I let myself wallow more until a week before Christmas. That’s when Madden and Mona went with Toby to buy some Christmas presents for everyone in town.
I hated that I couldn’t go with them yet, and realized that the biggest part holding me back wasn’t the lack of my tall emotional support chef slash bodyguard, but my own brain.
And so, when they left after lunchtime and everyone went back to their daily tasks, I put on warmer clothes, pulled on my boots, and walked across the yard to the stable.
It felt odd, being there without Jack, but I felt better than I thought I would’ve before getting outside. The dogs were all happy to see me, and I saw most of the stall doors open with no horses inside. They were out for the day.
The quiet, still stable was oddly calming. Barry, the older man who worked a few hours each day now, had just arrived, and pushed the wheelbarrow in from the storage lean-to in the back.
“Holy crap, kid!” he exclaimed. “Way to appear out of thin air!”
I grinned. “I appeared from the house.” I walked closer. “Can I help?”
“Sure, of course. Just grab a pair of gloves.” He went to rummage through the shelf in the tack room and held out two pairs. “Check which pair fits best.”
I picked one, and we started to work together. It was fast, even though it took me a bit to get into the rhythm.
While we went from one stall to the next and the one after that, Barry told me about each of the inhabitants. He clearly loved all the animals and told me he was going to miss a young mare that would be rehomed soon.
Theo walked in with Ursula in tow. I assumed they’d been on a trail ride.
The mare snapped her teeth toward me, but since I’d kind of expected it, having heard stories of her, I didn’t back away. I trusted Theo to not give her enough rope to get to me.
“Hey,” Theo said, clearly pleased to see me. “Once I’ve got her dry and back at her pasture, can I borrow you a while? If you can come to the new stable?”
“Oh, sure,” I said, then shrugged. “I can try?”
“Awesome, thanks.”
The building of the new stable had resumed, and it was nearly done now. The issues they’d had were apparently easily solved once they got the right person for the job. I didn’t care enough to know the details, but it was all coming together and should be finished in the next week or so.
Barry and I had everything cleaned and new bedding added by the time Theo came back sans a crabby mare.
“Thanks for the help, kid. Was nice to have someone to talk to,” Barry said and clapped my shoulder.
“I might make this a habit if I can lift my arms tomorrow morning, that is,” I quipped, and went to put the gloves away.
Theo gestured for me to go ahead, and we started across the yard.
When I stopped in the middle like I had with Jack before, Theo immediately stopped too and looked at me worriedly.
“I’m just enjoying the weather.” I grinned and lifted my face toward the sun peeking through some clouds.
“Yeah, it’s really nice today. That’s why I took Ursula to the reserve.”
The mention of the reserve reminded me of the car trip Jack and I would never have. I felt myself slump, but squared my shoulders again.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Theo waited for me to fall into step with him. The dogs followed us because they were all fascinated with the new build.
“Why do you think they like the new stable so much?”
Theo chuckled. “It’s all the sniffing they get to do there. They still haven’t been allowed to check out every nook and cranny, so it’s exciting to them.”
I tilted my head as I watched the dogs practically prancing in front of us. “Makes sense.”
The new stable was pretty much just an upgraded version of the old one. There were three much larger stalls for the bigger draft breeds or if more space was otherwise needed. The biggest change was the upstairs, though.
