“Mom!”
“Fine, fine. I just want to make sure you’re good.” She takes another sip of coffee. “And to let you know I’m here if you need to talk about anything.Anything.” She gives me one final long look, then focuses back on her mug.
“Thanks, Ma,” I mutter with my face still warm. I move about the kitchen, making my own coffee and a packet of instant oatmeal. It would be easier to run up to my room and hide instead of facing this awkward morning after, but I don’t want to do that. Plus, I still need to tell her about the security system.
“So…” Mom lifts her head, giving me all of her attention. “I mentioned to Rafe I was thinking about putting in a security system, and apparently, he knows a guy. They’re coming over today to install it.”
She blinks at me several times. I think I surprised her. “A security system?”
“Yeah, I don’t know, it seemed like a good idea.” I shrug.
“It is, it is,” she agrees. “We probably should have gotten one years ago.”
We didn’t have the money years ago, I think, but I don’t say that out loud. “Anyway, they’ll be by around nine and I have a lesson today. Will you be okay with them in the house? I’ll just be out in the barn.”
“Oh yeah, not a problem.” She gives me a dismissive wave.
I finish up my oatmeal and rinse my bowl before putting it in the dishwasher. “I’m going to run upstairs and make sure my room isn’t a mess and get ready.”
“Okay, if you have some time later, I’d like to talk to you.” I can tell by how stiffly she’s holding her body she’s worried about my reaction.
“Do you want to talk now?”
“No, it can wait until later.” Her face relaxes, but I still see the tension in her shoulders.
My return smile feels a little brittle, but it doesn’t come with the overwhelming sense of dread her words would have filled me with only a few short days ago. In the past week, I’ve come to terms with our changing relationship. “Sounds good, Ma. I’ll be in after my lesson.”
* * *
“What a brat,”I grumble through a fake smile and clenched teeth as my rider and her mom pull out of the driveway in a minivan. Every single step was a fight. She didn’t want to learn the basics. She didn’t want to wear a helmet. She didn’t want to be led. If she hadn’t already paid for six lessons, I would have told her to go somewhere else, but I don’t like giving up.
The two black vans that arrived at nine sharp are still in the driveway. I’ve seen them moving in and out of the house a few times, but I haven’t spoken to any of them.
When I open the side door, I hear several male voices. The noise dies down the moment I breach the threshold. “Hey, babe, you’re just in time. I made some sandwiches.” I look around to see two guys sitting at the table with my mom and two more leaning against the counter with plates held up near their chests.
“Hello,” I mutter softly. I hate having all their eyes on me. “I’m going to wash up.” I pull my boots off and line them up on the tray before walking quickly past the group to get to the bathroom. I should have just run upstairs, but I wasn’t thinking straight.
My face is a little red when I look in the mirror, but I can honestly say it’s from the heat outside and maybe a little bit of leftover aggravation. I splash cold water on my cheeks and neck before drying off and tossing the towel into the hamper, trading it for a clean one. My braid is a little messy, but I don’t care enough to fix it. After a few extra seconds, I exit the bathroom and head toward the kitchen. All the guys are still milling about, but it seems much quieter than when I walked in. I feel like the odd man out.
“This is my daughter, Lucy. Lucy this is Joe, Greg, Vin, and David.” She points to each man, and I do the chin dip thing.
“Nice to meet you. Everything going okay?” I look more to Mom for answers. She seems perfectly content. She has always been way more of a people person than I am.
“I think so.” She pushes a plate with a few sandwiches on it toward me. I don’t want to sit down, but it would be rude not to, so I opt for the empty chair closest to my mom and grab some food from the plate.
“You teach horse riding?” Joe asks. He’s probably a few years older than me, but not as old as Rafe. I can feel his eyes roaming over me, but I pretend not to notice.
I use a napkin to cover my mouth and nod, chewing the bite I just placed in my mouth. “I do.”
“I’ve never been, always wanted to though.” He’s leaning back with his butt against the counter, his eyes still on me.
“Thank you for lunch, ma’am, but we should get back to work,” David—the oldest of the bunch—says overly loud, eyeballing Joe while he moves to stand up. I note the silver ring circling his finger when he grabs his plate to put it in the sink. “Sorry about leaving you with a mess.”
“Don’t worry about it at all. It gives me something to do.” Mom rolls over toward the sink and takes the plates as each guy hands them over and tells her thank you.
She’s darn near glowing when they all file out of the kitchen. Her shoulders slump as she comes back to the table, but her smile never leaves. “It took me forever to put all that together. It was nice to do something other than sit around for a change.”
I relax now that they’re gone. I wasn’t expecting to see them having lunch with Mom. “Did you eat?” I slide the plate in her direction.
