“No, she’s safe back at the bunktel. It’s her day off.”
“Got it. I’ll start saddling up the first two horses and bringing them to you.”
“Thanks, Scott,” Pedro gave him a manly punch on the arm and turned to leave to head out to the track.
Myrna was sittingat the kitchen table enjoying a cup of coffee feeling relaxed and content after the night she’d spent with Pedro. She had been so disappointed when she’d woken and found the note he had left that he was over at the barn. She had thought they both had the day off, but she must have been wrong.
With the unexpected alone time, she went back into her room, took a leisurely shower, and gathered her dirty clothes. She decided to do her laundry, clean the entire bunktel, and figure out something for dinner. When she opened the washer, she was surprised to see items already inside, and transported them to the dryer. As she did, she realized they were the sheets from his bed, and she had flashbacks of the excellent night she had rolled in them with Pedro the night before. She gave herself a mental slap, and turned the dryer on, then added her clothes to the washer, and started that.
With both machines going, she gathered cleaning supplies and cleaned the common areas, her section,and the only thing she did in Pedro’s area was vacuum, dust, and put the clean, dry sheets back on his bed. Because it felt right, she gathered his dirty clothes from the hamper, his towels from the bathroom, and ran them through the washer.
In the kitchen, she poured herself another cup of coffee, drew in a deep breath, and liked how clean the house smelt. She stood at the island, closed her eyes and thought for several minutes. With a clear objective in her mind, she started pulling ingredients from the cupboards and refrigerator. The first thing she did was make something to put in the oven for dinner. She was in the middle of making the pan of lasagna when someone knocked loudly on the door.
She jerked, and headed forward, then paused and looked around wildly. When the doorknob rattled she froze, then she heard a distinctive voice.
“Myrna! It’s Shay! It’s safe!”
She hurried forward, and called through the door. “Who is your girlfriend?”
“Faith.”
She opened the door slowly, and saw Shay standing there.
“Great way to verify who is at the door. If it had been any of the Godwin’s, they wouldn’t have known.”
“You should have a peephole installed in the door.”
“Yeah, we should.” He nodded.
“Why are you here?”
“Cole told me to go over to Erin’s Way and pick up a few golf carts. This is a he said, she said situation, but Pedro said something about working long hours and not able to bring you back and forth all the time.”
“I understand,” she said calmly, but inside she was freaking out. “Can you show me what you have?”
Shay grinned as they stepped out into the late morning sunshine. He led her over to a golf cart, and she saw that it only had a front seat, a windshield, and a roof. Where a back seat should have been was what she referred to as a bed, like a bed of a pickup, but small enough for the golf cart. Myrna walked around it and nodded as she did.
“Are there keys?”
“In the ignition. Have you ever driven one before?”
“No.”
“It’s easy, the key is just to get power to it. Once you use the gas, it goes, but it stops the second you take your foot off. There is no brake. Oh, and you’ll have to plug it in every night.” He showed her the plug, and demonstrated. He had realized because of Ducky’s golf cart, when the new cabins and bunktels had been built, there were outside plugs.
Shay stayed for another fifteen minutes, and when he left, Myrna went back inside, finished the laundry, the meal, and acted like she was in a funkthe rest of the day. She kept busy cooking and baking to try to get rid of the feeling that she had done something wrong, but for the life of her, she had no clue why Pedro was pushing her away.
At nine that night, Myrna locked up, cleaned up from her solo meal, and left a note for Pedro propped up by the coffee machine. She went to bed, sad that she didn’t talk to him, but resigned. She put away her clean clothes, got ready for bed, and instead of reading, she snuggled down and lay there while silent tears rolled down her face. She didn’t bother to wipe them away. She fell asleep with them still leaking from the corner of her eyes.
CHAPTER 10
Pedro draggedhis tired body into the bunktel around ten at night, he was starving, since he hadn’t eaten all day, and was jittery. As he unlocked the door, he drew in a deep breath, not wanting to have a confrontation with Myrna. He entered a dark home, except for the light left on above the stove. He kicked off his boot, walked in his sock feet toward the kitchen and saw a note near the coffee pot. He read it, and as much as he didn’t want to indulge in helping him, he was too hungry to not do as she instructed.
He opened the microwave, looked inside, started it, then went to his room to shower. It was supposed to be a quick one, but he ended up standing there to let the hot water wash over his tired muscles. Dressed is sweats, and a tee, he returned to the kitchen, removed the plate of lasagna, sat in his usualseat, and devoured it. Afterward, he cleaned up, and when he opened the refrigerator for a bottle of water, he saw the pie sitting there. Unable to resist, he withdrew it, cut himself a slice, and savored it. Again, he cleaned up, actually washed the dishes he’d used, and wiped off the counters. By eleven, he was sound asleep in his bed.
The next morning, he groaned when his alarm went off, and to wake up, he showered, dressed, and went out to the kitchen. He saw Myrna there, and paused in his tracks. He didn’t know what to say, so he decided to keep it neutral.
“Morning,” he said as he headed to the coffee pot.
