses all the time, darlin'."
"But can we do it with the camera equipment?"
I nod. "I can use the saddle with compartments." We get out of the truck, and I grab the equipment out of the back for her. We see Liz and Wyatt walk out of the barn, and I want to shout out hello to them both, seeing as I haven't seen them since they got married, but the way that they're walking says that something intimate is going on, and it stops us. "Um, just hang back here for a second, Lennie." I whisper, knowing that my volume level won't make a difference to her, since she's reading my lips, anyway. It gives me shivers the way that she pays special attention to my mouth when I'm talking. It's almost sexual, but not quite. It's like I'm all that matters when I'm talking.
Lennie turns around and watches them for a moment. Liz says something to Wyatt and Lennie turns around, biting her lip. "I think we should give them some privacy."
"Why? What's up?" I'm about to ask her if she heard something, and then I stop myself.
"She just told him that she thinks she might be pregnant."
Chapter 6
Lennie
Yes, it's a little bit of a gift that some people enjoy, but it isn't always easy knowing what banter goes on between people, when you're not supposed to know. The look on Levi's face says it all. "Oh, shit."
"Are you not happy for them?"
"Um, no, it's not that." He stammers. "I just, it's nothing. Let's get out of here before they figure out that we've been eavesdropping."
"Okay." I nod, feeling so badly for him. He leads me to the stable quietly, without disturbing Wyatt and Liz, and he saddles the horse with ease. "Is this a boy or a girl?" I ask, trying to break the awkwardness.
"Oh, my apologies. This is Digger. He's a good boy. And that's Mazy, and Sprout is her son."
"Aw, they're mother and son? How sweet."
He smiles but his eyes don't crinkle at the sides. I watch him place a saddle on Digger and carefully tuck my camera equipment into the small pockets at the sides of the saddle. Levi then pulls a wooden block over to the horse's side and takes my hand, helping me up onto the horse. The saddle is a two-seater, but he hesitates before he climbs up. "It's going to be impossible for you to read my lips while I'm up here, so if anything is wrong, just tug at the back of my shirt, okay?"
"Okay."
He climbs up onto the horse like he was born doing that, and the horse starts moving at a slow walk, until he's outside of the stable, and then we take off into a slow trot. I've never been on a horse before, and it feels strangely liberating. It's dark out, but the moonlight is bright, illuminating the whole space, so it's like a natural flashlight shining a light all over the grass, the wooded area, even the pasture. The temperature is perfect tonight and there is just a slight breeze. As the land passes by us and we arrive close to where the tiny waterway is, the horizon opens up, and my smile is from ear to ear. It's perfect. Even a half blind person would see that.
Levi stops the horse gently and gets off, holding his hand out to help me off, and I climb down, briefly ending up in his arms. His gaze holds mine for a moment, and I smile softly at him. "Thank you for bringing me here."
"It's my pleasure. Now, show me your magic."
I love it that he's genuinely interested in this. He may even have a little crush on me, but I can't be sure. A beautiful man like this has to be spoken for. There's no two ways about it. Levi is kind, gentle, very sweet, and so handsome I see his face in my dreams. His crisp blue eyes, the honesty in them, those soft-looking, full lips. I'm glad I have a reason to be looking at them often, otherwise I'd be staring. "It's going to take a few minutes to set up. And I think that the sky needs to be a little darker, but we can work with it."
"Anything I can do to help?" He asks as he ties the reins over a strong tree branch.
"No. But do you mind telling me something, Levi?"
"Sure." He says, pulling the camera equipment and a blanket out from the side pockets of the saddle.
"How come you reacted so strangely when I told you about Liz saying that she thinks she might be pregnant? Are you not happy about that? Or is that not good news? Because it looked to me like she was a little nervous about it, but not unhappy."
He sets the blanket out and sits down, cross-legged, while I lift my tripod into position. "Well, I probably shouldn't be telling you this, Lennie, but since I don't know you that well, maybe you can help me out with it. So long as you can keep a secret."
"As long as you feel comfortable telling me, sure, I can keep a secret. Being able to read lips has made me have to keep a lot of things to myself, as a matter of fact."
"I don't doubt that." He snuffles nervously. I watch him lick his lips before speaking. "See, I've got myself into some trouble. It's the worst kind, too, and I don't know what to do about it."
I'm adhering the camera to the tripod, almost by rote, so paying attention to Levi isn't that much of a challenge. "I'm listening." Then I smile. "Okay, I'm watching." I admit.
He smiles back. He's got such a beautiful smile. When he smiles, if it's a good one, his eyes light up, too. Then it falls. Heswallows. And I stop doing what I'm doing, so he has my full attention. "My girlfriend is pregnant."
My face goes blank. "Oh."
