“I see how it is,” Willow told him. “I say we should hit pause and you’re already on to the next pretty girl to cross your path.”
Ash cleared his throat. “No one could ever…” he began. “I mean, I wasn’t wasn’t—”
“Joking!” Willow blurted. “Yes. Let’s take her for a walk. I’d love to get to know her.”
Ash nodded once. He disappeared into the tack room and returned with a halter and lead. He slipped inside the stall and gently affixed both, all the while cooing to the gentle yet still-apprehensive mare.
“My girl’s a good girl, isn’t she?” he whispered. And then, because anytime he said something that reminded him of a lyric led to singing, his gentle whispers morphed into him singing “My Girl,” by The Temptations as he led the mare out of the stall and danced her toward the doors to the arena.
Once out in the open, the afternoon sun shining down on them, he paused and held the lead out toward Willow, but when she reached for it, Rose snorted and began pawing and stomping at the dirt.
“Whoa,” Willow said, holding her hands up. “I donotthink she wants me to lead her around the arena.”
Ash lowered the lead, and the mare ceased her stomping and pawing. “Huh,” he remarked, brows furrowed.
“She doesn’t like me,” Willow told him as Ash began walking, and Rose was in full cooperation.
“She can tell you’re nervous,” Ash replied as Willow hung to his left while Rose was on his right.
Willow crossed her arms and set her jaw. “Hard to compete when she’s being serenaded byyou,” she mumbled.
Ash laughed and gently patted the mare on her snowflake-spotted flank. “Well, Ms. Rose, I’m pretty sure someone’s jealous I’ve got a fan. What do you think?” He launched back into “My Girl,” this time giving the chorus his all as the mare’s ears perked up while she eagerly listened.
Willow threw her hands in the air. “See?” she cried. “How am I supposed to compete with that?”
Ash glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Why compete when you can join the show? We’re writing a duet, yeah? Maybe we should try singing one together.”
Even in the sun he could see her cheeks turn pink.
“Here?” Willow asked. “With an audience?”
He laughed. “It’s not like she can boo us. ’Course, I’ve only known Miss Rosie for a few days, so there’s no telling how she’ll react if we botch the song. But it looks to me like she’s a big fan of The Temptations, so we at least have that going for us.” Then he stage-whispered, “Unless you don’t know the words.”
She scoffed. “Of course I know the words.” Then she cleared her throat and took it back to the firstverse without waiting for him to begin. But that was fine by him. He let her take those first five lines by herself just to listen to her sing and then came in on the chorus.
It was…messy for a couple of lines, but then they found their footing, with Ash taking the melody and Willow coming in higher with the harmony.
It wasthem. Messy to start, and maybe they were still in the thick of it, hacking at painful memories and wounds still unhealed like overgrown weeds hiding a garden and just itching to grow.
After two laps and one full successful run of the song, Ash slowed and offered the lead to Willow once more. “Even if you’re scared, pretend you’re not,” he told her.
Willow gave him a curious look and then reached for the lead confidently—or at least with an amazing performance of confidence—and Rose pawed the dirt. But once the lead was in Willow’s hand, the mare stopped. She looked Willow in the eye and seemed to be waiting for direction.
“Good girl,” Willow told her, then petted her gently between the eyes.
“Give her this,” Ash told her, and Willow glanced his way to find him holding out a chunk of carrot. “Flat in your palm with your fingers pressed together. So she doesn’t mistake your fingers for more carrot.”
Willow rolled her eyes. “This ain’t my first rodeo, cowboy,” she told him. Then she grabbedthe carrot and held it out carefully for Rose to sniff and immediately gobble up from her hand. “Good girl, Miss Rosie!” she cheered, stroking the mare’s mane. “Good girl!”
Rose snorted in response and then stomped in place.
“Okay,” Willow replied with a laugh. “One more lap, and then Ash hopefully has one more treat.” She urged Rose to start walking again, and the mare obliged. Willow darted a glance in his direction. “You do have more carrots, right? I didn’t just lie to her?”
Ash laughed. “Yes I do, and no you didn’t. And I like how you called her Miss Rosie too.”
Willow’s cheeks flushed again, or maybe it was the afternoon heat. “It suits her,” she told him.
“It does,” he agreed. “It can beourname for her.”
