He wasn’t far away, though. She could easily check on him. Or not so easily. And that was the other reason she lay in the dark, eyes open, wishing Mari would come home so they could talk.
When the front door finally opened and the kitchen light came on, she leaped out of bed and barreled down the hall. “I’m up. I hope you’re not exhausted because?—”
“Whoa, Zin! Is something wrong?” Mari tossed her backpack on a kitchen chair.
“No, no. Everybody’s fine. It’s Monty.”
“The foal or the cowboy? I saw his truck is still here.”
“See? The name’s already a problem. I’m calling him Montgomery.”
“Which one?”
“The cowboy. I can’t change the foal’s name. Tex loves it.”
“His name’s Montgomery? I figured it was Montana.”
“No, Montgomery.”
“Should I call him that, too?”
“Totally your choice. He said I could use that to avoid confusion, which we’re clearly going to have.” She studied her sister. “You look tired. I should let you go to bed.”
“You look stressed. Let’s make cocoa.”
“I love you.” She hurried to a cupboard. “I’ll get the pan.”
“I’ll get the milk.” Mari opened the fridge.
“We haven’t done this in a while.” The routine soothed her in so many ways. Measuring the ingredients, she heard her mother’s voice — three sugars to one cocoa powder. The first time she and Mari had made it without supervision, they’d mixed that up and produced something too bitter to drink.
Mari set the milk carton on the counter next to the stove. “We made cocoa Sunday morning.”
“That’s different.” She added water and stirred until she had chocolate syrup. “I meant making it at night before we go to bed, like Mom and Dad used to do.”
“Yeah. Not exactly a healthy habit.”
“No, but once in a while….”
Mari gave her a sideways hug before taking a couple of mugs from the cabinet above the sink. “Like when you can’t sleep.”
“For example.” She poured in the milk until she had the color they preferred, not too dark, not too pale.
“I should probably go close Tex’s door. We don’t want him waking up.”
“No worries. He’s asleep in the barn.”
“What?”
“Only because Monty, I mean Montgomery, is out there with him. I emphasized it’s a one-time thing.”
“Let’s hope he gets that. He asked me if his foal can sleep in his room, so be prepared for that request.”
“I’ll just point out the little deposits that baby leaves in the straw. Should do the trick.”
“Is that why you can’t sleep? Your baby boy isn’t in his bed?”
“That’s part of it.” She filled the mugs and ran water in the pan while Mari carried the mugs to the sturdy kitchen table Graham had bought thirty-some years ago.
