“Love them.I think I ate Flaming Hot Cheetos like every day growing up.”
We take our seats at the table, and I pass her the spicy club wrap and grab the BLT for myself.She stands and grabs us a couple of plates and some forks.
“I love this pasta salad,” she says, and I nudge that towards her.
“What about the potato salad?”I ask, and she shrugs.
“I’ve never had it before, but it looks good.”
We eat and spend the next half-hour asking each other questions.It’s easy stuff like favorite weather and least favorite condiment.I can see Vera starting to open up and relax around me.
My phone starts to ring and I pull it out, silencing it when I see my assistant’s name on the screen.
“Need to get that?”Vera asks, and I shake my head.
“No, I’m all yours today.”
We finish lunch and head back outside and to the training ring.I watch her with the next set of wolves, and towards the end, she turns to me.
“Want to give it a try?”She calls to me, and I nod.
“Sure.”
“Come stand here,” she instructs, and I do as she says.
She shows me how to call out to the wolves and use the riding crop to direct them.They don’t respond to me as well as they do her, but she assures me that it’s just because they don’t know and trust me well yet.
Just like her,I think.
“What now?”I ask as we head back to the four-wheeler.
“I need to get their food ready,” she says a second before she takes off.
We head to the barn behind her house, and I follow her inside.There’s a kitchen off to the right, and she heads there.
“What can I do to help?”I ask her, and she smiles.
“Nothing.I just need to go put this out for them, and then I’m going to call it a night.I’m beat.”
I can tell that she’s trying to get rid of me.I’m not sure what went wrong.Maybe she’s just getting sick of me, or maybe she realized that her guard was dropping and is scared.
I decide to give her the space she’s asking for and nod.
“Are you sure?I don’t mind sticking around and helping out.”
“No, I’ve got it.”
She gives me a tight smile, her eyes darting to me and then away, and I nod.
“Alright.”
“I’ll uh, I’ll walk you to your car.”
We turn and head out of the barn.Vera falls into step beside me, and I smile down at her.
“Thanks for today.I had fun,” I say as we walk over to my car.
“Yeah, me too,” she admits softly.
