“I like that the rooms and bathrooms are private, but there’s a common area for everything else. You’re also correct in this being bigger than the cabins. Have you been in one?”
“Only when I dropped off the food and picked it up, I didn’t really look around.” He nodded and pointed to the kitchen. “Hungry? You didn’t eat much earlier.”
“I wasn’t hungry then, but I’m starting to get that way now. What did you have in mind?”
“Do you want steak, burger, or chicken?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Well, it matters because then I’ll know what else to make. With the steak, we can have a quick salad and baked potato. With burger, I can make anything from burgers to spaghetti, goulash, meatloaf. With chicken, I can fry it, or bake it, and we can have a vegetable, and either rice or potatoes.”
“Wow, you really do know how to cook, don’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s easy on the wallet if I cook my meals at home. I’ll let you help tonight, but then we can take turns.”
“Okay,” she said as she pulled up her sleeves and went to the sink to wash her hands. They ended up making the chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas for their dinner. Not a lot of small talk was said as they worked silently, but efficiently together. When they put the food on the table, they ate silently, until they were about halfway through.
“Tell me about what I will be doing at work.”
He wiped his mouth with his napkin, and nodded to her. “First thing will be to talk to Faith. I believe she’s been racing the horses for at least three weeks. I’m going to want to follow her schedule, because the horses will be used to it. I have no idea what horses are here.”
“Okay, but what will I be doing?”
“If Faith is as organized as I remember, then she will have three horses saddled at once. She will race one, one will be on deck, and if the third isn’t already saddled, it will be getting that way. When she’s done racing the first one, the stable hand, in this case, will be you, will bring the third horse out, take the first one back to remove the saddle, rub them down, and get the fourth one ready.”
“What happened to the second horse?”
“Faith will ride that around the track as soon as she’s done with the first one. As she races, I will be the one that watches to see how the horse runs, and try to understand its characteristics.” He ate some more, and nodded as he did so. “Faith and I will then see what the horse needs to get to its potential.”
“Oh, so I’ll be saddling horses, rubbing them down, and calming them?”
“Yes.” He sighed heavily. “What I’m about to say is speculation on my part, but it’s my understanding that New Double is in desperate need of help. I don’t know if they have enough hands for what we need.”
“Which is?”
“One stable hand per horse. See, in a well-run barn, each racehorse would have their own stable hand, trainer, and jockey. Faith is the jockey for all the horses being run. Don’t quote me on this, but I think it might be close to twenty horses.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of horses, and a lot of people. It will be just the three of us?”
“I think, again, don’t quote me.” They finished eating, and cleaned up together. By the time they finished eating, and cleaning up, Myrna could barely keep her eyes open. At one point, Pedro looked at her intently, then asked quietly.
“Would you like to borrow one of my shirts to sleep in?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t, let me go get one, tee or button up?”
“Either will be fine.”
He nodded and walked away, only to return in a couple of minutes before he went to her and handed his shirt over. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Thank you, and yes, I’m exhausted.”
“Call out if you need anything, I’ll leave the door to my bedroom cracked so I can hear you.”
“I should be okay.”
“I know that, I’m not doubting that at all, I’m just asking that if you need anything to call out.”
