“Okay. I’ll make the call, send me the info.”
“Okay.”
I called Sebastian.
“Morning, Theo,” he answered, sounding pretty awake even with the early hour.
“Hey, I might need a favor.”
“A big one?” We had a system.
“Yeah, Jules called me. There’s a bad auction going on today somewhere, I haven’t looked at the info yet, but…”
“Check it right now if you have it and tell me what the trip is going to be like. I’ll organize things at my end to run as smoothly as possible.”
Within five minutes, we had it settled. I promised to pick Seb up from his place on my way, we had about five hours drive each way and the auction would happen at two.
“I’ll figure out something for us to eat on the drive, too,” I promised, knowing the guys at the house would jump into action. “Just make sure everything is fine at your end.”
“Will do. Text me when you leave the rescue and I’ll be waiting.”
“See you in about an hour.”
“Yup!”
I had made the calls in my office and seen our latest employee already starting to muck the stalls, so I went to find Barry next.
“Barry, I need a favor or three,” I started, and immediately he peered out of the stall he was cleaning.
“Absolutely, what can I do?” He stepped outside and looked at me expectantly.
“I’m going to call a friend to borrow her biggest trailer, I’m heading west to get some horses out of a shitty auction.”
“Any idea how many?” He was clearly going into planning mode, and I appreciated that.
“No clue, but the trailer can fit six.”
“Okay, so how about I move…” He began to go through our horses that were inside the stable but would likely do well in the corrals, and then promised to make sure everything was ready for when we got back.
I left him to it and called Poppy’s sister Penny. She didn’t need her trailer today, so I told her I’d pick it up and I’d owe her one.
In the business we were in, favors were a key merchandise. Everyone with horses would always eventually need a favor. This would likely cost me training for one of Penny’s young horses or some such, and I was more than fine with that.
I passed River on my way to the house.
“Hey, you seem stressed,” he commented, clearly confused.
For a few seconds his expression made no sense, until I realized he must’ve just talked with Lake.
I smiled. “It’s nothing to do with him. A rescue mission came up.”
He seemed relieved. “Okay, good. I was ready to kick your ass.” He grinned. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know. I’ll be off work around four today.”
“We won’t be back until past dinnertime, Barry is handling the stable and it’s all fine. But thanks!” I clapped his shoulder, he told me to drive safely, and I jogged up to the front door.
I kicked off my boots and went to find Lake in the kitchen.
“Hey, baby.” He beamed at me from where he sat at the table, having breakfast.
