“I’m going to do some research on some of the horses I read about today. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, I had Laurie pick me up a couple of books, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to snuggle in the corner of the couch with another glass of wine, and read.”
“By all means,” he said, and watched her go. He didn’t get into his work until he saw her snuggle in the corner, just like she said she would, then he started his research. He had wanted to see the lineageof Ball Buster. He jerked when Myrna cleared her throat.
“I’m heading to bed, it’s almost eleven.”
“Shit,” he said as he shut everything down, and realized he hadn’t touched his wine, and downed it in a couple of swallows. He rinsed the glass, looked at her, and said good night, then he headed to his room.
The next morning,Myrna was again up and cooking breakfast before he came out to the kitchen. He only smirked and shook his head as he gathered his cup of coffee, and set the table.
“What’s for breakfast today?”
“Omelets.”
“Perfect,” he said, and got them juice and started making toast. They ate in silence, and when they left for work, the kitchen was clean, and there was something in the crockpot, he had no idea, but he let it go for now. He made a mental note to sit Myrna down and divide up the household chores. As they walked out the door, they grabbed the ponchos from the day before, and paused to breathe in the fresh crisp morning air.
“I love this time of morning, and after a spring rain, it makes it even more special.”
“I agree,” he said as he helped open her door of the truck. “Though, I wouldn’t say that yesterday’storrential downpour was a spring rain.” He grinned as he shut her door, then went over to the driver’s side and climbed in. He laughed when she wrinkled her nose at him.
At the barn, Pedro headed to the office, while Myrna went to start mucking out the stalls. She was the only one there, since it was only six in the morning, and had three stalls already done by the time Shay arrived. He jumped in to help, and by eight, all of them were done. Together, they walked to the office and looked between Faith and Pedro.
“What’s up?” Pedro asked.
“Are we running today? How’s the track?”
“Good,” Faith said. “Yeah, we’re racing. Can you saddle up the first three and bring them out?”
“Yes.” He turned on his heel, and explained to Myrna as they walked away, “Champ is first, Diablo is second, and Buster has to be saddled and out at the fence.” He shook his head with a smirk. “Don’t ask, I can’t answer, but he won’t race until he’s seen Champ and Diablo run. He also has to be third.”
“Do you think he sees them as his direct competition, and has to watch them to see what he needs to do in order to either keep up with them, or beat them?”
Shay stopped and looked at her. He cocked his head to the side and nodded. “Yeah, I can see that, because he doesn’t do it with the other horses. Just Champ and Diablo.” They continued to the stalls, andas Shay got Champ ready, Myrna worked with Diablo, then tied his reins to the hook at the door leading to the track, then she went to get Buster ready. By the time Shay returned from somewhere, they were ready to take all three of them to the track.
Shay explained where to stage them, and the purpose of it, and Myrna nodded. “Quick question.”
“What’s that?”
“Can I watch them race?”
“Yes,” Pedro said as he came up behind them with Faith. “This isn’t a paid race, it’s practice. When it comes closer to entering them into any races, then we’ll have to play it by ear.” He looked at Faith, and when she nodded, he turned back to Myrna. “There’s no need to rush, we have plenty of time.”
“We’re only training for the quarter mile right now,” Faith said. “The track is a mile and a half, but Pedro will be standing at the quarter mile mark so he can get an accurate read on the timer.”
“Oh,” she said as she looked at what Pedro carried. The clipboard, a stopwatch around his neck, and a second gun at his hip.
He saw her look, and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. He didn’t speak until she looked at him. “It’s a safety gun, nothing but blanks, we use it for the noise as an indication for the horses to start, and what Faith does with them when the gun sounds.”
“Ah, training them to leave the gate at the sound.”
“Correct. It has a totally different sound than if Ifired off my other gun. Besides, if I shot the regular one, we don’t know where the bullet would come down, and if there would be any damage.”
“Understood. Can I ask questions?”
“Yes, but not when the horse is racing.” He saw her confused look and gave her a gentle smile. “I need to pay close attention to the horse to see how they run. Do they favor a certain side of the track, are they limping to one side, are they straight.”
“Ah, doing training stuff.” She grinned when he snorted, and his next move shocked the shit out of both of them. He leaned down and quickly kissed her on the lips. It was over before it even started, and they stared at each other in shock. They didn’t know whether it was because of what he had done, or if it was the shock they had both received as his lips touched hers. As much as they wanted a repeat, they stepped back from one another.
